Originally Posted By: antonmnster
It's January, so of course I'm thinking about what goes on my 175,000 mile 07 335i once the Blizzaks come off. Currently have Pilot AS/3s, and find them to be a bit loud, and certainly a bit of a compromise being an AS tire. I've had PSSs before and they're dreamy: super quiet, amazing performance, but not really the best wearing.
Looks like I can go with Conti DWs for a couple hundred less. I'm driving about 40,000 miles/year right now so good treadwear would be nice. I'm driving so much that I'm sot of excited about what some see as a drawback with the DW: a bit mushy and soft, but able to handle larger impacts. I don't mind the tradeoff with handling since most of my miles are not very spirited - just rolling around town and to/from Chicago.
Anyone have experience with either, or both?
Super Sports are on a lot of very, very high performance cars. DWs are on... zero, I think? There's a reason.
One thing to keep in mind about treadwear: Don't just look at how long it takes to get to the wear bars. Also consider how the tire performs throughout its life. That's the real test. I've had Super Sports down to the wear bars and they still gripped on wet roads. My friends with M3s and M5s have worn Super Sports down to the cords, with similar results. Don't think I've heard anyone even try to say the same thing for... just about any other tire, really. So, with Super Sports, maybe you can't expect more than 30k miles -- but they'll be usable for every single one of those miles. DWs might last longer, but probably not -- and there's no way they'll retain as much performance at low tread depths.
On average, no tire company is as consistently good as Michelin on things like uniformity. Some exceptions here and there, but that's the general rule.
Cost savings shouldn't be on the map unless you absolutely cannot afford the more expensive tire. If you average out the price difference over the time you own the car, and compare it to the rest of your expenses for the car, you'll see that it's a small price to pay for a better tire.
IMO, the only real argument for the DW over the Super Sport in your case is the NVH thing. If you drive that much, maybe that'll make it a net benefit -- IF it actually pans out in practice. But I doubt it.
Is the A/S 3 really louder than the Super Sport at comparable tread depth? I'm surprised to hear that because it's the opposite of what I've heard from the aforementioned M-car-driving friends. Hard for me to say because the 335i isn't really my kind of car, but if I had one, the A/S 3 would probably be my top pick.
The Super Sport would be second, though. No question. And the DW would be... what I'd get if I couldn't get Super Sports for whatever reason.
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