Looking for Feedback: Federal SS595's

Anyone using or familiar with these tires?

I'm looking to replace tires on the Civic with the same size as I'm using now - 195/45-15. There aren't many choices and price (right now) is more important than outright performance.

IIRC, GRM had a short review/mention of the Federals a few years ago and the general impression was favorable.

What say you?

I have them in that exact size on the back of my 850. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about them. They are wearing nicely despite crazy camber angles.

A friend has them on his E21 and had another set on an A1 Jetta (all 195/45's) and we have never had any complaints. As a matter of fact I remember being quite impressed with the increase in grip when they replaced the ES100's on the Jetta.

They aren't starspecs or anything but I quite like them as a summer tire.

Crap! when did the 195/45-15 market become bigger? I see that onlinetires.com has 4 or 5 options now. It was just Toyo for years.

The nexens are garbage, The Toyo T1R used to be over a hundred and twenty a tire so the Federal was the bargain champion, now they are close to the same price. I would probably go Toyo next time. I know nothing about the Champiro

I have them on my RX-8 (came with the car 3 years ago). SS stands for "super steel" I believe. They were pretty good tires in my estimation. It's mostly just street use and maybe 8 AutoXs on them over three years. Placed 3rd in a local event with them. :) 280 wear rating should theoretically mean 28k miles (right), they did ~2/3rds of that.

They've at the end of their life now and are somewhat hard and have chunked a bit and blistered. They've lost a lot of their grip so it's going to be a bit difficult to make a direct comparison to the Sumitomo ZIIIs I just purchased.

In reply to ditchdigger:

Thanks, digger!

Yeah, the additional choices in that size was a pleasant surprise, as was the pricing.

It's looking like a duel between the Toyos and Federals. The T1R's have been around for years so it has me wondering if the "newer" SS595 might have benefitted from newer technology. Even so, I'm thinking either one is at least as good, if not better, than the Kumho Ecstas on the car now.

Thanks, again.

The 595 is available in a 205/60-13! Wonder if they are decent?

I have the n3000s in 195/45/15 and have no complaints. I got 30k miles and the only thing that has happened is now that they're close to the wear bars (not quite there) they are starting to shake a little bit. They've probably lost half a pound or more of tread so rebalancing might fix that anyway.

I was planning to try the toyos next anyway but i didnt know they were that cheap! i was planning on more..

Honestly, i want to try a star spec or R1R but they only go down to 195/50 last i checked, which just doesnt look right on my car/rims.

Just gave away some free Federal 595s because I hated them. Hard compound, no traction, and very unforgiving sidewalls. They had no redeeming qualities in my estimation other than they lasted a long time.

PS122 wrote: The 595 is available in a 205/60-13! Wonder if they are decent?

And there are lots of them, and they should be around for a while. That is the replacement for the Comp TA in Legends racing. (At least in Canada it is) Pretty hard tire...last forever on a Legend car.