While at Firestone they measured the remaining tread depth. A couple points of interest in relation to the ratings. I guess no driving in winter? Last ones lasted 117,000 miles.Yes, you are missing something: you assumed the beginning tread depth was identical. Costco .97 deal - NUCLEAR HOT - Weber Genesis II CE-330 Natural Gas BBQ - YMVV - In Store $699.97 (Online $1,199),[Costco] But if you have the cash, get the Michelins. Maybe 3 hot laps. After that, they seem to settle in a spot for a good while and maintain their grip there, but they won't recover. I wasn't happy with the last one I got elsewhere.You can go to tirerack.com and look under the specs of the tire and it will tell you the tread depth. Grips in dry and can handle heavy rain too (no hydroplanes at highway speeds even in monsoon weather). You absolutely can run square 305/30/19's. However, if you care about handling, 4S all day.Ive had mine for 10K miles and no complaints. My logic was exactly as your's was, i.e., daily driver tire, a few HPDE events each year, value, etc. The LTX M/S2 is closing in on eight million miles reported. Strike one against the Firestones. P Zeros are easily at the bottom. I had a lot of doubts before pulling the trigger, even more so when the wheels where on the car. Only minor gripe is they "flat spot" if you let the car sit for a few days. They measured the Firestones at 8/32 'and the Michelins at 11/32". I lived in the southeast and never needed anything special for the winter.I had HTR ZIII's on a 987s and I thought they were ok until I swapped them out for Michelin PSS and realized just how crap the Sumitomo's were in comparison! I was all set to get the RE71s, based in large part on their track reputation (I have a set on track wheels for my 944 Turbo), but at the last minute switched to the Indy 500s. I now have 4S on both the 987s and S4 and love them.Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 vs Michelin Pilot 4s,https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sha...2&share_type=t,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_rICsRCivc,https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...XLV2&tab=Specs,https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...I5XL&tab=Specs,© 2001-2020 Audizine, Audizine.com, and Driverzines.com. With that said, 275's are a better fit for my 9.5" wide wheels, so that would help reduce the width gap (285's are measured on a 10" wheel) and better control tire movement under load. In fact, with over 80,000 visitors per month, our site is by far the most popular expedited freight destination on the Internet!© 1999-2020 On Time Media, LLC. You absolutely can run square 305/30/19's. Le Firestone Roadhawk 205/55 R16 91H est réputé pour maintenir des performances supérieures à ses concurrents sur le long terme, tout en s'usant moins vite. This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. If you are on a budget they should be considered. It's tough to say for sure, but I would place them lower than the Indy 500's.Sport Comp 2 are closer so it's not as easy to say, but Tire Rack actually did a Tire Test when the Indy 500's came out to compare and the Indy 500 beat the Sport Comp 2 in almost every test (albeit by narrow margins sometimes); wet and dry slalom, wet and dry lap time, and wet and dry grip. Are you willing to live with lower ultimate grip? … ?I currently work for a company that does the government rating on tires (UTQG) and tire testing for most of the tire manufacturers.Did your friendly Firestone dealer recommend replacing the ball joints at 210,000 miles?Michelin bought B.F. Goodrich a few years ago and has put B. F. Goodrich's tech. The ultimate grip, which is lower than the PSS to start with, doesn't last for long. Don't buy them. I personally never skimp on tires as this is one component that makes a huge difference to the way a car drives. The reason for that is that if you do spin a tire, the right rear is the one more likely to spin in slippery conditions (torque is responsible for this, the right rear tire tends to lift slightly when you apply power to move forward).Not getting into tech end- we found michlen tires wore like iron on drives- avg 250,000 mi. This is noteworthy because as tires wear, they all lose certain capabilities, including wet and dry traction. I work for a tire company so I get cost.Is the a friends and family discount program?I can understand that statement from those of you in the northeast or upper midwest, but if you live in the desert west or southwest, where road temps will easily get to 120+ degrees and ambient temps are 100+ in the summer, you need summer-compound rubber.