What do you all recommend for 458 Spider tires?
I second that. The Michelin Pilot Super Sports are an excellent compromise between grip and durability, imho. Have them on my 458 and 355. I believe they have been recently replaced by Michelin's Pilot Sport 4 S (at least in Europe). Kind regards, Nuno.
To be clear, best all around street tire is different than street/track tires. So, when I ordered my spider I specified the Michelin Pilot Sport tires as noted above. They were an actual option in MODIS. I did not want the Pirelli or Bridgestone tires. In dry weather, there is no question about the Michelin PS tire's superior performance. The magazines that have tested the hi-perf tires consistently show dry handling best with the Michelin. If you need wet weather performance too, I believe in a recent comparison, the Continental came out as a better all around choice. In regards to track tires that you can use on the street, then it is Pirelli Trofeo R vs Michelin Sport Cup tires. The Pirelli's will last maybe a few thousand miles (if driven with verve) and are horrible in the wet based on my friends who have used them on Porsche and Ferrari cars. Hope this helps, Burt. Randy
Burt, Like so many things, tire technology is also continually changing. So what I am about to write may no longer be as accurate as it once was. Bridgestones have a tendency to wear longer, but ride "harder" and don't have as much dry grip/feel. The Pirelli's have been historically not as round/uniform as the Pirelli's. I had a BMW years ago that had a front end shimmy. Didn't get resolved until the Pirelli's were off. My wife's new Mercedes SUV in 2013 had to have its tires replaced due to a vibration. Turns out the Dunlop's were causing the problem. The dealer said Mercedes USA was aware of it being fairly widespread and eventually gave us 4 new tires. Dunlop is located in AL near their plant so they were a major supplier. Mercedes made good on it and put on Michelins! Car was smooth as silk there after. Not saying the newest tires form the other companies are not as good. Just saying Michelin is just the most uniform/consistent in many people's eyes. Best, Randy
Michelin just announced they now have a MPSS successor: MP4S. Its supposed to be in between MPSS and their Cup 2 tire. The initial batch of sizes doesn't seem to include 458 sizes but I bet they will be available soon.
My 458 Italia has 13,000 miles on Michelin Pilot Super Sports. I am happy with the grip, the ride, and the low noise level. I'll replace the tires this spring with new Pilot Super Sports, even though they have plenty of tread remaining all the way around. The miles are almost all highway miles.
I have the OEM Pirellis but will be replacing them with the MPSS (or successor) when they are worn. I had PZeros on my 997.2 which wore out quickly and got noisy. I replaced them with MPSS and the grip is better, less tire noise and the tires last longer. Plus I recall that the MPSS cost less. You might also want to check out the reviews on Tire Rack's site.
Tyre models change constantly. There are new Pirelli P Zeros out (launched a couple of months ago), which are said to be fantastic according to the first reviews. Also, there is the more aggressive P Zero Corsa, which is clearly stickier than the Michelin Supersport. The Tropheo R is a lot stickier than the Cup 2, but the Michelin is the better all rounder, as the Pirelli is borderline drivable in the wet.
Imperfection is not about a specific brand. Any manufactured object can be less than perfect. It just happened to you with Pirelli and Dunlop. I had some very bad experiences with Michelins as well. It happens...
The MPS4 is not in the MPSS family. It's a tyre specifically made for powerful FWD cars etc. It replaces the MPS3. The predecessor to the MPSS were the MPS PS2 and the predecessor to that is the original MPS. Thee's no MPSS replacement out yet, and it's still the best tyre out there.
Best are MPSS, until replaced by MPS4S. http://blog.caranddriver.com/michelin-launches-new-king-of-all-tires-the-pilot-sport-4-s/
Great info, thanks. Curious when the next hi-performance tire test will come out looking at these as well as the tires mentioned above from Pirelli. Now all I have to do is put on enough miles to need new tires!! Randy
We are all the beneficiaries of the competition between tire manufacturers. I would never in my wildest dreams have imagined a tire as good as the PS2 never mind the MPSS. I hope the new MPS4S is as good as advertised. I would love to put a set on my 458 when the tires are worn. But I would like to see Michelin come up with a better naming convention! Maybe they can borrow a trick from Ferrari and call them "Le Michelin"
Haha, the naming will make things interesting. When the MPS4S comes out, we can spend our time on FChat telling newcomers that they should not get MPS4 tyres, but MPS4S tyres. And then once or twice a week, we can spend some time explaining the difference between the two What was wrong with MPSS2? Imangine they'd done the same as they did with the predecessor to the MPSS. Then we'd have to write MPSSPS2 But in any case, it will be interesting to see what this tyre has to offer as I'm sure it will be amazing. Pirelli came out with the PZ4 last year for selected applications and almost caught up to the MPSS - then Michelin came with the MPS4S... Left hook, right hook, knockout. If I worked at Pirelli, I'd be banging my head against my office wall, mumbling all sorts of nasty little words.
I try to get the 305's MPS4S ... not available .... ! Have to go to MPSS K (K stands for Approved Ferrari)
Yes also saw that, the MPS4S have not (yet?) been released in all dimensions / specs so in many case the MPSS is the only option...
