Recommend a new set of tires for my Z4.

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CivicFan

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The tires on my Z4 have become really bad. They have become out of round and cannot be balanced. They are some sort of really POS Cooper tires that have been noisy since the day I bought the car.

Here are the criteria I am looking for:

- they must be quiet;
- must have very good grip for "spirited driving" on curvy roads.

The car is not driven on snow.
 
First, you need to be aware that pretty much all BMW's have over a degree of camber and that leads to irregular. So while some tires are more suspectible to this than others, the real driver is the camber. If I were you, I'd have someone take a really close look at the alignment - especially toe!

Second - Z4 and quiet? I thought this was a sports car?
 
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I would do a search on TireRack and read the reviews of those who have the same/similar car to yours.

Unfortunately, most if not all tires on this car will eventually wear unevenly (due to factory negative camber) and this may cause them to become noisy.

With that said, I had a set of ContiSportContact2 on my old A4 that were really quiet and comfy, yet very grippy, so I can suggest you look into the CSC3 which is their successor.
 
+1 on the ps2. But the questions I think you need to determine just how hard you're really going to drive and how much tire you really need.

Is noisy really a consideration on a vert?

How many miles per year? Will you ever wear them out?

I wonder if a slightly more benign tire would get you a better ride/noise characteristic, assured life, and only slightly reduced performance.

Of course you could always just buy PS2s...
 
Originally Posted By: Hounds
Been to Zpost.com?


Yes, have been there. The two that fit my need for quiet tires are Michelin Pilots and Hankook V12 based on their reviews.

I have V12 on the A6 and they are not as quiet as I would have liked. They were quiet when new but after 10k miles they have developed an unpleasant noise.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I would do a search on TireRack and read the reviews of those who have the same/similar car to yours.

Unfortunately, most if not all tires on this car will eventually wear unevenly (due to factory negative camber) and this may cause them to become noisy.

With that said, I had a set of ContiSportContact2 on my old A4 that were really quiet and comfy, yet very grippy, so I can suggest you look into the CSC3 which is their successor.



It gets lower reviews than "Continental ExtremeContact DWS" but is worth researching further.

The most unfortunate thing is that you don't know how it's going to be unless you install it on the car. And the perceptions in reviews vary. What is quiet for someone may not be what I would consider as quiet. It all depends on expectations.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
+1 on the ps2. But the questions I think you need to determine just how hard you're really going to drive and how much tire you really need.

Is noisy really a consideration on a vert?

How many miles per year? Will you ever wear them out?

I wonder if a slightly more benign tire would get you a better ride/noise characteristic, assured life, and only slightly reduced performance.

Of course you could always just buy PS2s...


Noisy is my number one complaint about the current tires. With the top down, it's not an issue. But with the top up it is very unpleasant. It drowns out everything.
 
I have Hankook V12 on my S2000, just as your experience it was quiet and great handling the first 3-4k miles then deteriorated after that. Handling/performance is nowhere as good as new, noise increased good amount.

Falken FK452 didn't lasted more than 12-13k miles but noise and Handling was good until tread depth went down below 2/32".

I don't know what will be next set of tire for my S2000. I'm subscribing to this thread.
 
Originally Posted By: CivicFan
It gets lower reviews than "Continental ExtremeContact DWS" but is worth researching further.

DWS is in a completely different performance category (all-season vs summer). Tire ratings at TireRack cannot be compared across different categories unfortunately.
 
I'd say either PS2's or PSS's. The new Pilot Super Sport is getting good reviews and seems to have good tread life.

I'll tend toward Michelin when I can - they make great tires and they are a super company to deal with. I recently (two weeks) had a Pilot Sport Cup tire (no warranty track tire) fully reimbursed by Michelin (no warranty, remember?) because of a manufacturing issue that they could easily have blamed on the tire mounting machine. It was a remarkable display of service excellence.
 
Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Noisy is my number one complaint about the current tires. With the top down, it's not an issue. But with the top up it is very unpleasant. It drowns out everything.


But is the noise the result of the irregular wear caused by the camber and toe? If so, then you don't need tires that are quiet. You need tires that are resistant to irregular wear!
 
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Originally Posted By: mva
I havn't tried them myself but everyone raves about Hankook V12 on Bimmerforums. They were also rated very high on a recent Car and Driver tire test.

Several comments about how they are quiet.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1649730&highlight=tires


These are the BOMB for grip. Summer only formula means bad all weather performance. But anywhere above 50 degrees F and you're good on these. Excellent tire.
 
Thank you everyone.

The consensus is either:
- Hankook V12; or
- Michelin Pilot Sport 2.

We already have Hankook V12 on my wife's A6, and they were quiet tires until we put 15k miles on them. Now they have noise that penetrates the insulation.

I am starting to save for the Michelins
smile.gif
 
There are no irregularities visible to the naked eye. It's probably the tread pattern and the construction materials. I have not heard good things about the Cooper tires and I don't know where the previous owner got those POS.
 
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