Some are not prepared to pay the price.

For dry performance and wear it is the #1.

If wet performance is your priority is has to be the GS-D3.

IMHO whilst others are less expensive, they are a compromise.

 

I did a lot a worldwide research and the tire that kept coming up trumps in user reviews (and also did well in tests) was the Falken FK452. I went with them and they are great value tires which are quiet on all surfaces and have good wet and dry traction.

Issues I found with other options:

1. Eagle F1 - have a history of balance issues due to their extreme directional pattern.
2. Dunlop Sport Maxx - wife has them and they are a bit louder than the Falken and feel a bit soft in the side wall
3. PS2 - good tyres but the marginal (if any) performance gains did not warrant the steep price (for my experiment)
4. Conti SP2 - OEM on my wifes car and they were a bit loud and wore relatively quickly. I have driven a mates 530D with them also and they did not feel any better than the Falken.

All the top end tyres will be pretty good in performance and given your profile will outperform you needs. All will feel good after the RF's! However based on value for performance the FK452 look like a sure bet to me. I have about 3,000 miles on them and they are hard to fault (they took a few more mile to wear in to full grip than I expected).

The OEM bridgstone RE050A's did not appear better in any way although I did like the stiff sidewall on the RF tyre for cornering.

PS: Absolutely do not get the FK452 mixed up with some other Falken tires i.e. the old FK451 etc as some are okay and some not so good. Only consider the FK452.

 

Same here on my staggered M166s . 245/35/19 front and 275/30/19 rear. Unfortunately, no 285/30/19 available :thumbsdown: .

 

Another vote for the Eagle F1 GS-D3. Had them on my 545 and my 550, excellent tires.

 

I have BF Goodrich g-Force Profiler 19/35/245 all round and I think they are very good for fast and slow driving and they are quite too and dont cost that much compare to others.

http://www.bfgoodrich.co.uk/bfguk/front/af...CT1&lang=EN

 

+1.

I put these on my car recently. They are dead quiet on every kind of road I've encountered. Excellent traction wet or dry. And, oh yeah, they look great too.

 

the trend looks about the same as the 1s I have got.
I must have a look into these tires in HK next year when I change my tires.

 

I dont know if anyone has considered the Toyo Proxes 4. I just switched to them yesterday instead of the Michelin Pilot2 A/S at the recommendation of my tire guy and so far they're great and I've read a lot of great reviews on them from people who've used them. Has anyone else used these tires? and if you guys have did you like them? because so far they're muuuuuuuch better than the stock Dunlops which I kept just in case.

 

Great stuff. Thank you all so much for your insights and guidance. I'm going start doing price research and then make a decision. With some upcoming travel it might be a month before I pull the trigger. I'll certainly add posts as this progresses.

This is great. I truly appreciate all your help.

Cheers.

 

You didn't specify your tire size, however, I see you reside in Toronto. The best ideal situation for this vehicle is to have two sets of tires(Winter/Summer). This will take wear and tear out of your equatiion for determining the tire. For the winter you can't go wrong with Bridgestone Blizzaks. For the summer a tire not commented on is the Vrederstein tires(See Autowerkes out of California). Switch the tires summer and winter, 18s for the winter and 19s for the summer if you like. Two sets of tires will extend your treadwear, especially if you have all 18s not offsetted. That way you can balance and rotate as you like. Good Luck