![]() |
Thinking about going back to the stock Primacy's
I was 5 years in on the stock Primacy's holding strong. Then about a year ago, I got two flats at the same time due to something on the road.
I wasn't trying to research tires at the time, so I told 'em to gimme the cheapest tires they got. I received "Zenna Sport Line", at around 60$ or 70$ a pop. Of course, you get what you pay for. I'm a year in on the tires, but man it been a rough year. lmao The stock FR-S should not be spinning out from a red light for a solid 7 seconds every time it rains. I barely press the gas. I'm thinking about going back to the stock tires because I never had any issues with them. They seemed good to me. But it could be that these new tires are such garbage that it makes them look good. Are there better tires than the Primacy's for cheaper? I see my local dealer is selling them for 276$ each. |
Quote:
|
If you are set on primacys many people get rid of their good condition stock tires to upgrade.
They're usually dirt cheap a few hundred a set at most. Not sure what the FT86 community is like in your area but that can be a good place to start. |
+1 if you can find a used set of Primacy local or willing to ship for <$400 then go for it, they're decent at that price point as a long lasting Touring tire. They are currently $237/each on Tirerack right now in OE size, 100% not worth that much money.
If you're buying new and it snows where you live and you don't want to have a second set of snow tires/have another snow vehicle then Pilot Sport AS3 is the go to. If you're buying new and your car never sees <35°F then a Max Performance Summer tire is probably what you're looking for. Here's a helpful tirerack link, any should be decent, just decide how much money you want to spend. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...dex=0#allTitle Although I've never heard anything great about Pirelli street car tires. |
As noted above, you can get WAY better tires with WAY more wet and dry grip for WAY less $$$
Research tire tests and customer survey results at tirerack.com Pay particular attention to wet test results! For guaranteed zero usage in snow and/or ice conditions, Max Performance Summer tire category probably best bet. Extreme Performance Summer if ultimate grip and handling feel are more important, Ultra High Performance Summer if longer life and maybe ride comfort/noise are more important. Even if you *might* have to drive in some snow and/or ice conditions, look at Ultra High Performance all-season category. |
If there's anywhere you get your money's worth, its tires. Not every expensive tire great, but none of the good tires will be cheap. Good tires will be money well spent.
|
1 Attachment(s)
Quote:
From the link. LOL |
%100 agree with others here... I can't think of a single positive about the Primacy, unless you can get excited about low rolling resistance...
Many other very good/better options available... just avoid "cheap" tyres. |
positives to low rolling resistance? Indirectly plentiful, if we forget handicapped main property, grip that is. Better fuel economy, longer lasting tires (low rolling resistance often comes together with higher wear rating .. and unfortunately less grip), lesser emissions thus less road tax and possibly also lower car price, as i'm guessing that car manufacturers might pay in some countries different taxes or have different incentives from gov-t for selling cars that are certified to better or worse emission standards .. probably passing extra costs to customer within final purchase price.
In my eyes, while cons of stock primacies are lacking wet grip and high price, they have their pros of their limited grip well matching limited NA stock power fun-wise, have stiffer sidewalls then many in eco-tires class providing tighter turn-in feel, last reasonably long (which reduces high cost importance). Yes, high cost of primacies makes them less desirable purchase as next set, but it's not con for "free" initial set on new car. And i'm not sure that our sporty use and prioritizing speed, thus also grip, should also be attributable to priority list of normal daily drivers that never been to track .. but who outnumber us at least 10 times. |
Quote:
I struggle to think that many people buy an 86 or BRZ primarily for the excitement of fuel economy reasons (if they did, a Subaru flat 4 will negate any benefits). The Primacy is not even a very good low grip tyre...it might have relatively limited grip (which in itself is no bad thing), but the way the tyre "communicates" its limits is very poor....and even worse in the wet. Being an "Eco" tyre, Primacy stiff sidewalls were designed for fuel economy rather than "turn in feel"...which is affected by many different factors. I have never found the Primacy to have great turn in feel...on any car I have driven with them fitted... from BMW's to VW delivery vans. If a tyre has "stiff" side walls, that does not mean it will automatically provide "tighter turn-in feel". The shoulders of the tyre, the make up and spread of the compounds used, block patterns, temperature, pressures etc....and the simple mechanical "grip" of the rubber all impact initial "turn in" of a given design. Tyres aren't free because they come with the car, we pay for them, and a car like the twins deserves better (again I'm not meaning amount of grip). Lets not kid ourselves, they were/are fitted because of cost (ie fitted to endless Prius, 86, Camry etc means great bulk deals....) I see the Primacy as a clumsy 1 dimensional tyre, from (probably) the greatest tyre manufacturer in the world at the moment. |
Quote:
|
|
Plenty of good tires out there for less.
Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:57 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2026, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
User Alert System provided by
Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Lite) -
vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2026 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.