[NCedillos]

I will be ordering all seasons tomorrow because the tires on my car are horrible in the snow. But also want these tires to be decent in teh summer meaning corning and I might even start autoxing. So my question is not having a z rated tire means a softer sidewall correct? If so won't that affect hard corning and performance autoxing? These are the tires I am looking at the contis are z rated but the generals are not.

The rating on the generals are better overall but the contis are once again z rated. Performance wise which is best to go with?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiExtremeContact&partnum=145WR7CEC&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=36&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Altimax+HP

Thank you so much. I appreciate the feedback since I have had a hard time finding a direct answer.

 

[viney266]

You cannot have decent snows and decent autocross tires.. You just can't have everything...

I run my stock 16" rims with snows, and in summer I run my 17's with the good tires.

 

[Silver Bullet II]

I can't really pick on over the other, but I've had no complaints with my set of Continentals. They were on the car when I got it and after 8,000 miles and winter starting up it was already time for a new set. Like I said I can't compare to anything, but they offered me plenty of grip anytime I started pushing them. Even with the tread at the wear bar I was still able to make it up the windy hill to my house just fine in the snow.

 

[ktwelsch]

just so you know...I know your not looking at them.

Nitto Neogens suck in the snow.

(Just thought I would let the world know.)

I would recommend Potenza's to you...they grip well and do decent in the snow. Just my .02

 

[klodkrawler05]

tasha are you looking for other suggestions on tires or whats up? if so pm me i've got a couple deals you might wanna look at

edit: you can IM me too if you want

 

[NCedillos]

I only use google chat.

 

[wrc_fan]

I wouldn't put a lot of stock in the speed rating of the tire, it doesn't dictate the stiffness of the sidewall, just that the speed rating it achieved during testing. Many top autocross street tires are not Z rated, but they have stiff sidewalls, and grip very well.

The best source of data for making tire decisions, is back to back testing on the same vehicle. Such as done by tire rack, or many of the car magazines. Or if you have the modey, you could do your own testing

 

[ehancock]

Then what rating or data would allow to find out which tires have stiffer sidewalls? I wouldn't want to buy a tire that's going to roll over on itself during spirited driving.

 

[wrc_fan]

Then what rating or data would allow to find out which tires have stiffer sidewalls? I wouldn't want to buy a tire that's going to roll over on itself during spirited driving.

That's a good question, but like I said, you have to go and do the research. Tirerack, Car and Driver, Motortrend, Grassroots motors sports, etc. all do tire tests from time to time.

IMO, if you can't find any results/reviews of the tire you're looking at, it might not be worth getting. Luckily for me, I'm in the south, so affordable summer tires are always an option for my daily drivers.

 

[elchuey1986]

I have to say that I actually just bought a set of the General's last week and I'm satisfied so far, now like everyone says you can't have everything with an all season, yes the sidewall is quite softer I used to have Yoko's Avid H4's and they were very hard in the cold weather, but the good thing about the general's is that they have a limit of 51 psi so you can always add more air and make them stiffer but I would not recommend for autox, and if I'm not mistaken this tires are Grand Touring?

 

[NCedillos]

I am just going to get the contis. There is no direct answer for my question, seems like nobody knows. Thanks for the response.

 

[elchuey1986]

I also have to say that the tires perform very nice in the snow, here in Wisconsin we had temps of -15 and windchills of -40 and the tires still performed very well. Of course I'm still within the break in period (which is 500 miles recommended by tirerack). So I'm just waiting for my tires to get better traction since they still have residue left from the mold.

 

[Auto-X-ZTS]

You cannot have decent snows and decent autocross tires.. You just can't have everything...

Fact.

All-season tires by definition are a compromise. They have to perform acceptabally at everything, but are not great at anything. You're really better served at finding a 2nd set of wheels and make those dedicated to autocross. That way you don't chew up and ruin your nice new all-seasons...

 

[elchuey1986]

I agree. That was my plan at first but my financial situation dictated otherwise

 

[NCedillos]

Oh jeez that was not what I was asking. I said I might start auto crossing and I am not going to go all out with it. All I was asking was if the z rated tire is better in corners. I have run on kuhmo all seasons and have outperformed a lot of foci. I am not getting a summer tire I just wanted to know about performance and which you would pick.

 

[NCedillos]

Is is weird nobody knows anything about the z rating. And I did do my research and it said it was for a certain amount of mph that was all. But I heard it was also about the stiffness of the sidewall.

 

[wrc_fan]

I am just going to get the contis. There is no direct answer for my question, seems like nobody knows. Thanks for the response.

I would say the Continentals would probably be a little better than the general tire. General tire is one of Continental's brands, so it would seem to me that they would put the best performing tire with the mainstream nameplate? Just reckless speculation there.

But also, why not go with some Eagle GT's. It looks like tire rack has them priced similarly to the the Conti's in the 215/45/17 size, and the GY GT's dominated the tirerack's all season test.

 

[jetrinka]

Looking at the tread design only I would go with the Altimax. Tires with a continuing center rib tend to lend themselves to better road feel and quick and responsive handling. This says nothing about the tread compound though. You are looking at two different types of tires as well. The altimax is a Touring all season tire and the Continental is an ultra performance all season. I would bet you would get a stickier tire out of the Continental.

 

[viney266]

Is is weird nobody knows anything about the z rating. And I did do my research and it said it was for a certain amount of mph that was all. But I heard it was also about the stiffness of the sidewall.

^^^ I know alot about it, I sold tires for 12 years, I run Hangkook ice bears in winter, and I must say they work pretty well in the dry.

 

[NCedillos]

I looked up the eagle gts but there isnt anything talking about snow. Like on the 2 links I had posted that had ratings in handle ride comfort and snow, ice etc. So I dunno!