Help me pick some summer tires for the LS8

[MinisterofDOOM]

Winter is mercifully gone, and in a few weeks I'll be moving out of permawinter Eastern Idaho to a place with real spring and summer. So, it's time to take off the studded iPikes and replace them with something a little more fun.

I've spent a lot of time hunting down barely-used tire deals over the past couple of years, and I've played with a big variety of tires. None have stood out as exceptional, but people probably don't resell tires worth keeping anyhow. However, I still can't help but feel that most tires are a disappointment, and I want to go new without throwing money away on an "experiment" (which is why used tires are so appealing to me).

I could use your help, NICO.

Here's what I'm looking for:
UHP Summer tire
Excellent in the rain
Communicative with lots of road feel and steering feedback (they'll be in a relatively low-profile size at 245-45-17 so this should not be difficult, but there's still room for a lot of variation even at that size)
Progressive, talkative traction loss
Reasonable balance of treadlife and stickiness for a UHP summer model. I'd rather have sticky over treadlife if I have to choose.
Not concerned about tread directionality--treadwear left-to-right on the LS8 is very even, and so long as I can rotate front-to-rear I'll get decent life from them. I have found that traditional directional tires tend to manage water better, but I've also heard that a lot of modern asymmetrical tires are supposed to do really well at this also.
I'm not overly concerned with road noise--I'd rather have a noisy high-performer than a quiet mediocre performer.
Something that won't find a way to make a 50:50 weight-distributed sport sedan understeer like a Mitsubishi with an iron block V6 hanging in front of its axle (something I've experienced more times than I'd like with "performance" tires)

Whatcha got? What do you run and why?

[RicerX]

Before I weigh in, good sir, what do you consider to be reasonable treadlife?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Eh, I'd prefer not to go any lower than 220 without some stark benefits. Closer to 300 would be nice if I can still manage solid performance. That's just a general range, though.

[Eikon]

michelin pilot super sports..

end thread

[RicerX]

Seth pretty much nails it - the Michelins are fantastic tires but command a premium. Some fantastic alternatives that I would suggest are as follows:

Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Position - got 20k miles on my first 370 lowered on swift springs with a bit more negative camber in the rear. Fantastic in the rain even down to high 40 degree temperatures. Performed much better in the cold than the RE050s that came stock (turned into hockey pucks at 45 degrees). Not as sticky during the summer as the RE050s but the trade off makes for a perfectly well rounded performance tire. 240 tread wear.

Continental ExtremeContact DW - a buddy I autocrossed with for half a season used these on his 370 - outlasted my S04s, were cheaper, and had higher tread wear (300) while offering comparable grip. Many local Z guys prefer this tire as a year round UHP option. On the autocross course they basically seemed equal to the S04s but I haven't had nearly as much seat time with them as the S04s, which brings me to my final:

Bridgestone Potenza RE760 - the "budget" tire for the sport package 370 (roughly $750 a set). 340 treadwear, big water channels, and grip that's roughly 80% of the S04s. For the money, really tough to beat, especially if you're looking at minimal track use.

I will add that each of these feature asymmetrical tread patterns, which are highly recommended for the suspension settings of the 370 according to the research I have done.

Hope that offers some helpful insight!

[BusyBadger]

Michelin Pilot Super Sports or Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Positions

Continental DW is good too but I really like Michelin and Bridgestone better. The S04s I have are great in the rain with good tread life. If you're OK with something less than 220 tread life Bridgestone now has an update to the venerable RE11.

EDIT: Meant to post the name of the "new" RE11 but I didn't, it's the RE71R. And because it's new I'd wait a hit before actually mounting up a set just to get some input from drivers that were using them. I did the same thing with the Michelin AS/3 tires that I currently run in the cold.

[Bubba1]

I'm running Continental DW's on my Z. Very good wear with decent grip at a reasonable price.

[Eikon]

The Pilot Super Sports actually aren't that expensive.
245/45/17 on Tirerack:

PSS - $166 each (300 utqg by the way)
Conti ExtremeContact DW - $130 each (340 rating)
RE760 - $131 eaceh (340 rating)
SO4 - Pole positions are not on tirerack in your size right now.. discount tire has them at $218 each

[MinisterofDOOM]

Sounds like I need some Pilot Super Sports.

Unfortunately I live in podunk nowhere BFE Idaho where tire shops actually tell me "I don't have anything in your size in stock" (How do you not have 245-45-17 in stock? It's probably the most common tire size on earth for the past 10 years!!!! And not ANYTHING? Not even a random generic all-season????) and then look at me like I just insulted their mother and their dog in the same sentence when I mention fancy Michelins. I actually had one tire shop that's an official Michelin dealer tell me "I'm a Michelin dealer but I don't keep them in stock because they're a premium brand." (Lots of enthusiasm went into the word "premium".)

This f*** place. I can't wait to be back in a civilized state.

[frapjap]

If you haven't bought anything yet, see if Dunlop has Star Spec 2's in your size. They're AMAZINGLY sticky tires and deal with rain very well, too. Most of us who have/had Miatas swear by them.

[elwesso]

The PSS"s are great. I have them on the BMW and they're great. One thing to consider that most folks forget about is that Michelin tires usually perform pretty much as good brand new as they do down to the bars.. Every other brand of tire I've had (including pirelli, bridgestone, continental, dunlop, etc) eventually gets noisy and loses grip.. The PSS's are also pretty much factory quiet.

Just as another option, since you're probably not doing a lot of track or high performance driving with the LS, I highly recommend the Hankook Ventus S1 Noble 2. When I bought them, they were at the top of the UHP all season category. I have them on the G35, probably have about 10k miles on them so far, and they've been great. Handling is great, rain performance is good, and they're quiet, AND even if they do suck at 50% tread, they're cheap enough I could afford to replace them at 50% tread haha.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Michelin makes the best tires, hands down. I had a pretty long talk with one of the vehicle performance/chassis quality/designer gurus while I worked at Nissan and he actually had a file with a ton of data (first and second order balance, treadwear consistency, traction, etc) on a bunch of tire manufacturers. Michelin was always the best, except when it came to cost haha.

That being said, the Conti ExtremeContact DWs have been under my Prelude and Miata for a while now (think I went through 2 sets on the Miata and I'm on my third in the Prelude). I ended up replacing the rears on the Miata with the Dunlops Ray mentioned. The Contis were CHEAP (like $80 each), but the Dunlops definitely grip better. I was spinning the tires on the Miata straight through 3rd gear with the Contis. Definitely not doing that anymore.

[themadscientist]

I roll these on my fast cars.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... ova+AD08+R

[Jesda]

I -love- Michelins but for different reasons. Their Primacy and Symmetry tires are sublime on a Lexus LS or a full-size Cadillac. They track straight and true in total silence with zero vibration. High speeds feel secure and precise yet smooth and quiet. They lend the whole car a feeling of solidity.

I had excellent service from Yokohama Avid Envigors on the Seville STS and Continental EC DWS on the Volvo T5. The Continentals were spectacular in the rain as I took the Volvo through the worst precipitation that northern PA had experienced in a century.

[szh]

michelin pilot super sports..

end thread

Agreed!

Best tire in the world.

Z

[float_6969]

Bridgestone Potenza RE760. I have these on the Protege and the 240. They're a great tire for the price. I don't have any complaints about them. I've only driven them on the Protege so far though. Overall traction is less than others in the segment, but for traction vs. price, I don't think they can be beat. Noise isn't anything noticeable and traction loss is progressive and predictable. I get understeer in the Protege, but it's a FWD car, so I expect that regardless of the tire, but that being said, it's not annoying. It only understeers when I'm being a dumbass. Turn is good. I haven't hydroplaned on them yet either, and the Protege is a relatively light car. I'll get two Summers out of them for sure (last summer and this summer) which will end up being about 30K miles if I had to guess. I drive pretty aggressively as well, so other may get more life out of them.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Now that I'm mostly done moving, I've finally ordered a set of the Michelins. I haven't found a single brick-and-mortar store that hasn't acted like I was trying to order the Ark of the Covenenant wrapped in unicorn s*** and shipped to Santa Clause when I asked about them, so I fell back on Tire Rack. First time I've ever bought tires through Tire Rack, so we'll see how it goes. I'm excited to get my butter-soft studded snow tires off and real tires put on so I can actually DRIVE my car again instead of worrying about treadwear. It did snow several inches last week, though, so hopefully, the weather is done screwing with me for a few months.

Just as another option, since you're probably not doing a lot of track or high performance driving with the LS, I highly recommend the Hankook Ventus S1 Noble 2. When I bought them, they were at the top of the UHP all season category. I have them on the G35, probably have about 10k miles on them so far, and they've been great. Handling is great, rain performance is good, and they're quiet, AND even if they do suck at 50% tread, they're cheap enough I could afford to replace them at 50% tread haha.

I looked into these. I ran some Ventus V12s a few years back on the LS8 and my experience was very similar to yours with the S1s. But, I think consistent performance down to the wear bars is more enticing than cheaper replacement in the short term, especially combined with the SuperSports' other strengths. You guys definitely talked me into the Michelins.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I haven't found a single brick-and-mortar store that hasn't acted like I was trying to order the Ark of the Covenenant wrapped in unicorn s*** and shipped to Santa Clause when I asked about them, so I fell back on Tire Rack.

I find myself doing that more and more lately.
It seems like if you don't want a cheap all season tire for a crossover, they don't stock it. Most of them aren't even really interested in trying to get it for you either.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Well, the tires arrived today. Got them installed and so far I'm pleased. I headed out to some back roads and hooned it up, but I couldn't get them to let go. Granted, I'm just recovering from a 6 month stretch with snow tires and corresponding conservative driving habits, but it was also only 65*F outside, so they should only get stickier from here.

They seem very quiet (again, though: in comparison to studded snow tires). They're quite smooth, but with excellent road feel and very talkative steering feel. I'm a little disappointed the forecast is all sun for the rest of the week, as I'd REALLY like an opportunity to play with them in the rain.

I've got a 500-mile round trip to Idaho this Friday, so I'll get plenty of time to see how they feel on the highway at 80mph, as well as how they stand up to the Worst Maintained Roads In The World(TM).

An unexpected plus is that they look quite nice, too. They have a very clean sidewall design, and the treadblock curves evenly into it. Very round, clean, and smooth.