Michelin PSS vs Federal 595RS-R

[churchx]

biggie: well, PS4S in dry are somewhat similar to PSS, it's wet grip that has been improved, and a bit better wear. (PS4 not far, less standing up at overheat/track abuse, further a bit better wet grip and possibly wear. And while it's easy to get 17" PS4 in EU, imho they are a bit short for hybrid DD/track tire)
Though in your case main problem is lacking camber (especially front) for specific type of use, not tire's. With wrong alignment for track use, all tires will wear wrong, ripping/wearing mostly outer sides they happen to lean on with your current alignment, when car leans on outer tire in fast turns on track. Get front camber to at least -3, rear to -2, and you'll get much better wear and grip with whichever tire you'll use on track due more even contact patch.
Hmm, if you have 18", i'd also consider continental sport contact 6, goodyear eagle f1 supersport alongside AD08R & GTRSX2.

[biggie]

It took me a few hours but here's the "analysis"

It seems I have to choose between AD08R and R1R (both at 225/40) with the Toyo being a bit lighter than Yokohama.

[biggie]

Originally Posted by churchx

Hmm, if you have 18", i'd also consider continental sport contact 6, goodyear eagle f1 supersport alongside AD08R & GTRSX2.

It seems the Continentals are only made from 19".
Goodyear seems like a very good option (price is even lower than my 2 options above) but for some reason there are no specs to be found anywhere (treadwear and weight). I'll keep searching.

L.E. Worth mentioning that I just recently had the camber bolts installed, so the PSS were fried before that (with stock camber). I hope to start the next season with new coilovers (and decent camber).

[churchx]

I'd probably drop weight from things to care much about. Those 2kg from lightest to heaviest .. i had weight drop of 3kg, when changed stock wheels to forged ones. Yes, some difference could be felt, but it was far from revolutionary. Imho other things, like dry and wet grip, subjective handling feel, wear, resilience to track abuse, price, matter much more then weight, which is more of "nice to have", but can be easily ignored if tire does well on more important areas.

Also seems a bit weird to see rather different tires in list, as if PS4 & Cup2 different. Imho for learning it's more worth to keep tire grip moderate, as grippier track oriented tires will have compromised wet grip, bad cold grip for daily driving, better going with less compliant suspension/bushings/stiffer spring rates and higher requirements of brakes, more budget required due high wear rates/less lasting tires.

Yes, better fit for track use camber will help a lot with more even wear and more grip off same tires. Think ahead of means to get it though. For example, if coilovers have camberplates in set or not, if their mount holes are slotted, as otherwise you may need to buy camberplates separately. Or use other means for extra front camber, eg. pedders top mount, camberbolt set for other strut mount hole, powerflex rear bushing for front lca-s and such. And for upping camber in rear budget in adjustable rear LCAs.

Also don't dig that long/deep into tire choice. Whichever you end up with, actual driving on track, rising experience/seat time, HPDE tutoring received, will rise speed/lower laptime much more then spending that time/money on mods. Even if some tires will be cheaper, some more expensive, even if some will grip more, some less, even if some will last more, some less. Just drive, drive, drive on whichever of them. Maybe switching to another for next set. Trying out several. Maybe moving back to some previously tried for one of future sets. Tires are important, but just wearables for actual goal, having driving fun.

[Goingnowherefast]

If you are considering time attack, why don't you select fast tires instead?

First of all, they don't even sell the PSS anymore.
Secondly, the Federals are a cheap tire. They are slow compared to almost any of the super 200 TW tires, they are loud compared to any 300 TW street tire, and from a dynamics standpoint they are quite poor. They do not communicate well, and they get quite greasy at pretty low temps.

Tires are the most important part of a performance car, pick the right tool for the job.

[Tristor]

After reading this thread, I'd heavily recommend the Yokohama AD08Rs. PSS/PS4S chunk badly under hard track usage, but are otherwise an amazing tire, but not appropriate for your use case. The AD08Rs will be a great choice for a high performance tire you can daily on and track on, I do this right now as well with Hankook RS4s. I strongly prefer the AD08R over the RS4, fwiw. The treadwear rating of RE71Rs is basically a lie, they grease quickly on track under hard lapping and don't last very long even with street driving. Federals are garbage.

I think you'll be very happy with the AD08Rs.

If you are wanting to post the best times possible you should get a set of wheels just for track use and run the grippiest tire you can, and then run the AD08Rs or PS4S (whatever your comfort level is) for daily use. While some tires (RE71R) are grippier than AD08Rs, you'll find that they are quite quick anyhow.

[churchx]

Goingnowherefast: they still sell PSS in EU. They don't - PS4S (of 17" & 18" size selling only in US, EU sizing offered only of 19/20/21" for exotics).
Tristor: i have my suspicions that if time attack is somewhat of official event, not just another type of trackday for fun, then there might be also class regulations at play anyway.

[biggie]

Originally Posted by churchx

Imho other things, like dry and wet grip, subjective handling feel, wear, resilience to track abuse, price, matter much more then weight, which is more of "nice to have", but can be easily ignored if tire does well on more important areas

The requirements were:
- from competition: street legal tires | treadwear >139 | no Sport Cup
- from me: DD + TimeAttack/Trackday use, newbie friendly, decent price

Based on these I simply gathered options from various reviews/suggestions and compiled that list complete with all the details I could find to make things easier given there are so many options. Since availability (in my country) proved to be quite a limiting factor I'm simply left with just 3-4 options but I posted the full list in the hope would help others not wasting time.

All the other things you mention should be taken in considerations are the reason I'm asking you guys, those come from experience and are not on a specs sheet

From my experience wheel weight can be quite important on low torque engines so that was an important criteria for me, but since I never used proper track tires I have no idea if the added grip will account for the added weight. My first mod was lighter wheels (OZ Alleggerita HLT)...

Right now my top 3 is (in this order):
1. AD08R (mostly thanks to recommendations here)
2. R1R
3. PSS (might reconsider once I find more info on GY F1 SuperSport like track use resilience and treadwear)

There's also a GY F1 SuperSport R with the same limited info available.

[churchx]

AFAIK GYF1 Supersport R is more positioned as Cup2 like track tires with little/compromised but possible DD use (also A052, Pirelli Trofeo R, R888R, GITI GTR3),
GYF1 supersport non-R in dual-use category of PSS, PS4S, contis sportcontact 6, AD08R, GTR SX2,
GY Asymmetric 5 in category of street tires like non-S PS4 & conti premiumcontact 6.

I might be wrong though with categorizing these, as i have no own experience with more track oriented tires, usually getting hybrid use ones of "PSS class".
I guess there might be more/better info on track tires in threads of this forum section of tracking, vs current section that is a bit too generic about tires.

[biggie]

@Goingnowherefast not sure what do you mean by "fast tires" but I'm curious if any of my top3 (above) qualifies as one

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by biggie

@Goingnowherefast not sure what do you mean by "fast tires" but I'm curious if any of my top3 (above) qualifies as one

Is everything in your spreadsheet allowed in the series you want to race in?
What is your current alignment?

I'd wager the RE71R if you don't have much camber (<3° up front) or the A052 if you have plenty of camber (>3° up front) will result in the fastest lap time when driven well.
Other tires on your list will last longer and may be more consistent over a longer lapping session (>10 minutes)

[Icecreamtruk]

Originally Posted by biggie

@Goingnowherefast not sure what do you mean by "fast tires" but I'm curious if any of my top3 (above) qualifies as one

Your 3 tire choices are among the slowest of your whole list. Yokos A052 and Bridgestones RE71R will blow anything on that list out of the water by a mile. I know the yokos are expensive but its the best tire I've driven, including several entry level R compounds (easier to drive AND faster).

Your priorities are your own and fast times isnt the end all be all. Just saying that if you selected those tires thinking they were fast and that you would post lap times similar to anyone on the same cars but on the above mentionned tires, you are in for quite the surprise.

[Goingnowherefast]

Originally Posted by biggie

@Goingnowherefast not sure what do you mean by "fast tires" but I'm curious if any of my top3 (above) qualifies as one

Tires are literally the most important thing on a performance car. The tires you mention are extremely slow compared to the below list.

Super 200's (all fast, in no real order):

-AO52
-RE71R
-Rival S 1.5
-Direzza Star Spec ZIII

TLDR: Tires are so important, don't skimp out.

[strat61caster]

If you don't want to spend the money on A052s (since RE71Rs aren't easily available) my third choice would be the AD08 or the R1R.