My first '00 SE had 16"' Pirelli P6 tires and they seemed reasonable on the slick stuff and ran nice and quiet on the road.
The Max we just bought to replace the first is also a 2000 SE 5 spd but has the optional 17"s. Right now has Cooper tires on it that have about 5k-10k left on them but I hate how noisy they are.
What are you running on yours? I don't have a drop or other mods and don't plan on doing any soon...
Looking around online so far at Costco and Discount Tire and have a little sticker shock compaired to what the 16" Pirelli's were.
Suggestions...?

 

My first suggestion is to go to the Wheel and Tire forum...

There is a TON of info on this.

 

Will do... I guess I never scrolled far enough down the main page to see that there was a Wheel and Tire Forum

 

Yeah, lots of info in the Tires and Wheels sections. However, I vote for Kumhos. Their tires seem to offer a good performance to money ratio. Check out Tirerack.com too

 

khumos are great, there is a good set of yokohomos for 100 a piece, but if u want the best i suggest bridgestone turanza LS-V...best all around tire u can have!!!

 

I have the same car and a little over two years ago went with the Falken Ziex 512. It has been a great tire, good in both summer and winter. I got them at Discount Tire

 

The most popular response will be either:

Falken (ZIEX) ZX512 V-Rated
Toyo Proxes 4

 

THE worst tire, EVA. Wasatch spend a little more and save yourself some aggavation.

 

WTF are you smokin? It's one of the best tires money can buy. The wet traction is absolutely unbelievable and the snow traction is solid. Dry traction is pretty much perfect.

 

What's the point of having grip and traction if the weak sidewalls give no feedback due to the tires rolling on the rims? The car may be planted, but you'll never know it by the feedback given by the 512s. Even cross winds unsettle the 512s in a straight line.

Anyone who's butt dyno is up to snuff should be able to tell the lack of feel of the 512s. If you can't, get some riding time on some quality rubber and then try the 512s back.

 

the 512 have great forward traction, great slide feel (not snappy at all) but for real world driving they suck!!! sidewall feels like jello making tyhe car feel extreemly unstable. ill take the oem potenzas instead, at least they feel solid. i seriously dont know y people dont know about the turanza LS V. its sick, rock solid side wall, insane dry traction, and rain feels like hot asphalt, no complaints in deep snow either.

 

LS-V are good, but expensive. I'd rather wrap some Pirellis instead.

 

I know they are spendy, but I am very happy with the performance of these on my 2k.

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S

 

Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S 235/45/17s You will not be disapointed.

 

one more vote for MPS A/S here. one of the best, but not cheap. you get what you pay for.

check out the huge thread in the wheel and tire forum on the most popular tires. you'll read alot of info there.

 

I believe I have Continental Touring CH95's (may be another tire, but they are Continentals) on my car. They aren't bad tires and don't cost an arm and a leg. I don't drive in the snow, just in the rain, and they have held their own in rain at highway speeds. Plus, they aren't noisey and seem to be holding up pretty well at 23K miles in.

I don't know the overall opinion of these tires as I was experimenting when I got them but I have enjoyed them thus far... knock on wood.

 

don't mean to be ignoring the thread I started but I had not checked the tire pressure since we bought the car and when I did (w/digital tire gauge) I found drivers front at 39, pass front at 31, drivers rear at 39, and passenger rear at 16 psi! It's amazing how such an under inflated tire still looks the same as the others in the UHP class... Anyhow... tires are way quieter now (at 34 psi all the way around) and we got dumped on today and they seem to be semi OK in the snow. The Cooper's I have are Lifeliner SLE V speed rated. Still will have to be replaced within 5000 miles MAX but will deal with them for now... I think Continental Extreme Contacts will be what I put on next... still considering though. Last Saturday I ran the car up to 140MPH in the Utah west desert on I-80 (NO TRAFFIC SO no flames!) held it there for about 20-30 seconds and let it coast down to 90 where I had cruise set. Damn, 90 seems slow! after seeing the 16psi I'm kinda pissed at myself for not checking PSI before I took off for Wendover, NV... at least it didn't blow out or melt down... (amazing how solid the cars is at that speed and she had plenty to go... was turning about 5400 rpms. I think I could have gotten 145 at least and that's at 4300 feet.

 

I'm actively looking for new 17" tires myself right now, in 235/45/17. I've had Kumho ECSTA712's in +1 size on for 2 yrs and 25k miles, and I have to say - i have not been too disappointed with them at all! The worst thing about them is that you can feel EVERY bump, crack, expansion joint, pothole, you name it -- through the chassis. Good cheap hi-perf tire, though. I can't believe they lasted this long, but I did rotate them religiously and maintain the pressure. One thing to look-out for....they are tough to keep balanced, and do flat-spot overnight. The 712 now has a newer successor, called the ECSTA SPT.

I am leaning towards the following tires, in this order:
Pirelli P-Zero Nero
Toyo Proxes4
Kumho ECSTA SPT / ASX

gr

 

Toyo Proxes 4 FTW!