[drillerkiller]

Keep this short-ish..

PRICE AND BUYING EXPERIENCE

My factory rims still had the RE050's on them and with all but 3,000 of the 17,000 miles on the car on them, were looking pretty poor. I did some forum research and research of my own and decided I would like to try the Pilot Super Sports. Problem is Michelin doesn't make a 205,215 40/17. But they do make a 215/45/17 that my local Ford dealer price matched to a sale Sears had going on at $136 per tire plus a $70 rebate Ford will mail to you for buying 4 tires. Essentially this means I got my dealer done alignment for free.

136 x 4 = $544 - 70 = $474... (plus sales tax, disposal of old tires, mount and balance, road hazard etc)

Road hazard is for 30,000 miles and was 20.99 per tire. The road hazard Ford is doing now isn't pro rated, so no matter if the damage to the tire is at 2,500 or 29,999 miles they will replace the whole tire for the cost of disposal of the old one and mount and balance of the new one.

Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Your local Ford dealer should be doing the rebate and they all price match.. I just took a printed the picture of the price total screen where you pay on the Sears website and they adjusted the price at the dealer. That simple.

They had the tires on and the alignment done in about and hour and a half, the total was $770 before the rebate.

DO THEY FIT???????

In short yes. I have coil overs set at stock height, maybe a little lower and the only modification done to the car was I took a couple of 3/8" long self tapping screws, pushed the carpet rock shield that hangs down a little in the rear fender wells up and screwed it where the carper doesn't hang down and rub the tire. Other than that fits fine, no rubbing on either lock of the wheel and no rubbing over bumps so far.

HOW DO THEY DRIVE?

..... Amazing. For road tires that I'll get 25 or 30k out of they are unbelievably good. The little extra height has smoothed out the ride a great deal.. They stick out a little more off the rim and protect from rim curbing more than the stocks. There is a very small amount of extra body roll on corner entry but after about 10 curves I decided I liked it.. It feels like the chassis is talking to me more clearly than any FWD car I've driven.

The grip is fantastic.. The limit of the grip comes on progressively is the best way I can describe it.. It's not like the DOT racing tires on my other rims that when the grip is gone... Hold on to your hat because It's fu*k!ng gone. You know the tires are about to start breaking long before they do.

I could try to go on about how they've driven but I don't really have the car writer vocabulary or ability to bull shit so I'll leave it at "They're as good as most people say they are".

For the money I can't think of a better 3 season every day setup.

Thanks guys happy weekend, hope you're getting out and enjoying your cars, bikes and lives in general !!!!!

 

[rodmoe]

These are Pilot Super Sport Max Summer tire or Pilot Sport AS/3 ?

 

[stylish]

So for everyone else with stock suspension/ride height, would you say 215/45/17 will fit perfectly without modifying the carpet rock shield?

 

[Ford_Hatter!]

Yeah i would have to agree Michelin do make a decent tyre and compound.

 

[Zormecteon]

These are Pilot Super Sport Max Summer tire or Pilot Sport AS/3 ?

While we wait for drillerkiller to reply, I will note that the A3s are available in the stock size, so they must be the Max Summer... ....

 

[Apex]

I too installed the SS last month and have driven 4000 miles on them in the same size. I'll keep my observations simple.

+ Ulimate grip is subjectively 25% better and the taller sidewalks give me confidence hucking the car into high speed sweepers ie off ramp entrance
+ Comfort increased and noise over expansion joints are less abrupt. Notable though was the tread squirm the first 800 miles or so giving you the impression that it's a shite tire...give it time to break in
+ I dig the lack of tire gap, sidewall protection, and the slight increase in ride height giving me more clearance when driving on dirt roads
+ Longer perceived pulls on the highway especially in 4th
+ They look great and conveys 'Driver'

- Slight addition in weight and larger overall diameter delays the responsiveness in lower rev range
- feels lazy under 2k rpm
- Actual speed is 3 mph faster at 70
- Taller sidewall reduces the sharp steering but not enough to ruin the fun

The car is stock aside from a Cobb RMM. I have driven nearly 30,000 miles since I got it April 21/2014. I use it to daily for work and for camping trips. I autocrossed it once when it was 2 weeks old and got first place here in South Florida

 

[RDgolfer]

While we wait for drillerkiller to reply, I will note that the A3s are available in the stock size, so they must be the Max Summer... ....

Quite possibly Max Summer...but I purchased wheels and the AS/3s' at stock size

 

[drillerkiller]

No they're not as3 they're the max performance summer rubber. They don't make the pilot SS max summer fire in a 205/40 or 215/40 and after comparing measurements of stock tires when new to pilot ss new it looked lole they'd fit. I'll put up a pic here in a few minutes.

So yeah if you have stock height suspension they will fit and I don't think you'll be disappointed in the better handling and better ride you're going to get compared to fhe price paid. And let's face it they can't last any shorter on miles than the stocks.

 

[rodmoe]

Good looking forward to hearing how sticky they are

 

[RDgolfer]

I have Michelin Pilot Sport AS/3's...at full lock, they make a nice little rubbing noise that reminds you have great tires...If you have a FiST and encounter 4 season weather, buy these, or buy winter only tires. Btw, I got through the worst winter ever in the NorthEast on the stock Potenza's, and it wasn't great. Later on, nearing the end of the never ending winter, I put the Motegi's on with the Michelin Pilot Sport AS/3's on. Apples and oranges...the AS/3's were way better in the snow. If you have a FiST and experience 3 season weather, buy these. If you have a FiST and live in the south, buy slicks.

 

[jtchristopher]

Hi -

New to this forum and new the car. Is there a reason you didn't use 225/45/17 tires; I ask because I've been told 225's fit fine and am looking to track tires. Thanks.

 

[ckollert]

How are 215/45/17 PSS holding up overall? I'm looking at getting new tires soon and I'm sold on PSS. Just trying to decide on a size. Was looking at 205/45 but the 215s are cheaper and a bit wider which I like. Also have a hitch mounted bike rack that could use an extra inch or so of clearance from the larger size. I really like how the gap is filled out in the wheel wells with the larger size. Any issues so far? Thanks!

 

[ckollert]

Longterm update? Thx.

I too installed the SS last month and have driven 4000 miles on them in the same size. I'll keep my observations simple.

+ Ulimate grip is subjectively 25% better and the taller sidewalks give me confidence hucking the car into high speed sweepers ie off ramp entrance
+ Comfort increased and noise over expansion joints are less abrupt. Notable though was the tread squirm the first 800 miles or so giving you the impression that it's a shite tire...give it time to break in
+ I dig the lack of tire gap, sidewall protection, and the slight increase in ride height giving me more clearance when driving on dirt roads
+ Longer perceived pulls on the highway especially in 4th
+ They look great and conveys 'Driver'

- Slight addition in weight and larger overall diameter delays the responsiveness in lower rev range
- feels lazy under 2k rpm
- Actual speed is 3 mph faster at 70
- Taller sidewall reduces the sharp steering but not enough to ruin the fun

The car is stock aside from a Cobb RMM. I have driven nearly 30,000 miles since I got it April 21/2014. I use it to daily for work and for camping trips. I autocrossed it once when it was 2 weeks old and got first place here in South Florida View attachment 5979

 

[aborbs87]

Would this setup work with the Mountune springs or would there be rubbing/fitment issues.

(Mountune Spring Info)

• Ride height reduction Front 1.1"
• Ride height reduction Rear .8”

 

[space-mike]

So 215/45 R17 don't upset the speedo? Anyone who tried Continental's? My all time favourite is the sport contact 2 but on the FiST I still have OEMs which I don't really like. Where I live we encounter rainfall about thirty days a year and temperatures below 10°C maybe 15 or twenty days, any recommendation??

 

[mackguy]

Your speedo will be off about 5%.
Generally this is something a Ford dealer could reprogram but I read somewhere that it was difficult/impossible to do on the Fiesta.

 

[jtchristopher]

I purchased a set of Toyo Proxes R888s for use as dedicated track tires - size 225/45/17. I found that under load the tires rubbed against what I assume is a very light plastic dust shield that serves to isolate the front wheel wells from the engine compartment. Over time the plastic has distorted and wears slightly because of the periodic friction with the tire and is no longer an issue. There was never any sign of cutting of the tire; just an odd noise of plastic running over the factory cast groves / water channels of the tire. This sound could best be described as what you'd expect if you spun a plastic gear over a credit card...

I've been to three HPDE's and have found the tires have excellent adhesion including the first run of the day when the track and ambient temperature are cool. I'm new to the car, front engine position and front wheel drive. As such, I have yet to really push the car to any manner of limit while I learn more of its subtleties but thus far I really like the tires and find the car quite forgiving and very easy to drive.

While not important to me for the sake of appearance the tire fills the wheel well and does not rub against any metal -- including under significant loading...far more loading than I'd expect any of us to recognize on the street. The tires are mounted to the base, factory rims. Lastly, please bear these are R-compound tires and are not tires for continued use on the street.

 

[Picoschu]

I too installed the SS last month and have driven 4000 miles on them in the same size. I'll keep my observations simple.

+ Ulimate grip is subjectively 25% better and the taller sidewalks give me confidence hucking the car into high speed sweepers ie off ramp entrance
+ Comfort increased and noise over expansion joints are less abrupt. Notable though was the tread squirm the first 800 miles or so giving you the impression that it's a shite tire...give it time to break in
+ I dig the lack of tire gap, sidewall protection, and the slight increase in ride height giving me more clearance when driving on dirt roads
+ Longer perceived pulls on the highway especially in 4th
+ They look great and conveys 'Driver'

- Slight addition in weight and larger overall diameter delays the responsiveness in lower rev range
- feels lazy under 2k rpm
- Actual speed is 3 mph faster at 70
- Taller sidewall reduces the sharp steering but not enough to ruin the fun

The car is stock aside from a Cobb RMM. I have driven nearly 30,000 miles since I got it April 21/2014. I use it to daily for work and for camping trips. I autocrossed it once when it was 2 weeks old and got first place here in South Florida

Apex, are your tires the same size as OP's (215), or same size as stock (205)?

 

[ibanezzzz]

Thanks for sharing. I'm planning to use Achilles 123S tire they do have 205/40 17

 

[TurboRon]

Apex, are your tires the same size as OP's (215), or same size as stock (205)?

He's running 215/45/17s