Most liked posts in thread: Best Summer Tires

First you need to decide on what tire wear you want and what size tire. There are some great tires in the 180 to 200 tire wear rating category (such as BFG Rival or Dunlop ZII Star Spec) but these will wear faster and are not always great in the rain. Many people jump up to the 300 tire wear range for daily drivers to get a little better wear out of the tires.

I just went from Hankook V12 to Michelin Pilot Super Sport (PSS). Both were size 215/40-18 size. I like the Michelin PSS much better. The Hankook's had very soft sidewalls that rolled over during Auto-X even with a lot of air pressure. I have not Auto-Xed the Michelin PSS yet but so far they feel better on spirited driving on dry roads. The Michelin's also fell better on wet roads.

 

Running the michelins on two cars. I love those tires. Very sticky on a perfect day, and versatile enough the rest of the year (except winter temp! below 40-45°F). So far they wear evenly (maybe 6-7k miles on them). Probably the best tires I have drove on. I can't comment on the Conti or the Bridgestone though in comparison.
Michelins are really smooth too and run true... a huge improvement over the run flats that came with the car. They love smooth pavement . . . which in western PA isn't a frequent event around these parts of the world :frown2:

 

My 2¢
Had the Conti DW and while they weren’t bad, I wasn’t overly impressed as they felt like they had more squirm compared to other brands I’d tried in the past: Hankook, Falken RT615T, etc. on my GTIs and R32 before getting the MINI. Am guessing that the sidewalls weren’t as stiff. The DW also wore fairly rapidly too.
Am on my third set of Pilot Super Sports and am pleased. Tread life is not great, but the 30K mile warranty helps offset the cost.
Head to head, I prefer the Michelins over the Contis for my car and how I drive it. I’ve run each set to the treadwear bars and didn’t notice a degradation in performance in the dry. When worn this much, they aren’t great in the monsoons we get here from time to time.
I’ve no personal experience, but have heard others rave about Dunlop Direzza ZII.
Michelins look to be lighter than all but the Conti DW.
IMHO: Many of us aren’t of the caliber of driver to be able to squeeze out the last bit of performance from any of the tires mentioned. It comes down to a preference in how a tire feels and how well you can rationalize the big a hole they make in your wallet.

 

I have a set of the Conti DW on after the factory Dunlop rf were toast after

20k. For the price they seem worth it. I'm sure there are other tires out

there with better habits but I will buy another set when these wear out.

 

Just put a set of Conti Extreme Contact DWS on the Helmet. I absolutely hate them and can't wait to replace them in the spring. Squirmy, soft sidewall and now the coupe tramlines constantly.

 

I thought you were selling the Helmet?

 

I know but they still handle like sh*#t.

 

Still needed tires for cold weather.

 

Didn't say snow....just cold weather.

 

We don't get snow here very often, heck, I drive the truck when it's raining!

 

Either the Zll's or Hankook RS3's then.... Or NT-01's if your OK with only having them last 5000 miles.

 

Any brand of tire that makes you think you are Lewis Hamilton....

 

I have one sitting in my garage that someone can have....for free!

 

Just one? How do you end up with just one run flat tire?

 

Damaged one and then sold 2 of them to PMsummer last year. It only has about 5,000 miles on it.

 

Size?

 

205/45-17

 

Bring it Saturday, ok? Wife's S can use it as a spare. Trust me, she will find a way to render it useless...LOL