Phydeaux, what are you going for here? What's important to you? Fuel mileage, wet grip, track performance, long tire wear, cost, size.........what are your priorities? Once you have that sorted out, it's easier to make a recommendation. I wanted really quiet, really smooth yet grippy tires. I was prepared to give up some long term wear, but they also had to be all-season, and I didn't want to spend Michelin money, even tho I'm a Michelin fan......I bought Kumho Ecsta ASX in a 215/45 -17 and they have been brilliant! I got right at 30K on them and they're at the wearbars now......I was doing quite a few track events then, now I'm only doing one or two a year, so I may look at the new Conti DWS, they are supposed to be a 50K tire......or I'll go back to the Kumhos.
Excellent questions. I'm not so much a track rat, but the occasional auto-x does come my way (once or twice a season). In the PNW, and especially this year, having something that does grip in the wet/damp is good. I don't necessarily need an all-season tire, as I do have my winter set. I'd like to bump my fuel economy up a bit if possible, but that's probably going to be more a function of the nut holding the wheel (and pushing the pedal). I've got 205/45-17 on my ASA AR-1 wheels currently. I'm not opposed to a little wider, like a 215, if I don't then have to start making other changes to accommodate that width. I'm sure the wife would not appreciate additial changes when all I'm doing is getting new tires, you know? I've been pleased with the KDW-2. The biggest knock against them that I read was road noise, but for me, I didn't find that a problem. Yes, it was there, but compared to the OEM run flats, it was just a slightly higher pitch. Now that my tires are down to the bars, it's probably worse, but like a frog in a pot of water, the heat has been turned up a little at a time, rather than all at once.
Just a side note about tire noise. I have none, the Megan exhaust, iPod, and the fact I go windows down except for downpours delete any tire noise:lol: Mark
I live in the Seattle area. Windows down isn't an option the majority of the year. But Sirius radio and MINI Madness exhaust make up the other 2/3.
Well, then I'd spend some time on Tire Rack looking thru their recommendations based on your criteria. I don't know that you're going to lose anything by going to an All Season, especially a UHP All Season, if what you're doing is mostly road driving with the occasional auto X. Most "summer only" tires are not very good in the rain, based on purely anecdotal evidence others have said, and if you go up into the mountains on a spring day and hit mid 30's temps, they can get downright scary! Going to a 215-45 on 17" wheels is no problem, I had no interference with mine under any circumstances I encountered, and I have them on factory S-lites. However, in the most general terms, the wider the tire the more rolling resistance and the more it affects your fuel mileage. My '03 JCW rarely bested 30 mpg on a trip and averaged about 26 combined. My '09 Clubby does about 34 on trips and 29-29 combined, just exactly what the gummint and the EPA said it would.... As I said, I was after quiet.....my '03 had a set of Yoko Parada Spec II's on ASA's on it when I got it and they were oh so noisey.....the Kumho's were such a change, the quietest tires I've ever owned, and they did not get worse as they wore till the wearbars got exposed. I also was after good wet weather grip and they've done pretty well there too. Lastly, they were fairly cheap at $83 ea (plus M&B and $50 shipping of course). I replaced them with a set of Neo Gens when I sold the '03 and I had mixed feelings about them. They were grippy, but also seemed a little twitchy on center compared to the Kumhos, they were just so-so in the snow, but we don't get much of that here so it really wasn't a concern, and I did not get to try them in heavy rain, but the size of the sipes makes me think they would be really good, and they were almost $20 a tire cheaper than the Kumhos! However even new they were noisier than the Kumho's, and I don't know if they get worse as they wear nor not. Good hunting, but I think a good UHP All Season would do exactly what you want, and be a good, quiet all around tire too. On the low priced end, the Nitto Neo Gens or the Kumho Ecsta ASX (not the AST) will do well. In the mid price range, the Conti DWS is getting good reviews on TR, and on the high priced end, I don't think you can go wrong with Michelin.
After much deliberation, consideration, and a whole bunch of other "-ations", I think I am going to go with the Potenza RE760's. Local Discount Tire can put them on my car for just over $650.