Federal 595 RS initial impressions....

[Uncle Scotty]

DISCLAIMER!!!!!!!!!!
I GOT THESE TIRES AS A GIFT SO DO NOT ASK ME HOW MUCH I PAYED FOR THEM ! ! ! ! ! ! !



OK...With that out of the way......I have the FEDERAL 595 RS in 235/40 - 17 on 17 x 7.5" wheels on my '06 WRX

Initial impressions.......

These tires are WIDE for their size......at LEAST as wide as a 'normal' 245/40(see specs)
They 'bulge' a(good) bit on the 7.5" wide wheel and IMO are TOO WIDE for a 7.5" wheel for best performance...a 225/45 would be a better choice for a 7.5" wheel.

These tires are very quiet, at full or near full tread depth, on most pavement(so far)......in the wet, they 'hiss' a bit and make 'tires on wet road' kinds of noises---about like the 451's, but less dry road noise.
These tires 'ride' well for this type of tire...but....
They do 'flat spot' a bit after sitting and if that bothers you, disregard these tires.
They seem to do quite well with cold temperatures----it was in the upper 30's locally and they weren't rock hard like the Falken 215's were at similar temperatures.

I have not had the chance to really jam on these tires as my suspension is awaiting some new strut tops and I don't have as much camber/caster as I'd like....BUT.....

DRY....these tires grip VERY well....as well or better than anything I've ever had on my WRX's( 215's, Z212's, 451's, MX's)----at or near full tread depth....AND....and a very important consideration for ME is that they do NOT squeal like a pig when pushed moderately---and thus alerting the pigs to any road going shenanigans
I was able to get a bit of a slide out of them on several of my favorite ramps, but they are controllable and forgiving......they slid a bit until the excess speed was scrubbed off and just went back to work without any complaint.

WET......these tires are NOT a 'wet' tire....but at full tread, they seem to do OK, although I have not 'pushed' them in the rain as I wasn't able to get to my 'skid pad' when it rained, this week


Conclusion...at or near full tread....
These tires ARE a bit 'mushy'....but I'm not at all sure that the reason isn't that they may be on a too narrow wheel and still at full tread depth...and ~40psi. A bit more pressure may help.

These may not be a great autox tire, but they may make a great dry street tire---IF---


IF you can find them, and at what price????

Just don't ask me---I don't know these answers.


http://www.federaltire.com/en/html/p...DB=motosports#

OK...found them listed as a 'special order' below....dunno any details.

http://www.tires-easy.com/start.html

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

[REX8]

A softer sidewall doesn't rule it out for autox...take the Rs-2. I'd think if anything, people would certainly be interested in it for competition, maybe a long lasting track tire.

If they have the same or better grip than 215's and the RS-2's, then they'd make a great autox tire.

I know no questions, but you should at least know who gave them to you as a gift. How hard could it be to track down their origin?

[McMoo]

I've been searching forever for a review on them, this is the only one I've found. They're available on prosteetonline, I can't post the link because I just signed up and need 8 posts to post a link. Prices seem pretty good, comparable to 615's and mx's. Just need some people to buy them.

[REX8]

.........

[REX8]

http://www.prostreetonline.com/feder...5rs_tires.html

Pretty good 17" sizes...235 and 255, but the 16" sizes are lacking. Do we really need a 205 50 AND a 205 45? What a waste. How about a 225 instead?

BUY THEM AND TRY THEM!!! THEY WILL BRING MORE!!!

[REX8]

Grrr baby....very grrr

[jamesohoh7]

no 245/45/17 or 245/40/17 ... meh.

[REX8]

Originally Posted by jamesohoh7

no 245/45/17 or 245/40/17 ... meh.

Bad for ST classes, but 235 is still a popular choice for those guys. 255's for the track...not too shabby.

[Uncle Scotty]

Originally Posted by jamesohoh7

no 245/45/17 or 245/40/17 ... meh.

...trust me...the 235/40 is WIDE

[Uncle Scotty]

Originally Posted by McMoo

I've been searching forever for a review on them, this is the only one I've found. They're available on prosteetonline, I can't post the link because I just signed up and need 8 posts to post a link. Prices seem pretty good, comparable to 615's and mx's. Just need some people to buy them.

...well....GRM will have one soon

their review may(will) differ from mine, I think...remember.....my review is based on STREET use....NOT autox


...oh yeah...did I mention that these tires are VERY quiet

[semaj]

Bump...for no 225/45/17

[Uncle Scotty]

Originally Posted by semaj

Bump...for no 225/45/17

...the 225/45-17 IS listed on Federals website

[semaj]

Originally Posted by Uncle Scotty

...the 225/45-17 IS listed on Federals website

Thanks for that Uncle Scotty...I only saw the prostreetonline site. This is one of the tires I have had my eye on as my Kumho MX replacement for auto-x.

[Uncle Scotty]

Originally Posted by semaj

Thanks for that Uncle Scotty...I only saw the prostreetonline site. This is one of the tires I have had my eye on as my Kumho MX replacement for auto-x.

....meh....there are better tires for autox, methinks

[pityr]

Originally Posted by Uncle Scotty

...the 225/45-17 IS listed on Federals website

I rant that size on my WRX until I had to replace them. Great tire for the money. Similar tread pattern the Toyo T1s. Great grip in the dry, ok grip in the wet and fairly quiet. I think they around around $100 a tire as well.

I plan on using these on my forester but with a 235/45/18. cost at Les Schwab is about $600 mounted and balanced for all 4.

[semaj]

Originally Posted by Uncle Scotty

....meh....there are better tires for autox, methinks

Of course, but I need to DD and auto-x on the same tire/wheel combo

[elucas730]

bumpity...
Local tire place sold me on the SS595 (not the 595 RS). Here's the pic:



I was looking for something that sacrifices some grip for a little better wear. I should get quite a few more miles out of the SS595 over the RE070s. Not planning on auto-x (or, if I do, I don't plan on being competitive). I actually bought two sets: 225/45-17 for the STi and 225/45-18 for the RX-8. $100 each (mounted and balanced) for the STi and $120 for the RX-8. We'll see how good they are...

[caterpill]

Hey Scotty, do you have time to take some pictures of the profile, sidewall bulge you speak of?

[pornie]

Originally Posted by caterpill

Hey Scotty, do you have time to take some pictures of the profile, sidewall bulge you speak of?

+1 grassy ass senorita

[Uncle Scotty]

OK...I FOUND A PLACE THAT CAN(try to) ORDER THESE....

http://www.tires-easy.com/start.html

They list this tire as a 'special order' item.....and they list the 225/45-17

[Uncle Scotty]

...oh yeah....

I'm STILL amazed at how quiet thest tires are

[poison]

i'm amazed at how loud my RS2's are. I'm jealous. I couldn't hold a cell conversation on the road tonight.

[Uncle Scotty]

Originally Posted by poison

i'm amazed at how loud my RS2's are. I'm jealous. I couldn't hold a cell conversation on the road tonight.

....well.....I have found that ANY alignment issues---toe being the worst.....will cause excessive road noise in these cars.

I played with the toe until I got it EXACTLY where I wanted it and by rotating the tires every oil change, I have kept the noise (with other tires) to a minimum until they were almost gone and got loud due to THAT issue.....


I'm really liking these Federals for the street.....LOTS of grip....SILENT compared to many UHP/MAX performance tires....and at least the initial wear seems to be far better than I had expected for a tire rated at 180.

[poison]

Uh, my toe IS a hair off. heh, there I go.

[Uncle Scotty]

Originally Posted by poison

Uh, my toe IS a hair off. heh, there I go.

....dismount them and 'flip' them and get the toe set right and ya may burn off some of the feather edge.

I had some HTRz II's that got SO LOUD that it drove me crazy---I took them off at ~1/2 tread and threw them away....and the front toe was .04/.09...and THAT did it