Replacement Tyres for RE001?

Hi dudes,
 
I've been running 215/40R17 and 235/45R17 Bridgestone RE001 on 17x8 and 17x9 wheels on my SW20, these were an upgrade from Federal 595ss, holy ****balls I didn't realise how much difference a good set of tyres makes!!
 
The RE001's have finally worn down and need replacement, if I could find another set of the Jap made 001's I'd be all over it, but its looking impossible.
 
Has anyone got some recommendations for an equal or better replacement tyre? Has anyone tried the RE002?
 
The majority of the time the Sdub is a weekender, so wet weather performance is not a super high requirement, however I would  still like to have some confidence when I do have to drive in the rain.
 
I've found another thread on here that mentions Advan AD08, they are looking pretty promising at the moment.
 
I've got a dedicated set of track wheel and tyres so I'm only concerned with performance on the street with a fair amount of spirited driving on twisty roads.
 
Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions.
 
-Whitchy-

I use the Michellin Pilot Super Sports, they are an awesome tyre. Michellin claimed it to be the best road tyre in the world and backed it up with track tests against all the competitors. A lot of top eand factory cars run them aswell. I had RE002 before swapping them to the Piolot Super Sports, the Michellin's are quiet noticably better.

Do you have any scrubbing issues with running a 45 profile rear? O.o seems too tall...

Yeah slight scrubbing when the suspension is set to soft, I've had my inner lip beaten flat so it only just scrapes the side of the tyre over bumps at speed.
40 profile wasnt an option unfortunately.

WHITCHY

Yeah slight scrubbing when the suspension is set to soft, I've had my inner lip beaten flat so it only just scrapes the side of the tyre over bumps at speed.
40 profile wasnt an option unfortunately.

What offset are your wheels? mine are +35/9" rears and with 235/40/17 Federal 595 RS-Rs, I have had to roll the inner guard lip AND attack the other 2 lips behind the side strips with a die grinder. It still scrubs a bit but only on large bumps at speed. They do run a bit wider than your average 235 which is probably half the issue.

^that may be the case, Graham, but some people might consider tyre wear and wet weather drive-ability also in their decision :D 

Well I got Bridgestone RE003 on. The DH at Bridgestone tells me yeah, yeah we've had mr2's and have a guy with a race car that gets his alinement and camber done every week blah, blah, blah. The guy comes out to me and says there's not camber adjust bolts in your car and you need them to adjust your camber. Cough, cough WFT! I say. You did notice there coilovers in the car right? Yes, well you see the plates on the tops and there an elongated hole on the top bolt of each base. He looked at me red faced and said oh is there. I said toe it to the minimal wear and leave it along. BLEEPING FOOL. took it down today to the guys at Archerfield they did it no probs. however the ride back home was not the best feel. The federal on the front, 205/50/16 and continental 225/50/16 I had on it, felt better in my opinion. But I'll take it back to the guys to toe it in a bit more, see if I can get a tamer line out of it. Feels like I've suddenly got the lightest power steering. In the 003 defence, they held the road well in both wet(very light sprinkle) and dry. Even when pushing it a little. But the feel just wasn't there for me. See how I feel after the extra toe added. Oh! Tyre size was the same as swapped out tyres.

Now I know who you are haha. I was thinking my tyres weren't bald. Only the left front was. Tread was down on the right side and at least 40% tread in the rear. Rim offset I have no idea and would have to take one sides wheels off to check, you might recall from the day you were over. But Think it's pretty much zero, possible slightly positive on one end, As you know the rim size I think from the day you were over here was 7in maybe 7.5's. I got the alinement a camber set just needs a little playing with to improve. But I will update my thoughts again once done.(and remember they are just my thoughts. Each of us have our likes and dislikes. So don't take it as I'm saying the 003's are crap as far from it.) But the feel I was talking about is more the grip to the road if you know what I mean. A lot easier to explain on a bike. One brand you may feel like the bikes gonna flip if you lay it over to much, such as a basic tyre like Michelin pilot sports. Yet another brand such as metzeler's K2-3's(which I ran on all my ZX10's) will allow me to lay the bike over enough the run my knee blocks on the ground. So think of the same in a car only no laying over if that makes some sense to you. But yeah at a little speed, which I'll say was not on public roads to cover myself. She felt very unstable, far less then what it did. Another thing to consider I imagine is that it's been completely rebushed in all running gear bushes, so could be adding to the change in feel as well. Although it still felt far firmer with the semi slicks. For all I know the Bridgestone I went to could have put the tyres on the wrong rims if there was a diff in offset of the rims. I won't name the shop location as this is not a witch hunt. Just adding to a discussion on tyre feel. Don't you make me go down and take them wheels off to check. I've had them off and on so many times now, I wake up in the night screaming "F'ing wheels off again. I take it you heard about my HFH(hose from hell) with the oil coolant bypass hose. Not in a hurry to do that one again at all. Ended up dropping the aircon out and even then was a long tedious job to get both off and back on. But that's another topic.
Ps excuse any grammar or spelling errors.