RS4 feb/march 2014
 

source. tire rack. 225/45/15 off website. no other info available.

Where did you find the info? I don't see it on tire rack's website.

wtf no link?

Excellent thread. 10/10 would read again

info from live help on tirerack website. was told 225/45/15 rs3 not available anymore and NEW REPLACEMENT MODEL coming in feb/march. no other info. isnt it due for replacement by now? tire came out in 2009?

I talked to a tire rack rep on Friday. Current info they have from Hankook right now is something like.... Hankook is doing a revision to the RS3, minor tweaks to improve wet and dry traction without losing durability(TW?). The part number for them is changing, but from my understanding they're still calling it RS3. I pre-ordered a set, praying that they will show up before Dixie.

yeah, they were very vague with me also. when pressed, final answer was 'we have no technical info/new product arriving feb/march.'

how can they 'minor tweak' a specific tire size and leave the others as is?

I'm hoping this is just standard production stop/inventory depletion before new model comes out. RS3 first brought to market in spring 2009 I think.

This actually happens all the time. Each size is designed with a certain application or small group of possible fitments in mind. The worst is Goodyear. They are constantly changing part numbers when they tweak tires that turn out to be OE fitment garbage. I stock 3 of the 7 or 8 different part numbers for a 245/65/17 Goodyear Fortera HL.

Also, think of the "magic" 195/50/15 Toyo R1R.

I bet it will stay as RS3 since their hasn't been any advanced marketing.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....28Version+2%29

Any of you guys pre-order a set of these yet? I'm trying to decide if I should get Rivals or wait for these now.

from TR:

The new updated Racing Carbonblack Silica Compound (RCSC) technology allows the Ventus R-S3 (Version 2) to retain its 200 Treadwear UTQG rating, as well as reach favorable operating temperatures quicker produce more grip in damp/wet conditions.

I take this to mean they will not require as much heat. This is a frequent criticism by autocrossers of the current tire.

opted for another set of Rivals this season. ordered Monday night, arrived this afternoon. Hope teh RS3v2 is as big a deal as people want to make of it. has a real sweet spot of about 4 month here.

early xmas

Where did you find that? Google turned up zilch

Whoa, link mentions 245/40R15. Commence rumor mongering :)

And just to spice things up even more...besides the RS4 in 245/40-15...

<<Yoda voice>>
There is another...

It's going to be a GREAT year for fat-tired Miatas running on 200TW.

More choices are good. More choices mean more development.

Andy, I cleaned up the mess on aisle 5. Shame on endura, lol.

Daaaaaamn, that's sweet

Two years later....

WTF? Its not like the link is not sitting in my inbox due to the email notification, what kind of horse shit information suppression is this?

what just happened? I'd search, 'brown board etiquette'' but don't have internet.

Seriously. Since when do we suppress information on this board or give a rats ass about anyone else policies anywhere? This is some Miata.net level repression, not at all what I've come to expect from MT :td:

It is about respecting another board that has a close community that shares info with each other on the understanding that it stays within the group. It is a gentleman's agreement that what is talked about on there isn't linked to. If you go at it with a mindset of not respecting that groups policy, then they will eventually go completely private or contribute less.

Can someone reveal the name of this mystery board/forum, or is that restricted too?

If they were truly worried about it they should put it behind a login wall so it can't be directly linked or indexed.

Deleted to not be a grumpy dick. It's been a long week.

Oh trust me, I understand all of what you are saying. I think its kinda cool that they have this "gentleman's agreement" but to expect non-members not to disseminate publicly available information that is posted on an open forum in this day in age is just completely silly. It's like complaining that some newspaper photographer took your picture while you were out in public. :dunno:

And the NWA thing was a joke, I enjoy antagonizing the moderators whenever possible :giggle:

Easy there turbo, I'm closer to 40 than 30 at this point ;)

Loving the development that's still going into this platform. Excellent.

I know, right? I guess it helps that some of the bimmers and hondas still run our preferred tire sizes, very much makes it worth it for the manufacturers.

Anyone remember the weights on the v1 and v2 RS3? (full disclosure, I've not googled yet) I seem to remember them being really heavy compared to the (limited) number of other tires in 225 when I bought my v1. This is all just making it harder for me to decide on new tires.

So, given that 225/45-15 is faster on a 9" wheel, what do we give up if we go to a 245/40-15 on a 9" wheel or even an 8" wheel? Or is that too narrow?

I am not personally prepared to move to 10" with all the work necessary to make it fit. Will I be better off sticking with 245s?

All speculation of course.

A 245 on a 9 or an 8 will be faster than a 225 on a 9 or an 8, but it would not be as fast as a 245 on a 10.

With a 245 on a 9 you'd give up maybe a teeny bit of steering sharpness over a 225 on a 9, but it'll still be faster.

If the price jump isn't huge, this will be my path to 245's. The VR-1 was just too big of a price jump over the 225 RS-3 when I'm just vying for HPDE titles.

I am tired as hell and a little cranky. It was uncalled for, so sorry for that.

I feel like we saw that specific info picture for the RS4 a little over a year ago. It looks a little off for some reason. If it isn't, then I would love to have not only that tire faster, but in a 245. Next year really should be interesting. If only Yokohama would make the AD08R in a 225/45/15, then I wouldn't need anything else for our enduro stuff.

And it could be later still...at least for the RS4. My sources still have no specifics for US market availability. You'll note that the data sheet above is metric for weights...clearly not US market.

But that other one I mentioned is looking good for 1st quarter.

My experience with the 205 & 225's flies in the face of that analysis when talking about 200TW street tires. What I found was 205 on 8 = 225 on 8 for overall lap times, though they each did different things better. Not until the 225 was on a 9 was it faster.

Extrapolating to the next size jump would suggest that 225 on 9 = 245 on 9...with 245 on 10 finally being better.

Note that none of this applies to Hoosiers...

If you were racing a high powered miata in a 200 tw tire class......... Would you wait to see what this tire looked like before ordering Rivals S's for next year?

If you are willing to run on 15x10" wheels, yes. If on 9's...toss-up.

I suppose in this context, lap times =/= autox course times, correct?

https://shop.bfgoodrichtires.com/tir...-force-rival-s

If you download the Excel file on this link...... There's a 245/40/15 listed...... Mother of god

Big news. This is the kind of thing you build a car around and plan an attack on a particular class. Contact patch to weight ratio well above just about anything other than the Z06. The Z06 is an anomaly with such huge tires and relatively low weight.

Dan and I were speculating the 3rd rumored 245/40/15 would be the Rival-S and started doing a though exercise for a time attack NA with oh, 450whp. For the first time ever, it becomes a viable contender against the bigger 600whp+ cars at the mid level events.

Bingo.

I learned about this early last Spring shortly after I tubbed my fenders to fit 285 RE71R's. Had I known, I'd have gone a different route.

You were holding out on us Andy! This really should shake up the tire wars for next summer unless the RE71 take a big step.

I don't think it will have much effect on national autocross since you can't get a 10" wheel until you get to STU. And I don't think the tire will be any faster on a 9 than a 225...maybe a little.

As Emilio has noted, time attack stuff is where the big win will be.

The larger impact on autocross will come with the "1.5" version of the Rival-S in the 3-rib sizes. Consistently 3 tenths faster for the applications I am aware of (see GRM test for one data point).

My understanding is the the RE71R will not be iterated like the Rival has been or the Dunlop Z1/Z1*/ZII/ZII*. It will do it's full 5-6 year timeframe and be replaced.

Please get some 245's and break 1:17's at TMP

Just called BFG on the 245/40R15 Rival-S. Estimated release is mid-2017

Ehh, that's no good,...... Racing season starts in April for much of the country

LOL. You go from "Mother of God" excited to "that's no good" in less than 24 hours.

Something, something, gift horse, mouth, something.

:bang:

Lol, touché. I go through a set a tires a year, so it's either spend a track days worth of my racing budget on a second set of tires or wait a year to step up to what will probably become "the" tire to have.

Rival S isn't exactly a good "budget" tire for anything.

Excited. But, now I have to stretch out the current set of VR-1. Maybe "mid" will come early this year.

Tire Rack now has a page for the RS4, so seems legit for this year.

Hankook Ventus R-S4

$134 for 245/40

Interesting that they aren't listing it in 205/50 size, not that I would get them.

Just ordered a setof 245/40/15. Anxious to know if they are "Super" 200tws like the Rival-S or more regular 200tw like rhe RS3 V2

Subbed for the answer to this question. I really hope they wear like the rs3's.

Guess the tire rack shipment is expected mid march. Looking forward to info.

Interesting that the Tire Rack RS-4 page is redirecting to the tires by brand page now.

It's not even listed on Tirerack anymore.

Probably tired of the deluge of questions

Hankook Ventus R-S4

:likecat: I really like that price for the 245/40/15 TireRack has.. hopefully they perform well, I'm planning on getting a set of this first batch

They're on TR now, with an end-of-April release date.

BFGoodrich g-Force Rival S

Has anyone received these yet? Tire rack has a note about being available mid March but another line says they are in stock. They also show them shipping immediately if you add them to your cart.

Even just a durometer reading of these tires compared to an RS3 would help me decide. That brings up another point, does anyone here use a durometer? It's common in the circle track world but no one ever discusses it here.

Buy them and let us know :D