I have done a lot of looking through the archives and have found very little tire information, so here goes. I am looking for 328 owners opinio on good tires and why they chose them. I have recently bought the 328 rims and will shortly be putting them on my 308. I still however need to add some rubber to the rims and I have my choices narrowed down to the following. Please note that I plan on sticking with the standard 205/55/16 and 225/50/16 sizes, unless someone can convince me otherwise. Requirements would be for street use, I like a quiet tire, reasonable tire life, excellent dry and wet grip, aside from that I am open. Here are what I have narrowed my choices to. Bridgstone Potenza S-02 Potenza S-03 RE750's Continental Sport Contact 2 SP9000 Goodyear Eagle F1 Michelin SX MXX3 Pilot Sport Yokohama AVS Sport AVS ES100 Thanks in advance for your comments. regards, JP
I have Dunlop 8000SP tires on my 308QV and I am very happy with them. They handle great and are very quiet. I purchased them 3 years ago from the tire rack for about $95 a tire (they were on sale). I do not know if the make them any more, but I did not like the tread pattern on the Dunlop SP 9000 (the tread is too modern for a 308 and looks silly imho). I have also had good luck with Goodyear and Bridgestone. Ken
I have Pirelli P-Zero: Asimmetrico on the rears and Direzionale on the fronts. They were not new when I bought the car in 1999 with 14,000 miles. Almost 23,000 miles now and it is about time to replace them. Great grip wet and dry. The Pirelli rep at the Cavallino Classic suggested I go through Tire Rack (I think it's Tirerack.com) for the best price. He also suggested I stay with P-Zeros. I like Pirelli so much that when I had a Jeep Cherokee, I put Pirelli Scorpians on...best tires I ever had on the Jeep. Only tire I have had on the 308. I know it's not one of the companies you were considering, but maybe you should.
OK, here's the tires I think you should consider: The Eagle F1 that I put on my 89 328GTS have the absolute best ride, handling, quiet, etc.... Overall I think they are a great tire. Have had most of the rest, and they are all good frankly, but I personally found the F1 a great tire for the 328. Good luck!! (PS, I have the Eagle on my CL500 also, and it handles SO much better than the OEMs.
My observation with 16" wheels on 328 seems to lean towards the Goodyear F1.Alot of owners of the FCA Pacific Region who track their cars,use them.
I use S03's and like them very well, but they do not last all that long. I would suggest going to tirerack.com if you have not already done so. They have tests and reviews. I don't think you can get the best goodyears in 16's anymore but could be wrong. Dave
I agree. I have them on my 328 (but at 17 inch). Very good in the wet (and light snow). They are Eagle F1 (diaganol tread), not Eagle F1GS, Eagle F1GS-2, or eagle F1 Supercar. http://www.goodyeartires.com/goodyeartireselector/display_tire.jsp?prodline=Eagle+F1&mrktarea=Performance
i third(?) the opinion on the dunlops they are wearing pretty well, though i think they are a little noisy when cold (and harsh), but once warmed up they seem to work really well, very linear and good feedback. i don't know about how much ultimate grip they have compared to goodyear or pirelli, etc. but they feel good.
I had the older (6 years ago) style Goodyear F1's on my 328, they were a very good tire, and excellent in the wet. I now have the latest version on my BMW 540 M-Sport in 17" sizes and they are even better. Based on the tirerack feedback, they are well thought of, and have better tread life.
Since you live in Canada, i'm assuming the car will see some snow. My 3.2 Mondial was driven year round, 12-25,000 miles / year so their characteristics in the areas of dry handling, wet handling, snow handling, and price were all inportant. I've been thru Michelins and Pirellis and found the best tire for me was the Continental Extreme Contact. It's an all-weather tire, cost about $78.00 from Tire Rack and gave me about 25,000 miles on the fronts and 13-14,000 miles on the rears. And they were W speed rated. Tom
Thanks to all for the feedback. And no the car does not see snow. I have other vehicles that I use from November to May. I have visited tire-rack on several occasions and it is from their info that I have narrowed down my list. I will be checking over the week-end for some local pricing and probably make my decision over the next few weeks. Thanks again. regards, JP
I'm also looking for tires, but a 308 with 16" rims http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53130 Would seem to me that the Goodyear Eagle F1's are the way to go. A bit more expensive, but if you read the ratings at tirerack.com, it is the best all around.
See http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17909 for a good discussion. I went with Kumho ECSTA 712, it's a good all-around tire for daily driving, at least for me.
I'm specifically talking about the Eagle F1 GS-D3 There are several other flavors, including the "F1 Supercar" which they claim are used on F50, 360, etc. But, according to Tirerack.com, they are less that optimal on wet pavement. Tillman and Davehanda... did you guys do anything different with the stems? Lots of threads on custom ones, etc. Also, what size (45s, 50s, 55s??)
225/50 ZR16 front 245/50 ZR16 back No problems at all with them. My rims are chromed stock wheels, so the previous owner put chrome metal stems in there. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just put four Mich Pilot Sports on my Mondial and I like them alot. The only problem is that they dont look the same as the original Good Years. - Ron Frohock
I ran stock sizes on my 328. If you want to "upsize" then ideally you want a 245-45/16, as the 50 series is a bit too tall, but unfortunatley Goodyear does not make that size...the 245-50-16 looks okay from Tillman's pictures, and many are using that size sucessfully, so there are no clearance issues.
Called my local dealer today (Lake Forest), they said the Eagle F1 GS-D3 are no longer available! I'll obviously call around my self... but sheeeeet!
Made the rounds of the local tire places and came up with another tire that looks really good. Does anyone have experience with the TOYO T1S. I am starting to think it is between those and the GoodYears.
Tillman, My 328's going to be up for new tyres this summer any chance you could post a close-up pics of your rims/tyres taken from an angle so we can see how far the wider tyres overhang the std rims? Front and rear would be great. rgds & thanks Iain
I bought the Bridgestone Potenza S-02 I am running stock 205/55 and 225/50 I really like their dry grip and lack of funky sidewall crap. I was turned onto them by an autocrosser and glad I was as they have been great Image Unavailable, Please Login
Since I originally started this note, I figured it would only be polite to let you all know what decision I made. I ended up ordering the TOYO T1R tires. After a lot of research and chatting with some local folks these are the tires I wanted. The decision was based on comments and reviews on the T1S tires in addition to the new changes on the T1R's. The Goodyear F1's were a close second. Once they are on the car I will chime back in with my thougths. thanks to all for your opinions.