Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 ZP (Max Performance Summer) Can I still drive my 335i sport in the winter with these tires when it's dry? Just as long as I'm not taking it out during the snow or on roads with snow/ice? They are OE tires. If not what other tires should I get? (All seasons or winters?). I'm wondering if I would need winter tires if I'm not taking it out when it snows. Just out on those cold dry winter days. Thanks for the help.
I would never consider driving year-round on these tires anywhere in the snow belt, regardless of whether it actually snows. Summer tires are constructed with a tread compound that becomes very stiff in low temperatures, resulting in drastically reduced traction on wet or dry pavement. Although you might be able to adjust your conscious driving habits to stay within the tires' reduced limits, that doesn't help you in an emergency. When it gets cold enough, you run a significant risk of attempting an accident-avoidance maneuver and coming up far short on traction, even on dry pavement. On wet pavement--it rains in winter, and snow melts--a cold summer tire might as well be bald. Winter tires use tread compounds that stay flexible at lower temperatures. This is important even in the absence of snow since it translates directly to adhesion--better traction on wet or dry pavement. A high-performance winter tire can provide summer-like traction on cold, dry pavement as well as aggressive bite in deep snow. The tradeoff is the same as with a soft, grippy summer tire: it wears out faster. Which is best for you depends on how much cold weather and snow you expect to see, and your budget. Summer and winter tires must be swapped twice a year, which requires either expensive mounting and rebalancing or two full sets of wheels. Many people leave keep summer tires on their OE alloy wheels and mount winter tires to inexpensive steel wheels (with wheel covers). That's not always possible on newer cars with bigger brakes and large wheel fitments, where a second set of alloys may be the only option. All-season tires use tread compounds and patterns that are a compromise: adequate performance in a wide range of conditions in exchange for lower peak performance in any of them. All-seasons can remain on the car in, well, all seasons. The best of them can approach the capabilities of seasonal performance tires but they will never quite match the peak performance of the best summer- or winter-only performance tires, in their respective seasons.
Thank you for the great response. Town Fair Tire does free winter change overs when you purchase tires from them. I may look into that. I really don't want to drive my 335i too much when the roads are covered with melting snow/ice/salt; But I guess it's good to have a set of winters on it, just in case I don't want to take the jeep out.
Summer Tires I live in Chicago, and so I drive in extremes, and the summer tires are great for temps above 30 ish, they tend to be like hockey pucks in the cold, and offer a stiff and less enjoyable ride for sure. I just sold my Benz 350SLK AMG, which I had Conti Contact 2's on, which was an excellent tire for that car, due to the tight suspension and low to ground center of gravity. Now I just picked up a 335i 6spd manual, spt pkg. w. 18" rims and had Bridgestone RFT O5A OEM's on it, what crap those were, though the fronts were 60% worn, the rears were 75% or more, but the ride was awful, expansion joints and bumps kicked the car off track. After much research, on TireRack.com and also reading the Car & Driver Summer tire test (Top 10 under $200 each), my initial list of Conti 2, Conti D/W or Pirelli Pole Positions, now included the Hankook V12 Ventus. I called the Tirerack and spoke to the salesman, and he felt my driving needs, which were strictly pleasure, road trips on two lane roads, high speeds and hard cornering, and the 6spd, I should consider the Hankooks due to replacement cost when the rears burn off in 10K, or the Conti 2 due to its strong and sensitive steering input. I ordered the Hankooks, drove to TireRack in South Bend Ind, in a hard rain, which on the RFT was squirrely at times, and got the tires installed, and drove back, it was like a new car, in the rain, impressive handling for a higher center of gravity car (not a Porsche) and the stopping/braking was great. I got the 4 wheel alignment yesterday (a must with new tires) and wow, I am in heaven, the Hankooks have to be the smoothest and quietest performance tire for the money. Now, if price is not an issue, the Michelin PS2, and the Conti Contact 2, and the Pirelli Pole Positions, would all be great I am sure, but in the end, for $450 less, the Hankook is a bargain. I do stress I am a aggressive driver, I have a Triumph touring bike that I easily cruise at 100 on back roads, and the track 130+, so tires and performance, are important to me. Hope that helps... Tim
Thanks for the info Tim. Are those Hankook tires run flats? If not, are you pretty much stuck if you catch a flat? Also, if I throw winter tires on my car, how much snow can I drive through(inches)? Thanks again.
Anything above 5-6" demands caution because of the possibility of high-centering the car--all tires lose grip when they don't touch the ground. Anything less than than depends on the type of snow, the condition of the tires, your speed and your skills. What some people call too deep, others call an opportunity to practice.
Depends on how you prepare. You can throw a spare in the truck with a jack. Or a tire repair kit and a small little lighter-powered compressor, or a can of fix-a-flat (some caution there). Me? As soon as Tire Rack has the Conti DWS tires in stock again, my RFTs and the left front bulge are gone.
Tires-Hankooks No the Hanooks are not RFT, and would not consider them on any car. if I get a flat, which is pretty rare in all my driving, I have a can of fix a flat, and after that, its roadside assistance, which I have with this club. and AAA and my Geico Insurance, and its not like you will be all that helped with a run flat, they only go so far, then you get to a place, and what? Nobody stocks run flats, so its going to be a few days to get one if your in timbuktu, think about it. In fact, few people stock the performance tires anyway, most place only have typical passenger tires for typical cars like a honda/chevy etc. I have a set of winter tires and wheels, so I may just put one in the trunk now that I think about it, when I go on road trips...might look goofy, and feel goofier, but at least I am not in the next episode of Deliverance... I finally drove my car in the dry today on the highway, around 110mph in stretches and tested hard braking and a few swift lane changes, they were great, its BMW that needs tighter suspension now, I am so used to the SLK 350, which is hardly any weight over rear wheels, so it zipped thru lane changes without drama...the Hankooks are the saving grace to a nice ride though, the SLK was harsh overall in the city on the Conti's. The Hankooks were $670 installed....saving $500 from the others....I am please so far, to say the least.
Thanks for the answers! Thanks for the answers guys!...These run-flats are outta here! LOL. Still a little nervous about the winter driving(spun out last year in my 530i, all season tires), but if you're right about the winter tire setup, I'm going to give it a try! As always very informative answers on this site. Gotta love BMW drivers.
This past winter I kept the staggered summer sport-package 18" HP tires on the car. Made it through a 24" storm, two 12" storms and a few smaller (less than 4") storms on a RWD car. How? I waited until the plows went through and then hit the roads and a lot less snow. Never had a problem driving the car in a couple of inches of snow. At night the car is in a heated garage and never sees an evening below 55F. But I will admit that for the coming winter I will go to Tire Rack for a winter set as the summer tires will have 15k miles on them and I just don't think my luck will hold out for a second winter on worn tires.
Nice, what do you drive when the temp drops down below 55 degrees? What state do you live? I have to get winters, because I know I'm gonna wanna drive her even though it's freezing out. Not so much in the snow, but cold dry weather, I'm all in.
I ran the pilot A/S's with little difference in summer performance, great wet handling, and very good winter performance... I was very pleased with them. They were quiet and the tire wear wasn't bad either. The only time I had trouble was when the snow really accumulated on the road... and I still had pretty good traction but had to be careful because of the compacted snow between the tire and the road. Not much different than anyone else on the road even with winter tires.
I drive the 335!! The car is garaged every night and never sees below 55. But when I'm driving in the snow, it's a tad cold here in Northern NJ.
It snows alot here in CT. The temps are always in the 30's here during the winter. I had all season on my 2003 530i last year, and I couldn't get up hill on my snowy driveway most mornings without spins tires. If the winter tires will fix that, then I'm jumping all over them.
