Michelin vs. Pirelli vs. Dunlop
 

Which one do you think is best in 3 aspects combined:
wet grip, dry grip, wear ???

For me it's hard to say as I've changed them all where they were still almost new or with plenty of meat left on them across 80% of the width, but not the inner side.
But that was before proper alignment and on too narrow tyres.

I'm going for 275/35/20 now instead of 255s

Cheers +++

Continental! :p
I I like the Dunlop SportMaxx tyres otherwise +++

Cheers Neil +++
Too many bad words I heard about Contis.

Found this in Elsa
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1408876514

michelin has the best wear rate of them all imo.

Are Michelin's Pilot Super Sport directional??

I can get 4x with 4-5mm thread so I can check the wear in the inside before splashing money on new set for around £235, but it's not listed which readings are for left and which for right tyre.

Check the links below.
Give me a minute and I will explain what I'm thinking about.

1st pair:
Tyre 1 is between 4.8 to 4.2mm
Tyre 2 is between 5.0 to 5.2mm

2nd pair:
Tyre 1 is between 4.7mm to 5.5mm
Tyre 2 is between 4mm to 4.6mm

>>>>>

So, as my rears wearing very slowly and evenly, idea is to put:
Tyre 1 is between 4.8 to 4.2mm (1st pair)
and
Tyre 2 is between 4mm to 4.6mm (2nd pair)
on the REAR

And:
Tyre 2 is between 5.0 to 5.2mm (1st pair)
and
Tyre 1 is between 4.7mm to 5.5mm (2nd pair)
on the FRONT

Would I be able to do it??
Sorry, it's possibly a silly question, but sometimes simple things can confuse me :Confused:

Cheers

1st pair
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-275-35-...item2c89609fe6

2nd pair
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x275-35-2...item2c88ce587b

I don't think I've explained this properly.
As you can see from the pictures, they are in pairs, lets say front and rear axle.
What if the ones close to 4mm are the left ones on both pictures and I need all 4mm to be on one axle???

If they are directional, then it means I won't be able to do it, yeah ???

Ok, asymmetric and non directional as long the outside is on the outside they can be swapped front back left right +++

Yep, non-directional, but do have an inside and outside edge, so can go in any position. I really rate mine, but have nothing to compare with as they're the only boots I've had on the 8.

Cheers Professor +++

What wheels have you got??
If 20" 9J with 275s could you post few pictures please??

I got P zero's on mine M-A8, reason being they had the best wet weather stoppage distances and as im Scottish we know a lot about rain and wet roads

I can't seem to get any of my tyres to wear at all - it's either my driving, my low mileage, or the number of sets of tyres I have. I like both the Michelin PS3s and the Dunlop Sport Maxxs I have though, and the winter Alpin PA 4's are also very good.

Tintin, are you driving on snow chains all year or what :p

City Link just delivered my 4 Michelin's, purchased yesterday morning, so tomorrow of to the garage to fit them and straight for MOT, which expired two weeks ago :rolleyes:

So, I fitted 275/35/20 Michelin's Super Sport today and so far they have best grip in dry so far when I compare then to Pirellis, Dunlops or Toyos.
Very happy, just waiting for some rain. Toyo Proxes T1 sport were really good, but I expect Michelins to be better.
Thanks for your input in this thread guys +++

How's the road noise?

When I got my S8 it had Nankang tyres on it and I thought the bearings were going, they were so noisy. I swapped to Vredesteins which were great when new, but now they're getting a bit 'thin', the wet grip is not so good and the road noise at 'higher' speeds is awful: a recent 300 mile long motorway journey left me with a headache!

What I want is a good quality tyre, with good wet grip, a long life and low road noise. I'm begining to think that some of these are mutually exclusive.

Any candidates?

In a word...
 

Michelins

Could you make your opinion a bit clearer? :ROFL:

Well Jim, I'm not really please with the sound.
Toyo Proxes T1 Sport were quieter at the exactly same wear level, 5mm.
I was shocked and I don't really understand this.
If you check the db for each tyre, they all are between 71-73 db were nankang is quieter than michelin, pirelli, toyo, just go to mytyres co uk.
WTF??? How is doing this noise tests, are they high while doing it, because a 1db between toyo and michelin sound like having tyres on or not.
I don't get it.

Jim, I would really really try Toyo Proxes T1 Sport, dual compound, great in wet and dry, quieter than michelin, good wear, and audi puts them on s5 and a6.
I was really pleased with them when comparing to previous dunlops maxx and pirellis.

I seem to recall that some time ago I read that the tyre noise rating was measured as the noise emitted externally to the car and didn't bear much relationship the the noise transmitted to the inside of the car.

So what bothers the driver (noise transmitted to the inside of the car through steering and suspension) isn't measured.

So all we have to go on is recommendations from other users.

And a dim question: what's the difference between 255 35 R20 97Y and 255 35 ZR20 97Y?

I think nothing, the Z prefix is an old way of rating tyres that has been effectively superceded.

:Confused: Have a look at the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx listings on this page:

http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl

Two of them have rim protection, 'XL' and are for Jaguar models. The only difference seems to be the 'Z' and £5! Am I missing something fundamental?

I believe in old days ZR was for tyre speed rating over 240kmh(149mph), it has now been superseded by W & Y, in this case Y which is for up to 300kmh(186mph). ZR now is used for high performance tyres meaning they will probably be softer compound with better grip but increased wear and shorter life.

XL is eXtra Load, usually a stiffer sidewall,