"Best Road Tyre?"

[e38king 1]

The wear ratings are somewhat dubious,

The Pirelli P zero assymetric we had on the X5 had a rating of 420 and they did 17,000km

The 050's on my 328 have a rating of 140 So logic would suggest they wouldn't last the 25,000 km I typically get out of them.

To be fair I don't think you can really compare the 2 vehicles. One is over 2 tonne and one is closer to one tonne. Also I am guessing that your X5 hasn't had the amount of suspension work that your E36 has?

Considering that both tyres are essentially the same construction you would expect the X5 to wear faster. The Sportpac is also known to "like tyres" and I am guessing your driving style would also contribute to the wear on the X5

The bar set by Conti, Pirelli and Michelin is higher than that set by tier 2 tyres and the Goodyear IS Michelins tier 2 tyre brand.

As you comment one does adjust but if the opportunity prevails we all know we would love to be back on the Conti / Pirelli P zero Rosso that gave us the superb level of feel and precision some of us seek.

Definitely swing towards a tier 1 tyre next time on the 328 unless I get an M3 first.

I have to agree that the Goodyear is essentially a lower quality tyre but reading between the lines are you saying that Michelin have a financial interest in Goodyear?

Edited August 9, 2012 by e38king

[ray ruthven 0]

I'd do a retake on the proposition that tyre wear is load dependant, it is: thats why tyres have load rating as well as wear ratings.

- The 050's are load rated 91 or 615 kg each

- The HP Sports are load rated 103and 107 or 975 + kg each

So I run my 1330kg car on tyre with a max load capability of 2460kg == 54.8%

and my 2150kg SAV on tyres with a max load capacity of 3900kg ==55%

To support the weight the case is obviously much stiffer , one would also expect that the compound would also be harder to take the forces generated by the heavier vehicle when in motion.

But wait there is more:

The 1350 kg car runs a smaller section tyre 225 -17- giving 225sq cm contact patch about 58% of what the X5 has

The 2150 kg SAV runs a 255-19 giving about 382 sq cm contact patch and the 328 is about 62% of the weight of the X5

So the load per unit area (static) on the X5 is slightly lower than on the 328.

Me thinks the load rating takes into account the mass of the vehicle and the wear rating is relative to the specific tyre type in its intended operating conditions.

That is: A passenger car tyre with a rating of 260 should deliver the same wear as a SAV tyre rated 260 when fitted to their intended vehicles.

Otherwise the rating is totally meaningless.

Well it looks as if this thread has reached a conclusion I had suspected - the top end tyres ARE better if you want to pay the price. The wear issue is then a significant one in comparing the top 3 - particularly as I am putting down 750Nm at the rear wheels and can only get 245's in. That is one reason I think the Sumitomo's performed well - for a 245 the actual TREAD width is significantly more than most of the other brands.

Speaking of the rubber on the road, how do you get a 70% increase in contact patch on the X5 for only a 13% increase in section width? or does the 255 actually have a soft side wall giving you the larger contact patch?

RDR1

[NZ BMW 368]

What's a Minerva tyre? Someone was telling me they were OE for a lot of Euro cars like VW, but I can't find any info on them....

[ray ruthven 0]

Its a bigger diameter wheel and taller tyre giving a longer contact patch

Hi 3 Pedals, interesting, I wouldn't have expected that much of a difference. I've been looking at wheel tyre combinations on our race car and contact patch is of course one of the considerations, but we haven't been looking at the types of differences we're talking about here. However I had a little geometry program to look at it so threw in my car (1800kg on 245/45/17's) and assumed your's is a 255/50/19. I have 282 sq cm contact patch and didn't take much to get the 380 or so you have. Did result in a little larger sidewall deflection but not a lot - 19% compared to 15%. of course a few assumptions in this but an interesting exercise. (see diagram)

RDR1

Contact_patches_17_and_19.ppt

[Apex 693]

Back to the question about Michelin and Goodyear , from my recollection Micelin bought Goodyear about 10 or 12 years ago.

That's BF Goodrich.

When I called up Michelin NZ they tried to sell me some BF's as they did not offer any tyres in my size locally. was gutted.

If you have a common sized tyre I hear Tyretech in Takapuna are doing very good deals on Michelin, was blown away with what they are offering them for. They must be parallel imported or something.

[hybrid 1039]

If you have a common sized tyre I hear Tyretech in Takapuna are doing very good deals on Michelin, was blown away with what they are offering them for. They must be parallel imported or something.

Dont give my secret away! haha