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Did a quick search and was surprised not to see more on what rubber folks here are running. I need to replace the summers on my MCS and spring sales are beginning so now seems like the time to bite the bullet. I hesitate to call the car a daily since I work from home and the Sprinter van handles all long trips. Still, I'd like to be able to drive the car without fear in the wet and have a tire that isn't so deafening it prevents me from listening to the radio. I hope to make it to a handful of autox events, priority for me will always be running and mountain bike races but I'd like to improve my driving. Falken azenis, r88r, etc fit the bill there but I'm not sure I need to sacrifice that much comfort for a bit of extra grip the 8% of time I'm driving in a way where I'll truly appreciate it. Right now the FireHawk Indy comes to the top of the list, what are you folks having success with?
From just a very aggressive street driving perspective; I've had spectacular success with the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2. I still haven't found the limits in the twisties with these. They're reasonably priced, decent treadwear, and lighter than most (19lbs for a 16/17" tire).
I'm also shopping for a performance tire and I'm interested to see what people chime in with. My prioritize are Weight and Dry grip; with an eye on cost. Firehawk Indy 500 are at the top of my list...I'm also considering the Pirellis simply due to the weight, but treadwear is terrible according to just a few reviewers.
I pulled this data from tirerack yesterday: Super quick rundown
I've had Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 and General G-Max RS on my two mini's and really liked them. I felt the G-Max had a bit more wet traction, and the Indy 500 had a little bit more dry traction, but I've not used either on the track. On my F80 M3, I have a set of Michelin P4S and while they're more money, the overall experience is better. Quieter and had a lot of traction in wet and dry! Not sure if its worth the increase in price though!
Another vote for Michelin PS4. I have them on my Countryman with KW V2 coilovers and larger rear swaybar. The handling is amazing. On the R53 I have the Bridgestones that were on it when I bought it. I'll keep them until I've taken care of more essential items and then I'll switch to Michelins.
Nitto Neo Gen 13.5lbs.
Have been very pleased with this tire on low speed high load driving. Dragon type stuff and Xcross. Have not taken them deep into a corner at 100 plus though.
I would loo at the extremecontact sport, it can handle autocross without getting tore up to bad. 2nd choice something like a ps4s if on a budget check out muchomacho I use them for mountain run tires
I've had 3 sets of the Continental Xtreme Contact Sport. You'd be hard pressed to find a better do-it-all tire. I've driven in a multitude of conditions; including snowstorms. They have great grip — wet or dry — they're reasonably quiet, & they have a 30k mile guarantee! I've chased through — at obscene speeds — plenty of the twisty mountain roads here in So Cal that look & feel like they were made by a race track designer posing as a Caltrans engineer, I've yet to find the limit of grip with these tires. I'd like to try some of the others for a side-by-side comparison; but that said, I'm VERY pleased with these! Interestingly, they are the only tire to receive a 9 overall on the above chart.
My Conti XtremeContact DSW were great street tires, and were decent at an autocross, not great though. I took them out on the track and one day ruined them. The Falken Azenis RT660's hold up great on the track however. So for constant abuse, I'd avoid the DSWs. From other folks that street + track they love the PS4S, which do both great plus handle the wet.
