Summer Tires

Best tires for ultimate warm-weather performance

Ultra-high-performance summer tires and max-performance summer tires are a step up from all-season tires. These are for the enthusiast who wants the fastest tire, and are best for pure performance on wet or dry roads. They are not equipped for snow and ice at all. Ultra-high- performance and max-performance tires come in 15- to 22-inch wheel sizes. As you'd expect, they have high speed ratings and, usually, high prices. Speed ratings top out at 186 mph with ratings of W, Y or Z.

The highest-rated max-performance summer tire, the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 (*Est. $185), is one tire upon which consumer testing experts, car enthusiast magazines and real-life users can all agree. It's also one of the most expensive. "That performance will cost you," Car & Driver testers note in their review of the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. "Is it worth it? How important is all-around performance to you?"

The Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 does display all-around performance in more than one top-ranked test; Which? magazine, a British consumer-testing organization, names it "class leader" in dry grip, adding that it's also competent on wet roads.

But although the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 gets more nods from reviewers than any other max- performance summer tire, it has close competition. Among consumers who post at The Tire Rack, it only barely edges out the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 (*Est. $175).

Car and Driver testers actually prefer the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 to the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. "As an all-around high-performance tire, you can't beat this Goodyear," Car and Driver concludes. Canada's Automobile Protection Association says the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 is "intended for the upper strata of the sports car world."

One test at The Tire Rack pits four of the highest-rated max-performance summer tires against each other: the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3, Continental ContiSportContact 3 (*Est. $175) and Pirelli P Zero (*Est. $200). The winner in that test: the Pirelli P Zero.

"The first Pirelli P Zero was introduced in 1987 as the original equipment tire on the Ferrari F40," The Tire Rack's review begins. But does Pirelli's updated P Zero live up to its heritage? Testers conclude that it does: the P Zero outpaces the other four tires on both wet and dry tracks.

Canadian Driver reviewer Tony Whitney is also impressed with the latest P Zero tire's wet- and dry-track performance, after testing it at Pirelli's world media launch of the tire at the Dubai Autodrome in the United Arab Emirates. "If you buy a new sports car or sports sedan at the very top of the market, there's a good chance it will be fitted with Pirelli P Zero tires," Whitney writes. He adds a long list of the cars that come fitted with P Zero tires, from Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches to Volvos and a new Audi model. The Pirelli runs neck-and-neck with the top-rated Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 in one top test, although it creates much more rolling resistance (which can mean poorer gas mileage).

No summer tire will ever last many thousands of miles, but some experts and consumers say they can wring more miles out of the Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 (*Est. $165) than most other ultra-high-performance summer tires. Its government treadwear rating isn't much better than the top-rated Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's, but in real-life driving some users say this tire has lasted 30,000 miles or more. Experts at The Tire Rack agree with owners that the Pilot Exalto PE2 sticks nicely to both wet and dry pavement, and it's quieter than other tires in its class. However, the Pilot Exalto PE2 doesn't score quite as highly in other expert tests as the Pilot Sport PS2, and it's not recommended as often.

The lowest government treadwear rating discussed here belongs to the relatively inexpensive Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec (*Est. $125). Experts say don't expect this tire to be durable at all, but do expect it to grip so tightly on both wet and dry roads that you could use it for racing. In fact, several consumers who post at The Tire Rack do drive this tire in autocross events, and they say it doesn't disappoint. "A new Extreme Performance Summer Star is born," Tire Rack experts say in their review of Dunlop's newest extreme-performance summer tire.