Need to replace tires in the near future, what should I look at?
My old Continental ExtremeContact DW tires are reaching their final form (racing slicks), so it's probably time to replace them to reduce the minuscule risk of hydroplaning off a bridge from a 1mm puddle. In Portland. In the very dry winter.
Where was I? Oh right, tires. I've enjoyed my Contis, but my ham-fisted approach to driving wrung the life out of them in ~25k miles despite rotating tires regularly, so I am open to new suggestions. I'm currently eyeing the following and would appreciate any personal experience on performance (wet, dry, cold, hot), road noise, and value:
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S - the gold standard, but boy howdy are they eye-wateringly expensive ($880 shipped for 245/40R17s)
Continental ExtremeContact Sport - The replacement for my current tire
Something from Cooper? @ZHPizza
I only have personal experience with Bridgestone, Continental, and Pirelli, and Pirelli's best offering doesn't come in my preferred tire size, so I'm open to suggestions.
Need to replace tires in the near future, what should I look at?
To muddy up the waters a little bit more: we just put a set of Pilot AS3+ on the E60 and I’m not sure how I feel about them.
• Dry grip: excellent for an all-season tire. I have taken some flyover ramps at speeds that would make the ZHP with summer tires blush. I haven’t done too much stupid shit testing (3,700lbs, long wheelbase, auto gearbox, public roads) but it takes a lot to get the tires talking, and I’ve yet to break them loose.
• Wet grip: as @ZHPizza mentioned it’s been monsooning in North Carolina and they have been pretty damn solid in the rain. Highway speeds and inches of standing water aren’t much cause for concern.
• Winter grip: uhh, closest we’ve had this winter is some slush...but they safely got me to and from Home Depot in said slush at butthole puckering speeds of 35mph!
• No flat-spotting. There have been several very cold stretches where the car hasn’t moved for 5-7 days and the tires were perfectly fine. The old Conti’s flat-spotted in the same situation.
BUT...
• They’re expensive. #MichelinTax. Got them during a Costco special of $75 off + free installation and it was still $850ish (that car has 245/18).
• In dry weather they seem to have a little more noise than I would’ve expected from arguably the highest rated A/S tire currently on the market. It’s probably fine in a brand new car where the noise insulation is so good you can’t hear an ambulance 2 cars behind you. But I find them annoying without the radio on, and the E60 is a really quiet cabin compared to the E46. Depending on your mods and your noise tolerances that may not be an issue.