by "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
Published 11/20/2017 at 10:30
by "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
Published 11/20/2017 at 10:30
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STARS: 1
Remember how my aggressive alignment
prematurely wore out the inner edge
of my front Kumho Ecsta PS91 summer tires? I was kinda hating my car with those tires on it, and after swapping on my Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 snow tires this weekend, I’ll go ahead and say it: FUCK KUMHO PS91s!
I don’t expect my car with its suspension mods to be completely smooth, quiet and vibration-free. Things like camber plates and polyurethane bushings are going to introduce some front end noise and vibration. And yes, my summer tires are 19s and my winters on the stock wheels are 18s. But man, the noise and ride harshness from the Kumho PS91s is bad.
The initial hype on the PS91s was that they were a bargain Michelin Pilot Super Sport contender. Sure, the grip was there, but the refinement absolutely was not. These are the problems with the PS91s:
Their ride is very stiff over sharp bumps.
Even with my rear fenders pulled, I have a slight rub on my driver’s rear corner.
They developed a terrible helicopter wub-wub noise that never goes away. It’s better or worse at certain speeds, but it’s there. It’s the worst from 35 to 50 mph.
Cruising at 70+ mph on the highway, the whole car vibrates, not just the steering wheel.
The noise and vibration was probably increased somewhat by my alignment wearing out the inner edge of the tires, but that alignment wasn’t that aggressive, and the rest of the tread was totally fine. Besides, there were like maybe 8k miles on those front tires and they got chewed up that quickly? Screw that nonsense.
At one point I actually thought I would just get a new set of front PS91s and keep my rears til they wear out, but even before I swapped on my winter tires, I realized I was pretty sure I actually hate the damn PS91s and there’s no reason I should buy more of them. Putting on my winter tires only confirmed it.
Obviously, winter tires, even performance winter tires, aren’t nearly as grippy as summer tires, which I will say is one thing the PS91s were very good at. But damn if I wasn’t just tired of that fucking wub-wub noise. It’s extremely annoying when your car feels and sounds like a helicopter playing shitty dubstep music. I’m just glad my car is at least tolerable to putz around town in.
So, I’ve been looking at new summer tires. This is what Tire Rack has available in my sizes. At the moment my front runners are the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 (a.k.a. Bridgestone RE003) and Pirelli P Zero Nero GT. I’m sure I’d like the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S but at $1045 + shipping & install that’s too rich for my blood.
Oh, and by the way, if you want performance winter tires, i.e. something that will give you better winter grip than all-seasons but still preserve at least some of your sporty handling, I do love the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4. But they also didn’t cost 4 figures for the set.
"facw" (facw)
11/20/2017 at 10:43, STARS: 0
When I was living in the north, I had Pilot Alpin 2s, and they were great. Very nice dry performance, and never had a problem in the snow.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
11/20/2017 at 10:48, STARS: 1
Their dry performance is like a halfway decent impression of a sporty all-season tire, with a bit more tread squirm. That’s a fine tradeoff for me to have real winter traction. My car is lowered, it’s not going to do well in deep snow. But with the awd and performance winters, it’s excellent getting around town in more moderate snow.
"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
11/20/2017 at 10:57, STARS: 0
In my experience the super sports do wear incredibly well for a performance tire, since I fixed my front alignment, I get 3-4 HPDEs and 2 years of driving(at 35k+ miles/year) on a set. To be fair though I have dedicated winter tires, so the PSS’s don’t see about 1/3 of the driving I do in a year. From what I understand the 4S is supposed to wear even better than the PSS. They may cost more up front, but they will likely make it up on the back end with a longer life.
Also, I’m kinda jealous of your PA4's. My winters are 17" and the PA4's don’t come in it’s size, so I have to settle for Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3's. They aren’t bad tires, but the PA4's are supposed to be the creme de la creme.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
11/20/2017 at 11:05, STARS: 0
Wait, you’re getting 70k miles out of a set of PSS?
"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
11/20/2017 at 11:06, STARS: 0
I just threw continental wintercontacts on my Focus ST and they roll so smoothly. I went from a 40 aspect sidewall to a 55. The eagle F1s are pretty solid, but damn that cushioning is nice over bumps and the like. Also my car looks a little more Mad Max-ian with skinny and knobby tires on it.
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
11/20/2017 at 11:07, STARS: 0
I used to look forward to the switch to winter tires, because my blizzaks has such a better ride and noise level versus my worn down Bridgestone RE91 oem’s. Now I’ve got some BFG comp 2’s and I’m in love with summer driving again. I was considering the Indy 500’s too but they are a bit to aggressive for my needs.
Also note that discount/America tire can get the Firestone’s mounted and balanced for less than a tire rack order.
"Averyrm - GTI YUP" (averyrm)
11/20/2017 at 11:11, STARS: 0
Just before I put my snows on I had my PSS swapped out for the Indy 500s. They were quieter than worn PSS, better grip in acceleration, about the same grip in the turns, but slightly worse steering feel. No chance to try them in the wet. Plus they were $495 installed on the GTI. Not too bad.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
11/20/2017 at 11:20, STARS: 0
Comp 2 don’t come in my size.
When I asked my local Discount Tire about the Indy 500s they said they don’t carry Firestone. I think the person on the phone didn’t know what they’re talking about because the Discount Tire website has Firestone right there on the search by brand page.
Tires Plus and Firestone (which are both Bridgestone-owned stores) have a slightly better price than Tire Rack but in the couple times I’ve gone to these places I’ve not had a good experience.
We shall see.
"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
11/20/2017 at 11:23, STARS: 0
not quite, I have a winter set, so my PSS’s are only on the car for about 2/3 of the year, so it’s closer to 45-50k miles(I did note that in my prior comment). I drive almost exclusively highway, which does cut down on the wear, but that’s made up for by the fact that I do 2-4 HPDE’s in that timespan.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
11/20/2017 at 11:25, STARS: 0
This is a good data point. The Indy 500 is my cheaper option and lots of good reviews out there on them. The Nero GT isn’t too much pricier and there are way fewer reviews, but several of them specifically mention their low noise.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
11/20/2017 at 11:31, STARS: 0
Ok, that makes sense. I wasn’t following along with the math the first time I read your comment.
Mileage isn’t as much of a concern for me. I’ve had my car for about 18 months, I’ve only put about 12k miles on it in that time, and my summer tires get a 4 month break from mid-November to mid-March.
"Averyrm - GTI YUP" (averyrm)
11/20/2017 at 11:33, STARS: 0
I’ve got very few miles on them, so I’m not certain how it will wear. Just initial impressions.
"404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
11/20/2017 at 11:36, STARS: 0
My mechanic has always been saying for Korean tires, they’re usually REALLY good brand new, but that’s about it. The “good” layer just wears off like that.
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
11/20/2017 at 12:24, STARS: 0
Comp 2’s are probably not as aggressive as you would want either.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
11/20/2017 at 13:28, STARS: 0
I’m not a track rat. I want something that’s sporty around town while still somewhat refined, but can stand up to extended back road fast driving without going greasy.
This test has the Comp 2 and Indy 500 pretty close. But...it also says the Comp 2 are noisier and rougher riding.
My main concern with the Indy 500 is potential flat spotting. Several reviews mention that. Most of my driving is short trips around town. My commute is only 6 miles each way. I don’t typically leave the building for lunch. So my car does a lot of sitting.
Some of the PS91 reviews also call out flat spotting and that didn’t work out well for me at all.