Recommendations needed on UHP All Season tire

In a month or so I'm planning on dumping the RFT's on an E90 BMW and am thinking about going with a UHP A/S, as a tire that can run 9-10 months out of the year in these parts. The goal is to get better performance and ride quality compared to RFT. I've got Blizzaks for the really bad stuff on another set of rims.

Obviously there are compromises in rubber compounds and tread designs in these tires to give them more stick when it gets cold, but I wonder if anyone has had any luck with a set that hasn't compromised the handling capabilities of their Boxster too much.

When the GY F1's are done on the Boxster, probably next year, I'm thinking of going this way also, so that I can drive it a bit longer in the Fall and earlier in the Spring--as along as the handling doesn't get lost in the exercise. The Extreme and Max performance tires are great around here May through Sept., but get a little scary as the temps get below 40 deg., which does happen with some frequency before and after those months. I've got track tires for DE's so the A/S setup would really just be used for cruising.

Does anyone have a recommendation on a UHP A/S that really delivers on the performance side of it? thanks for any help in advance.

From them you might be able to discern what tire or tires match your needs. You can sort the reviews by car brand, too. I do this sometimes using "Porsche" so as to read the reviews associated with the vehicle's particular characteristics and possibly the owner's mindset. Be wary of innocent, but semi-literate comments that could be misleading.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2012 10:27PM by Laz. (view changes)

Laz:
Thanks for the reply.
TR is typically the first place I start looking for the reviews--and there are a lot of reviews on various brands of UHP A/S tires.
I was just hoping there were a few people on this board that have used this type of tire on their Boxster, since I think I want to move in that direction on our Boxster in the future.

I put Continental DWS 18 inch all season tires on our 05 Boxster last fall. I haven't driven it much so far (it is still winter in North Dakota, though mild and dry by our standards) but they ride well and are much quieter than the Michelin PS2's it came with. Those tires were hard as hockey pucks in cold weather. For my driving, I think the Contis will be fine. They were also a lot cheaper than most of the alternatives. I bought them from Damon at Tire Rack.

Thanks John, I appreciate the feedback. From a handling standpoint, was there much of a trade -off between the PS2's?

Not as far as I can tell, but I tend to drive like a 60 year old man most of the time. Maybe once spring gets here I'll have a better chance to test them. I sure feel way safer driving on the Contis in cold weather. Those PS2's were terrible!

Give up. (but if you find me wrong, please update me!)

I've run several UHP A/S tires. They are real compromises. I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (Z rated) on my Audi S6. They are fine. Meh. But they are all-seasons. I had Sumitomo HTR+ on my Audi S4 years ago (impressive in a way) - you might look at them. But, they are no PS/2 or Pzero Rosso.

OTOH, unlike the chicken littles of the world, i will happily run my PS (ribs) in 30 degree weather. Yes, they get hard as rocks. But back off, they are still close to the all seasons, which retail 80% of their 75% of the PS rib's adhesion. That's complex tongue-in-cheek speak for "they aint much better" and "dont over-drive your tires and all is well anyhow" :-)

Once snow and ice develop, you need sipes. None of them have much in the way of sipes, except honest-to-goodness winter tires, whcih i think you run in the deep of winter anyhow. As do I.

Grant
(hoping he can leave a day late for Dublin, IRE, and still make mid-ohio!)

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Thanks Grant; Have fun in Ireland.

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com