stefang

Anyone have these? Any thoughts?

Running all seasons used to be anathema to me, however technology marches on. I need new tires and I was going to park the 911 for the winter. Then I was thinking I really don't want to park it, so let me get a set of winter wheels/tires and pop on Michelin PSS next spring. Obviously the optimal thing to do. I'm not going to drive when it's actually snowing, but winter tires are still better in the cold. I'm not going to track the car, so how much real world performance am I giving up? Actually, looks like not much:

Just looked up some tirerack test numbers:

stopping dry 85ft 83ft
stopping wet 111ft 109ft
cornering dry .89g .95g
cornering wet .77g .78g

stefang

So I wound up getting these a few weeks ago. First impressions after 600 miles or so. Mostly highway, but also a few spirited twisties.

Previous rubber was P-Zeros. The Bridgestones are much quieter, which is very nice. Can hear the exhaust better . We've had some 30 deg days, some in the 50s, some rain here, so I've seen a good cross section. I actively tried braking them loose in the wet and they stuck very well. Behavior at 30deg is much the same as at 55. They track very well, tramlining is within reason given the size. I definitely enjoy them much more than the winter rubber I used to run on my M3. Hot weather testing will have to wait 6 months.

Very happy so far.

Renzsport

Hey Stefang
So I'm a little confused... Did you end up getting these instead of a second set of dedicated winter wheels/tires and running them all year round? Or are these "all seasons" your dedicated winter set? I'm guessing the former...
I'm totally against "all seasons", but that's great if they work for you

stefang

I got them for year round. As I said, they're a compromise. However, I do believe that the current crop of UHP AS are vastly better tires than top performing summer tires from not so many years ago. Yes, you give up some dry grip vs. top of the line summer rubber, but I frankly don't believe that delta is noticeable when driving on the street - even with spirited driving. Should I find myself running out grip I'll shell out for a set of PSS. The data from above is generated by the Tirerack guys on BMW 328s.

Also, if I was expecting to drive through snow, say if I lived in Alberta, I would definitely get dedicated winter tires.

Edgy01

The quiet issue you cite can be misleading as any previous tire is going to sound noisier than the succeeding tire, simply because of age.

rotesAuto

I had some Potenza's on my car when I bought it.....but changed out to PS3's as soon as I could......