REVIEW: Federal 595 RS-PRO 215/40/17 tires

[jeff]

Hey guys,

Got to test drive these in the dry today and thought I'd leave a few quick thoughts. Most of it is on the vid below but I'll add a bit of commentary.

The comments on full traction with no LSD on my pump gas tune (~277whp) comments happened WITHOUT factory TC disabled. I forgot to hit the button, but realized afterward I hadn't. That speaks volumes of these tires in that Ford TC didn't rear it's head. Nor did my tune's custom TC.

Cliff's notes:
LOOK.....geez these are gorgeous, squared, fat!!!
PRICE.....cheaper than some, good for the money...
COMFORT.....meh, it's an extreme summer performance tire on a Fiesta ST, what can you say?
NOISE.....a little noisy but my car has suspension bars, upgraded mounts, exhaust and burble tune...one more noise just adds to the fun.
WEAR.....unknown but I assume they'll give >20,000 miles of street use just as my previous Federals did...
CORNERING.....great, great, great, in street driving these are not being pushed to the max so I'd say they're within spec of all other good summer tires...
TRACTION.....feel the excitement, I have full traction again in 1st gear when I give it the beans....I feel like a kid at Christmas today! Might have to get the ethanol out...

Aside from that it's all in the video. For reference here is the data I compiled when researching a few options:

TIRE - PRICE - WEIGHT - SECTION WIDTH - TREAD WIDTH
Federal 595RSR - $103 - 22lb - 8.7" - 7.5"
Federal Evoluzion ST1 - $78 - 20lb - 8.46"- 7.5"
Federal RS Pro - $113 - 21.8lb - 8.6" - 8.0"
Nitto Neo Geo - $105 - 20.9lb - 8.86" - ??
Falken Azenis RT660 - $150 - 22lb - 8.7" - 7.9"
Dunlop Direzza ZIII - $164 - 20lb - 8.1" - 7.8"
Falken RTK 615+ - $115 - 20lb - 8.7" - 7.2"
Kumho Ecsta PS31 - $88 - 19lb - 8.6" - 7.2"

View: https://youtu.be/25xIooZgRh8

 

[yoopercharged]

I have these tires in 205/50 on my 15x8 TD's and have been enjoying them as my summer daily. They are a little noisy and can get squirrelly in heavy rain (as expected with a 200TW tire) but dry traction has been great. Haven't been able to push them too hard yet so I'm hoping to do that in the near future. This is my first 200TW tire so I can't compare it to others but I would consider getting these again if I don't go to a 225/45.

The picture is kind of dark but they do look nice on the car!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

 

[LiLfieSTa]

Glad you're enjoying these tires Jeff! I absolutely love em

 

[jeff]

Thought I'd update after a few months on these tires as a daily street tire. I continue to be impressed. The noise is there, moreso than the RS-R I had previously, but so is the grip, not only in turns but traction in a straight line. I have yet to break the tires loose on my 93 tune which is about 280whp/315wtq and that means these tires are fitting my needs nicely. Traction makes these cars so much more enjoyable. Wheel hop/torque steer continues to be nearly absent with these tires as well.

And they look super mean!

 

[Dpro]

they will get a little less traction after wear. Though still good. I had the same results when I first ran mine before I put in the Turbo , With running about the same amount of HP you are running they were not bad though after doing a lot of datalog pulls on them they started to break loose a little more.
I currently have mine in storage as I had 205/45 16’s on Dekagrams and swapped out for a set of Rota Titans and Falken RT660’s which I absolutely love a little more expensive but even stickier and not as noisy as the Feddy’s. On a Budget the Feddys are totally the bang for the buck tire though. Its hard to beat them because you can get them so cheap. My Feddys were $495 mounted and balanced out the door. Heh RT660’s were around $200 more mounted and balanced.

Good call Jeff.

 

[LiLfieSTa]

they will get a little less traction after wear. Though still good. I had the same results when I first ran mine before I put in the Turbo , With running about the same amount of HP you are running they were not bad though after doing a lot of datalog pulls on them they started to break loose a little more.
I currently have mine in storage as I had 205/45 16’s on Dekagrams and swapped out for a set of Rota Titans and Falken RT660’s which I absolutely love a little more expensive but even stickier and not as noisy as the Feddy’s. On a Budget the Feddys are totally the bang for the buck tire though. Its hard to beat them because you can get them so cheap. My Feddys were $495 mounted and balanced out the door. Heh RT660’s were around $200 more mounted and balanced.

Good call Jeff.

i had my feddy pros mounted and balanced for 320$. Where in da heck did you get yours?

these tires continue to surprise me too!

 

[Dpro]

i had my feddy pros mounted and balanced for 320$. Where in da heck did you get yours?

these tires continue to surprise me too!

what size and you must a have gotten a special deal are you sure you got them for $320 When I bought mine they were brand new on the market and not a lot a of places had them. It might have been less than $490 but ya it was like a in December of 2019. Cause I got my Dekagrams on a Black Friday deal of $560 shipped.

 

[LiLfieSTa]

I meant to say 360, but still..
im running 215/40 paid 85 a tire and then 20 bux mounted and balanced, this was a couple months ago

490 is crazy my dude!

 

[Dpro]

I meant to say 360, but still..
im running 215/40 paid 85 a tire and then 20 bux mounted and balanced, this was a couple months ago

490 is crazy my dude!

Ok I think you miscalculated. $85 a tire plus $20 for mounting and balancing comes out to $420 4x85=340 + tax 4x20=80 340+80=420+ the tax on the tires.

if you add in tax its around $451-460 . So guess what I did not pay crazy amounts more. I paid possibly a little more at a time when the Tires were fresh to the market and impossible to find and my guys had them.

 

[LiLfieSTa]

Ok I think you miscalculated. $85 a tire plus $20 for mounting and balancing comes out to $420 4x85=340 + tax 4x20=80 340+80=420+ the tax on the tires.

if you add in tax its around $451-460 . So guess what I did not pay crazy amounts more. I paid possibly a little more at a time when the Tires were fresh to the market and impossible to find and my guys had them.

i guess my guy didnt charge me to mount and balance per tire, but just 20 to do it all.

 

[Dpro]

i guess my guy didnt charge me to mount and balance per tire, but just 20 to do it all.

Then you got hooked up. Because I do not know anyone who would mount and balance all 4 tires and wheels for $20 I do know shops that will put a tire on or remove it for $5 but not balance the tire and wheel.

So my tires did come out to $420 with tax and my mounting and balancing was $70. Hence $490.

If I did not include tax then my tires were exactly the same price as yours but there is tax and there is mounting and balancing and my guys are mainly track oriented so they make sure to do things right as well. Like lining up the red mark on the tire with the valve stem, for proper balancing.

The truth here though…is I really did not pay a lot more like you are making out . You got a hookup on your mounting balancing and left out the tax in your quote.

 

[jimaek22]

Hi @jeff . I wear a new set of the RS-Pro (215/40/R17) on my Fiesta ST180. My car is a STG3 car with 280HP crank and 400NM of torque. I would like to ask you what is the optimal air pressure should i inflate the tires with? I use the car everyday and rarely on track. Please give me the recommended tire pressures for front and rear tires.

 

[jeff]

Hi @jeff . I wear a new set of the RS-Pro (215/40/R17) on my Fiesta ST180. My car is a STG3 car with 280HP crank and 400NM of torque. I would like to ask you what is the optimal air pressure should i inflate the tires with? I use the car everyday and rarely on track. Please give me the recommended tire pressures for front and rear tires.

Hi there, I keep it at stock recommended levels which iirc are 39 front and 36 rear.

 

[jimaek22]

Hi there, I keep it at stock recommended levels which iirc are 39 front and 36 rear.

Indeed 39/36 are the stock levels for the USA Fist. I have a stage 3 EU hot wheel Fist (280BHP on crank). Here are the EU OEM tire specs.

https://www.puretyre.co.uk/tyre-inf...ford-fiesta-st-2013-on-tyre-pressure-placard/

I dont place 4-5 passengers or load the car. So, based on the above OEM info do you think 39/28 or 36/26 cold pressure is better to achieve the best dry grip?

 

[jeff]

Indeed 39/36 are the stock levels for the USA Fist. I have a stage 3 EU hot wheel Fist (280BHP on crank). Here are the EU OEM tire specs.

https://www.puretyre.co.uk/tyre-inf...ford-fiesta-st-2013-on-tyre-pressure-placard/

I dont place 4-5 passengers or load the car. So, based on the above OEM info do you think 39/28 or 36/26 cold pressure is better to achieve the best dry grip?

I'd drop them all the same rather than more on the rear, I get your logic but I'm more concerned about overall wear/performance/mpg being balanced than only best grip. Less air will certainly achieve that. These tires are so sticky I get full traction with my 93 octane tune which is about 280whp.

 

[jimaek22]

I'd drop them all the same rather than more on the rear, I get your logic but I'm more concerned about overall wear/performance/mpg being balanced than only best grip. Less air will certainly achieve that. These tires are so sticky I get full traction with my 93 octane tune which is about 280whp.

EU FiST comes only 3 doors so the weight per axle should be different. So Ford OEM tire pressures are either 39/28 when partially loaded for velocity > 190km/h or 36/26 when partially loaded for velocity <190km/h.
Based on the above details and your experience with the tires could you give me a tire pressure example for a balanced tire performance?

 

[jeff]

EU FiST comes only 3 doors so the weight per axle should be different. So Ford OEM tire pressures are either 39/28 when partially loaded for velocity > 190km/h or 36/26 when partially loaded for velocity <190km/h.
Based on the above details and your experience with the tires could you give me a tire pressure example for a balanced tire performance?

Yes it seems you have different pressures for a 3 door car and should adjust accordingly. Again, for balanced performance I stick with OEM pressures which on my car are iirc 39/36. If I were trying to get max performance/traction for track or racing I'd lower them 5 lbs each.

 

[jimaek22]

Yes it seems you have different pressures for a 3 door car and should adjust accordingly. Again, for balanced performance I stick with OEM pressures which on my car are iirc 39/36. If I were trying to get max performance/traction for track or racing I'd lower them 5 lbs each.

Thanks for the info. Could you please give me the pressure number in psi, bar, or kpa as lbs is a mass unit?

 

[jeff]

Thanks for the info. Could you please give me the pressure number in psi, bar, or kpa as lbs is a mass unit?

For me it is 39psi/36psi.

 

[jimaek22]

For me it is 39psi/36psi.

Jeff, my apologizes for not expressing myself right. In your previous post you said for the optimal grip that i should reduce pressure to 5 lbs. Lbs is a mass unit. Are you referring to lb/in^2 which is equal to psi? In simple terms should i lower pressure to 5 psi (lb/in^2) to achieve best traction? I hope that make sense now.