You gave me two options, not three, after I asked no one for any. But thank you for trying to help me save money and get stickier tires.

And now you and I are done talking about tires.

 

Damn, I remember getting 4 Michelin PSS 19s for 750 with a buy 3 get 1 for a $1 deal a couple years ago…..I’m in for it this coming season when I need 4 new ones.

 

They always seem bigger when they're loose.

Now that they're here, I need to get them mounted and balanced on my rear Vossens, and I think I'm going to get a new pair of TMPS for the rears as part of that process. Then I have to have one of my fronts reseated and rebalanced because of a slow leak that I couldn't find. After that, I'll be ready for Spring. Usually swap wheels sometime mid-April.

 

Are those summer UHP or all-season UHP (using tire rack's terminology, I know you run them 3 season)?

They look awfully similar to my Kumho PS91s

 

Summer only. Well, three seasons over freezing. Tirerack classifies them as "max performance summer".

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...um=735YR9ECSXL

This is my third set of tires on the Vossens. The first were Michelin PSS. The second were Contis like this, and this is the third. Meanwhile, I'm still on my first set of Contis in the front. Plenty of tread left in the front. You learn to accept some compromises with a staggered setup, like having equal tread all around, LOL. Then again, it feels easier on the wallet just doing two tires at a time.

 

Based on your experience with them, would you recommend the Michelin over the continentals for performance?
How about for tread life/bang for your buck- Is there really that much of a difference in performance over the two?

 

Based on my limited experience, the Contis last longer and have a more consistent tread wear on cambered wheels, with comparable performance and comfort considerations. But that's street use. People with more depth of experience actually tracking their car might recommend otherwise.

Back when the car was new, it had the OEM Bridgestone HP summers, which sucked. Then I burned through a set of PSS pretty quick, but the car wasn't lowered, and those were duckfeet. I bought the Vossens with PSS at the same time (Goodbye, $3,300 LOL), and the wear was pretty quick and uneven. And then the Continentals, which I've been content enough to keep buying.

Take whatever you want from that, opinions vary.

 

Thanks. Given my ongoing battle against twitchy dynamics, I'm going to pick a different tire next time just in case, and I don't have the budget for PSS LOL. So the Contis should be on my list, per your descriptions of them. While I drive, umm, assertively, I'm not tracking this car.

 

Picked up my rear wheels/tires from the shop this afternoon. I had them install new TPMS in both wheels, since they're about 9 years old, so it was a good opportunity while mounting & balancing the new tires. But I was pretty taken aback when I was charged $80 for each TPMS. And they aren't the silver/metallic design like OEM... they're these hideously long, rubber things, these universal sensors. I know in my head that it's not a big deal, it's just a sensor and a black valve stem. But it still feels like I'm compromising, and paying 2x while doing so.

Now I have a sad.

 

I spent $40 on two used sensors and $40 to put them on and they dont work.

Now I have a sad too.

 

I guess it's all relative.

So here's my immediate dilemma... I've an appointment next week for the front wheels & tires. The thing that's causing this event is a slow leak in one of my fronts. I'm pretty sure it's leaking at the bead when under load, because last fall when the car just sat in the garage there was no problem. However, after driving around for a good while, the pressure would slowly go down. This winter I pumped it up to 45 lbs and checked for leaks with a soapy solution, but found none, and it's maintained that same exact 45 lbs of pressure ever since (sitting in my basement.) Based on all that nonsense, I'm thinking I just need to have the bead broken, clean the lip, reseat the tire and rebalance.

And since all that is happening, maybe I should replace the TPMS there as well. And that would be 3 out of 4 wheels, so why not do the same to the other front wheel & tire and complete the set, right?

Except my fronts are configured with HawksHead Adapters, in order for the valve stem to clear the calipers, and I don't know if these "universal" TPMS will work with the adapters. Plus, everything became stupidly expensive all of a sudden because of the sensors. The least expensive, least intrusive approach would be to have the shop re-seat and re-balance the one wheel, and do nothing about the TPMS, hoping these 9 year old sensors work for another year or two. And then replace both front TPMS when the next new front tire event comes around.

These are first world, OCD problems. I'll figure it out.

 

Only you can figure it out and you wish it was simpler and took less time or money. Godspeed man, I hate the pressure one can put on ones self at time.

 

I've decided to just get the leaky wheel reseated and rebalanced, and leave both front TPMS alone for now, replacing those whenever I replace the front tires, or unless they die on me beforehand.

It never occurred to me to ask what the universal valve stems look like. It also never occurred to me to ask about price, because the shop has always been fair. And while both those things are entirely on me, it's also on them for not presenting me with that information. If they had, I would have made other choices.

It's a lot of agita for something so trivial. I wish I could get this out of my head.

 

I got these 3 years ago for the Coupe 19s, and they've been working absolutely fine since.They have the same valve seal type as the original units and not the bolt-on-to-rubber-valve-stem types.

 

Round Two with the shop and the one front wheel & tire that had a slow leak, and they found the leak. It was the valve stem from the HawksHead adapter that cradled the TPMS inside the wheel. There's a retention nut that was backed off. They tightened it down, then put another narrow nut on top of it to lock it in place. Problem solved. Time will tell, I suppose.

So at this point I have two brand new tires in the rear, mounted and balanced, with new TPMS. And two tires in the front with 7/32" tread depth, with 8 year old TPMS... knock on wood. And a slow leak repaired in one of them.

OK. I'm ready for Spring now.