Mustang66

After doing some reading it looks like the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 or the Pilot Super Sport are at or near the top of the list of street replacement tires. The car will not be run at the track or in any kind of Autocross races. I am looking for greatly increased traction but able to be driven 12 months a year.

Have you found any tires that are as good or better?

What would you recommend?

Ltngdrvr

Michelins are pretty pricey.

Which tire size is on your car?

And do you mean sticky as in handling or as in drag style launching?

Brandon302

Conti Extreme Contact DWS are awesome all seasons, handle better then the PZero

Mustang66

I am looking for launching traction first then handling.

Brandon302

Not an expert but I don't think you will find a tire with good launching traction that can also be run both in the hot and cold throughout the year.

Gabe

I'm using 275/40R18 Continental DWS tires and I've been impressed with their wet traction/handling, even during a rainy Autocross event, and I just started driving on snow with them. They're not bad, not as good as dedicated snow tires of course, but not bad. Much better than some 255-width Kumho all-seasons I had on the car for a short while

dmichaels

Highly recommend a set of dedicated winter tires... you'll never find a great balance of dry, wet, and snow all season tires that excel anywhere. Cheap set of winters (probably can find a used set of wheels/tires if you look around) and then spend a bit for summer tires.

Nitto NT01 are a super aggressive summer tire that are reasonably prices and are loved in the road course world. Sumitomo HTR ZIII are quite good too, not awesome, but quite good and are pretty cheap. Can't go wrong with Michelins but you pay for them. Dunlop Star Spec (or whatever their new one is) is a huge favorite with auto-x's and road course folks as well as a good summer tire option too

ConeBoss

+1 winter for tire.


Unfortunately there is not really a silver bullet tire that does traction/grip in dry, wet, warm & cold. You can get a pretty good all season that does a decent job...but if you really want to have a tire that "Hooks up" you need a dedicated ultra-performance summer tire & a dedicated cold/wet weather tire.

Stevedotmil

I'm going to use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S + in 275/40/19 from the PZero's. At least until it gets to around May or so. They are on sale at Tire Rack right now so shipping is pretty much free. $300 per tire shipped depending on where you are. I'm going to probably use them in the summer too and just get different wheels.

Ltngdrvr

You aren't going to get a really good drag launch tire short of a drag radial, and those won't be good for handling and have a short mileage life on the street.

To get the best, you need a tire dedicated to the use, drag tire, handling tire, winter tire.

Any multi-use tire will be a compromise.

Gabe

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...0&rd=19&cs=275

Discount Tire Direct has the Continental DWS tires in that size at $256 each with free shipping and a $25 instant web-order discount, so you end up at $999 for the set of 4, and I'd highly recommend these over the Michelins.

Mustang66

I am not really concerned with good winter tires. I need better traction and handling during the 8-9 months of moderate to warm weather. As long as the tire is OK in the winter that is fine. This car is not my daily driver.

wheelman

I bought Cooper Zeon RS3-As recently b/c I read great reviews about their performance in dry and wet and I figure if theyre good enough for Roush, they s/b good enough for me. They work as advertised so far, even on a day with a lot of black ice and in today's friggin tsunami, but I haven't done any aggressive launches yet. They corner well enough on stock suspension, though and can be had for ~$175 shipped/ea IIRC. The RS3-Ss are slightly more, but I want to give em a go this summer. I need new wheels to fit the Brembos I picked up anyway.

dmichaels

Get a set of chains and keep them in the car for the rare day when you need great traction in the snow. You can get by with a summer performance tire in the cold (just be careful cause they are like plastic when cold... very limited traction). And they are like tread-less plastic in the snow. But a set of chains will get you home and if you have another car as an alternate, use that when possible.

This is basically what I do (minus the chains as I won't take the Mustang out if there is any chance of rain/snow/sleet/etc in the winter months. I'm lucky enough to have a 3rd car)

Thamac15

I have the cooper zeon rs3 tires and find they are a amazing tire. Don't know about longevity since I only have about 2k miles on them. I hear Nitto motivos are a good street tire.

Stevedotmil

I figure I would try them out since they were on sale and it made the shipping pretty much free. The cornering and dry is a little better on the Mich's but the DWS's are better in the snow and ice.

wheelman

Everybody with DWS's rave about their performance. If I wanted a dedicated winter tire, that would be it (though its technically an a/s). They are kinda fugly though imho.

Stevedotmil

I've been driving RWD cars on A/S tires since I was around 14 in Kansas and Washington St. so I'm fine with it. It was more important for me to have the dry and wet performance. I've never had Mich's so I wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about since they were on sale.

TheDivaDanielle

I recently found that the Goodyear eagle RS-A tires on my brembo wheels in 255/45R19 are amazing in all weather and snow and have adequate off the line traction.

They handled the Rocky mountains and snow across the US this week like a boss.

typesredline

You're coming from the bbp 19" 255's right? If so if recommend 285/35/19 in order to keep overall height the same as stock. Otherwise your speedo will be off.