rinthiran

Hi everyone,

I have 55k miles on my 2006 IS350 with stock 18” rims. I live in the SF Bay Area and do a lot of city and freeway commuting. I classify my driving as occasionally ‘spirited’. My original tires were the OEM Dunlop SP Sport Maxx that lasted 21k miles. Excellent grip in wet and dry in the first 15k miles, but sucked badly as they started to wear around the edges. I now have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus all season tires that have lasted over 32k miles of heavy freeway driving. I expect I have about 2-3k miles left on them before they hit the wear bars. I love the lifespan of the tire, but I had to sacrifice ultimate dry and wet grip. I do like the fact that the tire has a very progressive feel when loosing grip – it squeals a lot, then slowly starts to slide. Very easy to control. I’m realizing I really don’t need all-seasons, since it never snows in the bay area. The worst we get is frost or a sprinkle of snow for a few hours a year.

I would appreciate it if those who have used other ‘max/ultra performance’ summer or all-season tires can comment on tires that can last around 25k – 30k miles and still give excellent dry and wet grip for ‘spirited’ driving. I’m thinking of a few summer tires (maybe not enough tire life) like the Goodyear Eagle F1, Bridgestone Potenza RE760; or stick to the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus, Bridgestone Potenza 960A/S, Continental ExtremeContact DWS.

Thanks for your thoughts!

ZippyGuy

iTrader: (9)

Outside of the PS2, there is a new buzz around Hankook's new VENTUS V12 evo

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...mparison_tests

Brandon@TR

Do you have the 17 or 18's?

apex47

I'm looking for new tires as well. Anybody have any thoughts on Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum? I found them on tirerack.com and they seem to have good reviews on there at a fairly cheap price with long tread life and low noise.

micnic

i just purchased those 18 inch kumho platinum to replace the michelin pilot sport A/S on my GS350. My first impression (about 300 miles) is that they are much quieter.

apex47

I have a GS350 as well. Have you noticed a change in the ride/handling?

rinthiran

I have the stock OEM 18" wheels. 225/40-18 front, 255/40-18 rear.

Thanks Everyone. Seems like I'm asking too much for summer tires to last in the 25k miles range. I'm either going to stick to the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus or live with lower mileage better performance tires like the Kumho Platinums or the Bridgestone RE760.

ZippyGuy

iTrader: (9)

Bumping this thread for the OP, not sure he got an answer for the new Continental ExtremeContact DWS.

Anyone have any feedback? They look VERY promising!!

rinthiran

Thanks for the bump ZippyGuy! I did a lot of research and the Continental ExtremeContact DWS seems to suffer from slightly vague steering response; and doesn't seem like much of an advantage or change from the Pilot Sport A/S.

I'm contemplating going back to summer tires like the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 that on TireRack many owners have gotten 30-35k miles with "spirited" driving. I'll be very happy if it hits that number.

j three

Hopefully you don't mind road noise. About a third to half of the reviews on tire rack had noisiest tire I've ever come up for those goodyears. Look into General Exclaim uhp, Vredestein Ultrac Sesanta, Bridgestone re760 and the Hankook ventus v12. $50 rebate on the Hankook's at the tire rack and just about everyone who sells them is enticing.

Also something to note. At the tire rack the Goodyear's will run you $912 a set. $482 for the Generals, $532 - $50 rebate = $482 for the Hankooks, $602 for the Bridgestone's and $644 for the Vredestein at tireseasy.com.

For the money you would spend on the Goodyears you can damn near buy 2 sets of Generals or the Hankook's. This took some time, hope it helps buddy.

Red Bully

iTrader: (3)

I just picked up a set they are very quiet i had the old extreme contacts and the handling is better. ive only had them for 100 or so miles now pm me if you have any questions. also we deal with snow up here and the extreme contacts were the best snow tire ive ever owned. I hope these are the same so far so good.

Mike813

iTrader: (5)

same here, ive had the extreme contacts on my oem 16's and switched to 18's with the new DWS, very smooth ride for daily normal driving.

rinthiran

J Three - Thanks a bunch for the research and info!! I appreciate your comments. I hate road noise (hense I drive a Lexus!) and it certainly helped going from OEM Dunlop Sport Maxx to the Pilot Sport A/S.

I'm also keeping a spreadsheet pricelist, and did a price check between all the tires I looked at. I'm not so bothered with getting the cheapest tire, but $300 is no small amount in savings. I'll definately look into the RE760s.

Thanks!

rinthiran

Hmmm... Continental ExtremeContact DWS is starting to sound pretty good. I don't get snow here (live in San Francisco), just a lot of rain and some frost in winter.

MrHarris

iTrader: (1)

Bridgestone RE760 Sport. Give those a try, they will last a long time. 340 treadwear