Tires MICHELIN or Continental

Just installed new tires on our Phaeton. The old Michelins were actually dangerous. For reference, I'm not talking about driving through giant puddles at high speed; every time this happened we were on the freeway. So -- I researched everything out there and settled on the Michelin® Pilot Sport A/S (255/45R18). All I can say is... WOW!!! What a huge difference in performance; the car turns in much better and grips like crazy. These tires should be standard on this car! This tire seems to improve on the factory tire in every area of performance, and is supposed to be superb in the wet as well.

Luckily Bridgestone has a 30-day test drive program where if you're not happy with the tires for any reason, you can return them for a full refund. I walked into Curry's, told them I didn't like Potenzas and walked out with a set of Michelin MXV$ Plus tires.

Don't know about the Toyos but the PS2'S are great. They handle excellent in the rain and in the dry. High Speed stability is excellent as well.

Yes, they'll start talking when you reach their limits of adhesion. Not as loudly as the F1s, but at pretty much the same point (just as they're starting to let go--which seems to be fairly gradual and predictable).

I just ran a track weekend at Pocono Raceway with my PS2's, 245/35/19. They performed extremely well for a street tire.

The PS2s have a much stiffer sidewall than the stock Goodyear F1s, which is exactly what I was looking for. No noticeable tread squirm while cornering and sharper steering response as a result. Of course, this also means they provide a less cushy ride than the F1s--the surface of the road is communicated much more readily to the cabin. The PS2s also produce quite a bit more road noise. Driving on grooved/textured highways was much noisier than the F1s. The tread pattern also produces a tendency for these tires to follow grooves in the road, which was never an issue with the F1s. In terms of overall grip, the PS2s are outstanding. I took several corners at speed in the Ozark Mountains, and the PS2s showed no signs of letting go. Very confidence-inspiring. They're easily as grippy as the F1s, and actually felt as though they were superior in this regard. Wet weather performance was easily as good as the F1s, much to my pleasant surprise. I drove in conditions that varied from a light sprinkle to a heavy downpour, and the PS2s continued to perform as solidly as they did in the dry. I plowed through several puddles with not even a hint of hydroplaning.

I was told to run right around 40psi in my Continental ExtremeContact tires. I was running about 38 in my Michelins with no adverse effects.

The Continental ContiExtreme Contacts are awesome. In my opinion, they are the best kept secret out there for someone who wants a high-performance all-season tire.

I'll second the continentals. I have them on my car for 2000 miles now and I think they are a great tire, good traction in all conditions. I had 205/50's on my car before and to me, they look too small in the wheel well. Just my opinion.

I got 205/55/15 Continental ContiExtreme Contact from Tire Rack. I think they were $68/tire. Best all-season performance tire for the price. Great dry,wet, and snow traction.