r10apple

I got tired of my bad luck and bought new tires today after blowing ANOTHER one. I've gone through 3 replacements and still had two with a lot of tread, just got sick of it...

We all know the stock tires from mayonnaiseland suck. I replaced those with some Pirelli P7000 which were very bland. Better responding then stock, little better on dry but worse in wet weather. They were a tad louder as well.
I then swapped altogether and moved up to 18's with some wheels. I got Maxxis tires as the were made for touring performance. They were might quiet, had pretty good dry grip and had outstanding wet grip. I can say that after about 15k miles, the dry grip deteriorated badly, and the shoulder wore badly. Wet traction stayed fine at speed, but any traction with the VSA off was totally absent. I could easily liquidate the tires into 2nd...My biggest bi+ch centered on the fact that the tires picked up every ounce of road debris imaginable. Screws, metal pieces--if it was there, I hit it and it stuck. Maybe it was just bad luck, but 3 new tires in less than a year (even with pro-rated road hazard warranty) is a pain in the a$$. This doesn't even cover the 4 or 5 times they've been patched. And no, don't PM me and ask if I live at a nail factory...

I went to my guy today and actually got to test out the Continnental Conti-Extremes. I put about 50 miles on them and drove around in the city the first 5 or 10 just warming them up. They were fair. Turn in wasn't crisp at all. In fact, it felt like my worn Maxxis tires. Dry traction was pretty darn good, but they were a bit loud. Not really loud, but just as loud as my worn tires. It's not raining so I have no idea about wet traction. They were $150 a piece which is cheaper than the Maxxis I had at $176 a piece.

My guy carries Cooper (the new Zeon's looked sweet but the tread rating was 280 and they cost as much as the Maxxis--I would have gotten these as a second choice), Kumho, Sumitumo, Pirelli, Continnental, Michellin, and Nitto. He really pushed me on the Sumi's and they were really cheap at $116. I remembered many posts here about bubbling, and though road hazard was standard, well, I don't want the hassle. I got the Nittos at $127--Nitto 555's in 225/40/18...

OMFG! Holy shi+, Batman! I've driven on performance wheels and tires for 16 years. I've never liked a tire so much. Quiet and I mean REALLY quiet--over 115mph cruising quiet. Responsive--really responsive. And sticky as h=ll! VSA off and a stomp w/o ac on produces barely a chirp before hooking up. No chirp at all into 2nd. The Conti's made a nice, loud chirp and would barely chirp hitting second. Turn in is excellent. It is certainly a summer oriented performance tire in that the design probably isn't the best for water and certainly not snow or ice, but you can really feel the road in the steering wheel and the control and response was seriously perfect for me.

I highly recommend them. To be honest, I thought they were cheapo, ricer tires after looking at ads and stuff, but on the TL-S, man was I wrong. Cheap, sticky, responsive...Very. very nice!

r10apple

Oh--added some new brake pads afterwards, but still bedding them right now...Gotta be gentle at first!

DOLEFEE

What's the treadwear rating on the Nitto 555s? Hopefully you have better luck with these tires...

r10apple

Honestly, I forgot...Not much different than the others--either 300 or 320-I can;t remember but I think it's the latter.

unionjack

I got Nitto 555 235/40/18 on my Bimmer and like them. It's nice having a treadwear of 300 on a high performance tire. They don't perform as well as others (i.e. Potenza S-03, PZero Nero, and AVS Sport), but for the price they are great.

r10apple

Okay...
4 days in and 590 miles...
These Nitto's kick a$$...Dead quiet; stable and smooth as a baby's a$$ at well over 115mph; directionals not pulling on any road surface at all; dry traction is phenomenal--can only really tear into them if cold or if the VSA is off; wet traction has been just fine--better than Michelin, not as good as Maxxis, though the wet roads do produce a bit of noise as opposed to the Maxxis or Michelins.
I'm very impressed at these inexpensive tires. Very impressed...

maxx96

I'm glad you liked them, but I'm curious, why don't you tried the Yokohamas AVS ES 100, I read a lot of reviews about them and everything they said is excellent, those are going to be my choice when my michellins are gone. Also at $109 is a good deal at tire rack maybe a little more at lets say Discount tire. This is for 215/50/17". I like the fact that you said they are quiet.

r10apple

He just doesn't regularly sell and service Yoko's which makes it harder if I have a problem...
I want something I can take in right away and get done...If you order on line and have an issue it gets resolved far, far away instead of right in front of you. I'm willing to pay a couple extra $$$ for that.

NSX4dr

You can buy them at a local Discount Tire here in Jacksonville and get warranty done locally. Not only that Discount Tire offers free replacement warranties agains defects or road hazard. I have the AVS ES100s on my M3 and love em'............

r10apple

Maybe I'll try them some day, but the Nitto's sucked me in...
BTW, I've seen your LOW a$$ M3 before...Car just looks best in yeller!

Blazin TL

nice, i'm glad you found some good tires. i thought treadwear was just relative to a tire brand and only their models, i.e: 300 on a falken would be different from a perelli 300; either way that's co, we need to have another meet soon.

NSX4DR, do you have pics of your M, i remember your TL was very nice...

NSX4dr

Here ya go Blazin....only gonna post one since I don't want to take over the thread....

Blazin TL

i almost said damn in front of my lil sis when i saw your car but i quickly switched it to a dang very nice