I've been all through the archives, at TireRack, other forums, etc. I killed a rear tire this weekend, a front developed a small bubble as a manuf. defect & Dunlop no longer makes the Sport 9000 to replace them. The consensus here seems to be Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. I'm going with the standard 205 55 ZR16 & 225 50 ZR16 I put on about 8K miles per year, I don't track, I live in NJ, I don't drive in the snow and try & avoid the rain (windshield use to leak) Sounds reasonable?
If you're never in the rain, I'm sure the Eagles would be good - I'm considering a set for my 328. But they're also not recommended for near-freezing (or colder) temps which NJ has for a good chunk of the year. If you store your car all winter, maybe it's not an issue. FWIW, I've had Michelin Sport Pilots on my 328 for 5+ years. Not a hardcore tire (you can get them wet and cold), but honestly for road use in a 308 I think you have many good options.
I didn't see the not good for near freezing temps. Thanks. Because I do drive the car most of the winter as long as there's no salt on the road.
I'm in the exact same situation! Just bought the 16" repro wheels and need tires. Think I'm going with the Goodyears but in the 225 and 245 sizes, and getting them from Discount Tire. My thinking is that there are stores and service everywhere, the tires have had great reviews under most conditions (except snow), and the upgrade in handling over the 205/70-14's should be astounding! I would prefer Pirelli's, but they don't seem to have the right combo-or have I not looked far enough...
I had a set of Goodyear's on my third gen RX7 and they were absolute garbage. They never worked very well, and after 2000 miles they were toast. I replaced them with Yokohama's instead -- better in the rain, better in the dry, better braking, quieter, and after 8000 miles (which is when I sold the car) they still had plenty of tread left on them. I'm not saying that Yokohama's are the best thing since sliced bread, but I am saying that I will never put Goodyear's on any car that I own. Just my 2 cents worth. Nowadays, I'd think I'd look very closely at some of the Michelin's.
Are we talking the Goodyear GS-D3's or another version? My last Goodyear high-performance experience was with Gatorbacks in the mid-80's and I was very pleased, however I had a set of SUV Goodyears that were no comparison to the Michelins I replaced them with...seems like there are big differences within a brand and different tire types within that brand.
There is an interesting tire article in the November issue of Consumer Reports. They mention the Michelin and Bridgestone tires as good choices but at the top were 2 tires, both Z rated that I had never heard of. One was Falken (Ziex ZE-912) for $123 and the other was Nitto (Neo Gen ZR) for $92.
I have Falken (available from the local Tire Discount shop) on my Mazda 6. Way better than the OEM Michelin. Stickier, quieter, handles well in the rain, pretty good in the snow. I understand they wear fast, though. But I don't think I'd put them on the 308.
Put a set of Yokahomas on my repro wheels and they stick like glue. I know we all have or prejudices and likes and dislikes and my dislike for Goodyear tires comes from personal experience with the few sets i've owned over the years. Yokahomas were with mount/install $550 from my local tire retailer.
Understand that any tire geared for cold weather will sacrifice dry and wet weather traction. The reason is that most "cold weather" tires are basically "all season" tires which means they have a "mud/snow" rating. In order to gain that rating, they will usually (with rare exception) lose some dry and wet traction. I drive year round, including temps in the teens (eastern WA desert), with no problems on the Goodyear F1's.
I have Yokohama's on my car, were on the car when I bought them. They are 5 years old and pretty hard and not as grippy as I imagine they should be. I'm going to try another tire when I'm ready to change. I've got alot of tread left, but I'm not sold on the Yoko's. I was out driving today and I felt the back end slipping during one specific turn. I didnt think I was overdriving the car, it just felt like the tread was letting go. HOWEVER, I will caveat and say I'm not a big corner carver yet, my car is new-to-me so I havent pushed it. James in Denver
You may be right. I'm just coming from 14 inch wheels to the 16 inchers and the Yoko's are what i put on the 16's so alot of what i'm feeling is coming from the improvement of having larger wheels What i'd describe as ultra aggresive looking tread seems out of place for my taste on the 308. The Yoko's didn't look like that nor did they look like an ordinary passenger type tread. Unidirectional too. These are what i bought http://www.yokohamatire.com/TireIntro.asp?TireID=300
The ones on my car are some sort of AVS's, they are not listed anymore but the previous owner may have mentioned they were track/pseudotrack tires. They are NOT slicks, but they dont have the same tread of any that are on Yoko's website. They are at least 5 years old....... --- sigh --- I need to buy new ones. James in Denver
I'm not worried about snow in San Diego, and the only time they're in the wet is moving the car after it's been washed. How well have they been wearing?
I'm still a fan of the Kumho tires. Unless you really need that final 1% of grip, they're a performance bargain
"The consensus here seems to be Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3" I've had these tires for a few months now and had them balanced twice. For some reason they get out of balance to the point of slight vibration on the steering wheel when going down the freeway. Other than that, they stick pretty good around the turns. Someone else I spoke to about these tires had the same problem. I was willing to spend the money for P-Zero's but they were not available anywhere in the US. I would NOT buy them again, lee
Lee, make sure the tires are not shifting on the rims. Put a paint dot on the sidewall next to the valve stem and check if and when you get the vibes again. Ask me how I know... Good luck!
On my BMW I get about 34k on the fronts, about 38k on the rears. I've only put about 6k on them on the 355 and can hardly detect any wear.
Dont know about your experience, but I live in Colorado and there was about 2 inches of snow one evening and I guess someone with a Ford Mustang fitted with F1 GS-D3s must not have been aware of the possibility of snow (shock, we get snow overnight...!!!!). Slight incline (5 degree max) and those tires had ZERO traction..... ZERO ZILCH NADDA. At 10pm at 20 degrees outside, I helped push that stupid Mustang up about 75 to 100 feet to the top of the incline with him spinning his wheels the whole time. ........ ---sigh--- Pushing a Mustang in 20 degree weather on slick roads is no fun. Everything I read about the F1 GS-D3s says they are good, but I'd hesitate to put them on my car here unless I had a set of "snow tires" and an extra set of rims. James in Denver