1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
These were the third set of tires to grace my '87 9000T, in 205/55VR15. First off, the price is excellent. When I got mine about three years ago, I paid almost $30 more per tire (they had just come out).
Their strong points include:
A quiet, smooth ride, almost silent. Very good to excellent wet traction, even when worn out. Pretty sticky in dry corners, their behaviour near/at/over the limit inspires confidence. I found the treadwear to be quite good, considering how hard I drove them. They come with a 40k mile warranty, and I got roughly 30-35k out of them, which I found quite good.
And for the weak points:
A tendency to follow rain grooves on the freeway, a phenonmenon that gets considerably worse as the tire wears. Hydroplaning resistance only average, though adequate. Snow and ice traction - forget about it, they're horrible. These things howl like a banshee on corners, WELL before you reach the limit. Steering response/feel could be better.
So overall, I think they are a decent tire, but given the competition these days, I think the P6000SV is outclassed. As I understand, the P7000 Super Sport, or the Dunlop SP5000, would improve greatly on all the strong points of the P6000SV, and eliminate most if not all of the weak points. The P7000SS is more expensive, the SP5000 the same or slightly less. This of course would be if you really wanted all season.
I have now switch to a Kumho Ecsta 711 (old tire - Dunlop SP8000 era), which is not all season. It is vastly superior to the P6000SV (or the Dunlop SP4000, or the Pirelli P4000ST) in every way except for noise levels. Sticks like glue, excellent response and feel, no squealing, good hydroplaning resistance, etc. It too is outclassed in terms of ride quality and noise, by it's younger brother the Kumho 712, and most of the ultra high performance 'summer' tires out there. But, for $57, I'm not complaining!
If you plan to keep your dedicated snow tires, I see no reason to buy an all-season performance tire for the other three seasons. You will sacrifice performance. There are lots of great non all-season tires out there, in just about any price range. A few I'd recommend include the already mentioned Dunlop SP8000, the Kumho Ecsta Supra 712, the Bridgestone RE730, and the Firestone SZ50EP.
I really can't see any reason to get the P6000SV. If you want to keep it under $70, the Kumho 712 is by FAR the better tire, and the Dunlop SP5000 is right in there two, though probably gives a little up to the Kumho, due to it's all-season design.
I enjoyed my set, but have come to see the light of buying 'summer' tires instead of touring all season. I've gone at least 13k miles on my Kumhos, and they look roughly 1/3 worn, so I'm expecting at least as much life from them as I got on my P6000SV, and I'm driving my car even harder now. :)
Good luck in your search! If manufacturers would stop coming out with better and cheaper tires, things would be a lot easier!
Aaron Gilbert
1987 9000T 253k miles
, Tue, 13 Mar 2001 09:49:59
, Mon, 12 Mar 2001 20:46:06
, Mon, 12 Mar 2001 20:28:07
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