I know this has been asked many times over the years but seasons, products, styles, models and technology changes but here goes again anyway.

What tires are you all rolling with? Yesterday I shredded a rear tire (tyre to us Brits) and now I'm using the spare and back in the minefield of Tire searching. I'm thinking something like the following:

Continental Sport Contact 2
Pirelli P zero Rossi
Mitchelin Pilot Sport 2

None of the local tyre stores stock 285/30ZR18 or similar to fit so I'm on 24 hour delivery to store but asking pros/cons on the above?

 

Questions are always welcomed!

I'm running Kumho Ecsta's and really like them. About 1/2 of the cost of the ones you've picked and so far the tread wear has been excellent. I know alot of people also run Sumitoma's.
IMO, no reason to pay top dollar, in your case pounds for tires, IMO it just doesn't make sense especially because they are softer and tread life is short, especially the Pirellies.

Please keep in mind this is my opinion and everyone's different.

 

Agree totally with FLA966TT,
Don't need to spend lots of ur "quids" -not sure if I got that right- on the Pirellis or Michelins.
I was in the market last year for the tires.
Continentals were pretty expensive. And the other 2 were in the same range, beside being not available in the exact size that was required in one place.

Eventually, I opted for Kumhos and Nitto.
Did some online search and ended buying Nittos.
I got them in sizes required and 40% less expensive than Michelin.

I have something like 30000 Km on them and they look well. Also have used them in summer (when the outside temp reaches 50 C, and road temp is much higher) and was satisfied.
Needless to say, they have tolerated continuous high speed (180 kph for 60 min or so) with good breaking response.

I hope this helps.....

 

I went with Hankook Ventus V12. Half the price of the Michelin and at least the same tread wear.

EDIT: Great in the water too! (That's a requirement here)

 

I'm running Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position. They seem to be a good compromise of price, grip, and longevity.

 

+1 to all the above responses, much appreciated.

The Kumho Ecsta's seem to readily available over here but Sumitoma nor the Nittos seem to show in the UK online searches. Another brand that keeps coming up and are reasonably priced are NanKang NS-2. Has anyone heard or had experience with this tire? The Kumhos are looking the likely brand but does not having an N specification rating tyre affect your insurance, performance, survival chances? Im all for saving quid or two but at what overall cost?

 

Michelins if you're the type that wants refinement in all aspects and don't mind paying for it.

Pirelli's will change grip and noise characteristics as it wears and is faster wearing. Not popular among Porsche owners.

Continental if you're practical or a casual cruiser type and are ok with 80-85% of what the Michelins can offer.

I've had all these tires previously. My current set are Hankook v12 on my 18's and S-02 on my 19's. Continental DWS are on my BMW as well.

I would also recommend v12's if you want one of the best bang for buck street tires.

My $.02

 

I, too, went with the Bridgestone Potenza's. Much less than 1/2 the price of the Michelin's that they replaced. When the Corvette's Michelin's need replacing I'll probably go the route of Bridgestone. I would stick with the Michelin PS2's because they perform well but my driving habits have gotten much more subtle over the years.

 

The good news is this:

No matter what tires you choose, if you drive the car the way it should be, you will have the opportunity to do it again, SOON

Hahahahahahah

JB

 

I'm rolling with Dunlap Durezza Z2 s. Awesome tire on the track. Very sticky with nice even grip. They also do very well on the street. The only knock I can given them is they are louder the Michelins they replaced.

 

I just got a new pair of front and rear Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 2 and have really liked them so far. I purchased them from Discount Tire, and they even matched the lowest price I could find on Amazon.com (Amazon was cheaper than TireRack). Sizes I went with are 225x40x18 front and 285x35x18 rears. I have a 99 911 C2.

So far, I've driven them in sunshine (warm and very cold), heavy rain for a long distance (500 miles), and light snow. They have performed great so far, and the noise is not loud either. They have a very deep tread that offers great grip. I had Continental Extreme Contact before, as well as Dunlop Sport MAXX, and Michelin PS2.

I read that the Sumitomo are great and the best bang for the buck, but some people said the Hankook were better in the rain, and they were barely more expensive than the Sumitomo by the time I got the price match with Amazon.

 

I currently have Nitto Invo's on mine and can't complain on the grip; I purchased used wheels and tires and have driven them for about 1,500 miles only so I can't comment on durability. Previous Pirelli P Zero had very good grip but wear quite fast.
I just received yesterday a new set of 19" Avant Garde wheels with Hankook Ventus Evo 2 and can't wait to try them .

 

I've run Pirelli and Michelin tires on my Boxster, and Continental and Bridgestone tires on my Turbo and as best I can tell all are good tries though I would have to say at least on Boxster the Michelin tires were I believe a bit better. A bit longer life given the same style of driving and a bit quieter when worn. A bit more money, too, though sometimes by only $100 for a set of tires. Any more of a premium price for the Michelin tires and I use the Pirelli tires.

For the Turbo I really noticed no difference between the two brands: Bridgestone or Continental. Both brands delivered the same acceptable tire life and performance and both cost about the same. Whether I use one brand over the other is just a matter of which brand the dealer has in stock. If he had both and the cost the same it would be settled by a coin toss.

I might add in all cases the tires were N-rated. I have never run non N-rated tires so I can't offer any direct experience with those tires.

 

I ran Continentals on my Boxster S, Michelin Pilots on my 911 and then Hankooks. I have Bridgestone Pole Positions on my M3. Continentals in our MB E Class. Ran Kumhos in my M3 and A4 as well. Interestingly, my favorites were the Continentals. Dunlops in my GTI (winter car) and I seriously hate them. I thought the Michelins were very overrated. Best bang for the buck are still Hankooks to me. All tires were summer tires except for the MB and GTI which were all seasons.

 

Well what a farce this ended up being from my original post, details below

It started with a flat rear tyre and foolishly decided to drive to the gas station to inflate, this meant the rim cut through the tyre like a hot knife through butter (maybe i should have thought about the weight being all in the back - such a noob). Upon arrival at the gas station and changing to the bright orange space saver i found the tyre inflate kit under the hood.

After calling around my Indy was as cheap as anywhere to replace the tyre so took the wheel to him. On arrival he noticed the alloy had a crack which then needed a repair which meant i had to park up with the orange space saver for a week. Eventually the wheel came back and the 285/30/zr18's (plural) were ordered having to replace both back tyres as recommended. On reciept the 285s were the wrong size and had to wait another 48 hours for the 295/30/zr18s to arrive. During all this time some discussion was had over which tyres to fit, the Pirellis were the original choice as i dont rack up that many miles being a train commuter mon-fri in London. The Conti's were only £10 more and the Mitchelins were only a further £5 more than that.

Well eventually i decided to pay big bucks and go for the Mitchelin Pilot Sports. With the price of the Continentals and Mitchelins being very close and as this was my first tyre change decided to go top end. My only disappointment so far is having to taking it easy for the first 200 miles to 'bed in' as suggested by my tyre guy.

Anyway lessons learned -
1) inflating the tyre outside house would have saved me £460 on 2 x tyres.
2) Killing the tyre found the crack so potential life saving moment, repair cost £70.
3) Wheels DO NOT fit under the hood and dirty up leather seats quite nicely.