Tire Time

[ScottyB]

my parents have told me that my x-mas present is a new set of tires for the A4. It was a surprise to me, so i hadn't already done any research and I want to have a decision made soon so i can go ahead and order them. i got the car with Michelin MXV4's, which are great for highway driving and a quiet ride....but other than that i don't like them at all. i need something more performance oriented.

i'd love to slap the newest Advan or G-force tire on my car, but realistically it needs to have the following criteria:

- all season
- decent wear characteristics. i know alot of it is how i drive but i NEED to be able to expect at least 20k miles out of these tires.
- good rain performance
- decent price (~ 120 per tire, or less)
- ability to handle some rough treatment (auto-x) from time to time and not chunk apart

what do you guys recommend? i know a few of you are happy with the BFG Traction T/A's. also heard great things about the P-Zero Nero.

[.RJ]

You dont need all season in atlanta

what size tire do you need?

[Kaan]

my vote is Kuhmo MX... though i've never owned the tire... RJ has had countless tires... i'd ask him

[JohnC]

Moving this to tech where it belongs...

Fuzion ZRis are great on the Subaru, but I don't think we'll be getting 20k miles out of them. Maybe 10k - maybe :lol: However, you could get two sets of those and still be under $120/wheel...

[Evan]

for allseason: bridge RE-950

there is also a new michelin allseason tire that supposedly has fantastic dry grip, but its pretty spendy

[.RJ]

I never tried the Kumho MX's, no comment there.

I vote for falkens

[Mike]

I'm very happy with my Kumho MXs, but then again I haven't tried anything else on that car. What size do you need?

[ViPER1313]

The Kuhmo MX came in dead last in a Car & Driver comparison last month. I really like the Fuzion ZRi's I just got put on (they put the Kuhmo 711s to shame), although they are not all-season. Cheap too :thumbup:

[Mike]

I told you those 711s were awful I think Kumho has/is coming out with a new tire... the AGX or something? Supposed to be decent.

[ScottyB]

John - thanks for the move. i just wasn't paying attention


my tire size is 205/55-16. i could probably rock 215 or 225 if i really had to, but i'd like to stick to stock size.

i need all-seasons because i will be traveling north from time to time and if it snows, i don't want to have serious problems. i will also be going with a dedicated set of summer/performance tires eventually.

according to the most recent Car and Driver, the Kumho MX's are pretty bad in the rain IIRC. that will be a problem for me.

Evan - i too, have read that the new Mich. Pilot A/S is supposedly amazing, but at $130+ a pop, no thanks.

[GQROB]

Hmmm? I like the MX. It was very similar to the Azenis on track, if not a tad better. Have you considered Hancooks offerings? I may give the R-S2 Z212 a go when I am due for tires.

[ScottyB]

Have you considered Hancooks offerings? I may give the R-S2 Z212 a go when I am due for tires.

i have....but i think those are "summer" high performance, not all season.

[Sijray21]

what about these: Avon Tech M550 All-Season

just reading about them, and their reviews (more specifically on the audi 1.8t) were pretty good. At $80/pop for them that's not bad either.

EDIT:

tirerack comparo: linky

vvvvv -- GQROB also had a good point - these are the top two tires rated on tirerack ( i trust the responses - i was able to get the Kumho ASX's off tire rack and i think it lived up to the reviews )

[GQROB]

For All Season, I have read and heard good things about the Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testResultsModel.jsp?tireMake=Pirelli&tireModel=PZero+Nero+M%26S">http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/tes ... Nero+M%26S</a><!-- m -->

[ScottyB]

i was researching through tire rack too, and both the Avon and Pzero Nero seem like the big performers of their segment, for the money.

right now i'm really considering the Traction T/A's, the Avon, and the Pzero Nero.

[GQROB]

Wow, $80.00 for the Avons and they are rated higher than the P Zero. I would purchase the Avons if I were searching for an All Season.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I am runnning P Zero Neros. They seem to have decent tread life more like 15k miles I beleive, but then again I autocross at least once a month so they hold up pretty good. They definitely show in the tread though the heat build upo from the autocrosses.

DONT GO WITH KUMHO if you want long tread life, they are sticky as hell but suck ass when it comes to lonog tread life.

If you have any questions of the pzero neros let me know.

[Beej]

Ha, most of the tires mentioned in this thread are summer joints.

I have the ridiculously cheap Falken Ziex-512's on two sets of wheels for the e30. They're not great at anything, but they're a good overall all-season.

[Dave]

First off, I think that you want to squeeze as much meat on that car as you can. Stock tire sizes are for pansies .
I have been a big fan of Kumhos. I started out with the 712s and they sucked ass. I then moved up to the MXs and I loved them. I got decent tread life out of them too (beat on them on the street, several autoX and several road course sessions as well and still got around 15k IIRC). The fuzions are quite nice too. The only reason I got the Fuzions instead of the MXs on my last tire order was because I wanted to try something different and I was ordering tires for the Supra and 240 all at the same time, so I wanted to take the cheaper route (Fuzions were a LOT cheaper). I was torn between the Avon and Fuzion tires, so they will probably be a decent choice as well.

[Andy]

If you have a Costco membership, it would help a lot. They sell tires at Tirerack prices without the hassle though their selection is limited to Michelin, BFGoodrich (Michelin Owned), Bridgestone, Goodyear.

I have a set of BFG Traction T/A. I like them. Hspeed all-seasons, 60,000 warranty and pretty good traction. All for 300 w/mounting, balancing, warranty.

Costco also has those occasional buy 3, get 1 free promos.