What would you recommend for summer performance tyres for my G37S M6 Sedan?

The sizes are:

• Front: 225/50R18
• Rear: 245/45R18

Thank you.

 

Tire Rack gives you all kinds of information and ratings and comments... it's a great resource to compare priorities.

About 10 years ago, it was a common opinion here that Michelin PSS were stop shelf, and then the P4S that replaced them. And I certainly agreed with that after going with the Micheline over the OEM Bridgestone. But after a few sets, the price was hard to justify every few years. So I switched to Continental Extreme Sports. I think they're excellent street tires.

 

Thank you, Rochester. Indeed, the OEM Bridgestone are not much to brag home about.

Based on my searches so far, I would have selected Continental Extreme Contact Sport, or Continental Extreme Contact Sport 02, but they seem to not be available in 225/50R18 size. They are available only in 245/45R18 size.

Currently, I narrowed down the options to:

• Michelin Pilot Sport 4S
• Bridgestone Potenza Sport

I have found one relatively comprehensive Comparison that includes the above two.

Am I missing anything else?

 

The Michelines are great tires, but expensive. Also consider weight, tread depth and longevity. 3 season tires wear out very quickly, however my experiences with PSS over the years is that they wore out quicker than I expected, with severe inner edge wear because of my stance. But the Contis lasted longer with a more even wear pattern.

Sucks if what you're saying about availability is true. That's kind of a hard stop if you can't buy the size you want.

 

The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S uses a really soft compound, so while they grip like mad at temps above 45-50 degrees, they also wear quickly when more aggressive alignment specs are leveraged, and in the absence of adjustable UCAs and rear camber arms on lowered cars.

 

FWIW, Consumer Reports currently recommends 3 UHP summer tires: the Pilot Sport 4s, Conti Extreme Contact Sport 02, and General G-Max RS. I just had G-Max RS tires mounted on my new square summer wheels. Unfortunately the G-Max RS tires do not come in 225/50/18. For whatever reason there seems to be limited options for that size.

As Rochester said, Tire Rack is probably your best bet for this.

 

Thank you, all, for the great info and suggestions.

Indeed, the 225/50R18 size limits my choice severely. It seems one could not go wrong with the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S but I am still not sure about the Bridgestone Potenza Sport. My understanding is the latter are not as good against aquaplaning as the former. Perhaps the additional cost for the Michelins justifies the extra safety gained.

 

You live in Toronto, so you're not going to be using summer tires from at least December through March, right? Just like me here on the other side of the lake. It's a strong argument for using your 18s as winter wheels & snows only, and buying a nice set of summer wheels. The expense is mitigated by avoiding mounting & balancing twice a year.

 

I’ve tried a few UHP and Max Performance summer tires and have settled on the Yokohama Advance Apex v601 for my go-to summer street tire. They get great grip, aren’t oily tires, and are very easy to feel the breaking point with them, so no funny business. They use a stiff sidewall and were designed for use on North American roads. Steering feels very direct and linear with these tires, no play in the wheel etc. They have the size for your rears (245/45R18) but don’t make the exact front size you posted…They do make a 235/50/18 though, so depending on your wheel width you might be able to make the 235/50/18 fit up front.

I’ve tried multiple sets of Firestone Firehawk Indy500 tires and they are also decent, but IMO a little over rated. They are heavier tires and definitely more oily than the Yokohamas, not as easy to feel the breaking point. They do also have a stiff sidewalk though which is nice, but they aren't the smoothest or quietest tires especially after the tread starts to wear down.

The G-Max RS wasn’t my favorite, mainly because of the softer sidewall. The steering felt a little floaty/indirect occasionally. But they were the lightest tires available which is a big selling point for rotating mass- huge difference in weight vs OEM tires. They were also very quiet and smooth from what I remember 2 years ago now, with a much higher treadwear rating so they should last longer.

I had a set of Michelin Pilot Sport AS 3+ on my BMW for less than a year and will never buy another set of Michelins again. As someone else mentioned above, the material/compounds in some of their tires just don’t last long. Great grip until it’s gone though, lol. And those were their all season performance tires. Moving to Florida and driving on the hot roads here roads probably didn’t help…I got 8k miles out of a new set. They were also not as smooth or quiet as I’d thought they’d be, especially with their premium…

 

Yes, you are indeed correct. I have two sets of wheels (tyres and rims). The OEMs with 225/50R18 (F) and 245/45R18 (R) for the summer, currently with Bridgestone Potenza RE050A (I believe, not sure); and a second set of non-OEM wheels with 235/50R18 (F+R) Nokian Hakkapeliita R2 for winter on them. So every March and November I change the wheels, with no need for mounting and balancing.

I do not want all-season tyres on my summer wheels. All-season tyres are a poor compromise, in my opinion.

 

Wait a minute! You've got only 8k miles on a new set of Michelins Pilot Sport AS 3+ until they were done?! Wow!

 

I see. Then you're locked in to using your OEM Sport 18s as summer wheels. And that dictates tire size, so you're limited on brand. Oh well, it is what it is.

Yes, it's not uncommon for hard-driven cars to get 10k miles on summer-only Micheline tires. Nonetheless, they're good tires. Personally, I experienced 12k to 15k miles, which still isn't great.

 

+1 on the yokohama tires, i had sumitumo tires on my g before and they barely lasted 2 seasons which was just unacceptable in my opinion, the yokohamas are night and day better tires, they grip better, feel way more planted and handle like a dream, their also way better in the rain, plus they came with a 5 year warranty, i learned my lesson though i’ll never buy cheap tires again

 

Thank you, all, for your help and suggestions. Between the two types, I decided to go with the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres. My tyre installer has already procured them at a very good price (a couple of hundred cheaper than at Costco, all in all) and installation day is Thursday, 30th March.

The only 'small' issue was that Michelin Canada was out of stock on the not-so-popular front size (225/50R18), so my tyre installer had to secure them from another distributor with limited stock. Hence their date code is 0722. The date code for the rears (245/45R18) is 0123. So I lose 6 months on my repair or full-replacement six-year road-hazard warranty. Oh, well, one cannot have everything!

 

I must be the only person who prefers a ultra high performance all-season tire over a summer tire. They wear too fast and in my experiences are horrible when the ground gets wet, especially when the treads are low.