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Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
10/25/19 9:05 a.m.

The last two sets of tires I ran on the G35 were RE71s. Great tire, but cheap they are not. In a 275/35R18 they are $286 a pop and the G35 uses them up at an alarming rate. 

While digging around for alternatives I came across the Federals. 200tw. Weird looking tread pattern. But at $145 a piece I figured I'd give them a try. 

The biggest complaint I've read so far is they are noisy as hell on the street, but the RE71s aren't exactly quiet. 

Anyone want to add their opinion?

 

 

BoxheadTim
BoxheadTim MegaDork
10/25/19 9:28 a.m.

I've used them on track cars - Miatas, what else - and they worked well at my skill level and are cheap. What's not to like?

Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
10/25/19 9:35 a.m.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

That's my take on it. I guess we shall see. 

 

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
10/25/19 9:47 a.m.

I wish they made them in 14" size.. i don't yet have 15" wheels for miata.

_
_ Dork
10/25/19 10:12 a.m.
Fueled by Caffeine said:

I wish they made them in 14" size.. i don't yet have 15" wheels for miata.

They make the ss595's in 195/60r14. I'm rocking them on them miata now. Did a whole autocross season on them. Kind of a weird tire.
 

They take a few back to back runs to warm up, we would get three runs in the morning, and three runs in the afternoon. My tires wouldn't "grip" better until run three in the morning, and in afternoon. But once we start free runs, it would grip at run 3-5, then Get greasy and the tread would actually "feather" out. Once they cool, the tread kinda goes back into place. 
 

not sure if that's a feature or a defect. 

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
10/25/19 10:14 a.m.

Weren't they, until recently, the tire for Spec Corvette? Or am I thinking of something else?

_
_ Dork
10/25/19 10:18 a.m.

My problem with these tires is that they are only a few dollars cheaper than the re71's in 195 or 205 15's. Glad you found such a drastic difference for your tires though. Where'd you find that deal?

also: https://youtu.be/A7CwSj-4-F0

Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
10/25/19 10:20 a.m.

In reply to _ :

Tires-easy.com, but Amazon had the same deal, just not in stock. 

 

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
10/25/19 10:28 a.m.

In reply to Toyman01 :

I found good prices on federals through walmart.com  and free delivery to your local wally world..  

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Federal-595RS-RR-Street-Legal-Racing-Tire-Tire-275-35R18-95W/190972429

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
10/25/19 10:31 a.m.

In reply to _ :

yes.. thinking about these at $55/pc at walmart.com  I want to run some track days and some autocrosses this year..  trying to decide between these or azenis..

therieldeal
therieldeal Reader
10/25/19 10:50 a.m.

I believe these are the spec tire for Legends cars (in some silly 13" size)

_
_ Dork
10/25/19 10:55 a.m.
Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to _ :

yes.. thinking about these at $55/pc at walmart.com  I want to run some track days and some autocrosses this year..  trying to decide between these or azenis..

Gotta be careful with these tires though. I've been seeing a lot of ads for "RSRR" with a picture of the RSR tire. There's a difference between the two. Both price and content. 

therieldeal
therieldeal Reader
10/25/19 11:05 a.m.
_ said:
Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to _ :

yes.. thinking about these at $55/pc at walmart.com  I want to run some track days and some autocrosses this year..  trying to decide between these or azenis..

Gotta be careful with these tires though. I've been seeing a lot of ads for "RSRR" with a picture of the RSR tire. There's a difference between the two. Both price and content. 

Don't forget the RSR-RR-R²-√R

_
_ Dork
10/25/19 11:20 a.m.

In reply to therieldeal :

Don't even get us started on the tire naming game. Been a few threads where we laugh scornfully. 

nimblemotorsports
nimblemotorsports Reader
10/25/19 12:20 p.m.
_ said:
Fueled by Caffeine said:

I wish they made them in 14" size.. i don't yet have 15" wheels for miata.

They make the ss595's in 195/60r14. I'm rocking them on them miata now. Did a whole autocross season on them. Kind of a weird tire.
 

They take a few back to back runs to warm up, we would get three runs in the morning, and three runs in the afternoon. My tires wouldn't "grip" better until run three in the morning, and in afternoon. But once we start free runs, it would grip at run 3-5, then Get greasy and the tread would actually "feather" out. Once they cool, the tread kinda goes back into place. 
 

not sure if that's a feature or a defect. 

For some odd reason, this size tire is NOT 240tw, but like 460tw  You can find the specs on all sizes if you google it.

https://www.federaltire.com/en/products_detail.php?class=UHP&products_detail_sn=8

I bought some 195-45-15 of the Federal 595 tires (plain 595, no RS-SS), like $50 each, too cheap to not try them!

 A little shorter than the 205-50-15, but looks to be the same width.  Shorter might be better for our car.

 

_
_ Dork
10/25/19 1:14 p.m.

In reply to nimblemotorsports :

Yeah. You'll find out that 1)federal won't return any emails. 2) the utqg rating is only applied within brand, so the tw on those tires might be different, but it is the same compound. 

TR7
TR7 Reader
10/25/19 1:39 p.m.
nimblemotorsports said:
_ said:
Fueled by Caffeine said:

I wish they made them in 14" size.. i don't yet have 15" wheels for miata.

They make the ss595's in 195/60r14. I'm rocking them on them miata now. Did a whole autocross season on them. Kind of a weird tire.
 

They take a few back to back runs to warm up, we would get three runs in the morning, and three runs in the afternoon. My tires wouldn't "grip" better until run three in the morning, and in afternoon. But once we start free runs, it would grip at run 3-5, then Get greasy and the tread would actually "feather" out. Once they cool, the tread kinda goes back into place. 
 

not sure if that's a feature or a defect. 

For some odd reason, this size tire is NOT 240tw, but like 460tw  You can find the specs on all sizes if you google it.

https://www.federaltire.com/en/products_detail.php?class=UHP&products_detail_sn=8

I bought some 195-45-15 of the Federal 595 tires (plain 595, no RS-SS), like $50 each, too cheap to not try them!

 A little shorter than the 205-50-15, but looks to be the same width.  Shorter might be better for our car.

 

We ran the 595 Federals like your picture for our first lemons race on a mk3 golf 2.0. They did well in the rain, and OK for a bunch of newbies to get around the track. But they were destroyed by the end of 2 days. They feather and chunk easily when they get hot. The Falkens we replaced them with not only had more grip, but were much much more durable. 

Patientzero
Patientzero Reader
10/25/19 1:49 p.m.

They are slower than the RE71, BFG, etc.

Other than that there is not a thing wrong with them especially if it lets you get more seat time.  I've been through multiple sets of 275/35-18's.  I was finding them on eBay for $600 per set with free shipping.  The Walmart tip above is pretty solid too.

I also ran a set of the previous RS-R on a track day at Mugello Circuit on my S15.

The 595-SS is just a street tire, several of my friends used to use them for drift burners.

accordionfolder
accordionfolder Dork
10/25/19 2:20 p.m.

I used them on my MS3 for lapping (well, the RS-R version), they lasted a long time - I killed mine with a lack of camber in the front (with stock parts the best I could get was about -.5* ... yes, really). At the time for both of these videos they were pretty old tires.

 

 

Lol, forgot about that video - I'd been chasing the 1le for a while.

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
10/25/19 2:49 p.m.

In reply to _ :

They don't make RSR's in 14.. they'd be SS595

Apexcarver
Apexcarver UltimaDork
10/25/19 2:54 p.m.
TR7 said:
nimblemotorsports said:
_ said:
Fueled by Caffeine said:

I wish they made them in 14" size.. i don't yet have 15" wheels for miata.

They make the ss595's in 195/60r14. I'm rocking them on them miata now. Did a whole autocross season on them. Kind of a weird tire.
 

They take a few back to back runs to warm up, we would get three runs in the morning, and three runs in the afternoon. My tires wouldn't "grip" better until run three in the morning, and in afternoon. But once we start free runs, it would grip at run 3-5, then Get greasy and the tread would actually "feather" out. Once they cool, the tread kinda goes back into place. 
 

not sure if that's a feature or a defect. 

For some odd reason, this size tire is NOT 240tw, but like 460tw  You can find the specs on all sizes if you google it.

https://www.federaltire.com/en/products_detail.php?class=UHP&products_detail_sn=8

I bought some 195-45-15 of the Federal 595 tires (plain 595, no RS-SS), like $50 each, too cheap to not try them!

 A little shorter than the 205-50-15, but looks to be the same width.  Shorter might be better for our car.

 

We ran the 595 Federals like your picture for our first lemons race on a mk3 golf 2.0. They did well in the rain, and OK for a bunch of newbies to get around the track. But they were destroyed by the end of 2 days. They feather and chunk easily when they get hot. The Falkens we replaced them with not only had more grip, but were much much more durable. 

Found this style 595 after searching quite awhile for 13 inch tires for my Sprite. Havent gotten them on the car yet (need to figure out spacers).   Outside of that, it was all-seasons or R888 (which would be a bit absurd for a stockish street sprite).

 

TR7
TR7 Reader
10/25/19 3:03 p.m.

In reply to Apexcarver :

Probably great for a sprite or other light street car. Just not great for heavy track work. 

captdownshift
captdownshift UltimaDork
10/25/19 3:05 p.m.

Price the Nankangs before buying is my advice. The people at Phil's say they're much faster. 

_
_ Dork
10/25/19 4:29 p.m.
captdownshift said:

Price the Nankangs before buying is my advice. The people at Phil's say they're much faster. 

Did they have real data, or just say that?

Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
10/25/19 4:41 p.m.

In reply to captdownshift :

I looked at them. They aren't 200tw. They also don't come in my size. 

 

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