I'm not even to 13,000 miles and I'm getting low on rubber with these Pirelli's. I'm considering the new S-03's, which got good reviews on Tire Rack. Supposedly they're quieter, don't lose composure on the grooves as easily, and have significantly better performance dry and wet.

They are definitely expensive, though. I would hope the S-03's will last a bit longer. Anybody have experience with these?

Any comments highly appreciated...

Oh, and it's raining in the Valley. I've been eager to give quattro a real test on the curves. Last time it rained (what, six months ago?) I was still having a blast tossing my Mazda around the curves. That makes me even more eager to get the S-03's.

 

They have a lower rating. I don't have experience with the S-03s, but I like my P Zeroes. They have about 5K and have barely any visible wear. If you really want your tires to last significantly longer, you'll probably have to drive them less hard.

S-03s are definitely not quieter, check the ratings again. They are significantly louder than P Zeroes. I do hear they are better on grooves though. I don't understand why, but pretty much everyone says so.

 

... on an S8. Also take a look at the follow-up post, "S-03 braking, postscript".<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a8/msgs/5405.phtml">Dunlop SP8000 vs Bridgestone S-03</a></li></ul>

 

usefull when comparing a Bridgestone to another Bridgestone, but not to tires in another company's offerings.

Your milage may vary...

HTH

 

I just got these for my S4 Avus wheels in 235/45 ZR 17 size. I previously had the RE040. I have had 2 cases of balancing problems with Pirellis in the past and did not want to go there again. Anyway the 730's get great reviews on Tirerack and I like them. A touch noisier than I expected but otherwise a good compromise on performance/cost.

 

Now I have the p6000s that come with the 17" PST sport package on my 2001 2.7t. The SP8000 definitely had better grip than the P6000 so if the S-03 is better than the SP8000 you shold be very happy with them. By the way the SP8000 was a soft compound tire so they probably didn't wear very well (I don't know for sure because I got rid of the car at 10k). I don't know about the S-03 compound.

 

I'm confused. TireRack gives the following values...S-03 on the left, PZero on the right.

HANDLING RATING 9.30 8.60
DRY TRACTION 9.6 8.9
WET TRACTION 9.6 6.7
SNOW TRACTION N/A N/A
RIDE COMFORT 8.6 6.6
NOISE COMFORT 8.7 6.4
WEAR 7.7 5.6

Shouldn't this place the S-03's far above the P-Zero's?

Also, the S-03's have a treadwear rating of 220, with the P-Zero's at 140. So, theoretically, the S-03's should last 60% longer. Also, if you look at the feedback on the P-Zero's, there are several complaints about noise, harsh ride and tread wear. I do see many compliments on the performance of the tire, though.

Also, the P-Zero's are only rated for ZR, not YR. No, I'm not likely to get to 168 mph, but it's good to know that there's some headroom if I try to bang up against 135 mph.

Are there other ratings I should be looking at?<ul><li><a href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare2.jsp?compare=true&partNumber=&make=&model= &price=&width=255%2F&ratio=40&diameter=17&sortCode =&speedRating=&qty=&stockMessage=&type=T&URL=&newC ompare=true&goWhere=%252Ftires%252FCompare1.jsp%25 3Fq

 

Pzero Rosso is 240 rated.
I compared tireracks opinion on the S-03. S-02(BMW) and Rosso.
Thats BS on the Ride and Noise between the S-02 and Rosso( so I cant feel warm and fuzzy on the S-03 rating). THe Rosso's are much quieter ( i have had both of these on the car)and ride nicer.
Rosso's trammel more than the old S-02. S-02 had better grip than the Rosso's.
The S-03's supposedly give better dry and wet grip than the Rosso's. But as far as being quieter than the Pirelli, your best bet is too ask the wheel/tire forum about real life conditions. The only reason I brought up the S-02 in all this was to show that the ratings on tirerack are not the bible. S-02's have much more road noise than the Rosso.
Treadwear was posted on the Pzero and some people have had a problem with them wearing strangely.
I have no bias toward the Pirelli, hell I didnt even buy them, got them for free, my next tires will probably be the S-03's or Toyo T1-s. But for now the Rosso's seem fine.

 

See link of actual tests below, the S03s get a 7.23 in noise ride comfort, and the P-Zeroes get a 7.45. Higher is better, as mentioned in the article.

Also the following text is contained within:
'On the road, the PZero Rosso Asimmetrico was praised for its ride comfort and low noise level (the best of the three tires) while providing real world handling that's appropriate for the max performance category.'

It says here the noise level is "the best of the three tires" (P Zero, S-03, Pilot). Sounds pretty definite to me.

Now look at the following two links:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp?make=Pirelli&model=PZero+Rosso+Asimmetric o
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp?make=Bridgestone&model=Potenza+S-03+Pole+Position

The P Zero treadwear rating is 240, not 140. The S03 rating is 220. This should mean the P Zero last longer. Of course that may not be the case for everyone.

The ratings you show are user ratings. Users rarely own both tires and don't get a chance to do more objective comparisons. This is why Tirerack does tests. The ratings I report are test ratings.

Finally, when it comes to tire speed ratings, you don't understand them. I have to agree they are confusing though.

First of all, Z is typically used as the highest rating of all. P Zeros are sold on the Porsche 911 Turbo which goes faster than 186 which is the top of the Y range.

Aside from that, lets compare the ratings of the S-03 and P Zero in the size I use (235/45-R17):

S-03:
235/45YR17 94Y SL
P Zero Rosso:
235/45YR17 94Y SL Vertical Letters

Both are Y rated tires. You may have seen a 235/45ZR17 94Y listing instead. In this case, the Y at the end of the 94 is the speed rating, and thus it is a Y even though it says ZR in the middle.

See the link below:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/speed.htm<ul><li><a href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/bs_s03_rd.html">http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/bs_s03_rd.html</a</li></ul>

 

...but the manufacturers rarely get checked by NHTSA anymore. There used to be a test lab down in Texas, but it was closed due to funding issues.

Lack of checking may very well lead to cheating, but if any major manufacturer got caught, there would be hell to pay in terms of sales, I'd bet. I'd guess the ratings on the sides of each tire are pretty close for that reason.