Review: FFI500 vs RE760 vs Michelin PSS

There is very little data on this brand new UHP Summer tire; Firestone Firehawk Indy 500. Making matters worse is it replaces an All Season Tire with the same name in the Firestone line up, so lots of old info out there. I thought I would share for those considering the Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport and the Michelin Pilot Super Sport which I have recent experience.

Tire is a bargain and currently has a $60 rebate.

I know lots of Bimmerheads that like the RE760 so I thought I would post my impressions. Bridgestone is the largest tire manf. in the world and they own Firestone.

I just bought some of these, the price is 1/2 the PSS and an update/refresh of the Bridgestone RE760.

This is a marketing slide, but for improvements made to the RE760, see the link below. This is an international site, in the US, the RE002 is the RE760, the RE003 is the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500.

This site has a graph of the differences between the RE002 and RE003.
http://ift.tt/1Woh7eg

Just did a run with the tires over mostly B and C pavement, some pretty damn bad and some fair high-speed highway and then carved some canyon that has crap and smooth pavement.

This tire is very nice, about the same noise level as the PSS and the 760 and has very good manners over the road. Easy to drive.
Easier turn-in than the PSS, and less of a dead spot on center vs the 760
Ride over crap pavement is improved over the Michelin, making driving much less of a chore when the pavement is really bad.
I can drive with one hand with little effort whereas the Michelin required two, can't recall the effort on the 760
When is comes to cornering, the Michelin PSS is like playing fetch with a Labrador Retriever, ears forward, tongue out, begging you to throw the ball again! "Can we play!, huh! Can we turn again! Can we!" The FFI500 is more relaxed and not as direct as the PSS, which is what you would expect
in an UHP vs Max performance tire.
The 760 had a bit of a delay on center, this tire has a tiny one, almost unnoticeable. The Super Sports are near telepathic in this respect with instant turn-in.
Tires aren't really broken in, so threshold braking seems longer, hopefully that improves.
Certainly a bit more compliance in the sidewall and tread squirm than that PSS, hence the more compliant ride.
Not sure, but there has been reports of flat spotting when parked overnight, I felt a little I think, seemed to be gone after 5 miles.
Tire wear rating is 340 same as the RE760. Some have had wear issues, some good tire life, this tire does NOT have a tread wear warranty.
These have a rim protection bead.
These mounted look slightly narrower than the PSS that they replaced in the same size.

Love the (relatively) compliant ride, it will never be confused as a touring tire, but improvement over both 760 and the PSS. The Michelin
MXM4 was the king of quiet & smooth over crap pavement, I had those originally on the car. But that tire is a touring A/S tire, and could never do what these tires do when pushed hard.

I found myself really enjoying the drive and not focusing on the tires after awhile, which is a good thing. I was doing 7/10ths and loving it.

Blew by an ///M6 Grand Coupé at arrest me speed, he didn't want to play : ((. Gorgeous car, oh my.

I mounted 255/35R18's on my APEX wheels, square set-up, for $111 a tire!!! Rebate pays for my mount and balance, nice. I also found two bent wheels in need of repair, bummer.

Hoping these aren't too much of a step down from the PSS at the track for HPDE events. Some forum memebers over at Grassroots Motorsports are excited about their sporty nature.

I would recommend these to anyone looking for a UHP or Max performance tire on a budget.

Honestly, all three of these tires are great choices.

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Last edited by S62PWR; Today at 06:54 PM.

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Review: FFI500 vs RE760 vs Michelin PSS