I have a non-airmatic 211 that I purchased from a dealer who slapped some "performance" tires from some unknown manufacturer. I have the 16 inch wheels (diesel OE), but the ride seems a bit harsher than I would expect. There's one large gap in the street near my office, and I always pay attention to how other coworker's cars feel and sound when hitting it to have a scale to compare mine to. So far, I've found that a 2007 Accord (17 inch wheels), 2001 BMW 540i (supposedly with the M handling package and 18 inch wheels), and an 2009 infiniti M35x have all absorbed the gap much better than mine. I'm hoping this could be due to my tires, so I'd like to hear people's opinions on the best tire that balances handling and ride comfort so as to hopefully diminish some of those harsh bumps.

Thanks!

 

What is your tire size?

 

I use the ContinentalProContact on both my cars. Love them! My first choice would be Bridgestone Serenity though.

 

I would get Nokian Z G2 tires for my car but unfortunately they do not make size I need. If your tire size is 215/55 R16 they have your size.

Nokian is not very well known at all as they do not advertize their tires other than at tire dealers who sell their tires, which mainly are winter tires.

I have purchased 2 sets of summer tires from them and can say they are just awesome tires. High performance tires that last almost twice as long as other so called high performance tires. And the grip is just something else I have never seen with any other tire brand.

Nokian does not have a dealer at every city but there should be several in VA.

If you put these tires under your car you will not be dissappointed.

Go check their internet site http://www.nokiantires.com/

 

To be honest, I'm not sure, aside from the fact that I have 16" rims. I would consider upgrading to an OEM or similar 17" rim size.

 

If you prefer treadlife and don't drive hard, consider Michelin Energy MX4

If you prefer performance Pilot Sports PS2

If you prefer absolute bang for buck Kumho ASX or Yoko SDrives

 

i have the sport AMG package w/ 18" tires... Love the Pirelli PzeroNero or Dunlop Sp Sport, the Continental Pro Contacts are mediocre at best.

 

If you are speaking from experience, then OK. I went from having Mich MXV4 on both cars to the procontacts, on both. The MXV4 is absolute crap on everything except dry. I do agree that that there are better tires out there but for the price these really make the ones I had look, feel, and sound like rocks. I liked Bridgestone Alenza on our other SUV better than Contis but again, price was perfect all around. Nothing has stopped either my sedan nor SAV so far this winter, MO did have that hellacious storm come through a few weeks back too.

 

Michelin PS2's .. about to buy my 2nd pair.

There are also 50 threads about this same topic.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll use these to narrow it down.

 

Yes, speaking from experience, they came new as stock on my car and I had them also on a Lexus GS300. They wore terribly fast and got torn up easily in potholes/bumps. I had a new stire with sidewall bubble (separation) after 10K miles. Check out the Pirellis or even Dunlops I suggested and you will see the difference. The Contis just dont handle nearly as well and they are noisy and unrefined compared to the others.

 

I had Continental ContiProContacts on my car for the first couple of years.
Nice ride but they performed poorly (in my opinion) for the money they cost.

But for the last two years I've got Bridgestone Potenzas RE050A runflats. 255/40 zr17s.

It's a stiffer ride, but I'm good with 'em...