[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
[quote]pat wrote:
I was really talking about the type of tire. Mine came with Pirelli P Zero’s, I think the '15’s come with the same. That is the most finicky tire I have ever experienced. It has a very small sweet spot, between 80-90 degrees. Outside of that range grip suffers. What’s odd is how incredibly dramatic the difference is, especially cold. When it’s under 50 degrees the tire is rock-ass hard and slick as shit. When it’s 80 degrees they stick like glue. But it’s a dramatic difference. It can be a bit unnerving. So watch out for that, because even if you think you are driving reasonably and its a little to cold for the tire it can catch you off guard. It’s happened to me a couple of times and it’s real sudden. You can pull the exact same move but 10 degrees difference could have you off the road, where it was a cake walk on a warmer day.
I have been doing a lot of research on tires. Right now my front runners are Michelin Pilot Sports and the Goodyear F1 Asymmetric. These appear to fit my wants which is a wider bandwidth of usable grip, reasonable tread-wear for a summer tire, and quietness. The tire roar from the Pirelli’s is deafening. Really, they shouldn’t be that loud.
Now one thing though, I have been knocking the Pirelli’s, but when they are in their sweet spot, they grip like hell. I mean super grip. It’s just the sweet spot is really small.[/quote]
You’re going to run into the same problem with any high performance summer tire. If you like the Pirellis, check out the PZero All-season. If you like the Michelin’s check out the Pilot Sport A/S line, and Goodyear offers the F1 Asymetric All Season.
I tried running Kumho Ecsta’s (high performance summer tire) on my autocross car one season and could not get the tires hot enough on the course to grip well. I believe they’re meant to be used on a summer only toy (like a third car) or as a street legal track tire for those who do track days.
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Not based on my research. While yes, of course summer tires are all harder and slicker in cold temps, but the Goodyear and the Michelin have a wider performance threshold. They start their grab at lower temps than the Pirellis on hold that stick to hotter temps. Where the Pirellis have a very narrow performance bandwidth, the Michelin’s and Goodyear have a pretty significantly wider performance bandwidth. Also, I have read they perform significantly better when not in the performance window.
When the Pirelli’s are in their performance window, they are excellent, it’s just a really small window. Talking with other owners my experience is similar to what others do.
I have no intention of putting all-season tires on my car. Maybe when it’s got over 100K miles. I live in the deep south, so winters suck, but they don’t last that long. I want summer tires, just better ones. I will put the OEM Pirelli’s on the car again if the price is really good. Tire rack had a great sale where they were selling them for $183 per tire, down from $303. If when I need tires, they are $183, it’s a no-brainer I’ll put the Pirelli’s back on. But, if the prices are similar, I am going with the Michelin Pilot Sport’s or the Good Year Asymmetric.
