Tire Adivice for a 2007 M35

[jeff132]

I have a 2007 M35 with factory 18" tires and need to replace them. Can anyone give me advice on some good long lasting quiet tires. I live in Atlanta GA so extreme weather conditions aren't much of a problem here. I have been looking for tires but the choices are overwhelming. I was looking at the Michelin primacy but when I go to tire store they recommend other brands that supposedly have the same quality but cheaper like yokohama yk5 or Hankook Ventus.

tire size. 245/45ZR18

[M35SFIREMEDIC]

Hey pal spend the extra coin and get the michelin's primancy mxm4"s. I've got the 19's and they are great!!!

[Larz]

We all have our fav brands - I'm also a huge fan of Michelins. My M came with Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires (245-45-18) and when they run down, I will either buy another set of these or the Primacy MXV4's. The difference far as I can work out is the Pilots have a more agressive tread and firmer sportier handling, while the MXM4's are a little less gressive and have a touring typefeel. The other brands you mentioned are also fine tires. I imagine it depends on where you drive and the ride/feel and handling you are looking for.

Try Tire Rack's website - enter your vehicle information, then choose "Tire Decision Guide". It will ask you quesitons about where you drive, what is most important in your tire choices, and will give you an idea of the brands and types that meet your preferences. It will also provide ratings for noise, comfort, treadlife, etc.
This will give you more info to help with your decision.

http:www.tirerack.com

[jeff132]

Thanks for the quick responses. I will definitely use the tirerack.com site and may consider spending the extra money for the Michelins.

[moedawg140]

If you are on a budget, I would get the Hankook Evo V12 tires, but if you want the best, get the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires. There are a few others on the forum that have these tires and love them. I have had them for about a month now, took a trip from So Cal to Vegas to wrestle in the Nationals, and the tires were composed, compliant, quiet and very sure-footed. I got them for 10% off with a code you can find online at tirebuyer.com. Tires came to installation shop after placing order in literally 12 hours (and I placed the order on 10pm on a Friday night!) Shipping was free (tirerack from what I saw didn't have free shipping) so tirebuyer.com had the lowest price for sure. $70 mail in rebate as well, and I saw this purchase as a no-brainer. You won't be disappointed with the sheer competency of these tires if you get them.

[atlM35]

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/filter ... a&toggled=

[Larz]

Wow Moedawg, an excellent deal on excellent tires !

Here is a vid from the UK where my tires were tested with actual consumers of other brands:

http://youtu.be/jlhGwjxwOoo

[finikM35]

I got Continental extreme contact (dws) 2 days ago. HUGE improvement over cheap Nexen tires i had on. Comfort, noise level are great and no more tramlining. 4 tires came out to like 870 from discount tire they seem to have best prices and shipping is free.

[moedawg140]

Wow Moedawg, an excellent deal on excellent tires !

Thanks, Larz. I have read so much praise regarding the awesome DWS, Primacy MXM4, and of course the RS-A's (just kidding on the last one), but those tires are All-Season, and are probably better suited in colder areas. Anyone that lives in mostly warmer or warmer with rain climates (the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires are Max Performance Summer), these are the ones to get. The PSS's are straight up legit!

[szh]

My current tire is the Michelin Pilot Super Sport and I am extremely pleased with them ...

Close to being among the best tires I have ever used for the weather condition that always gives me white-knuckle driving moments: handling, braking and steering wet weather. I have not yet driven these in extreme rainy conditions - only in light rain - so will continue to wait for that experience.

Anyway, these tires rank right up there with my previous two favorites: Firestone Firehawk SZ-50EP (not made anymore ) and the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 (also not made anymore ).

Z

[Larz]

TXT,

I have been a HUGE fan of Michelins. However, when my car was at the dealer getting the rest of the fluids changed, I noticed the rear passenger tire appeared to have significantly less tread than the other 3 tires so I asked the service tech if he saw the same. He then showed me that along the outer edge of the tread, all 4 were beginning to show tire rot. He then told me that Michelins are among very few brands that do not hold up well in South Florida, or any state with warm temps year-round. He also said that the extra wear on that tire is caused by the limited slip diff as that is the power tire that pushes the car. Even with regular rotation, rear passenger tires will get more wear. AND, my Michelins are 'directionals' meaning thet they can ONLY be rotated front to rear on the SAME side. They cannot be rotated like other tires so the right side of my car will eventually have less tread on both tires. This set of tires has been on my vehicle for about 2 years (maybe 30k miles).
Being the believer that I am for Michelins, I did not want to believe any of this. However, after doing my own research, he was right. Apparently one of the additives (best word I can think of) that other manufacturers use on their tires is one that helps protect the tire from heat-induced tire rot. Michelins do not. I also verified this with a local tires plus shop that I trust.

That info, plus the experience of having driven the M56 with Bridgestones, made me do more research about other brands. The only disappointment I had with the Super Spoprt A/S Plus Michelins was the level of road noise. Handling, control in heavy rains, spirited drives with shrarp turns, etc - these tires are absolutely brilliant!
However, now that I see they don't hold up in these temps, I looked for a different brand. I use Tire Rack to compare tires because they have very reliable test results, consumer reviews, etc. They also do their own testing and rate tires based on different driving conditions as well as noise and treadlife.

Now my choice is between the Continental Pure Contact - Eco Plus (about $920) and the Bridgestone Potenza RE97AS (about $870). Replacing my Michelins with new SuperSport A/S Plus would be about $1,000 for a set of 4.
Of course, this excudes taxes, stems if needed, install, balance and alignment. I reckon a total of about $900 to $1,000 depending on which tire I opt for. The Continental Pure Contact Eco Plus has the highest ratings for hydroplaning resistance, low road noise, steering control, and general comfort (over 9 out of 10). The rest including Michelins are all rated about the same (7-8 out of 10) .

As for where will I buy? There happens to be a Tires Plus shop near me that actually DOES have good service and knowledgeble employees. The prices there are about the lowest anywhere around me. The best bit is they offer a 30-day test drive - If within 30 days I'm not happy with the tires, they take them back for FREE and I can buy a different set of tires - installed FREE. You can't beat that with a dead monkfish!
After I buy tires, I will post the brand I chose and a little review of them.

[TXT]

Not sure if you have Sport or Non sport. If my memory is correct, you have NON sport 18 rims. My car requires the 19 inch tires. I have done some of my own research on some popular tire websites and noticed the Michelins and Conti's are the top two. I also saw the Ventus and other brands but after reading some comments from other people here, they are no good unless you are on a serious budget.

From reading some of your posts, you like to drive "spirited" just like my self so I dont want to skip the quality factor on tires when I do get them. I have a feeling I will be going with Continentals (DW) as it doesnt snow here in North Carolina. We saw snow once this past winter and it was only on the ground until 12 pm when things started warming up....and only snow on the grass. Winters do get cold and Ice happens often but no tire can help in ICE.

What is your opinion on Firestone shops?

[szh]

cheaper like yokohama yk5

I forgot to mention before: avoid the Yokohama YKxxx series like the plague! They are cheap, very poor quality tires made for "in-house" brands - Discount Tire calls them the Yokohama YK520 or some such name for example.

They are downright dangerous - do a search for them at NICO to read some disaster stories. They are simply not safe on our relatively heavy cars.

Z

[White-Rush]

Lars, just curious; do you favor the A/S tires? I live here in VA and I haven't ever thought about purchasing an A/S tire. Well, then again I have always had a beater as a backup for those once or twice a year ice days. But living in Fla, I would think someone there would only look for Max Performance Summer tires.

Before I traded my 06 Sport, I had racked up about 20k on my Pilot Super Sport and they were still looking, sounding and responding like new. Yes, those suckers cost but dangit they responded like no other. I really wish they came in 245/40/20's. I would have went with them instead of the Conti ExtremeContact DW that I just got.

[Larz]

Not sure if you have Sport or Non sport. If my memory is correct, you have NON sport 18 rims. My car requires the 19 inch tires. I have done some of my own research on some popular tire websites and noticed the Michelins and Conti's are the top two. I also saw the Ventus and other brands but after reading some comments from other people here, they are no good unless you are on a serious budget.

From reading some of your posts, you like to drive "spirited" just like my self so I dont want to skip the quality factor on tires when I do get them. I have a feeling I will be going with Continentals (DW) as it doesnt snow here in North Carolina. We saw snow once this past winter and it was only on the ground until 12 pm when things started warming up....and only snow on the grass. Winters do get cold and Ice happens often but no tire can help in ICE.

What is your opinion on Firestone shops?

You are correct. I have the non-sport and 18's. I wasn't a fan of aluminum (or as we brits say: alu-mini-um) trim in the sport package. Mine has everything but reclining rear seats and sunshade.

I know people who use Firestone shops for all kinds of repairs as well as tires, and they have no troubles. I never use places like Jiffy Lube or equivalent. I just happen to know this particular Tire Plus shop so I use them for tires and brakes. The guys at the counter seem very knowledgeable and if I make an appointment, the car is driven into a bay and worked on in just a few minutes. I will try the non-dealer shop and make an evaluation of the crew and services. If the person at the counter seems to know very little about cars, or if I see questionable techs wandering and joking about in the service bays, I go elsewhere. If you have a Tire Kindom shop near you, they might also be a good place to try. They seem to have very good prices and I never hear anything bad about them aside from wait times.

[Larz]

Lars, just curious; do you favor the A/S tires? I live here in VA and I haven't ever thought about purchasing an A/S tire. Well, then again I have always had a beater as a backup for those once or twice a year ice days. But living in Fla, I would think someone there would only look for Max Performance Summer tires.

Before I traded my 06 Sport, I had racked up about 20k on my Pilot Super Sport and they were still looking, sounding and responding like new. Yes, those suckers cost but dangit they responded like no other. I really wish they came in 245/40/20's. I would have went with them instead of the Conti ExtremeContact DW that I just got.

You're right about the A/S in Florida but I also travel for rugby matches in NY, Va, Boston, etc so there is the odd chance that will find myself driving in snow or sleet. If not for traveling, I'd buy the max performance summer version. Like you, I have never had a set of tires I love as much as these Pilot Super Sports, but now that I see it isn't designed as well for hot summer 365 days, I am going to try another brand. I have under 30k miles on them and 2 of the 4 seem to have the beginning of sidewall tire rot, even though the tread shows very little wear.

[White-Rush]

ok ok..

well best of luck on your next set. What i have to do now is agree upon a size and brand for my Alt. set of wheels.

[shankrr]

2008 M35 Sport, I am a new owner and I just got the Hankook Ventus V12 19" tires on the stock rims, so far they are great. Ride very well and sound is good and I have done several miles in the rain with no problems so far. They are 670 on ebay from discount tire... for the money and my limited experience i really like them. just my .02

[courthaven]

I loved the Michelin Primacy MX4s. I switched wheels and first got a Lexani tire that sounded horrible after 5K miles. Then went back to a Michelin and everything is all good.

[Racer M35x]

literally just got the conti's pure contact tires put on yesterday and they are awesome, they were $880 shipped from discount tire direct.