Tire choice for 2nd gen
 

2nd Gen with 18” so looking for 225/40r18 tires. Intermediate driving level. Working on turn in and trail braking.

Stock PS4 are frustrating and don’t seem to hold up to track use. It seems like they can do one quick lap early in the session and then quickly fall off as they heat up.

I think consistency would be nice but not something that is super grippy and hard to get to the limit to practice what to do at the limit.

Maybe RS4? GT SX2 also seem popular, how does that compare to RS4 or PS4?

I’ve enjoyed PS4S and RE71 on other cars but not necessarily looking for the same with the 86.

Ok it looks like there’s no GT SX2 in this size.

I’m probably looking at
PS4S (not PS4)
Ad052
RE71Rs
RT660 (sold out)
RS4

RS4 all the way, nothing else in your list is designed for pounding out hot laps at 10/10ths with consistency, they’ll all overheat and fall off unless you manage them.

If you want a tire that is relatively quick, wears very slowly, and won't get greasy from overheating so you can just pound out laps you can't go wrong with the RS4

Yeah, if lap times are not a priority, RS4 all the way. FWIW I ran the same lap times on borrowed RS4s at NHMS (South Oval) as I did on my street Conti ExtremeContact Sport tires, but the RS4 felt a lot more responsive and more like a "track tire". Anyway they are probably ~1-1.5 seconds off A052/RE71RS pace at most tracks FWIW.

RS4 is the obvious answer here, unless budget isn't an issue, then I'd suggest the Conti ECForce (assuming they come in an acceptable size). I have the Conti on the Miata and love them. They don't seem to need as much heat to work and hold up to heat about as well as the RS4. Time will tell on longevity, but so far so good. Only thing is they're expensive.

I don't really see a reason to run anything other than RS4s unless you're going for something specific in competition. You can't ask for a better tire to learn on.

Did you mean to say ExtremeContact Force? The Sports and RS4s are leagues apart.

No, ExtremeContact *Sport*, the 300+ treadwear Max Perf street tire.
Should note my bud's RS4s were on *heavy* Drag DR31 wheels, while my Conti ECS (at about half tread depth) were on 16 lb. WedsSport TC105n. Ran the same lap times on both, ~1-1.5s off the 200tw pace IIRC.

How many heat cycles on the RS4s? Did the ECS cycle out or wear out before?

Not sure of heat cycles on RS4s, but I've driven on them before and they're always significantly behind RE71R/A052/etc. Didn't seem to be relatively better or worse in this case. I still have the ECS, they're a little past half-worn. I only tracked on them for practice for one season (2020) and they barely have gotten used otherwise as I've run 200tw street/track during warm months and winter tires in cold months for the past coupla years...

Thanks for the input. I’ll give the RS4 a try on the next tire change!

look for the SX2 RS or something. It was created in mind for Gen 2

SX2 will have a larger plateau than RS4, and cost a lot less.