Need to replace tires in the near future, what should I look at?

[BMWCurves]

My old Continental ExtremeContact DW tires are reaching their final form (racing slicks), so it's probably time to replace them to reduce the minuscule risk of hydroplaning off a bridge from a 1mm puddle. In Portland. In the very dry winter.

Where was I? Oh right, tires. I've enjoyed my Contis, but my ham-fisted approach to driving wrung the life out of them in ~25k miles despite rotating tires regularly, so I am open to new suggestions. I'm currently eyeing the following and would appreciate any personal experience on performance (wet, dry, cold, hot), road noise, and value:

Michelin Pilot Sport 4S - the gold standard, but boy howdy are they eye-wateringly expensive ($880 shipped for 245/40R17s)
Continental ExtremeContact Sport - The replacement for my current tire
Something from Cooper? @ZHPizza

I only have personal experience with Bridgestone, Continental, and Pirelli, and Pirelli's best offering doesn't come in my preferred tire size, so I'm open to suggestions.

[John in VA]

I'd think you'd enjoy any of the top 10 in the Max Summer category - https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=MP
I run Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position on my 2002tii & Dunlop SP Sport Maxx on the E28 535i spring through fall, but neither are daily drivers.

[Hoonin88]

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

[Galapolis]

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

I second this. I'm on my third set right now. Not because they wear out quickly but because I think they offer unbeatable value. They are in the same category and TW rating as your DW, so they perform similarly and should last just as long. The most I ever got out of a set was 15k miles, but that's on a staggered setup with no rotation and as ZHPizza would say, "I like to party."

Generally, they have enough grip to be fun in the corners and maybe the occasional autocross. I find they perform best at 34psi when warm. PS4S will offer more grip, but you've seen the price you pay for that. Where the Indy 500s really shine though is in the (warm) rain. At dry autocross events they are clearly outclassed and nowhere near competitive, but when it starts pouring I'm always able to close the gap to S2ks with RE-71s, sometimes even surpassing them. I've also driven through pretty heavy storms in Louisiana where it just absolutely pours without ever hydroplaning.

[ZHPizza]

Ooh boy time for a tire measuring contest. Here's my thoughts on the two rubbers that I'm currently using on my red rocket:

Cooper RS3-G1 (hella grippy all season)
- Can't beat the versatility for the dollary doos
- Ride smooth and quiet like a touring tire
- 45k mi warranty but this car spends too much time sideways for that to matter
- Dry traction is great for an all season tire. I did some laps on the track with @704sw in the car and he was like "bro these Coopers ain't bad bro let's do brunch bro"
- Wet traction is phenomenal. It's flooding in Charlotte today so I used this post as an excuse to turn off traction control and do some raining-buckets-hooning (for science). Car felt like it was glued to the road through inches of water. Running through deep puddles was no problem -- felt like splash mountain but didn't even pull the wheel.
- Good in all temperatures. I've run in light snow a few times and was fine. Can't compare to snow tires because I've never lived in a place where you need snow tires and I don't know why anyone would.
- Since they're so cheap, they make hooning a low cost activity :)
- a set of 245/40r18's ran me $362 after rebates lol

Michelin P$4$ (super duper grippy summer tire)
- Fricken phenomenal grip and a breakaway point that is predictable. I got these because the Coopers, while they did better than expected on the track, didn't instill confidence that they weren't about to break free. The PS4S has a ton of grip and you can feel/hear them building up to the point of a slide. They were perfect for my scenario where I wanted to run one tire April-November that was safe/comfortable on the street and inspired confidence on the autox course/track.
- Ride smooth & quiet - probably the most comfortable max performance tire out there
- NOT functional in temperatures <40F. It's like riding on wood planks. Don't do it.
- Cost twice as much as the Coops, but gd are they dope tires
- a set of 255/35r18's ran me $806 after rebates

[ZHPizza]

as ZHPizza would say, "I like to party."


hell yeah

[Reasoned1]

I've always been a Michelin fan--loving their grippy performance--but I've been running Toyo Proxes 4 Plus and Toyo Celsius on my daily drivers (only Michelin PSS's will do on my garage queen ZHP), and I am quite impressed. In my fairly extensive experience, Michelins suck when it comes to durability, but these Toyos seem to be lasting forever, perform pretty well, and are inexpensive (especially if you catch a sale). Something to consider...

[BMWCurves]

Thanks for the inputs, y'all!

I am now more informed, and no better off in terms of picking a tire! Right where I want to be. This is why I love this forum: "waste" time, accrue semi-useful, highly specific information. Proceed to do nothing to benefit society.

I'm rambling - thank you all for listening.

[704sw]

To muddy up the waters a little bit more: we just put a set of Pilot AS3+ on the E60 and I’m not sure how I feel about them.

• Dry grip: excellent for an all-season tire. I have taken some flyover ramps at speeds that would make the ZHP with summer tires blush. I haven’t done too much stupid shit testing (3,700lbs, long wheelbase, auto gearbox, public roads) but it takes a lot to get the tires talking, and I’ve yet to break them loose.

• Wet grip: as @ZHPizza mentioned it’s been monsooning in North Carolina and they have been pretty damn solid in the rain. Highway speeds and inches of standing water aren’t much cause for concern.

• Winter grip: uhh, closest we’ve had this winter is some slush...but they safely got me to and from Home Depot in said slush at butthole puckering speeds of 35mph!

• No flat-spotting. There have been several very cold stretches where the car hasn’t moved for 5-7 days and the tires were perfectly fine. The old Conti’s flat-spotted in the same situation.

BUT...

• They’re expensive. #MichelinTax. Got them during a Costco special of $75 off + free installation and it was still $850ish (that car has 245/18).

• In dry weather they seem to have a little more noise than I would’ve expected from arguably the highest rated A/S tire currently on the market. It’s probably fine in a brand new car where the noise insulation is so good you can’t hear an ambulance 2 cars behind you. But I find them annoying without the radio on, and the E60 is a really quiet cabin compared to the E46. Depending on your mods and your noise tolerances that may not be an issue.