[s-cars] Tires, and now brakes

[Ian Duff]

I've gotta believe Conti and Pirelli are each going to provide  
acceptable service, so I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to  
pay 50% more for the Pirellis, or if there's a choice I'm overlooking.

On to your brake quandary. The additional price equates to a pittance  
per mile, if there's value received. Is there? Do you expect longer  
life, or better braking performance? How do you expect braking  
performance to improve? Reduced stopping distance on the first (maybe  
emergency) stop? Reduced fading coming down that long mountain pass  
returning from your weekend ski villa? Will slots or Zimmermann/Brembo  
provenance do this?

I put drilled Zimmermans on the front of my wife's Eurovan. I figured  
the OEM ones had such a short life I couldn't do worse, and the  
drilled ones were a) by Zimmermann, and therefore had a prayer to last  
a while, and b) were drilled, so might reduce fade a smidge by  
releasing trapped gasses. They have indeed lasted longer then the  
plain OEM ones, so a) has proven true. B is very subjective, but it  
holds true every time I see them thru the wheels and get a wee thrill  
having drilled rotors on a plebeian van.

-Ian.

On 24 Feb, 2008, at 12:19, Mark Pollan wrote:

> Hi Ian, I'm going through the same financial quandary as you albeit  
> for
> brakes on my //S8.  Plain Jane (not Hanoi) Brembos ~ $300 for all 4  
> corners.
> Slotted Centric Premium (aka Sportstop by StopTech) ~ $360 for all 4.
> Slotted Brembo fronts and slotted Zimmerman rears ~ $460 for all 4.   
> I'm
> figurin' these should last at least 40K miles so even at the $160  
> price
> delta that is $0.004 per mile.  I am sure you have looked at it from  
> this
> angle but I'm just sayin'...
>
> That said, I had the Pirelli P-zer Neros and was quite happy with  
> them and
> more than adequately covered 99% of my driving here in the DC area.
>
> Regards,
>
> Mark
>
> P.S.  Anybody have first hand experience with Sportstop Rotors?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Ian Duff
> Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 11:14 AM
> To: s-car-list at audifans.com
> Subject: [s-cars] Tires
>
> So, the perpetual can of worms, what's the consensus on tires? I'm in
> the market for something that doesn't exist, good all season tires.
>
> Don't start on me about dedicated snows, or summer tires being OK, as
> neither works for me. What I'd like to find is a tire that works well
> for the 99% of the time when there's no snow or ice on the road, but
> is not dangerous on snow or ice. I also want something with a wear
> index higher than the usual (near R-compound) summer tire.
>
> I started my research at that paragon of tire knowledge, Tire Rack.
> They list, test, compare and offer real-world reviews on a number of
> what they call "ultra high performance all season" tires,
> http://tinyurl.com/2jc7al
> . The top entries are, in order:
> Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position
> Yokohama ADVAN S.4.
> Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season
> Continental ContiExtremeContact
> Michelin Pilot Sport A/S
> Pirelli PZero Nero M&S
>
> Here's my so-called "thinking" so far:
> I had Bridgestones as OEM on my 2000 S4 and hated them, swore never to
> own another set. Should I reconsider?
> The Yokohama and Goodyear have too few owner miles miles to have
> credible reviews. Anyone on this list care to chime in?
> The Michelins suffer from a weak dollar, are Wicked Expensive, and
> can't be that much better, particularly considering how far down the
> list they fall.
>
> So, at first blush, it looks like I have the cheap Contis or the
> expensive Pirellis to consider. The Contis are not offered with road
> hazard coverage, maybe because they're near their end of life/going
> out of production soon? Any reason I should spend another $43 per tire
> and go with the Pirelli? Are there other tires out there I should
> consider?
>
> -Ian Duff.
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