You should try one of the hero 200tw tires before you make that statement. I like my RS4s, but the RE71 and Rival are a step above in terms of grip. I'm gonna miss the temperature tolerance and wear levels of the RS4 when I switch to Rivals this season. Maybe another wheelset is in my future, with RS4s for street and open lapping days, and Rivals for racing.

Having owned both Rivals and RS4's I agree with this assement. In general I see 1.2-1.3 steady state G with the RS4 and 1.3 to 1.4 with the old Rivals.

I can only imagine, but going to skip straight over the super200's to the hoosiers I have sitting next to me :p RS4's will continue pulling dual duty at street and track. Mine are now up to 16 heat cycles in NASA time trials + street driving since September, still going strong. While they may not have the ultimate grip of the super200's I still think it's nutty they produce this much grip AND wear so well.

I think at this point we can confidently say that they are a GREAT HPDE choice. But for racing in a street tire class, you best pick the Rival S 1.5 or RE71R if you want to win.

225 rival S vs. 205 RE71 it's surface dependent as to which is faster

245 rival S 1.5 Vs. well there is no comparison yet, it's the tire to have

What we really need is a 225/40/15 RE71R

FYI Tire Rack is reporting a June 8th delivery date if I order today, 3/6 for 225 45 15 RS4s.
I guess I'll run the Rival S 1.5 this year instead of the RS4 as I just noticed my tires are worn down more than expected.

I was able to order mine cheaper through discount tire and they had them in 4 days from when I ordered. Might be worth the call if there is one close to you.

Wait, I just called my local discount tire and they said that Hankook only sells the rs4 to Tirerack (who don't have them until June). Which location did you get them from? I'm also in Seattle and looking for some 225/45/15.

I ordered from the southcenter discount tire. 245/40R15

245/40/15 RS4's vs. 225/45/15 Rival S 1.5 on the same 9 inch wheel.

What do you think would be faster on a typical roadcourse? 2200 NA @ 150whp.

Rivals.

I've run exactly those two tires on a 9" wheel and I can also confirm the rival is faster by a noticable margin. Wear will be 3 times worse with the rival though.

I feel like this has been discussed throughout this thread. Rivals are the faster tire.

It seems the general consensus is 225 on a 9 is faster than a 245 on a 9. It is also proven that the rivals are faster than the rs4. Disregard my dumb-Apology below

There are trade offs to all of it depending what you are looking for. I went with the 245 RS4 for dual duty purpose.

Not really. The general consensus is that 225 on a 9 is faster than 225 on an 8. And 245 on a 10 is faster than a 245 on a 9. But comparing different sizes on the same wheel size depends on a lot more factors.

Thats what i meant to say its been a while since i schooled myself on this and been running on no sleep this week. Disregard my dumb

My bench is faster than yours in certain conditions.

I challenge you to a race. Your bench vs my couch in a vacuum. I predict a tie.

Your couch is a lot heavier than my bench. I would beat you off the line by two seat cushions at least.