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

[Clembo]

I got the Bridgestone A/S here in New England in February. They're OK at 16 degrees like today with another winter storm coming. I know they basically suck but being a cheap Yankee, they'll stay on until the tread's gone. Besides, it would just be a waste to put on better tires with the roads here as bad as they are these days. Potholes, frost heaves and huge cracks everywhere. With the roads like this I don't think the Bridgestones will last too long here anyway, especially the way I drive...

[Skurj]

Think the BRZ only comes with the michelins...

I made a deal with my dealer, keep the stock tires and install my lowering springs and wheels/tires in trade.

[that_guy]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

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.

This isn't true. Car is available with both Summer (Michelin) and All-Season (Bridgestone) tire specs out of the plant. The USA took both options and with dealer trading, you'll see different tires showing up in various regions.

Canada took only summer tires, so our units are all Michelin.

It has nothing to do with "cost" at the time of building the car.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by that_guy

This isn't true. Car is available with both Summer (Michelin) and All-Season (Bridgestone) tire specs out of the plant.

First time I've heard that, any documentation for that claim? Every promotional material I've seen spec's Michelins.

[husker741]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

First time I've heard that, any documentation for that claim? Every promotional material I've seen spec's Michelins.

I saw on the window sticker of a Hot Lava at my dealership it said All Season Tires (Bridgestone).

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by husker741

I saw on the window sticker of a Hot Lava at my dealership it said All Season Tires (Bridgestone).

Yeah I think I got confused, I thought he was mentioning something about the factory had official documentation that they spec'd Bridgestones for this car and that U.S.A. (scion/subaru) decided to import them, but I guess he was just saying that they come from the factory like that, which all evidence points to as true.

I still say that there isn't a rhyme or reason, any salesman I've spoken to just shrugs their shoulders and makes the weather excuse, nothing official backing it and no consistency.

[husker741]

Well either way, I'll just keep whatever tire comes on, burn the shit out of them, then have an excuse to get a nicer set of wheels and tires someday in the future.

[DarkSunrise]

Tried an autocross with the stock Turanzas. They're awful. Everyone thinks you're trying to be drift king out there, but it's the tires (and to a lesser degree, the stock suspension). Fun, but not fast.

I'll keep the Turanzas as cold-season tires though. The one saving grace about these is they're all-seasons.

Originally Posted by ZDan

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.

I ended up going this route. For anyone that's interested, Tire Rack has a sale going on right now, $82/ea.

[Nevermore]

The all-seasons came on my car and they do me pretty well. I'm not condoning the use of all-seasons in snowy areas, but somewhere like where I live they handle winter well enough. We rarely get heavy enough snow that the roads aren't clear the next day. I've personally had to drive it on light snow a couple of times (not exactly by choice) and going slow they didn't slip a bit. I'm actually pretty surprised by it, and happy she handles snow as well as she does.

[husker741]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

Tried an autocross with the stock Turanzas. They're awful. Everyone thinks you're trying to be drift king out there, but it's the tires (and to a lesser degree, the stock suspension). Fun, but not fast.

I'll keep the Turanzas as cold-season tires though. The one saving grace about these is they're all-seasons.



I ended up going this route. For anyone that's interested, Tire Rack has a sale going on right now, $82/ea.

Please God, stop tempting to buy more things. I just dropped a large sum at ft86speedfactory, I don't need anything else

[alex88]

Mine came with Bridgestones in SoCal...while I would prefer the Michelins, I was so happy to get my hands on a non-premium audio whiteout FRS last Novermber that I didn't care.

Long story short, 215 Bridgestones on this car handle way better than 225 general exclaim uhp [AA traction rating] (which I really liked) on a Toyota matrix.

Get the car and enjoy it!!! You can still take 25mph turns on a canyon at 50mph without a squeak

[husker741]

Just so you all know, I just went on to Consumer Reports and the top rated tire under the "Performance All Season" section was in fact.... Michelin Primacy MXV4's.

[MVJ1975]

The difference between the Primacy HP and the Primacy MXV4 is rather stark. I have no idea why Michelin runs them under the same Primacy banner.

The HPs are "Grand Touring Summer" tires. They're not horrible, but they're disgustingly expensive for the performance you get and they're a disaster in the wet.

The MXV4s are all-seasons, and pretty decent ones by all reports.

My FR-S came on Primacy HP but I junked them when I put my winters on. I've got Conti ExtremeContact DW going on for spring/summer/fall.

[GTM_Challenge]

The first thing I would do is take the OEM tires off the car anyways