Tire opinions anyone?

[shocruzin]

After over 37,000 miles on the Futura touring tires that were on my car when I bought it, I think its time to upgrade. I know very little about tires and really don’t know what to expect w/ performance tires. I think I’ve narrowed it down to the following performance all season tires (going w/ 225/55/16)

---Falken Ziex ZE-512 ($88/tire with free ship, supposedly #1 rating by a “leading consumer mag”, very favorable feedback at some website I can’t recall)
---Yoko AVS dB S2 ($104/tire, positive feedback from what I’ve seen)
---Bridgestone Potenza RE950 ($108/tire, again-positive feedback on tirerack)

Leaning towards the Bridgestones since they are a more “established” brand and ranked #1 in their category at tirerack. Any suggestions or opinions on any of these tires or any other I didn’t mention?

Now for some more questions: do you think I’ll notice a large difference in every day (although aggressive) driving w/ more performance oriented tires?
I know that for atleast the next two winters, I won’t be having to drive unless necessary so I’m not overly concerned w/ snow traction (if it’s not snowing, I'm not driving unless its to have some fun). Lastly, there is a possibility I could get a winter or two out of my current all-season tires. Are summer tires so superior to all-seasons that I should consider getting another set of slicers and put some summer tires on them?

Sorry for the length…answer or give your opinion on any or all my questions. Thanks.

 

[wood_e]

Dunlop makes a good tire

 

[Trojan Man]

I have the Bridgestone Potenza RE950s on one of my cars, and although they are a good tire, I won't be buying another set. They wear a little too fast for my taste. They also have great dry traction, and wet traction when they're NEW, but now that they're worn a bit the wet traction has gone way down. I do like the way they handle though. They are a good tire I just think you can get as good or better for a cheaper price. I'm going to be checking out Yoko ES100s or Kumho Supra 712s for one of my other cars.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

ditto on Trojan's review of the Potenzas.

Great tire,... awesome dry traction, stiff sidewalls, but after they are barely worn in... the wet traction leaves a lot to be desired. frown

 

[SHOSIG]

I recently made a switch from Dunlop to the Yokohama AVS Db. I really like the Yoko's, I would recommend them or the ES100 model. I had Kumho 712's on my mustang...did not like them much.

 

[sdpatt]

I can't tell you about their snow capability, but the Bridgestone RE-750 (successor to my current RE-730) should provide excellent dry and wet traction. I cover about 30,000 miles to a set of the RE-730. If you go for an all season tire, you will sacrifice a good deal of dry and wet traction for that little bit of snow stick. Your choice.

 

[SHOguy 92]

Your guys tires last long. I went through a set of brand new Goodyear’s in 3 months. Now I just bought tires 2 months ago and they are already at 25% on front. But I didn’t go through all 4 Goodyears only 2. I figured replacing 2 at a time would be easier on my wallet instead of 4. So relly I have went through 4 tires in 7 to 8 months.

 

[K-Dawg]

Go for a summer tire. Pick up a set of Yoko AVS ES100s and be happy.

 

[93EmeraldMTX]

I love my contiextremes. When you get get them for 78 bucks off tirerack, i dont think theres a better performance/price ratio on an all season tire.

 

[greenmadden]

i would suggest perrelies they handdle well. I have them on mine i go the z rated though.

 

[jedhead]

It has been my experience that the summer tires handle far better than all-season tires. When I replaced the Goodyear GT+4 on my 1991 with BFG CompT/A I had a immediate increase in cornering, braking and acceleration performance. Currently the 1991 SHO is running on Dunlop SP8000. I am happy with their performance. I had the same results when I got rid of the Goodyear RS-A on my 1998 SHO. I installed BFG KDW on the 1998.

Bob

 

[V6&V8SHO]

BF GOODRICH G-Force T/A KDWS 225 55 Z rated

Best all around performance tire in my opinion.

Damn good in the rain. Well see how they do in the snow.

 

[Dr.Evil]

I've got a set of RE950 and I really like them. Great when wet, but they are still pretty new.

 

[Mels]

W-rated Cooper Cobra GTZ's. A good tire from an established American tiremaker. Unlike many of you folks, my car still has unimproved factory suspension with no handling mods, so chances are I'd never fully appreciate a more expensive fancy-shmancy imported tire. These Coopers are absolutely fine for me. thumb

 

[Tmade]

I had tried the Continental Contiextreme contacts and they sucked on my car and the way I drive.

I bought the Pirelli Pzero Nero's and love them!! thumb Great handling and good grip! They were $125 off tire rack.
thumb

 

[LowSHO]

I have to agree with Tmade. I had the Comp T/A's for a long time (and they have their own problems - hard to keep in balance and poor wear, dangerous in the snow), but when I switched to the ContiExtremeContacts, there was a substantial reduction in traction. They seem to wear ok, and I expect them to be good in snow, but my general impression is they are not as good as the BFG's in rain.

Come spring, I'll think I'll be switching to Yoko's.

 

[shocruzin]

I was super close to getting the ContiExtremeContacts until I re-read this thread...pretty sure I'm gonna go w/ the Yoko AVS db S2 (purchasing end of week) for the winter, with possible 2nd set of rims and summer tires in the spring.

Thanks for all input.