Hello all!
I am looking to buy new all-season tires for my '08 4dr EX. Any suggestions?
I drive about 15k miles per year on my all-seasons (the rest on winter tires).
I drove thru two sets of Michelin Pilot MXM4 (original), but found the ride a little rough. Loved the handling, though.
<< SNIP >>
What do you recommend?
Ironically, JudgeTREDD
Since you have dedicated winter tires, I would recommend that you don't get all-seasons. All-seasons compromise both performance and wet traction in order to achieve some (small) level of winter traction. They are rather noisy too because of the tread patterns they have to use.
I'd like to recommend you look into plush 3-season (i.e. 'summer') tires.
Your tire size is 225/50-17. The Michelin Primacy HP is available in your size, and is a good grand touring summer tire. TireRack is having a sale on some Audi-spec tires of this type for about $139 per tire, a real steal for otherwise expensive tires. Ignore the complaints from the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ drivers -- they bought a car designed to drift, i.e. intentional oversteer, and expected grip. Um, hello, drift car. The issue is more the suspension setup than the tire. Alternatively there is also an H-speed rated version with a 45000 mile warranty. This will be a comfortable tire with better wet and dry performance, decent tread life, and less noise than the all-seasons you've been running.
Less expensive and also with a good ride quality is the Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport. Among UHP tires, noted for its comfortable ride, low noise, and good grip.
The newer BF Goodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2 has a little better performance than the Potenza at the cost of a little more noise and a little less comfort in the ride. It costs less but is a pound heavier than the Potenza. I don't think the price differential is very significant. It has very good wet performance. If you are very price sensitive the Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500 is a comfortable tire at a cheap price, but it won't perform as well as the Potenza or g-Force tires.
My recommendation would be the Primacy HP first, or the RE760 second.
Don't get too hung up on treadwear ratings. Often the plush summer tires will have less treadwear but also cost less over time, and hard compounds will impact comfort, grip and noise levels. Find a good quality relatively (everything relative to wants) inexpensive summer tire and stick with it. If you insist on all-seasons, I'd say to take a look at the Michelin Pilot AS/3 that is getting ready to come out this summer, or the Nitto Motivo that is out now, but I really think that you should stay away from all-seasons when you have dedicated winter tires. I know I'm going to do so, I'm planning on switching over to summer tires as soon as I have made a choice on some aftermarket wheels to plant them on.
