tire recommendations?

[Suddha]

Any recommendations? Here's my wish list from Tire Rack (the ones I can afford):

Pirelli P6000 Sport Veloce
Dunlop SP Sport A2
Dunlop SP Sport Symmetrical
Yokohama AVS dB
Continental ContiTouring Contact CH95

Thanks!

[1996 328ti]

I'm sold on Toyo Proxis T1-S.
Tire Rack does not sell them.

[myred318i]

Did you consider the Potenza RE950? I love mine. They handle very well, have an aggressive tread design, and are all weather. TireRack rates them very highly, and they have a much longer treadlife than the others, cheaper too!

[Suddha]

Thanks, I'll look into both tires. I saw the RE950's on Tire Rack. I'll have another look.

I'm on my Blizzaks for another month or so here in the frozen north. Figure it's a good time to shop for my summer tires.

[Fred Hamilton]

My brother's been in the tire business for quite a while now and agreed that the Potenza RE950 225/50/16 was a good choice for me when I upgrade to a 16" Z-Star wheel. He feels like the tire is a good choice if you're looking for a balance of performance, traction, wear and a fairly quiet ride.

By the way, I posted a topic regarding exterior care in the "Waxes" forum. If anybody has ideas about repairing swirl marks and bird dropping scars on black paint, hop on over to the forum and see "That Darn Bird". Thanks!

[Suddha]

Thanks... I have narrowed my choices down to the Potenza RE950 and the Kumho Ecsta VR712. I have been hearing nothing but great things about that tire... and it is cheap on Tire Rack!

Meanwhile, it is snowing like crazy here today, so any thoughts of summer tires are strictly dreams for a few weeks now. http://www.happytogether.com/318ti/forum/frown.gif

[myred318i]

My RE950's are 205/60/15. I bought them for the all-season capability. And I think they handle about as well as any sport tire, at least in normal street driving. I want to upgrade to 17"'s this spring, and I was thinking about the Kuhmo's. Like you, I've heard good things AND they're much less expensive. Then I'll have the 950's for "winter tires" and the 17" Kuhmo's for summer.

[Suddha]

Just thought I'd close out this string with my final decision on tires.

After a lot of thought and research, I went with the Dunlop SP Sport A2.

I want performance, but for the street and not the track. These tires are rated as "high performance all-season" and seem to have a nice, stiff sidewall and aggressive tread. I think they'll corner better than my original Michelin MXV4's, which were nice, but were more of touring tires.

Tread life is important to me too and the Dunlops should get me 50K miles.

And finally, the price was right... $54 per tire.

And now the fun begins - testing out the new rubber!