I know that there have been a ton of threads that have at times seemed very emotionally charged regarding the optimum wheel size and right tire for our cars.. I know, I tried to read through as many as I could when I was trying to decide about sticking with the PS2s that my P85D came with or switching to someone else. I now have about 8,000 miles on the A/S 3s I switched to and want to provide feedback that I hope might be useful to anyone going through a similar line of reasoning. My car was a December delivery P85D which came with the staggered setup PS2. I absolutely loved the faultless grip of the PS2s, but several factors lead me to consider changing tires:
-Fragility - My tire developed a sidewall bubble without any impact that I perceived, and had heard many reports of rim damage from the low sidewall tires not being able to protect the rims from minor impacts with the weight of our 5,000# cars.
Treadlife - In the staggered setup, the PS2s are only officially rated for 10,000 miles, though I was able to get double that.
Cost - The PS2s at the time were coming out to near $600/tire after tax compared substantially less then the other tires I was considering Michelin Pilot Super Sport and All Season 3s. (Though now they are listing for almost $200 cheaper.)
My fear was that I didn't want to give up much in performance. I really loved the way in the D the PS2s never seemed to slip, they seemed glued to road without any slip. Ultimately after much rumination I ended up downsizing to the TST Tportline 19" and putting the Michelin A/S 3s. I was especially swayed by talking to the guys at Tire Rack that told me the A/S3 performed very close to the Michelin Pilot Super Sport (one of my favorite tires) with the added benefit of better tread life.
now, after driving on the Pilot Sport A/S 3s for 8,000 miles I can say they are absolutely a great tire 9/10 of the time, with decent road holding in the dry and awesome performance in the wet, but for me I will be switching back to the PS2s, Pilot Super Sports or some other tire that anyone suggest that I consider. Where our cars really shine is in laying down instant torque and that is where the A/S 3s falter. I cannot stomp on the pedal in Insane, and soon to be Ludicrous with feeling tire slip. I have felt this both from off the line as well as when trying to overtake if you maximally accelerate the tires give up the ghost the traction control will blink before catching. If you dial it down one notch the tires are faultless and hang in there. I have likewise felt the tires loose grip when going through a sweeping 180 turn that the tires suddenly and not incrementally loose grip. These are all things I never experienced with 20k miles on the PS2s.
These are just my opinions / experience, hope some may find it useful.
-Fragility - My tire developed a sidewall bubble without any impact that I perceived, and had heard many reports of rim damage from the low sidewall tires not being able to protect the rims from minor impacts with the weight of our 5,000# cars.
Treadlife - In the staggered setup, the PS2s are only officially rated for 10,000 miles, though I was able to get double that.
Cost - The PS2s at the time were coming out to near $600/tire after tax compared substantially less then the other tires I was considering Michelin Pilot Super Sport and All Season 3s. (Though now they are listing for almost $200 cheaper.)
My fear was that I didn't want to give up much in performance. I really loved the way in the D the PS2s never seemed to slip, they seemed glued to road without any slip. Ultimately after much rumination I ended up downsizing to the TST Tportline 19" and putting the Michelin A/S 3s. I was especially swayed by talking to the guys at Tire Rack that told me the A/S3 performed very close to the Michelin Pilot Super Sport (one of my favorite tires) with the added benefit of better tread life.
now, after driving on the Pilot Sport A/S 3s for 8,000 miles I can say they are absolutely a great tire 9/10 of the time, with decent road holding in the dry and awesome performance in the wet, but for me I will be switching back to the PS2s, Pilot Super Sports or some other tire that anyone suggest that I consider. Where our cars really shine is in laying down instant torque and that is where the A/S 3s falter. I cannot stomp on the pedal in Insane, and soon to be Ludicrous with feeling tire slip. I have felt this both from off the line as well as when trying to overtake if you maximally accelerate the tires give up the ghost the traction control will blink before catching. If you dial it down one notch the tires are faultless and hang in there. I have likewise felt the tires loose grip when going through a sweeping 180 turn that the tires suddenly and not incrementally loose grip. These are all things I never experienced with 20k miles on the PS2s.
These are just my opinions / experience, hope some may find it useful.
