Since in the bay area, we rarely see snow (just some more rains in the winter), what tires will perform well and last a long(er) time assuming mostly street driving and occasional track use? I'm looking for a good compromise among longevity, performance, and convenience (related to longevity as I don't like to replace tires all the time). Do people here use summer performance only or is something like Michelin A/S good? Looking for something that makes sense here in the SF Bay Area (Some cold days--a few 30-40F days, more rains in the winter, mostly sunny or overcast other times). Right now I'm deciding between Michelin Pilot PS/2, PS/3, and A/S. Thank you.
TireRack.com usually has good reviews on the current crop of tires be they all season/Winter/extreme Summer, etc. It might be worth a read?
X2. Not just "might be" ... "definitely is". Even if you don't buy from Tire Rack, you'll not find another better compendium of survey information.
PSHHHH, if thats really what you want ps2's are really your only option. Or anything of that caliber. Dont get conti DSWs, i dont think they are on par but thats just my opinion. Personally I would say get direzza's, those are what I run and love them to death. Rain and dry are 10/10. One drop of snow and my car slides down the driveway toward my garage lol. Performance > compromise.
Stop the presses We just got back from the launch of Michelin's latest: the Pilot Sport Super Sport-naturally after I have mounted PS2s on the roadster. Let me sum up: Significantly more grip than the PS2 in the dry. The equal of the best-tested ContiSport SP in the wet! What's not to like? Just the fact that they won't be out until the Spring. . . .
"Summer" tires are all you need since we do not ever get snow on the roads. +1 re Tirerack. Be aware that "Extreme Performance" category summer tires have minimal tread, so hydroplaning may be more of a hazard with them especially as they wear. I am speculating when I say that.
I found http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/ also has comprehensive reviews on tires (a lot more user comments than tire rack) if you don't mind the different spelling on tire.
More on the Michelin Super Sport I forgot to mention two important parts: 1. They are probably going to be priced the same as PS2s. 2. Though they are better in the dry and WAY better in the wet, the damn things look like they're going to wear better, too; they have a tread rating of 300!
Can you expand on your opinion re the DWS tires? Based on your own EXPERIENCE, how do the Continentals compare with Michelin PS2 A/S? Tire Rack claims the latter are superior in the dry and are generally more responsive but in the wet, or in snow, the DWS is better. I hate to give up performance so am leaning toward the Michelins but, since the price differential is quite significant, unless the Michelins are more than just marginally better I probably should go with the Continentals.
I recently got the Maximum Performance Summer rated Continental ExtremeContact DW's on my 2005 330ci Convertible. I also live in the SF Bay Area and just went through the latest major rain storm where it was raining so hard you could hardly see in front of your car a couple of weeks ago. I've had these tires since the beginning of this year and have almost 4000k miles on them and these definitely did their job in the stormy weather. They really stuck to the ground and I had no fears of hydro planing through those unexpected "ponds" you might run into sometimes on the freeway when it rains that hard. As for tread wear, I have of bad habit of really cornering hard in my car and by now, the front pair should have started to show signs of a little tread wear but not these. If you're looking for tires that say they are recommended for good tread wear and fit Northern Cali driving, then get these. If you don't mind giving up a little performance in terms of responsiveness in dry weather (and it's really not that much) I think these are far worth the price you pay for them as they are very comfortable tires to drive on, decent performance handling (I didn't say that they were the best handling but I should have said "very decent performance handling") with surprisingly good tread wear. You might think a well rounded performance tire like this should' have been categorized as an "all weather" tire instead. So far I think a good buy for what you get!
