Dear Luke,
I really researched my choices of tires based on all season capability for the wrx.The re92's that came stock were spent at 35,000 miles. My choices in the end were between the aviddbs2 and the re950 in the end. I got the tires from you had them installed by Mr. Tire. Quality shipping , quality installation..no worries. The first day I noticed they were considerably louder at lower speeds than the re92 but definately a handling improvement. I stayed within the stock size (20555r16) so as to induce no suprises.To my dismay the gearing which is already quite tight 1rst and second has gotten tighter. The acceleration seems faster.The rpm in any gear is 100-150rpm higher and the casing is at 24.9 inches where as the stock re92 is at 25.1.
The third gear and fourth have brightened up considerably but I'm not sure I like this change. the speedo is within 2mph of stated speeds which means its slighly more accurate than it was. None of my tire choices had higher casing heights which could have reduced performance slightly. I drive a lot in my job so I may be more sensitive. But to pass this on I became uncomfortable with some of the specs on the tables passed on to you by bridgestone. The weights on the v rated tire are way off they sate 27pounds and they weight 23.5, though the H is coorect at 24. I suspect the height is screwed up too.The re950 is an excellent tire but I'm not settled about the change in my vehicles driving dynamics. Given the rex's gear ratios what has happened here?I can't believe 1-2 tenths of an inch in tire height could make the first two gears run out so fast.When rpm is taken up to 7000rpm (redline)it feels higher. there is also the sensation that some torque is lost as a result of this change but the car feels faster????Can you help???