What tires ar you using

[jcb986]

Everybody drives differently and thus they have found a tire that fits their needs. That is what I get from the posters here. My Falken's 912's are, so far, are a very good tire. Not many performance tires come with a 40,000 mile warranty like the Falken. My Boxster came with Kumho's, found them rough riding and thumbed a lot when cold...reminds me of the old bias tires from the 60's.

[favino1006]

Hey Guys,

Thought I would chime in on this one as I currently have tires on the mind as well.

I run 275/35/18 rears and 235/40/18 fronts on a daily driver only, in Florida. I've had Pzeros, Yokohamas, Kumho Ecstas, Falken ziex 912's and Michelin PS2 A/S Plus on my car. Imho I have experienced the following: the Pzero's performed really well but wore out by far and away the quickest. Yokohama's were ok performance, little better on tread life but really, really noisy. The Kumho's where in my opinion best over-all performance, tread life and the quietest tire out of those three. All that said, there is a lot of rain in Florida and none of those tires made me feel secure in a downpour. That coupled with the fact that I'm lucky if I get 3k out of my rears, I started looking at A/S tires. First I tried the Falkens. Reasonably similar imo to the Kumho's, performance wise, but, I got 2.5k out of the rears and about 22k out of the fronts. Those rears MUST have been defective as they have a 45k warranty. Falken & tire kingdom did credit me money on the rears but, it wasn't an easy process. Currently I'm running the PS2 A/S Plus all the way round. These tires have been impressive. Best traction in the rain I've ever gotten for sure. To date, I have 7k on them and the rear tread looks brand new. They're also reasonably quiet as well. But, I will say, they are of course, the least sticky of the bunch. It's not a lot, but you definitely feel it. I think it's an acceptable amount for what I've gained in treadwear. Out of the bunch, I would absolutely buy the Michelins again and the Kumhos. That's it.

Has anybody had any experience with Continental ExtremeContact DWS? They've gotten good reviews on Tire Rack but, many people have said they seem more squirrelly dry than PS2 A/S. That, to me, seems scary. They are so much cheaper than the Michelins though and their over-all ratings are really good. I'm really curious to hear how they handle dry...

On a side note, in the spirit of continuous tinkering , I'm thinking of possibly switching my 18's out for 19's. Only because I'm loving this particular style of wheel that isn't made in an 18 size by anybody (RPK-038). Has anyone made the switch from 18's to 19's and have an opinion about the difference in ride stiffness? I would like my wife to still want to get in my car, haha.

For those of you who haven't seen these charts, here are a couple of interesting links:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=UHPAS

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=MP

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=UHP

Thanks guys. I hope this is helpful to someone =)
-ian

[Pat]

The CEC DWS is a great value in A/S tires. We have had them on the A6 for several months and I am very impressed. That said, they are NOT in the same class as the Pilot Sport A/S. If the PS is borderline acceptable in terms of performance, you don't want the DWS.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by Pat

The CEC DWS is a great value in A/S tires. We have had them on the A6 for several months and I am very impressed. That said, they are NOT in the same class as the Pilot Sport A/S. If the PS is borderline acceptable in terms of performance, you don't want the DWS.

Hey, Pat, saw your comment here and it's got me curious. Could you elaborate some more for me? How is it that the Michelin is considered borderline and the DWS not in the same class? I'm not trying to be a wiseass here, but they are both indeed in the ultra high performance all-season class. Not that I'm one who lives and dies by stats on paper/screen, but if you set em side-by-side in a tirerack comparison--while I understand that reviews weren't exactly done with the Boxster specifically in mind--the Continentals actually seem to have the upper hand and approval rating. The one I found listed was actually labeled Pilot Sport A/S Plus, so I guess it's an improved model/replacement. Hopefully the link I'll supply here works, but if not I'm sure you can track down the list of UHP A/S for a '97 with 17s. EDIT: My genius self just realized ya probably really don't need to since favino pretty much put it all out there earlier, heheh....

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/CompareTires.jsp

Just wanted to get a little more info/opinion out of you on how you feel the tires stack up against each other.

[Pat]

The Tire Rack test for the DWS measures mainly how the tire compares with others in its class in SNOW. I love this as a snow-oriented A/S tire, or as a substitute for a light snow tire. A couple tires bridge the gap between A/S and light snow. The DWS is one. A little more toward the snow category is the Dunlop 3D. With this type of tire there are always compromises. As I spend a lot of time in the mountains in the winter but only want one set of wheels/tires for our A6, I went with the DWS. It is fantastic, as it really can serve as a tire that handles 100 degree heat in Denver in the summer and also -10 degrees with a ton of snow in the mountains in the winter. It's not easy to find a tire that sacrifices so little. I think the DWS is one of the best, if not THE best, A/S tires in the snow.
That said, it has a lot of void an not many large tread blocks. When pushed in the hot weather it gives up easily. More easily, IMO, than the Pilot Sport A/S Plus. The Pilot has stiffer sidewalls and is more responsive. It's closer to a summer performance tire than the DWS. Does that answer your question?
Both are A/S tires, but on opposite ends of the A/S spectrum for my needs.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by Pat

Does that answer your question?
Both are A/S tires, but on opposite ends of the A/S spectrum for my needs.

Pat, that is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for taking the time to enlighten me and share your personal experience with both. I may very well have to keep the Pilot in consideration after all.

[Pat]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

Pat, that is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for taking the time to enlighten me and share your personal experience with both. I may very well have to keep the Pilot in consideration after all.

I'm glad it was helpful. If you'd like to chat PM me. There's more to it than just that. Living in Denver I go from 20 degrees and snowing to 85 and sun in the same day, so my environment can be pretty crazy. There have been HUGE advancements the last ten years in tires than can deal with both situations well.

[SoCalKen]

Originally Posted by favino1006

Hey Guys,

Thought I would chime in on this one as I currently have tires on the mind as well.


Thanks guys. I hope this is helpful to someone =)
-ian

Favino, I'd like to say thanks (sarcasm)
Now I'm completely unsure again what I want to buy.
Ken