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      02-25-2016, 06:42 PM   #1
Hrosen
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Tire Recommendation Re: Ride Comfort

Living in Washington, DC with all its rutted roads I'm finding my '06 Coupe to be pretty punishing to drive around. Need to replace my tires but may only keep the car a year or so and don't want to spend big dollars. Primarily I'm just looking for something that will be all-season and that will be more comfortable/cushion the bumps better. I don't track the car so I'd rather have more comfort than ultimate performance.

I've seen a number of people recommend the Conti ExtemeContact DW but I'm unclear as to whether that's the DW, the DWS, or the DWS 06. Any help?

Tirerack recommended Continental Extreme Contact DWS, Kumho Ecsta 4XII, or Sumitomo HTR AS P02. Sumitomo's are crazy cheap at $400 and seem to be decently reviewed. Tempted to go for them given the price/value. Thoughts?

Any thoughts given my need for comfort/price would be appreciated.

thanks!

Last edited by Hrosen; 02-25-2016 at 09:12 PM..
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      02-25-2016, 07:13 PM   #2
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3.0 Coupe or M?
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      02-25-2016, 08:42 PM   #3
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3.0si Coupe w/sport package.
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      02-25-2016, 09:42 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hrosen View Post
3.0si Coupe w/sport package.
I had a 07 Z4 3.0Si roadster and Ran 2 sets of conti DWS's on it and loved them. NOTE: This car will wear out the rears at about twice the rate of the front.

I bought a set of these for my 2011 335is, knowing that I wont put them on for at least another year. I like the tires that much.

I think Conti DWS's are a great value for money tire. Especially if you plan on hitting the twisties at speed in the Z4.

I have also run 2 or more sets of Kumho Ecsta's on my 2003 330i. It is a DD/people mover car that has done a few trips but never anything like what I did in the Z. These are good tires for this car, for its purpose.

IMHO the tires you buy need to be suited to what you are doing with the car. If its just a DD, then Sumitomo away. But if you plan on finding out what this car will do in a corner.... I would put the Conti's on it. Lots of folks swear by the PS3's or something else but, and you can get much more expensive and in my opinion 99% of all drivers will never need what the 1200-1500 set of tires may or may not do. There is a good reason why the tirerack shows the conti DWS tires with more reviewed miles than any other tire; folks buy them again. Any tire that is rated higher (there are only two) in their category doesn't have nearly the reviews/miles.

nuff said, Good Luck, happy driving
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      02-25-2016, 09:47 PM   #5
Hrosen
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Very helpful, Bruce. Thanks! Between the Sumitomo and the Conti, which would you say absorbs bumps better? Since their performance characteristics are similar, the comfort factor would win out for me.


Quote:
Originally Posted by BruceJ View Post
I had a 07 Z4 3.0Si roadster and Ran 2 sets of conti DWS's on it and loved them. NOTE: This car will wear out the rears at about twice the rate of the front.

I bought a set of these for my 2011 335is, knowing that I wont put them on for at least another year. I like the tires that much.

I think Conti DWS's are a great value for money tire. Especially if you plan on hitting the twisties at speed in the Z4.

I have also run 2 or more sets of Kumho Ecsta's on my 2003 330i. It is a DD/people mover car that has done a few trips but never anything like what I did in the Z. These are good tires for this car, for its purpose.

IMHO the tires you buy need to be suited to what you are doing with the car. If its just a DD, then Sumitomo away. But if you plan on finding out what this car will do in a corner.... I would put the Conti's on it. Lots of folks swear by the PS3's or something else but, and you can get much more expensive and in my opinion 99% of all drivers will never need what the 1200-1500 set of tires may or may not do. There is a good reason why the tirerack shows the conti DWS tires with more reviewed miles than any other tire; folks buy them again. Any tire that is rated higher (there are only two) in their category doesn't have nearly the reviews/miles.

nuff said, Good Luck, happy driving
Bruce
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      02-26-2016, 12:36 PM   #6
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I have the DW's on my M and like them a lot. Another vote for the DWS...
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      02-26-2016, 12:38 PM   #7
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Thanks guys. I ordered the DWS's through tire rack as they were on special. But the rears were out of stock. Shopped around and they weren't nearly as cheap elsewhere. So, I bought the Sumitomo's for $400 given that they seemed comparable to the Conti's in most aspects and the price was right.

Appreciate the input though.
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      02-26-2016, 02:45 PM   #8
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Get the DWS and don't look back. Have sold four sets and people love them.

Go back to the tirerack and look at three ratings. Tire wear, snow traction (D.C. and snow, right) and road noise.

If I can recall they are all 8.5 or high which means that tire is excellent.
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      02-28-2016, 03:00 PM   #9
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I know this probably isn't an apples to apples comparison since I have the M, but my car came with DWS, I rode PSS for 34k miles (2 sets) and I went back to DWS last year but I much prefer the PSS for ride quality, especially road noise. It's probably worth the added expense for some and not for others..
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      02-28-2016, 04:40 PM   #10
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How do the Hankook Ventus tires compare? I tossed my run flats for the Hankooks and found them to be a great improvement. But if there is something better out there I'm all ears.
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      02-28-2016, 11:22 PM   #11
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I found the Hankook Ventus to have decent performance and they're a great bargain.
They burn up pretty quickly, though. Especially the rears on an ///M.
The Michelin Pilot Super Sport (PSS) is the tire to have, IMHO.
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      02-29-2016, 10:46 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StickMon View Post
I found the Hankook Ventus to have decent performance and they're a great bargain.
They burn up pretty quickly, though. Especially the rears on an ///M.
The Michelin Pilot Super Sport (PSS) is the tire to have, IMHO.
Thanks! I just checked out the ratings on TireRack.com and it looks really good from a ride comfort and noise perspective. But I also see that there is a run flat version that is almost as good re comfort and noise. [Believe it - or not!]. Would anyone here have experience with the run flat version? Is it possible to have a nice, quite, non-tramlining run-flat tire - or should I stick with the non run-flat PSS tire? (I'm expecting the answer will be "stay AWAY from a run-flat PSS", but I figured I would ask!)

Cheers!
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      02-29-2016, 06:40 PM   #13
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I just put a new set of ContiSportContact 5 SSRs on over the weekend.
Have been running them on the rear for a while, but this is the first full set.
Haven't burned the mold release off yet, so they grip like buttered eels.
They're a little hard, but not too bad.
I have RE cans, so I can't say much about road noise.
They're a good compromise for me, because I often drive in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.
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      03-02-2016, 01:11 PM   #14
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So your recommendation is the Contis or the Michelin PSS's? I think the Michelins look good based on the Tire Rack ratings data. I'll be using them driving around town for the most part top down.
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      03-02-2016, 01:52 PM   #15
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I love my PSS's. I know they are expensive, but the ride quality was much improved. I highly recommend them.
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      03-02-2016, 02:34 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Huz-Z View Post
So your recommendation is the Contis or the Michelin PSS's? I think the Michelins look good based on the Tire Rack ratings data. I'll be using them driving around town for the most part top down.
In a non-run-flat, I'd go with the Michelin PSS.
Never tried the run-flat version, maybe someone else has.
I like the Contis for a run-flat.
Get the Michelin PSS run flats, and we'll compare.
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      03-04-2016, 06:59 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StickMon View Post
In a non-run-flat, I'd go with the Michelin PSS.
Never tried the run-flat version, maybe someone else has.
I like the Contis for a run-flat.
Get the Michelin PSS run flats, and we'll compare.
I'll have a chat with the folks at Tire Rack. One thing is for sure - there is no way that I want to go back to the harsh ride and tramlining of the OEM run flat set up. The conventional Michelin PSS looks to be a great tire, but if the run flat version is almost as good (meaning quiet and no tramlining) it may be worth a look.
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      03-04-2016, 08:45 AM   #18
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My Lucy is a fair weather gal, so she has the DW Contis.

At first I was unsure, but after time with the new tires (from the RFT) I would never go back to RFTs. Much better ride and now that the tires have worn the newness off they are much more predictable. Still need to look at the FCABs to see what they look like.

I was looking at the Contis and The Michelin PSS, but price won out. I did not look at anything else.

Steve
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      03-04-2016, 01:12 PM   #19
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Now that I've scrubbed the Contis, the grip is pretty good.
You can definitely tell that they're run flats, but I don't think they're overly harsh.

But I would still recommend against run flats unless you really need them, like I do.

I'm leaving in 1/2 hour for a 3 hour drive to go here for the evening.
This is not a place where you want to be stranded with a flat tire.
Fending off coyotes with an umbrella.

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      03-04-2016, 01:38 PM   #20
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Do you work for NASA or something? Man I wish I had your job!
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      03-04-2016, 02:55 PM   #21
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Do you work for NASA or something? Man I wish I had your job!
In return for the tire recommendations, may I recommend a nice hand gun for the coyotes and a ray gun in case Mars Attacks, which, based on that picture and what I see in Hollywood movies, looks imminent.
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      03-04-2016, 04:34 PM   #22
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Quote:
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In return for the tire recommendations, may I recommend a nice hand gun for the coyotes and a ray gun in case Mars Attacks, which, based on that picture and what I see in Hollywood movies, looks imminent.
LOL I think he was joking about the coyotes. I see them running through my backyard all the time. They don't bother humans, but people in my area need to leave their cats inside the house.
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