tirerack.com

 

These classifications are only half, if that, of the story - you really need to go into things more deeply if you are serious.

Good classifications for mom & pops to select tyres but enthusiasts on this forum need more. E.g. I want to know if a tyre is directional before selecting to name but one of many, many points to consider. Some guy changing wheel size wants to know rolling circumference. A guy with a Lambo Gallardo is more interested in speed rating than me with my paltry W203. I just want speed rating above or equal to the OEM original fit to keep my insurance alive and care more about ride quality, noise & capability on the typical roads I use.

I agree you should fit the best tyres you can afford, but what is best? You are not going to fit Extreme Performance Summer tyres to your cooking model C180 Classic to go to the store in.

TireRack data is very usefull

 

almost none of the max performance and ultra performance tires are uni-directional (summer). they're all directional which when you run the staggered setup you can't rotate the tires anyway. Plus many new max performance and ultra performance summer tires deals extremely well in rain and even in heavy storm.

I had the Goodyear GS-D3 previously and that tire was by far the best tire I've seen performed in rain even compared to all-season tires.

even without rotating the tires my Hankook k104 rear easily lasted over 20k miles with very aggressive driving style.

many times only people that are looking for greater tread life are opting for non-directional tires so they can rotate (front to back) to increase the time between tire change.

 

Hi Frank -Understood - But there are enough good performance unidirectional tyres around to suit my likes & dislikes. Certainly good enough for other than AMG W203s

You can change rotation on a staggered setup to combat noise from uneven wear by rotating across the same axle.

I'm not over worried about total tyre life but get fed up with my car sounding like it needs a wheel bearing change & the W203 is sensitive in this regard. I'm not prepared to put new tyres on a car every 10 - 15,000 Kms because of noise.

I certainly agree with you that some of the top performance summer tyres are amazing in the wet - go slightly over their limit though and some aquaplane dreadfully & some just aquaplane dreadfully. I guess it's just horses for courses. The best summer tyre would be a slick but then only in bone dry conditions compounded properly for passenger car temperatures.

One can't get away from the basics that a soft compound might give amazing handling but won't last & hard compounds the converse - It's all a compromise. We are not running at F1 tyre temperatures.

A member asked a real world question & I tried to give some real world advice. Hit a pothole with some of the ultra performance rubber available and that's a tyre gone. BTW how are run flats doing in the US? They are earning a bad reputation here

 

I agree. They were the Pilot Sports that came new on the C230 Sport Sedan. I bought the wheels and tires as take-offs from a dealer. I believed them to have few miles based on the still-present molding nubs. They were gone in no time.

The PS were about a 220 tread wear (as I recall) the Pilot Sport A/S were a 400 and I believe the Yokohama Advans are a 420 - or thereabouts.

The A/S were a bit noiser and even though they seemed like a harder compound they could have lasted longer.

The wagon is my wife's car and she is a very conservative driver with mostly in-town miles on well maintained streets. Also, we seldom have rear seat passengers or cargo in that car.

We will see what becomes of the Yoko's but I am pleased so far.

 

From what i hear in the US, run flats are developing a similar reputation. Its not mainly associated with performance, but more with customer feedback. A lot of BMW and a couple of corvette owners have complained about the high cost and lack of comfort from the run flats.

Most people have said there isn't a real need for run flats, given that people who usually purchase luxury cars live in dense metropolitian areas where 24hrs road side assistance is easily available.

I know BMW roadside assistance is excellent in the states.

 

The treadwear tells a story and I think that's it. I know many happy Yoki owners and you will be pleased to know that my favourite Service Manager (and he's a real good knowledgeable guy in all things Benz) swears by Yokohama. He runs them personally and every cranky W203 owner that moans about Conti noise gets told to fit Yokohama - mainly AVS db/2. He bemoans the fact that Benz fit so many Conti tyres, although it's luck of the draw between them, Michelin, Pirelli & Good Year. But Conti have a plant just down the road from the Benz plant in East London and hand them over at a good price. After I did not heed his advice & after much research with the MD of Michelin South Africa, who is an old racing buddy who used to sponsor our team, fitted Exalto's & not Yoki's he takes my car for a ride just to check my choice & is suitably impressed. In fact recently I had to laugh. He told a friend of mine to fit Yoki's or Pilot Exalto PE2s after yet another noise complaint

 

Exactly the findings here. Our Auto mag letter pages & TV & Radio motoring programmes are flooded with complaints of harsh ride, cost & lack of availability in outlying areas.

Our BMW roadside assistance is excellent - needs to be with our wide open spaces between cities & the South African propensity to exceed the speed limit just a little on the open road. BMW record Johannesburg to Cape Town is 7.25 hours in a homologation special 3 Series!!! (normal people do it in twice that). The idiot who did it spoke to the press and the police said "thank you - we'll accept that as an admission of guilt" & threw the keys away.

 

Sumitomo HTR3 FTW !
(and less than 1/2 the price!)
tirerack.com

 

agreed. different tires suits different driving needs.

you can rotate the tires side-to-side across the same axle, but for example if you have directional tires and has camber issue you have to take the tire off and re-mount them so that the more tread side is now on the inside. This is also true for non-directional tires because if you just swap the rims side-to-side your worn side because of the camber will still be on the inside. so the advantage for non-directional is not there when you have staggered setup.

actually most people with 18 or 19" with ultra performance tires when they hit the pothole their wheels will have more damage than the tires. one of my friend bent his 18" on the driverside, but the tire was not damaged from hitting the pothole.

I think the only real disadvantage for summer tires are that they can't be used in freezing temp winter compare to the all-season. other than that the ability of the new summer performance tires in rain are on par if not better in some cases versus the all-season. I certainly wouldn't pick a tire that will hydroplane over puddle of water in the summer performance category.

it's important to buyer that all (price, tread life, dry performance, wet performance, comfort, and noise) categories satisfy their personal preference.

regarding run-flats. they are bad. all the new BMWs comes with them in the US and most people couldn't be happier to get rid of them including my friend with the 335i coupe sport that came with the Bridgestone RE050 RFT. Although the same pattern as the normal RE050A or RE050. The noise lvl are higher, the ride is harsher, and doesn't perform as well all because of the run-flat needed to be stronger and tougher in it's sidewall material. To make it worse, the RE050 RFT has less treadwear rating than it's counterpart.