The 3 tires I am thinking about for my new ZHP
I am thinking of updating my tires. The PO put tires on it in January around 87,200 miles and the car now has 88,600 and some change. I only drive about 3k a year, so thats why the low mileage.
These Kumho Ecsta LE Sports (max summer) only have about 1400 miles on them. If anyone local in NorCal wants to purchase them off me let me know. Nothing wrong with them, they're highly rated on tirerack.com, I just like to be the one to chose something like tires for my car. Moving on....
Price is not a factor here. I value tire performance in BOTH wet/dry, and quiet/smooth operation over tread wear and price. I do what I would consider spirited driving rather than aggressive:
City driving: Around San Francisco once in awhile. Notoroiously cruddy roads. I slow down over any big imperfections, that stuck up hybrid driver behind me be damned. Usually only drive to get across town once a week, if that.
Twisty roads: NorCal is famous for them, and I do enjoy going for sunday drives on these special roads in the summer. Google Map Skyline drive for an example.
Highway: There is nothing like downshifting right before an onramp and getting on it before getting on the freeway. Put a smile on my face every time in my Turbo Z and cant wait to do it in this car. Planning a few road trips this summer up to Tahoe and/or Napa too. Here is where I value the quiet, smooth part of tires.
Performance: I am thinking of taking a few driver education (performance) courses. Not really autoX, but I might do it once or twice.
My attempts to make these hyperlinks failed, sorry....
Continental ExtremeContact DW - I had these on my E34 525i and was very impressed with how smooth/quiet they were and how well they gripped on such a big car like my 5. Also was happy with their wet grip. Since the 5 wasn't that sporty or light, I did not push them more than on onramps, haha. I am wondering if those wonderful traits would move up to a higher performance car like the ZHP and be enough for it....
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ExtremeCo ntact+DW&frontTire=24YR8ECDWXL&rearTire=535YR8ECDW &vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=BMW& autoYear=2005&autoModel=330i%20Sedan&autoModClar=
Continental ContiSportContact 3 - I am not sure what the difference is between these and the DWs since they are both listed as Max performance summer. I have no experience with these, and they are also the most expensive out of the 3
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....n&autoModClar=
Michelin Pilot SuperSports - These seem to be the big daddies in the segment. I wouldn't mind buying them if they are the best of the best in all categories. I am just not sure how much I would be giving up to the DWs in terms of quiet, smooth operation on the highway and wet grip (if giving up anything at all). Or put it another way, would I be giving up too much performance if I went with the Continentals for comfort vs these.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....n&autoModClar=
Things that make me go "hmmm....' on the weekends
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by zhpnsnv
