My stock Primacy review
 

I see a lot of people talk about how slow the Primacy's are for sporting events and I think a lot of people have the wrong idea about them so I want to talk about my experience learning to drive on track and autocross with them this year.

I'll talk a bit about myself first. I've been driving for 4 years now and bought my 6MT BRZ in July last year and started learning to drive stick while driving it home from the dealer. I spent this last year learning track and autocross on a bone stock BRZ including the Primacy's. I had my very first event on a pouring wet trackday in April this year. In total, I had 4 track days and 10 autocross events ever. I started this season with 7/32 rear, 6/32 fronts. The stock Primacy's are now finished:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psohukhfmd.jpg

About the chunking that took off the shoulder of this tire, the chunking started after the 8th autocross event I did and the photo above was taken after the 9th event. This was when I started seeing serious improvements in my placement from 11/12 at the beginning of the season to 5/11 at event 9. I suggest getting some camber bolts and dial in some negative camber in the front to prevent this. Don't forget to get an alignment. Even for novices this is a good idea, it will help improve turn in and even out wear.

Now I think the real high point about learning on these tires is their consistency. This isn't something I see people talking about but I've done events on them in a variety of conditions, anywhere from 14c/57f in the pouring rain to a bright and sunny 32c/90f and within this range, they were very consistent for me as a novice. The hottest day was a track day with 30 minute sessions and I never felt the grip levels drop. Something else not a lot of people talk about is that they're very good in the wet compared to most extreme performance summer tires. Certainly better than the RS3s and Z2SS. I know when I started that I was like "I just won't attend raining events" but this isn't realistic, especially for track days where backing out at the last minute will forfeit your deposit.

Now, the problem I have is that I see a lot of people talk about the Primacy's grip like you might as well be driving on black ice compared to extreme performance tires but it's not that bad. They have a 240 treadwear rating and the grip level of the tire reflects that. At the highest levels, it's a difference of a second or two tops. So many people hammer that 1 or 2 seconds will make all the difference and at nationally competitive levels, maybe it is important but for us novices, 1 or 2 seconds doesn't matter. You might go from 17/20 to 15/20. Still a poor showing either way right? And then there is always that guy on 340tw all seasons that is still several seconds faster than you and that just looks bad now doesn't it? At least we can still blame it on our tires. :thumbup:

The Primacy's also have a bunch of other properties that are desirable while trying to learn. For instance, when you pass the limit of grip, you either understeer or start sliding away, not like the extreme performance tires that just snap away on you. I've driven my friends RX-8 on RS3s and it gripped very well but if you lose it, it is a spin out, no matter what.

Recently I had CS leader drive my car for a fun run so I could get an idea of what the car was capable of. He managed a 1:19. Of course, my best time that day was 1:23. What I'm trying to say is that while you're still new and learning, you aren't going to be able to take advantage of the full grip from the stock tires anyways, moving up to a stickier tire right away will do you no good. Learn to drive a slow tire fast first and then the fast tires will be even better when you get to them.

In summary, the Primacy's have plenty of grip and a lot of desirable properties for someone who is new to high performance driving. They are consistent for lapping in high temperatures, grip doesn't snap away when you've gone beyond their limits and they have excellent wet performance. They are a very good general purpose tire for high performance events, especially when you're still a novice.

More seat time and receiving competent training is always best performance upgrade. But for many psychologically it's harder to accept, as easier to fault something else as holding back, hence throwing money on miscellaneous upgrades is more common.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7iUKaPlBl8"]Trackday Comedy - FLAT OUT - YouTube[/ame]

The only part where they are not so good is in the cold and wet where they can be quite snappy. They improve if you can get temperature in them but usually that is not an option during daily driving.... But amending that usually means a softer tyre that takes more of a beating when it's hot and dry.

Indeed, grip does fall off when it gets cold but they are like any other summer tire and are rated for ambient temperatures above 7c/45f. Below this temperature, you should really be looking at a different type of tire such as a performance winter tire.

I agree with the OP. I have done 1x autocross & 3x track events on the stock tires. I learned so much on those tires until my last track event. I had mastered the tires and needed more grip. But before the "more grip" attitude, the car in its stock form was way faster than I was willing to go.

The OP has some good advice. To novice drivers like myself the first modification to make your car faster is to get on the track and learn a thing or two.

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How many miles are folks getting out of these in daily driving? I'm at about 15k on my stock primacys and after one rotation, all 4 are almost to the wear bars. Is that common? I should mention that I have a lot of fun in my commute.

@Lynxis

Great review!

I got a nice set of gently used Primacy's to sell you. Cheap :)

Anyone else?

I got ~20000kms/12000 miles out of mine before they looked like that but had moderate tracking and autocrossing on them so I can't really say what they wear like just for daily driving. That said, Michelin does offer a warranty discount program which you may want to read up on. If the wear looks normal (mine clearly doesn't but maybe yours does) then you are eligible for a discount on replacement tires based on how early they wore out on you. You can put that discount towards say a Super Sport if you wanted to.

Haha thanks but I'm moving on to something stickier next year! GLWS!

I enjoyed the stockers while they lasted, I will admit I have over rubbered my car now and lost the tossable fun nature of the car. When it comes time again for tires I will make the adjustment to a narrower size.

This sounds more like an issue with the car... I track my FR-S on RS3's and they're very easy to control after the limit.

It's great to hear an opinion on the stock Primacys from someone who actually used them thoroughly. I don't think the tire is that bad on its own, but I think the tires hold our cars back more than just a couple seconds faster lap time. The car feels restricted.

Personally, I find the Primacys squeal too much and struggles show the true handling performance of our cars.

I don't know about other performance summer tires, but I've been to autocross a few times on Falken FK452's and they're not snappy at all. I feel like my car rotates on a dime.

To be honest, it's more likely an issue with the driver (me) than anything else. He doesn't spin out but he's also a much better driver than me and is used to the limits of his car. I'm barely reaching the limits of the Primacy's and then I'm driving his car which is semi-STX prepped and the limits are so much higher on his car, I just kept pushing and pushing and when it finally stepped out, it was way too quick and violent for me to catch.

How was having your first track day being in the rain? My first event is this weekend it's looking like it's going to rain. I'm also planning on using the stock Primacy tires as well.

It's scary as hell but you'll learn the most about car control in the rain so if given the opportunity, you should take it.

Advice: Keep traction control full on and just take it easy. As long as you aren't in a situation that is beyond the TCs ability to correct, you shouldn't end up in any trouble this way. Brake very early, slow down a lot more than you think you need to for the next corner and wait until you are completely straight before putting down power again and you'll be fine.

Focus on learning the line and how to hit it.