FWIW, on the "economy" side of the scales, the Sumitomo HTRZ II's have, to
my astonishment, held up very well despite four track days recently put on
them. Two at the "open" event at PPIR and two at the Rocky Mtn Audi Club
driver event days at 2nd Creek. The Sumitomo's seem to be a pretty good
value for the money, i.e. IIRC roughly 1/2 the price of the name brand
Michelin Pilot Sports (which are on my Avant) or Bridgestone SO's or
Pirrelli Coursa etc.
On a ride quality basis, I can't say that I notice that much difference that
I could attribute solely to tires between the Green car UrS4 sedan
(Sumitomo's on 17"x8 OZ Superleggeras) and the UrS6 Avant (Michelin Pilot
Sports on 17"x8.5 SSR Comps) As far as I can tell, noise levels on the
street seem to be about the same. As for on the track, (a) I didn't drive
the Avant very often; and (b) the Avant sits on a stock suspension/shocks,
while the Green car is on Eibach/bilstiens which makes comparison between
the two more problematical.
While holding up "pretty" well, what one might ask is 2x the price getting
you with the Michelin?
Well, based on some of the Don's old "I've owned or had pass through my
hands every verity of wheel known, ... & (as apparently Italians are wont to
doing) measured them all:
tire/Wheel combo combo Wheel tire
245/40x17 Michelin Pilot Sports
on SSR Comp 17x8.5" wheels 36.0 15-15.5 21 to 21.5 lbs
245/40x17 Sumitomo HTRZ-II
on OZ SuperLeggerra 17x8.0 41.0 18.0 23 lbs
225/45x17 Michelin Pilot Alpin
on OZ Superleggerra 17x8.0 37.5 18.0 19.5 lbs
235/45x17 Yokohama Es100 on
Audi OEM 17x8 4B3-601-025H 50.5 ? ?
(these wheels are for sale BTW, new tires w/ (my guess) >3k miles 5 spoke
chrome wheels, seen on the new 4.2 liter A6 and Audi TT are in excellent
condition)
FWIW, I'm suspecting the Yoko ES100 series tires maybe heavy if your combo
on the stock Audi OEM 16x8 wheel comes in at 49.6 lbs.
HTH
Mike
>-----Original Message-----
>From: s-car On Behalf Of marc weiner
>What are others thoughts on best 17" tire size. I have been
>running 235/45/17 Nitto 555s ZRs on my Borbet 17x8.5 Type Cs -
>they are all but fried after 35k miles. I have a
>Bilstein/Eibach and have had no rubbing w/ this setup and
>decent comfort/performance. The tire wheel combo above weighs
>in at 49.6 lbs. while my 16x8 in. stock rims w/ Yoko ES100s
>in 245/45/16 size weigh 43.6 lbs. but I like the looks of the
>17s much better. My winter 16x7 S6 AVUS rims w/ 225.50.16
>Yoko Guradex 721s weight is 45.3 lbs. Anyway, what are your
>thoughts on running different 17' tire sizes - 225/45/17,
>245/40/17 and 255/40/15 versus the 235/45/17s I have been
>running - wondering what to try next or whether to stay where
>I am at. Also, tire brand recommendation welcome, I do a lot
>of highway driving (400 miles/wk) and was impressed by the 35k
>I got out of my Nittos but they aren't to grippy around the
>bends. TIA Marc Weiner 94 S4, Hoppen Stage IV and 215k miles