Tire Recommendations

I really like Goodyear Eagle F1's on my 328.

 

Goodyear Eagle F1's are great on wet or dry surfaces, long life and quiet too.

 

I will be replacing mine in a few months - based on other posts I will probably go with Dunlop SP Sport Max

 

Ditto the Goodyear Eagles (F1). Great tires, wet or dry, ride well, no noisey, stay sticky over time, reasonable wear rate. There's a fair chance your 3X8 came new with Goodyear Eagles so it's kind of cool to stick with an original type tire.

 

"There's a fair chance your 3X8 came new with Goodyear Eagles so it's kind of cool to stick with an original type tire."

Yep - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9doD25_ENZ8

 

The Goodyears are pricey and discontinued, but still available. I just put a set of Dunlop Star Specs on mine (stock sizes) for a very reasonable price and after 1000 miles I love them. Hitting a big puddle without any issue, driving in the rain, 850 miles on the highway and a couple fun runs and I've just gotten more impressed. Grip, wet traction, quiet, smooth, very nice tires. I've bought a lot of tires, both street and track, expensive and cheap, and so far these are among my absolute favorites. Check the reviews at TireRack too, lots of positives by people who track/autocross, not just street guys.

 

Depending on how (miles a year, cruising or close to the limit (especially in turns)) and when (regarding outside temperature and rain) you drive the car you might want to take a look at the Kuhmo ECSTA V70A.

The Eagle F1 is a very good all round tire regarding dry/wet streets and high/low temperature. I had it on my 1985 911 before I switched to the Bridgestone S02/N3 (no longer produced).

On the 328 I have the Kuhmo tires now. Seriously (though I have never driven a pure race car), these tires are awesome when you have dry weather and temperatures about 25°C (77°F) and the tires are really warmed up.

The ECSTA V70A is a semi-slick tire. It has (at least in Germany) the official approval and homologation for road service. The price is in the range of the Eagle F1.

As I said depending on your preferences while driving there are some points to consider:

First, and for me most important, if you have a dry road, temperature 20-25°C (68°-77°F) plus, and the tires are hot it is like driving the car on rails. Almost impossible to loose the grip in turns. Under the above mentioned weather conditions you can almost drive circles around even modern sport cars in tight turns, because the all-round tires don’t have that grip. (Little exaggeration here, but you can go considerable faster ).

Second, this is the only thumbs-up for that tire:

Talking about wear, after a hot ride the tire surface feels like glue when you touch it. I lost about 2,5mm tire tread on the first 1000km (approx. 625mi). But these km were mostly driven on roads with tight turns. Doesn’t really bother me as I drive the 328 around 1000km a year.

Talking about environmental conditions: Even in summertime, if it starts raining you have to slow down. Considerable slow down. The tire gets really nasty on wet surface. Even the 328, which is much less sensitive to over steering than the 911, starts to break away easily.

Talking about outside temperature: If the temperatures are below 10°C (50°F) you need to drive carefully until the tires are heated up.

However, just wanted to show up another option which might be interesting.


Regards,

Dirk

 

"The Goodyears are pricey and discontinued"

That's a bummer - they were tire rack's highest rated tires in that size@

 

I like Pirelli.

 

Bridgestone Pole Position RE-50 is it !!!

 

Not according to Goodyear - Quite available and only $189 each at Discount Tire!! Little more than I paid couple years ago ($600/set). Maybe your thinking about 390s.

http://www.americastire.com/dtcs/tires/goodyear/vehicle/submitZipCode.do?v=003432|1985&ar=50&rd=16&cs=225&postalCodeSelected=97128

 

I have kumho ku36 on my car, 225/45/17 front, 255/40/17 rear, have tracked them and think highly of them
http://www.productreview.com.au/showitem.php?item_id=68094

 

"Originally Posted by mike996
"The Goodyears are pricey and discontinued""

Actually, I didn't post that, I just referenced it from a previous quote. However, after reading it I checked Tire Rack; they are discontinued. Whether that means that the tire itself is discontinued or just the fact that Tire Rack will no longer offer them, I don't know.

 

Goodyear's site is a bit confusing, as they have separate listings for the "Eagle F1 GS-D3" and the "Eagle F1 GS D3" (with and without the dash).

The with-dash version only lists a few 18 and 19 inch rim sizes.

For the without dash version, the 205/55ZR16 sizes are still listed, but the 225/50ZR16s aren't, so that's the size that seems to be discontinued.

For the OP, neither 225/45-17s nor 255/40-17s are listed.

 

I have Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3 and really like them. I too had heard that according to Tire Rack they are discontinued. If that were the case, the tires I'd go with at are the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11.

 

That is what I use on my 328GTS.

 

I've got the Bridgestone RE 750's on my car and they've been great.

 

Actually, the F1 GS-D3 are not an all weather tire. They are catagorized as a "max performance summer tire. I believe when I bought mine back in 2006, they were catagorized as an "extreme summer tire." But with time and technology, they dropped down a catagory. The RE-11s are a great choice and probably what I would go with today if I were buying tires.

 

I've got Proxes T1Rs... they have been very impressive. I had BFGs and Yokos before that. Have you considered the RA1s or T1Rs?

 

I still say check out the Dunlops. A little more than $600 installed and very impressive, with excellent reviews, better than a lot more expensive tires. I'm very happy with them.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=Direzza+Sport+Z1+Star+Spec

 

I have used Kuhmo's in the past but when I needed new ones this spring I was told the ecsta mx were no longer available. The Tire Rack rep insisted that Continental's were the highest rated tire they carried for the 328 and also the least expensive. I have had them for about three months and they seem to be very good tires. I would be intrested to know if they are still recomending the Continental's.