Why do some FR-S cars come with Michelins, and others Bridgestone?
 

I will be getting mine next week and they never asked which tire I preferred. However, the Hot Lava one I test drove had he Bridgestone all seasons. Is either brand better? I have had both brands in the past, but I don't understand why some would come with different tires, unless specified by the customer or dealer.

It's whatever was cheapest when the factory was restocking. I haven't heard any complaints but if you let the dealer know they may be able to get Michelins for you without any additional charge. (Since the car is advertised as coming with Michelins)

Edit: Some have claimed that it has to do with the weather but that's not entirely true, mine came with Michelin's in January and I've seen the Bridgestones in sunny California, people have reported getting Michelins recently in snowy areas as well so there's no real rhyme or reason.

I test drove a couple of Mazda3s (s and skyactiv) on those B'stones (Turanza 400-2 or something like that), and the handling feel was so bleh we decided to fix up our '05 Mazda3 s instead. Those tires are ranked dead last out of 21 "standard touring all season" tires (which is a crap category already) at Tire Rack. Why any manufacturer would put those tires on their cars as the OEM fitment is beyond me. Most likely cost Mazda a sale in our case.

Shitty tires drift better.

Seriously though, the intent might have been all seasons for cold weather inventory for the north but things got traded around, switched allocation etc.

The only other possibility I can imagine is for supply chain interruption to force that factory to accept a backup.

That's awesome that you get your FRS next week, another whiteout in the club.

The michelins are technically a summer tire while the bridgestones are all seasons. It seems like most 86s shipped to climates that experience colder weather have received the bridgestones, at least starting last fall, while some cars shipped to more southern states kept the michelins.

I really hope mine has the Michelins.

I would demand michelins if it were me

to the japanese "cheap" is good, "cheap" works! remember! margins,margins,margins!

It's too late now. I get whatever comes on the car.

i would lemon my car if it came with bridgestones:threadjacked:

Wouldn't worry about it. It's not like the Michelin Primacy's are worthy of the car either. But then again the awfulness of the B'stone Turanza EL400-02 was totally palpable in my Mazda3 test-drives. Those tires are probably in the running for the WORST all-around tires available from Tire Rack.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ay.jsp?type=ST

If I were buying one with these tires, I would budget another $750 for decent tires and sell the OEMs on craigslist. It makes zero sense to have a sweet-handling car on crap tires.

Shit. Now I'm worried.

For less than $500 you can get a set of Sumitomo HTR Z IIIs, mounted/balanced. Small price to pay to get tire performance on par with the car's.