Suggestions on New Tires

[rvrrun]

I am contemplating my options of replacing the Cup 2's that came on my 5BW with PP. I've been researching and the PS4S seems like the obvious choice but I would love input from those who have had a BW (or multiple) longer than I have. I don't plan to track the car and am more concerned with what I've read about the Cup 2 and water. I frequently go to Lake Havasu and, while I don't plan on driving the car in bad weather, a monsoon popping up unexpectedly happens there. My choices are to let the Cup 2's wear themselves out (3-5k miles I understand) and replace with the PS4S, or remove the factory wheels and tires and sell them and replace with the Apex VS-5RS and PS4S. Since I don't plan to track the car I don't really see a reason to keep the originals. What tires other than the PS4S should I look at, and should I reconsider keeping the factory wheels/tires?

 

[Melon]

Wheels are purely subjective, but I have a set of V5-5RS and think they look amazing, so I'm definitely a plan for that.
I have PS4S on my CT4 and love them.

This is a really good guide to help look at all the tests on summer tires.

Tire Rack

The leader is the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02.
I've used Continental tires on many of my vehicles and loved them as well.

Tire Rack

 

[CB34]

Bear in mind that the PS4S's that come on the 5BW are a TPC manufacturer spec - they are different from the regular PS4S's. However, Michelin does make the regular PS4S's that match the stock sizes.

Another thing to bear in mind is that most of the performance gain on the PP cars come from the Sport Cup 2's - if you track the car a lot, I'd recommend getting a street set of tires on a different set of wheels and swap the SC2's on when you need them.

 

[rvrrun]

Thank you, CB34. I was not aware of that and exactly why I asked these questions. I also watched a video and a Cadillac engineer stated that the PP was designed around the Cup 2, but not tracking the car I assume that won't be a factor for me.

 

[Carguyshu]

The PS4 that is TPC spec was designed specifically for the blackwing. They went through a lot of different iterations to land on what they did. Any comparison test with regular PS4s from places like Tire Rack wouldn't apply here as the tread pattern is really all that is similar. there is a lot of cup2 compound blended into the outer tread blocks in the TPC spec PS4

 

[Melon]

Is this true for the CT4 as well? I didn't notice any performance difference in the OEM tires and the ones I put on my Apex wheels.

 

[BW56M]

According to Michelin's web site, PS4's are available in Cadillac spec.

 

[Melon]

Tire rack has them too, I wasn't aware of the TPC spec.
I went with wider after installing my Apex wheels, so that's out the window once you deviate from OEM sizes.

 

[rdollie]

So long as you're not driving in temps below the low 40s, is get the TPC PS 4S (I've bought several sets from Costco). They're great on the street and respectable on a track in part because 61% of their construction is the same polymer as the Cup 2 tire. If you use them in a heavy rain, just slow down a bit (I daily them in Metro Seattle with no issues in over 100k miles between the V3 and 5BW).

 

[Merlette]

Bear in mind that the PS4S's that come on the 5BW are a TPC manufacturer spec - they are different from the regular PS4S's.

Indeed. My order lists an RPO ROF - Tires, 19" Foam front, Summer only. Here's a pic of the noise suppression foam from elsewhere in this forum. Other criteria heard and read around the Web includes specifics on tread compound distribution, sidewall flex, and even a curb rash protection ridge.

 

[Sergio]

I put some Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 V2 on my 4BW. The ride is better and they are better in the rain than the Michelins. Not tracking the car. The original Indy 500’s weren’t rated for the BW but these are. Got them from Tire Rack and had Discount Tire mobile install put them on at home.

 

[Carguyshu]

discount tire and tirerack are now one and the tire prices are the same. mounting and roadforce balancing at least where i'm at is the lowest i could find. if you are part of the cadillac v club you get 10% off at discount tire plus you get an additional 10% back via a rebate with michelin. the membership quickly pays for itself if you're in the market for tires.

 

[Merlette]

The PS4 that is TPC spec was designed specifically for the blackwing.

https://www.cadillacvnet.com/forums/attachments/1694624436532-png.21733/

 

[rdollie]

discount tire and tirerack are now one and the tire prices are the same. mounting and roadforce balancing at least where i'm at is the lowest i could find. if you are part of the cadillac v club you get 10% off at discount tire plus you get an additional 10% back via a rebate with michelin. the membership quickly pays for itself if you're in the market for tires.

If I could find a cheaper option than Costco, I'd take it but their pricing includes installation, road hazard, rotations (not really relevant with our staggered sizes), and balancing. The warranty alone has paid off a couple of times for me.

 

[rvrrun]

This is all great information, and I really appreciate the knowledge here. I had no idea there would be a vehicle specific compound.

As stated in my intro thread, we I build hot rods from scratch. The learning curve on modern cars is steep, I'm not much good at anything but gas and oil.

 

[rdollie]

Indeed. My order lists an RPO ROF - Tires, 19" Foam front, Summer only. Here's a pic of the noise suppression foam from elsewhere in this forum. Other criteria heard and read around the Web includes specifics on tread compound distribution, sidewall flex, and even a curb rash protection ridge.

There's multiple TPC specs out there (with and w/o foam as I recall) but the actual TPC code is stamped on the sidewall making it easier to identify.

 

[Kawman]

Here's what the TPC Spec tire looks like. In 18" they only come in 255/35 and 275/35, which are the OEM tires for the 4BW.

 

[Z28]

One more data point I don’t think I saw mentioned here in the thread - the OEM Cup2R fronts come as 285 vs the PS4S at 275.

 

[rvrrun]

I’ve decided to order the VS5-RS’s, but was told about a possible sale coming up so I’ll put it off a few weeks.

As Z28 mentioned, the pp uses a 285 and a 10.5” wheel. The VS5-RS is only available in a 10” wide. Since I’ll be keeping the original wheels with the cup2’s for possible track use, would everyone recommend the 275 tire or the 285? Apex said the 285 would fit but he wouldn’t go wider on a 10”.

 

[Melon]

285 will be fine on a 10".