Pilot Super Sport vs Federal RS-R

[BoatNonce]

Anyone had experience with both?

The PSS on mine are now toast and whilst they have been a great all round tyre, with a decent amount of grip, I'm tempted to pay less for the Federal RS-R, taking the hit on tyre life as a result, but hopefully gaining a bit more grip as well.

Is the RS-R sufficiently grippy that it will justify the shorter life and increased noise (I assume)?

 

[Budgie]

Not on the same vehicle, but i've had RSR's on a Clio, and would use again. not sure if they've fixed the tread split issue that scares everyone or not..
Supersports on the M3 are epic though.

Wet grip is the difference IMO.

 

[JB21]

The PSS are an extreme performance summer tyre, the RSR is a proper trackday tyre. If you went on track with the PSS it would disintegrate in half a day whereas the RSR wouldn't. There are loads of trade offs but if its just a road car then I'd just stick with road tyres mate as the RSR's will take time to get the extra grip due to needing heating up which is not ideal on a road car really.

I had GY efficientgrip performance on my old S60 D5 and they where good.

 

[BoatNonce]

Not on the same vehicle, but i've had RSR's on a Clio, and would use again. not sure if they've fixed the tread split issue that scares everyone or not..
Supersports on the M3 are epic though.

Wet grip is the difference IMO.

I'm not overly bothered by the splitting issue, IIRC it comes and goes with wear anyway.

Whilst the grip from the PSS in the wet is epic I'm not overly bothered by the wet performance as it doesn't get driven hard in the rain.

The PSS are an extreme performance summer tyre, the RSR is a proper trackday tyre. If you went on track with the PSS it would disintegrate in half a day whereas the RSR wouldn't. There are loads of trade offs but if its just a road car then I'd just stick with road tyres mate as the RSR's will take time to get the extra grip due to needing heating up which is not ideal on a road car really.

I had GY efficientgrip performance on my old S60 D5 and they where good.

At the moment the PSS will just about grip in 2nd, but if the surface isn't perfect then you sometimes get a degree of slip, which is why the PSS have worn so quickly. I was hoping that the cold grip from the RS-R is higher, so that it just grips in most scenarios and therefore doesn't wear as quickly.

Of course I could just not use full throttle unless the conditions are perfect but that's a boring answer.

Sidewall strength on the PSS is w**k too.

 

[Knuckles]

^^^holy s**t!

Are they soft as hell or do you go full hero everywhere?!

 

[JB21]

If you want a road tyre with stiff sidewall and excellent dry grip but aren't to bothered about wet grip then look at the Potenza range, I used to have RE040 on my CTR and they where brilliant, think these may have been replaced by RE050 now...

 

[charltjr]

PSS are known for having relatively soft sidewalls for really high performance tyre, but they've suffered more than most I've seen

Pilot Sport Cup 2's could be your answer mate, assuming you can get them in your size. Dedicated track day tyre levels of grip with half-decent lifespan too. They combine two different compounds in one construction, pretty trick.

Not cheap, however, not cheap at all.

 

[Stefan.]

Do you do trackdays?

Not considered pilot sport 4s?

 

[Adam G]

I'd choose Yoko AD08Rs over Fed RSRs. Slightly better road manners and wear a bit better as RSRs wear on edges quite badly without decent camber. Also excellent all round trackday tyre.

 

[BoatNonce]

^^^holy s**t!

Are they soft as hell or do you go full hero everywhere?!

That was after 3 autosolo runs. Running ~38psi IIRC, still folded over.

PSS are known for having relatively soft sidewalls for really high performance tyre, but they've suffered more than most I've seen :smile:

Pilot Sport Cup 2's could be your answer mate, assuming you can get them in your size. Dedicated track day tyre levels of grip with half-decent lifespan too. They combine two different compounds in one construction, pretty trick.

Not cheap, however, not cheap at all.

I've looked into PSC2's but from cold they don't grip as well as the PSS.

Do you do trackdays?

Not considered pilot sport 4s?

Road driving and occasional autosolos. Nothing that gives the tyres opportunity to get properly up to track temps.

I thought the Pilot Sport range sat below the PSS?

I'd choose Yoko AD08Rs over Fed RSRs. Slightly better road manners and wear a bit better as RSRs wear on edges quite badly without decent camber. Also excellent all round trackday tyre.

Interesting. As above, the main concern is with cold grip, how do they fare?

Cheers for the info so far folks :smile:

 

[Lal B3N]

What size are you running?

 

[BoatNonce]

215/45/17

IIRC they don't do the PSS in a 225 or I'd have gone for that.

 

[JamesBryan]

As Adam said, i'd go with AD08R's over RS-R's.

I've used them in all weather and not a problem.

 

[Adam G]

Cold grip is pretty good, I used them for a couple of hillclimb events and was on a par with two others on soft 888s

 

[-Jamie-]

I'd choose Yoko AD08Rs over Fed RSRs. Slightly better road manners and wear a bit better as RSRs wear on edges quite badly without decent camber. Also excellent all round trackday tyre.

This, I ran all the tyres mentioned in here on my Megane. The RS-R's don't have anymore grip than a PSS does really, It only really shines as being a longer lasting tyre on track, Ie not melting. Poor in the wet as well where the PSS really shines. I prefer the PS4 over the PSS though as the Super sports soft sidewall, really, really lets them down and is the reason i wont use them again.

Im on AD08R's again at the moment, Dont really have any traction issues, even with 365bhp and 385lbs ft, other than the usual first gear which every powerful FWD car struggles with. They can be a bit slidey when cold and on damp roads and will brake traction in mine into 5th of you drive it like a belled but if your smooth and recognise the type of tyre you have and drive accordingly you will be fine. Mine have done 25 Ring laps and 4.5k or so now so not the best to compare to a set with a full compliment of tread. I have about 2.5mm left on the fronts now.


Ill throw the new Continental Sport contact 6 as a good contender as well to the PSS now, Ive heard very, very good things by those that have went from the Michelins to the Conti's. Granted tyre size is still quite limited on them.

 

[BoatNonce]

This, I ran all the tyres mentioned in here on my Megane. The RS-R's don't have anymore grip than a PSS does really, It only really shines as being a longer lasting tyre on track, Ie not melting. Poor in the wet as well where the PSS really shines. I prefer the PS4 over the PSS though as the Super sports soft sidewall, really, really lets them down and is the reason i wont use them again.

Im on AD08R's again at the moment, Dont really have any traction issues, even with 365bhp and 385lbs ft, other than the usual first gear which every powerful FWD car struggles with. They can be a bit slidey when cold and on damp roads and will brake traction in mine into 5th of you drive it like a belled but if your smooth and recognise the type of tyre you have and drive accordingly you will be fine. Mine have done 25 Ring laps and 4.5k or so now so not the best to compare to a set with a full compliment of tread. I have about 2.5mm left on the fronts now.


Ill throw the new Continental Sport contact 6 as a good contender as well to the PSS now, Ive heard very, very good things by those that have went from the Michelins to the Conti's. Granted tyre size is still quite limited on them.

Sounds good fella :up:

Will go shopping then!

 

[charltjr]

AFAIK the PS4 is going to be the replacement for the PSS, it's a much more performance biased tyre than the PS3. SC6 is another good shout.

AD08R is definitely a good tyre, but it also gets much better with temperature in my experience. If you want genuinely good grip from cold you probably need to be looking at road tyres not track semi-slicks TBH.