Posted by Lee on April 06, 1999 at 00:18:20:
In Reply to: Re: Tire choices-Dunlop SP8000, ContiSport Contact or Toyos? posted by Jack on October 04, 1998 at 23:17:01:
I have probably driven 100+ Mercedes-Benz cars in both a personal and professional capacity. In every single application the Conti's, from ultra high performance to all season, were inferior to any other tire I had driven on a similar make/model. Example: a 99 CLK430 on Michelin MXXX3's is laser sharp, that same car fitted with conti sport contacts is forever on the ESP/ASR (traction/stability control) or sliding all over the place if its disabled. In short--they SUCK! Yes, the germans use them as OEM. That is due more to the internal ties that MB has with Continental rather than any particular quality of product. The Dunlop 8000's is a good tire. In addtion to MB OEM sports package use they have quite a following among speed fanatics. Ruf Porsche always uses that tire... Look around at a race(cars parked there, not slicks on cars), see what everyone is using on their cars. That will tell you alot. Don't have much experience with Toyo's... Have run FZ50's, RE71's, and Michelin's. My next set will definitly be the Michelin MXXX3. Yeah they cost, but you get what you pay for. The RE71's are way spooky at the limit and the FZ50's didn't last 15K miles.(yes I rotated and properly heat cycled) Only other consideration is the new Yokohama "AVS Sport" and the Michelin Pilot "Sport". Have not read much on them yet but what I have seen they look intriguing. Anyone with any experience with either of those?
Lee