Help me pick some tires

[bmw335iguy]

I just picked up some arc 8s in 18x8.5 et 45 front 18x9.5 et 62 for my 135. Need something sticky, won't kill me if I get stuck driving in rain, and last around 10k miles or more. My intial choices were 285/35 nitto nt555r or toyo r888. My friend had RE-11's on his 700whp C6 and said they were great so there's another one I'm now considering. Will probably do a few trips to the 1/4, as many roll on events as I can go to, and the rest will be just street driving.

Also why is it so many run R888s if your going mainly for straight line grip. I know there an r compound tire but aren't they more for road course racing? Thanks for any input guys.

[DavidV]

Michelin PSS. You can't go wrong with those.
Their wear is excellent, they perform outstanding in wet and dry, straight line and in corners.
They even hold up fairly well on trackdays, leaving you with enough rubber to make it home
Nuf said.

[richpike]

Agreed with DavidV. I've been running PSS for a while now and couldn't be happier. In addition, the fastest cars at the latest AutoX events (running street tires vs something like Hoosiers) have been running PSS's.

-Rich

[DavidV]

I just picked up some arc 8s in 18x8.5 et 45 front 18x9.5 et 62 for my 135.

To add to my first comment, I have a 135i with Forgestar F14's that have the same specs as your ARC 8s and I run Michelin PSS size 235/40/18 and 265/35/18.
Slight rubbing in front even after 2 sessions of fender rolling, and slight rubbing rear inner wheelarch lining from the extra wheel height when rear suspension travel is near to maxed out. Stock M-spec suspension. I trimmed the parker (that holds the lining from the inside) to prevent punctures, not too concerned about the cloth lining.

For my next set of PSS I will probably go with 225/40/18 for my front tires to stop the rubbing there.

[benzy89]

Toyo R888, Nitto NT555R, Michelin PSS in that order. The R888 has shown to be a very versatile tire, prob 2nd most common street usable tire I've heard people using at the track (1st being the MT Streets)

[ChuckD05]

I love toyo r888s .... They hook significantly better than PSS in a straight line and on curves... The comparison in that regard is really lopsided.. They are fine in the rain if you drive like a normal human being. PSS shine on wet pavement , imo its what they do best. They will last longer but are no where near the r888 in performance aspect if you push your car more than the avg enthusiast. Id get continental DWS again before i got PSS again but thats just me, i really did not care for the PSS at all.

I also Daily Drove nt05r's in my 135 and they were good but gave up the tight handling the r888s provided. I give my vote to the r888.

There is also the ra1 or r1r , whatever the other tire toyo makes that is the same/similar compound to the r888s , I have heard good things about those too.

[bmw335iguy]

To add to my first comment, I have a 135i with Forgestar F14's that have the same specs as your ARC 8s and I run Michelin PSS size 235/40/18 and 265/35/18.
Slight rubbing in front even after 2 sessions of fender rolling, and slight rubbing rear inner wheelarch lining from the extra wheel height when rear suspension travel is near to maxed out. Stock M-spec suspension. I trimmed the parker (that holds the lining from the inside) to prevent punctures, not too concerned about the cloth lining.

For my next set of PSS I will probably go with 225/40/18 for my front tires to stop the rubbing there.

Thanks David, I'm suprised to hear that you rubbing with 265's . According to this: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...=952071&page=2 there are several guys running wider, with and without spacers and not having issues. Is the m-sport lower/different than a regular sport suspension? Will look into the pilots ss.

[rawad1017]

i would look into pilot sport a/s 3 as well. i just got them put on my M6 and i couldn't be happier.

[bmw335iguy]

I love toyo r888s .... They hook significantly better than PSS in a straight line and on curves... The comparison in that regard is really lopsided.. They are fine in the rain if you drive like a normal human being. PSS shine on wet pavement , imo its what they do best. They will last longer but are no where near the r888 in performance aspect if you push your car more than the avg enthusiast. Id get continental DWS again before i got PSS again but thats just me, i really did not care for the PSS at all.

I also Daily Drove nt05r's in my 135 and they were good but gave up the tight handling the r888s provided. I give my vote to the r888.

There is also the ra1 or r1r , whatever the other tire toyo makes that is the same/similar compound to the r888s , I have heard good things about those too.

Glad to hear the R888's are ok in the rain as long as I drive cautiously. Was worried about that. Do the R888's run wide? I already had my rears rolled in preparation and don't mind if I need to do some more fender work if needed. Would idealy like to run 285's but if they run closer to a normal 295 then I would have to go with a 275. Will look into the other two toyos you mentioned, thanks!

[TRES]

Ive been using the pss both on the street and for hpde's and they work fine in the wet and dry. Tire pressure can also determine how well a car performs on the road.

[ChuckD05]

The r888s run true to size I believe...

I had 275/35/17 on z4 wheels on my 135 with no rubbing issues with the r888 when I went racing or for those summer days where i felt like beating on her....

r888s never scared me in the rain at all... they behaved fine... even the nt05rs did good too imo...

I Daily drove 265s on my lowered 135i when i had it but I had the Hankook R-S3s which were just average.

R888s are a superior performance tire to PSS which i just took off my 335i. With RBs I now hook with continental DWS' from second sometimes and always third, where the PSS would spin... and the DWS' allow me to drive in the snow without any problems.

Overall though the PSS do a great job at everything and last a good while. Good tire now that its priced right but id still get r888s

[bmw335iguy]

Ok, cool! So r888's only come in either 275/35/18 or 285/30/18 or a 275/40/18 but those would be too tall and are a lot more $ then the two previous sizes. Since ill have Vargas stage 3s I was guessing ill want the widest/tallest tire possible. The nt555r's do come in a 285/35/18. Decisions decisions....

[ChuckD05]

if youre going to have vtt stg 3 I wouldnt go with anything but r888s , nt555R or NT05R

[Njz]

All of my research reflects the same as the general opinion here, go with the Toyo r888s. I just ordered a set my self for the rear.

[bmw335iguy]

Well then the questions comes do I go with the toyo 275/35 (.9" taller than stock) or 285/30 (same height as stock)?

[bigdnno98]

I find PSS to be completely overrated and not worth the money spent on them at all. NT05s are the best tires I've ever driven on in the dry. With that being said, if you're going to DD the car I'm not sure I'd be DDing on NT05s. They're pretty scary on a RWD car in the rain. I'd prob either go with NT555r on the rear with regular NT555 on fronts or go with R888 all the way around.

[Tony@VargasTurboTech]

I went with PSS on the shop car and where I do like them in all conditions, I am a little unhappy with how they hook up, I can pretty much blow the tires off anytime first - third (I am making 600 ftlbs so its a slightly unfair judgement). I will say they will last a hell of lot longer than any of those R-type compounds you are considering. I just bought an extra set of wheels with MT street slicks on them and whenever it gets serious I just put those on. I would prob buy PSS's again as I love them all around, but they are not the stickiest tire out there, nor are they meant to be.

[Group.america]

Toyo R888, Nitto NT555R, Michelin PSS in that order. The R888 has shown to be a very versatile tire, prob 2nd most common street usable tire I've heard people using at the track (1st being the MT Streets)

Toyo R888s on anything punished >>> than the others........ I shred tires like I drink red wine (that would be as often as I can)

[DavidV]

So r888's only come in either 275/35/18 or 285/30/18 or a 275/40/18 but those would be too tall

If my 265/35/18 is rubbing the inner lining 275/35/18 is certainly gonna rub with standard shocks.
If the width fits you'd be better off with 285/30/18 which is .9 Inch smaller in diameter.
285/35/18 is gonna rub for sure.


The tire you choose will be suited for the climate you drive in most.
I considered the R888 when I was looking for better rubber, but the roads here are wet 1/3rd of the time (or that's what it feels like anyway) and I want to be a hooligan on the road whenever I feel like it. The PSS tire fits that purpose nicely for me since it is very predictable in dry and wet conditions and has lots of grip. I don't like tiptoeing around when the roads are wet. But you can't compare it's performance on a dry surface to a semi-slick like the R888 aether.
If you live in Arizona, SoCal or similar climate go with the R888 for sure.

[bmw335iguy]

If my 265/35/18 is rubbing the inner lining 275/35/18 is certainly gonna rub with standard shocks.
If the width fits you'd be better off with 285/30/18 which is .9 Inch smaller in diameter.
285/35/18 is gonna rub for sure.


The tire you choose will be suited for the climate you drive in most.
I considered the R888 when I was looking for better rubber, but the roads here are wet 1/3rd of the time (or that's what it feels like anyway) and I want to be a hooligan on the road whenever I feel like it. The PSS tire fits that purpose nicely for me since it is very predictable in dry and wet conditions and has lots of grip. I don't like tiptoeing around when the roads are wet. But you can't compare it's performance on a dry surface to a semi-slick like the R888 aether.
If youzona, SoCal or similar climate go with the R888 for sure.

I wonder if it just varies from car to car or since your running the custom offset forgestars maybe be somehow slightly different than the arc 8s even though offset is the same. Even David from Apex confirmed 275/35/18 should be fine.

I live in socal so rain is few and far between, especially lately. I did a quick google search on how long the R888's last and most if the responses were guys using them for track weekends and they were reporting only a weekend of racing and they're toast. I saw one guy mention 3-4k miles of.street driving which is too expensive for me to be buying 2/3 sets a year. So I'm leaning towards the nt555r, according to nitto website they're good for 10k miles. Will do some searching to see if that's accurate.

If they do rub the inner liner is that something that can be modified?

[bmw335iguy]

Here's the messege from david@apex, so I was a little off as far as 275/35 fitting fine:

We have not heard of anyone running anything wider than the 275/35/18, and even that tire is very difficult to fit and can rub if you don't have the perfect ride height and alignment specifications.

[DavidV]

E82 and e9x cars are too heavy for the Toyo R888 for them to last very long.
You will go through them in a hurry.
If you really want to fit 275/35/18's then you must limit the travel of the rear shocks to prevent rubbing.

Or start fitting 1M fenders on all corners.
That will give you lots of space for wider tires.

[ezec63]

I use Michelin A/S3's for the fall/winter and love them ! They are basically the PSS but with a softer compound that doesnt become rock hard when temps drop below 50 and the PSS or any summer tire becomes useless. They are amazing in the rain much better then PSS and give decent snow tractions for emergencies when you just need to get home but deff not blizzaks. The sidewalls are a bit soft just like the PSS but a great all season tire for the cold part of the year here in NY

IN the spring/summer im going to use the yoko AD08R its a 180 treadwear extreme performance tire basically as sticky as it will get without going R compund. Id get the r888's but ive heard they heat cycle out if you use them to much you can still have tread left but the compound will dry out. The ad08r is supposedly very sticky for straight line and cornering, very hard sidewalls for steering precision, good in the rain for this category of tire, and will last a decent amount of time without heat cycling or drying out since its made with a blend of orange oil thats supposed to help with this. You can make a case for any tire do the research and pick what suits you best ! Your not going to get better grip then an r888 without a radial/slick but it has its cons only you can make that decision

[bmw335iguy]

Thanks for all the help guys! The more research I've done, the more I'm thinking of just picking up two 17" kosei K1's with some drag radials or actual slicks for when I end up doing any 1/4 mile or roll on events. From what David is saying, harold from HPA, and the guys at apex I don't want to have to always be on the lookout for bumps in the road to avoid rubbing. Been there, done that...

I'll check out the ADO8R tonight. Sounds like it might be more what I'm looking for in a street tire. I was reading reviews on tirerack last night on the Re-11's and there were a bunch o high hp cars praising them for their straight line grip as well as handling great. There not too expensive either, and comes in a lot of sizes.

[bmw335iguy]

Just to update the thread I went with the RE-11's. My buddy that reccomended them also has a 335 with PSS and said they were great but the RE11's he used on his C6 were stickier. Tirerack also had the 275/35/18 marked down from $330 to $226. Car goes into the dealer tomorrow for new turbos and a bunch of other crap I'm gunna try and have them replace so it may be a couple weeks before I get them on the car but will definitely report back on how I like them.

Also my phones a POS and won't let me rep anyone so I'll spread the love from my laptop tonight. Thanks again guys