[i128]

Hello,

I know it may sound counter intuitive but I'm looking to find the quietest Ultra High Performance tire.(for summer use only) My car is a daily driver, where 90% is composed of freeway driving, and 10% "canyon" carving.

Needless to say I'm calling on a tire that will be able to provide confident cornering support in times of savageness while maintaining its civility (quietness) on the daily. Good longevity is bonus but not a priority.

For context
I've previously used:

• Bridgestone Potenza RE050A (RFT)
• Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 1
• Yokohama Advan ADO8R
• Michelin Pilot Super Sports
• Continental DWS06 ExtremeContact
• Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 (RFT) (19")

Potenza's
Were the loudest and by far the lousiest grip in wet/dry, I was very disappointed that BMW decided to equip their cars with this as OE equipment. But I digress and point the finger at the RFT factor...

Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 1
Semi-quiet, OK grip on dry/wet, easy to reach the grip threshold on public roads. Good bang for the buck, classic case of "get what you pay for".

AD08R's
provided the best overall grip yet, yet fell short in the extreme wet condition performance, and quietness category. If I was lapping my daily this would be the tire hands down, then I'd also not care for road noise...lol

Pilot Super Sports:(PSS)
Excellent grip in wet/dry, extremely predictable tire. Quietest of the pack, and oddly seemed to perform better the more I wore them down. Lastly, surprisingly the most comfortable.

DWS06 ExtremeContact:
Softer sidewall so I was naturally a little disappointed in the hard cornering ability. (My balding PSS felt better) Comfortable, yet more road-noise than I would have expected from a tire of this category. Summary: felt like I was walking in shoes that are a 1/2 a size larger than they should be.

Disclaimer: I put the Conti's on just before selling the car, in the fall(colder temps) I was only able to about 3K miles on them. Moreover it's All-season UHP, so a little different from the other.

Eagle F1's:
(OE tire, on a different car) marginal improvement over the Potenza's, yet another rock hard, loud RFT tire. Would not buy again.

Finally, (thanks for reading this far) after typing this out I realized I should simply get the new PSS AKA Pilot Sport 4S, (which is supposed to be better in all aspects over it's predecessor). Yet I feel that the PS4's are significantly more expensive than all other tires in this category.


My question: are they really worth my hard earned dollar? Or can my requirement of GRIP and QUIETNESS be found in an alternative tire?

[njdangelo]

They don't make the super sports for our staggered 19" setup unfortunately. Haven't tried any others on the Michelin pilot line though.

[sspade]

+1 for Conti DWS 06

[sspade]

I would also like to add the following to the list as an excellent all season UHP tire:

General G-Max AS05

[Gen13 F36]

It's a DD 90% of the time and 10% spirited canyon carver

Add this to your list Hankook Ventus S1 evo3

[zamboni]

Try the Bridgestone Pole Position S04 quiet and reasonable price.

[RAK92]

Originally Posted by njdangelo

They don't make the super sports for our staggered 19" setup unfortunately. Haven't tried any others on the Michelin pilot line though.

I just looked on Tire Rack and they have the Pilot SS 4S in stock for my staggered 19 inch tires. I have a 435i but I wouldn’t think that matters, though.

[njdangelo]

Originally Posted by RAK92

I just looked on Tire Rack and they have the Pilot SS 4S in stock for my staggered 19 inch tires. I have a 435i but I wouldn't think that matters, though.

4s isn't super sport... very similar though. I guess it's the newest release

[upsidedownfunnel]

Originally Posted by njdangelo

4s isn't super sport... very similar though. I guess it's the newest release

Yes, 4S is supposed to be better than the older Super Sports. In fact, all the newer M Sport and M cars will have Sport 4S tires so you should be able to find BMW specific (star) versions as they are still the same size.

I just had some regular (non BMW star) 4S tires installed. The grip is amazing. And they're still too new to have done anything too crazy yet, but I can tell they have a much more gradual loss of traction than the old Bridgestone RFT tires I had.

Also Michelin has crazy long treadwear rating compared to other high performance summer tires. I'm not sure how they have a combination of such high grip yet such long treadwear, but testing has shown that the rubber lasts. So you're really getting more for your money there.

[J555]

As you have been satisfied with Michelin's comfort and noise (that are possibly the only two slight downsides of that tire), it makes sense to buy the PS4S.

The options are ContiSportContact 6 and Eagle F1 SuperSport. While the latter is possibly the better option, it is also much cheaper than Michelin (depending on the market). The wear is very similar (exceptional) for all three.

[Logicoeur]

Firehawk indy 500s?

[i128]

Originally Posted by Logicoeur

Firehawk indy 500s?

Originally Posted by Logicoeur

Firehawk indy 500s?

Thanks!
Quite a few people here and on other forums I frequent have been vouching for this Indy 500 tire, and there seems to be the equivalent of positive reviews online.

Yet I'm still skeptical...I'm somewhat of a believer in the saying "you get what you pay for" - and these Firehawk's are priced so low it makes it hard to believe they are any good!

Brings me back to about 15 years ago when at the time General released their Exclaim UHP. For those that remember, it had a dam sexy tread, well price and outperformed all in its category. The catch: take a corner A little too fast: marshmallow sidewalls. :

[AspektUSA]

Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate

[DreamerJoe]

I've been reading the hell out of tire reviews lately, and Michelin PS4S, Continental Extreme Contact Sport, and Firehawk Indy 500 all get solid reviews.. personally I'm leaning towards the Conti's unless I can get the PS4S for under a grand

[Gen13 F36]

It's really just how much you are going to spend $$$.

Give us a dollar amount your willing to spend and we will give you a subjective opinion

Seriously if money is not a problem then just go buy PS4S, just don't drive them on freezing cold climate, people said below 40F

[leejak]

I have the 19 staggered set up and although they are run flats, been very happy with the pirelli p-zero rft .....pretty quite, and sticky....

[RMachuca3d]

One more option, Bridgestone RE980's, I was pleasantly surprised how much grip they offer, great in the wet and dry, compared to what i'm running now (Michelin pilot super sports) they hold their own impressively and the sidewalls are nice and solid so they help with crisp steering response. The main issues that i found are that they are a bit heavier than the michelins, and the progression of grip to no grip is pretty sharp (PSS are a dream, so communicative). Also, the RE980's have a 50k mile warranty to boot.

[wilbur_the_goose]

I really like the Conti DWS06 (I need an all-season here in Pennsylvania)

[SlickShift]

Originally Posted by i128

Thanks!
Quite a few people here and on other forums I frequent have been vouching for this Indy 500 tire, and there seems to be the equivalent of positive reviews online.

Yet I'm still skeptical...I'm somewhat of a believer in the saying "you get what you pay for" - and these Firehawk's are priced so low it makes it hard to believe they are any good!

Brings me back to about 15 years ago when at the time General released their Exclaim UHP. For those that remember, it had a dam sexy tread, well price and outperformed all in its category. The catch: take a corner A little too fast: marshmallow sidewalls. :

I've had the Indy 500s on two (soon to be three) cars now and have only positive things to say about them. They replaced RFT each time and have been a big improvement.

[HFW003]

I have PS4’s on mine, they are far from quiet!

[razzy530]

Originally Posted by zamboni

Try the Bridgestone Pole Position S04 quiet and reasonable price.

yep, thats what i switched to, amazing tire. But not as good as my factory installed Potenza S001

[AspektUSA]

Originally Posted by razzy530

yep, thats what i switched to, amazing tire. But not as good as my factory installed Potenza S001

Are they different at all?

The S-04 is basically an S001 but non-runflat.