To All,

The Bimmer needs new shoes and I was hoping to tap into the vast knowledge of the performance car collective. The tires will be dual purpose, street (primary everyday) and track (hopefully as time ans $ allow!).

The current tires are Bridgestone Potenza RE050A's">RE050A's. A relatively good tire but I have nothing to guage it against as they are the tires that came on the car. Others researched and considered are:

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 - great reviews but easily wears and costly big $335
Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position - upgrade from what I have now and good overall mid cost $263
Goodyear Eagle F! Asymmetric - good overall reviews, best in the wet and mid price $243
Nitto Invo or NT05 - great reviews, looks extremely cool and cheapest of the bunch $180 - 200

All prices are Tirerack except the Nittos are Discountire.

If anyone has another suggestion or experience with any of these listed I would appreciate your input.

Thanks in advance,
Channing

Channing

I can tell you of my experiences with the Michelin's I have had M-Pilots and M-Pilot sport PS-2s for over 10 years on a two different cars 1995 M-sport on BBS RX-2s 275/35 18 245/40 18s and have been overwhelmed and impressed by the mileage.
The original tires on the M where Contis and they went away in less the 20K I have kept the BBS and moved them onto a 530 I They just fit I have also kept up with tire pressure I keep them at 40PSI hard for good wear.

neither of the cars has seen the track but I am getting better than 35K out of these and on my fourth set

PS 2s on the track I have a friend that comes to all the track events with me He has a 997 Carrera S and PS-2s
Each event we think he will kill the tires and it will be time for new This has not occurred and I think he is on his fith event that includes mulit day events and he has a good amount of tread left He has taken care to keep good alignment and pressures

Thats my take on the Michelin's Best of luck!

Hi Channing, I'm going through the same situation on tires. I'll tell you what I know so far. I have used the Goodyear F1 supercar tires both on street & track and I'll tell you they are excellent on both. At the track they do talk to you A LOT but are very consistent at the track, about 1.5 to 2 seconds slower than R compound. I looked at the Nitto NT05, but I noticed they only come with about 5/32 tread depth, which is why they are so good at the track, but I don't thinks they will be that good in the wet and probably won't last as long as the others that come with 10 to 11/32's tread depth. A tire I've been looking at with good online reviews is the Sumitomo HTR Z III. I'm thinking of going with the Sumi's, especially because they cost around $139 each. Those are my 2 cents... Let me know what you choose...

Juan...

Hi Channing,
I used the Sumitomo HTR Z III as dual-purpose tires for about a year (12 track events), and I couldn't be happier with them! For an ultra-high performance tire, they last a long time, and do very well on the track, as well as in the rain. They have a speed rating of 186mph (and yes, I've gotten them up to near that (183)). I also did 2 track days with them at Daytona - full-throttle through the bankings - no problem. The second day in the rain, and while everyone was changing tires... I kept my Sumis on . Today, I still use them as my every-day tire, but use R-compounds at the track.

Very high ratings from Tire Rack, and you can pick them up at Tire Rack at a great price. (They were the ones who recommended the tires to me).

By the way, if you are going to buy tires, be sure to click through our Tire Rack banner to go purchase them (this helps TW stay alive)

I've always liked Kumho tires. The Ecsta XS is their latest Extreme Performance Summer tire. I currently have the Ecsta SPT on my M3 in stock 19" size. At $169 and $184 a tire its hard to beat.

I have a dealer account with Tire Rack so if you need High Performance street tires or Track tires let me know.

Allan

BS RE-11 are the best not going to last long but great traction

When looking into tires (street and/or track), may I suggest checking out Performance Tread. Jim Platis of Performance Tread is a long time racer and knowledgeable about all forms of tires for motorsport applications, including wear characteristics, tire feedback and performance and more. He is also helpful with contingency programs for racers. He can be reached at 561-206-4611 or jim@performancetread.com (www.performancetread.com). They can be helpful with Hoosier, Bridgestone, Toyo, Nitto, Yokohama, Falken, Kumho, Michelin and Goodyear. I am just a customer of his and have no particular bias towards any one supplier. - Dave

Hey, Carlos, Sean, AKK, Dave ("no bias towards any one supplier" - get the pun funny), Ghost and all, thanks for all of the informative responses. Its given me even more to consider! I think this is valuable info for all those interested in performance tires. AKK I might take you up on that offer.

Thanks again,
Channing

I need new street tires and reading this I am tempted to give the Sumi's a try based on what I read here. I just got my camber plates in so now I "worry" about uneven wear on the street tires, mainly the front inside, instead of my track tires. I ended up with -2.6 front camber with 1/32 toe out. I noticed this on tireracks description of the Sumi's:

"The inside shoulder is linked by another continuous circumferential rib that enhances wear quality to help reduce noise throughout the life of the tire, especially on vehicles with independent suspensions and alignment settings that specify negative camber. "

Not sure if that is good news with regards to aggressive camber or more of a whatever..

I'll throw in my two cents on the PS2's: I drove them for a year on the track: loved them, great performance in both dry and wet conditions for a street tire. Yes, they are expensive and quite soft, so if your camber is not set up for the track the outside will eat up faster than you like during track use. They still lasted me quite a few events with stock camber. The one thing I did not fully like about them is how they let go when you find the limit of the tire. They will warn you by squealing as any road tire, but once on the limit they start to bounce sideways causing a strong uncomfortable noisy vibration, Im guessing because of the tire pattern. Its is a very safe and responsible behavior for a tire but I prefer the way r-compounds let the rear slide a bit if needed. But that may be an unfair comparison... PS2s is a good match for fat wallet I guess.

Just came on board to the club and looking forward to meeting you guys, although I probably know most of you from the track. I like to chime in this discussion if I could. There is no right tire for everyone, every car is different, set up, weight and most of all purpose and driving style are huge determining factors. Furthermore, a dual purpose tire will tend to be better for the street that the track. For example, I run real hard cheap tires on my car because it is not only my track car, but also by daily driver, so with over three degrees of camber in the front no tire is going to last on the street, so why spend the money. On the track I run Hoosier R6's. When I got my car I took it right out of the showroom directly to Sebring with the OEM Yokohama A046, a tire equivalent of the Yokohama A048 an excellent tire. The tires were corded in two days. Tires are the most important performance upgrade to your car, and all the tires mentioned are excellent products but they are not good for everyone. Feel free to drop me an email and I would be happy to answer any questions you have in greater detail.

Jimmy Platis
performancetread.com