idoru

Having just got back from a long (150 mile) roundtrip on motorway, A roads and back roads, I have decided that the time has most definitely come to ditch the Goodyear Eagle NCT5 RFTs (tyre of choice, in non-EMT guise, on.... the Ford Focus) on my Sport Touring. Unless the asphalt is billiard table smooth (ie 0.1% of the time here in the UK) the ride is incredibly tiring - fidgety, harsh, uncomposed, 'unplanted' etc etc insert your own negative here.

Having done (endless) research on this board and elsewhere, it has come down to PZero Rossos or ContiSportContact2s (245/40/18) - while the GSD3s have great reviews, as do the PS2s, I feel the Pirellis or the Continentals will give a little more ride comfort, if at the expense of some handling/sharpness.

So, which is the better tyre? Your input is much appreciated.

Iceman

Welcome aboard, idoru !

Nolan222

I have the conti sports on mycar and I love the ride. The contis, I think provide great sharpness and handling. But my this is just my 2 cents, and also I havent had any other tires on my car so cant compare.

PeterJoyce

I have a set of the Pirelli's on another car and they have superior grip on any road surface. However they car has 3000 miles, so I dont know how they tread will hold up.

poleposition

Michelin's Pilot Sport A/S. Now that's a tire... The original Pilot Sports as well.

RAI

I can't comment on the Pirellis, but I have extensively tried both the PS2 and the Conti SportContact 2s on my 545i Sport Package car. I also had a set of Yokohama AVS db S2s for a few thousand miles. The Contis are what I have now, and I'm extremely happy with them. The Contis are the perfect blend of ride and performance. You will notice a VERY significant ride improvement over the runflats with the Contis, believe me. The handling is excellent too. They absorb rough pavement quite well, both in terms of ride quality and audible report. Excellent tires, and I recommend them highly. Also, the Contis aren't unidirectional, so they can be rotated side to side if need be. Unidirectional tires cannot be rotated, so if you develop any uneven wear giving rise to tread noise, you're done for! The only negative of the Contis is that they can flat spot a little overnight sometimes, and take a few miles to smooth out. Not a big deal. The PS2s do give awesome handling at the limit if you're really pushing hard; I would say noticeably better than the Contis (but not dramatically better). You'll only notice this when you're cornering REALLY hard, though. Most of the time you won't notice much difference. But, the PS2 gives MUCH more tread noise than the Conti, definitely rides significantly harder and absorbs rough pavement worse, and I could never get rid of a vibration between 65 and 75 mph even with multiple balancings with the best Hunter road force equipment available at a great tire boutique. The ride quality of the PS2s really isn't much better than the runflats, to be honest with you. For me, the Conti is unquestionably the better choice. It gives me great performance, and a great ride and quietness too. The PS2 is a great tire- the best there is if what you want is max performance in hard driving. But, there is a appreciable price to pay in terms of tread noise, ride harshness, broken pavement noise, and, in my particular case, vibration over 65 mph. For me, the Contis are a much better choice. I definitely would not go back to the PS2s. I'd say go with the Contis, they are wonderful! When my set wears out, I'm going to put the same thing back on.