opinions on all-season tires

[girly girl]

the guy i bought VR-4 from, had Nitto 555's on the car (according to 2 different people i've spoken to, they're drag radials :dunno, i know nothing about tires by the way). possibly the shittiest tires imaginable. lost traction constantly, always felt like they were about to break loose going around turns (on a few occassions, they did, almost killing me and my passenger), hydroplaned too many times, etc. you get the picture.

i just bought cheap rims (17"Mille Miglia Spyders) to put on my car for the winter because i'm selling my 3 good stock 18" chromies off the VR-4 (hit a curb during the last snowstorm, ruined one rim, lost control at a whopping 3-5 mph!). i've been looking on tire rack's website at the different tires they have, and the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S, seem to be the best high performance tires with the best over-all rating (the Continental ContiExtremeContact tires seemed to have a few problems, so, i'm staying away from those). but, i'd like to know you guys' opinions on this tire, and any others that you may recommend instead, and why.

i need a high performance tire, that does well in the snow, rain, handling, dry, etc, and wont completely wear out in 20k miles, because i drive a LOT, and i dont want to be replacing my tires every 6-10 months.

Thanks a bunch :)

Emilie

Ratings
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/uhpas.jsp

Categories
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/index.jsp

[yotone]

get dedicated summer and winter tires.

[girly girl]

i would, but i avoid driving in the snow as much as possible, and i dont know when i'll get around to buying new rims. i want to get some nice 19s this summer, but, in the meantime, i'll need to use the rims i have now. and i dont want to buy winter tires for these rims, then summer tires, then when i get my new rims, go out and buy tires for those too. kind of a waste of money. otherwise, i would buy strictly winter tires.

[yotone]

get summer tires and just dont drive it all if theres snow on the ground.

[girly girl]

i have to be able to drive, even if theres snow out. and the last thing i want to do, is have to go out, and have shitty tires, and hit another damn curb :(

[Jim@tirerack]

There really isn't a tire that will do what you are looking for. The Pirelli is about as good as you will get in an all season tire though. In wet and dry they are very good. In the snow they will be a little above average and you will be able to get by.
I agree with yotone if you drive in the snow with a BMW you need snow tires.
If I can help let me know.

[jfischetti]

Jim, what about Sumitomo HTR+?
Excellent all season imho...
J

[girly girl]

Jim - i dont have a bmw (yet, i'm thinking maybe for my next car :D )

i have a mitsu 3000GT Vr-4, AWD. i could never deal with rwd in the snow. i'd be stupid to try driving it during the winter. especially at home, with the twisty, windy mountain roads that turn to a sheet of ice.

thank you for your input though. i'm going to head over to the few different tire places around here and get prices for them. thanks so much :)

[M_Power97]

Pepe, i think you can't go wrong w/ the Sumitomo HTR+(UHPAS). I have had a set to drive year round. They served me very, very well. Lateral=very good, noise=excellent, wear=excellent, snow=very very good. I've got approximate 50k from them, that's to the bar-wear-indicator.

Fortunately, i am able to afford dedicated seasonal tire sets. Summer/Michelin Pilot PS2
Winter/Dunlop Sport M2

Hope that would help you in your tire decision process.

[Pepe240sx]

:confused:

Jesus Christ, I'm Pepe, she's a damn imposter!

[John V]

I have the Sumi HTR+s on my M3. Honestly I was prepared to be underwhelmed by them, but they're better than all of the all-season tires I've ever owned (and that's been a lot, living in Milwaukee, Cleveland and then Maryland..) over the past 10 years...

The best thing about them is now with 20k miles on them (and about 50% tread remaining) they are just as good in the snow as when I first got them, and only marginally worse in the rain.

For the price they are hard to beat.

I understand the logic of all-season tires - I don't drive at 9/10ths on the street so I couldn't care less about ultimate dry grip. I don't drive in deep snow, so I don't need dedicated snow tires. For track / autocross I have a seperate set of rims with slicks on them, so these are a good weekday tire!

John

[Ron17]

vjlax18 also has the Sumi HTR+ on his M3 and I'm pretty sure he's been pleased, thus far. Just another option, should you choose to consider alternatives to the Pirellis.

He tried to talk me into getting them, as well, but since I live in Gaw-gia, I don't really need all-seasons. They'd do well for days like today/tomorrow, but we only have like four total ice/snow days a year, which doesn't justify an all-season tire.

:az:

[Chris E30+M50]

Yea I have the sumi's to and they have been great we just had a big snow and ice storm this week and I was actually able to get around a little. I think the Proxes FZ4s I have on my 535 are better in the snow but the sumi's blow them away in every other respect other than how long they last.

[girly girl]

well, i ordered the pirelli's yesterday, and they came in today. so, my car is sitting at the shop, with the tires mounted on the rims, waiting for them to finish thawing out so they'll sit right :stickoutt i'm picking the car up tomorrow at noon, then driving to NJ (about 2 hrs) i'll let you guys know what i think when i get back :D