Choosing the best RFT tire out of very limited options

S

SSF

Member
I need to change the tires on my Z4, I was anticipating to finally ditch the standard (and dreaded) Potenza's (RE050A) and enjoying driving on Michelin Pilot Sport 4's or GY Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5, when I discovered none of these are available here in my rear tires size, which 255/40 R17.
Just to be clear: I am not ready to ditch the RFT's (at least yet), because of different reasons.
Now my choices seem to be the following:
1. Bridgestone RE-050A(-1) - which would mean sticking to what the manufacturer recommended (several years ago) and what I was anticipating finally ditching.
2. Pirelli P Zero - reviews seem to put it on the same level with the RE050's, so doesn't seem like a very good choice
3. Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 - marginally better?
4. Yokohama Advan Sport (V103) ZPS
5. Continental SportContact 2 SSR - a very old tire, I'm not sure how it compares to newer ones.

If anyone has any knowledge as to which of these is better, it would be most appreciated. Having such a limited choice, I have to prioritize performance/safety, both on dry and wet, then ride comfort, leaving the rolling resistance and wear for last.
 
The Pirellis have been run by a couple of members with z4s and have been rated good and barely distinguishable from regular tyres..what you don't really get from tests is how they are going to feel on individual cars and going from the feedback I've seen on the forum if I were going for runflats it would be the pirellis as its the only real world feedback related to how they run on a z4 that I know
 
SSF said:
I need to change the tires on my Z4, I was anticipating to finally ditch the standard (and dreaded) Potenza's (RE050A) and enjoying driving on Michelin Pilot Sport 4's or GY Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5, when I discovered none of these are available here in my rear tires size, which 255/40 R17.
Just to be clear: I am not ready to ditch the RFT's (at least yet), because of different reasons.
Now my choices seem to be the following:
1. Bridgestone RE-050A(-1) - which would mean sticking to what the manufacturer recommended (several years ago) and what I was anticipating finally ditching.
2. Pirelli P Zero - reviews seem to put it on the same level with the RE050's, so doesn't seem like a very good choice
3. Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 - marginally better?
4. Yokohama Advan Sport (V103) ZPS
5. Continental SportContact 2 SSR - a very old tire, I'm not sure how it compares to newer ones.

If anyone has any knowledge as to which of these is better, it would be most appreciated. Having such a limited choice, I have to prioritize performance/safety, both on dry and wet, then ride comfort, leaving the rolling resistance and wear for last.
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The problems with asking this question on the forum are;
1. You will get so many responses it will confuse the heck out of you.
2. People dont like to admit they make bad choices and may not be completely truthful.
Bottom line is look for reviews by companies/review organisations.professionals etc on you tube - you can find one here https://youtu.be/pqfpL-v03LQ or here https://youtu.be/wTxH7vzl6Vo lots more to explore.
 
SSF said:
If anyone has any knowledge as to which of these is better, it would be most appreciated. Having such a limited choice, I have to prioritize performance/safety, both on dry and wet, then ride comfort, leaving the rolling resistance and wear for last.
Click to expand...
Morning, SSF. Large parts of motoring journalists' tyre reviews are nonsense. Your request for knowledge, on the other hand, makes complete sense. That said, I'll bet London to a brick that nobody on the forum has "knowledge as to which of these is better"? 'Knowledge as to which of these is' good? Yes, but better than all the others or even most of them? Nah.

Fortunately, you're on 17" wheels. A wonderful place to be. Light, responsive and, in my experience, enjoyable. So, whichever of the known-to-be-decent tyres you buy, you'll be OK.

My experience on both 17" & 18" is that Pirelli P Zero are fine.
 
The problem with most journalist reviews / comparisons is that often various tires are mixed onto one article or video, like winter, all-season and summer in a bunch, performance and premium (hopefully not budget also) all together, possibly tires manufactured over different periods of time or ones that are not available on all markets, and sometimes even runflat with regular in the same list. So, even if you ignore the car and size they test on, it's still difficult to make any conclusions, especially when you don't have access to the necessary size in the models that most of them chose as the best.

That is the reason I'm asking directly in the E89 thread, to know what owners of the same car as mine think. I know most of you (if not all) have bigger diameter rims, but this is still the best place I found to ask such a question.
 
When I had 17" on my first E89 I was actually perfectly happy with the Bridgestone's, mainly because the SE suspension removed any fun from corners before tyre properties came into play.

The Bridgestones were perfectly good for cruising around and everyday driving.

What is it that you dislike about the Bridgestones?
 
I mainly dislike the harshness of the ride and the tramlining (it's not too strong, but it's present). Having not tried any other summer tires on this car, I have nothing to compare them to, so I mainly rely on reviews from other people or from online publications, almost all of which say that they are not among the best.
 
I had Bridgestone Potenza RFTs on both my E86s and tolerated the ride as they're sports cars, but strangely while the first one was prone to tramlining the second wasn't so although tyres may be a factor I think there are other potential issues.

I've had a couple of 3 Series SE models with 17" wheels on RFTs and had Pirellis on the first, Continentals and Bridgestones on my current one. For ride quality the Pirellis were the best and the Bridgetones the worst. In terms of handling and grip there was nothing to chose between them, but I don't tend to hoon in the 3 Series - that's what Zs are for! I've currently got 17" Hankook winter RFTs on my 3 Series and they are similar to the Contis in terms of ride.

I was on my 4th set of 17" Pirelli RFTs when I sold my 1 Series and they never felt unduly harsh which is why I stuck with them.

Based on my experiences of Pirellis on other BMWs if I was going to fit RFTs to a Z4 they would be my choice, but tyre choices are very personal.
 
Will go with the Pirellis (if I can actually find anyone that has them in stock, and not only listed on the website) and hope they will not disappoint. Thank you everyone for your input, it was helpful.
 
Just a thought, drop the s and get the Pilot Sport 4, which are available in your sizes, almost as good as the 4s unless you are thinking of track days
 
[ref]SSF[/ref], here you go :thumbsup:
https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre/michelin-pilot-sport-4-225-45-r17-94-y-xl-zr#377689322
https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre/michelin-pilot-sport-4-255-40-r17-98-y-xl-zr#381968354
I purchased my first set of winter wheels from here, they were for my second Z4 and were 225/45 R17's great service
 
sars said:
[ref]SSF[/ref], here you go :thumbsup:
https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre/michelin-pilot-sport-4-225-45-r17-94-y-xl-zr#377689322
https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre/michelin-pilot-sport-4-255-40-r17-98-y-xl-zr#381968354
I purchased my first set of winter wheels from here, they were for my second Z4 and were 225/45 R17's great service
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He's after run flats Sars
 
[ref]mr.tourette[/ref], my bad I hadn’t realised you could get PS4’s in a run flats?
 
Update: I discovered that the PZero's are not actually available, although listed as "in stock" on some websites. It seems I have to choose between staying on Potenza's or trying something completely new for me, like Hankook ro Yokohama.

One more thing: a person from one of the tire shops I talked to said that usually rarer summer tires are produced later in the season, like starting with the second half of April, because all manufacturers are focused on producing the most popular summer tires at the moment. Has anyone heard anything about such a thing, should I consider waiting for another month? I guess I could use my "slicks" for a little longer, they are still on their rims.
 
That's unfortunate. :thumbsdown:

Not sure if it helps but my 3 Series is still on Hankook winters and they are definitely better than the Bridgestone Potenzas I had on it last summer (both 17s), but I remember reading somewhere recently that there is a newer generation of Bridgestone RFT that is said to be much better than the Potenza RE050s.
 
Not sure why you're having so much trouble getting hold of tyres, are you in a remote location??

No shortage of summer tyres here..
 
I'm located in Romania, so you could say it's remote I guess, depends on your point of reference.
Yet I have checked a couple German and Italian tire retailers and found they have the same tires for sale. Don't forget I'm looking for a rare size, in run flat.
 
wouldnt recommend hankook runflats particularly... bought a new to me BMW E90 and... it was obvious it was on run flats. rock solid ride, tramlining a lot. felt so much better once i'd swapped back onto my preferred GY 5s, in non-runflat.
 
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