Has anyone tried these? They have a treadwear rating of 500 and sell for $94 at the TireRack. I'm thinking of 215/45-17 to replace my Falken 512's.

 

I had their earlier Avid's and they were kick-butt tires on my sedan.

I've only read about good things on the H4's. good all-round
street tire for comfort and some spirited driving.

 

I got my wife a set of these for her '99 VW Beetle, and she has loved them. She says she can feel a difference, that they're stickier than her stock tires were.

Having ridden in the car for 700+ miles one week, I can tell you they were also more comfortable and predictable than the stock tires, without being noisy.

A good choice, unless you're intending to carve up some serious twisties.

 

Why are they not good for the twisties?

 

Serious twisties (think mountain switch-backs).

They're all-season performance tires. I'm sure they're fine for the occasional spirited drive, but I wouldn't count on them to make a canyon run, do an autocross, or a HPDE.

 

Tread wear 500 !!!!! Not very soft

Sticky tires have a rating around 200-250.

R compound tires have a rating of about 40

Bill

 

MINISQL,

Yokohama Avid H4S are all season High performance tires.
Not Max performance or Ultra High performance tires- so a couple of levels down from what many MINI owners choose when doing higher performance driving on curvy roads or when hitting the driving school events.

If you are driving at normal street and highway speeds, need a longer wearing commuter tire, then the Avid H4S can be OK but they are H rated tires, not W, Y or Z rated tires. Talk to Alex@tirerack.com to find out more about what speed ratings work best with MINIs. H rated tires are good for performance four door sedans like a Camry SE or Maxima SE.

See
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EZ3&url=/tires/tests/testResultsModel.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=A vid+V4S
A tirerack test comparing the Avid V4S (better tire than the H4S since it is V rated not H rated).
Overall the V4S was OK but didn't score as high and didn't do as well in the wet compared to the other tested tires of the same category.

Avid V4S doesn't come in 215/45-17 but the H4s does for $100 each.

Looking in the Ultra High performance All season category at tirerack consider-
In 215/45-17 Avon Tech M550 A/S W rated for $99 each 360 tread rating
and for one pound less comes in 205/45-17 for $103 each. AA traction rated

M550 tests-
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EZ3&url=/tires/tests/testResultsModel.jsp?tireMake=Avon&tireModel=Tech+ M550+A%2FS
Bridgestone Potenza RE950 scored well but costs more at $141 for H rated and $167 for W rated tires in 215/45-17. 400 tread wear but only A traction rated not AA.

If you don't need the all season class of tires (for wet, light snow, and longer tread wear) then the Yokohama AVS ES100 is about the same price $102 in 215/45-17 ($99 in 205/45-17) and offers good performance albeit with softer rubber. Tread rated 280 AA traction W speed rated.

 

Looking for a little more feedback on these tires.

I'm also looking at getting another set of BFG Traction T/A V's.

I'm looking for an all season tire that would be a good commuter tire.

Thanks for any additional feedback in advance.

 

I had a set of H4s' on my Civic before I traded it for the MINI. They were GRIPPY, most impressive in the rain, least impressive in the snow. I had them for about 8,000 miles and didn't show a bit of wear. Highly recomended for a street/commuter tire.

 

I had these tires back in 2002 on a VW GTI in Colorado. I thought they were a decent compromise between performance and all season.

The would probably disappoint me now, but could be a good choice for a long distance highway tire that can take a turn once in a while.

 

IMHO I think 215/40/17 are a better size. I got a set of 215/45/17 Goodyears & I think they are to tall (no rubbing or anything, I just don't like the height). If I had it to do over again I would def get the 40's

 

I have a set of 205/40/17's on my MCSa for about 5000 miles. No complaints with them as a daily drive tire. Much better than the runflats that they replaced.

 

I now have a complaint about these tires (still on my wife's Beetle): they're steadily losing air.

About 3 weeks ago, my wife told me that her car was pulling to the right, and that the right front tire was low. It had 16psi, down from 30 in February.

I re-inflated her to 30, and two days ago she lost a hubcap. A quick check showed her at 18psi on that tire, and 23 on the left front. The rears were also in the low 20's.

It's possible the installers did a crappy job with these, but no problems were had for the first year.

They're only 18 months old, and while my wife does not drive often, there's no evidence of dry-rot. I'm seriously considering dumping these for some quality rubber (on some quality wheels that don't take hubcaps).

 

it might not be the tire, she could have a nail causing a slow leak, or the valve stem core could be loose.

the avid h4s faired well in tirerack's recent budget all-season compare
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/kumho_ecsta_ast.jsp

 

Yeah, but on all 4 tires? The Beetle has a similar weight distribution to the MINI: 6x% in the front, so it's not surprising that the fronts are losing air faster than the rears, but all 4 tires had lost at least 6psi. That might not sound like much, since I regularly have to add air to tires I've stored during the Winter.

I've gone over the tire looking for nails or other trauma, and have found none. I'm just disappointed that she'd had tires for 6 years that never lost a pound, and now we're losing 6 in as many months.

Again, it could have been the installer, but I'm skeptical. Heck, for all I know, the wheel could be bent (I haven't pulled it off to check the inside).