I ran the OEM Goodyears at 40 PSI all around and rotated every 7500 miles. I got 48K from them and could have gone to 55K for sure. They were even and fuel mileage was good. The Avons list a max. cold pressure at 51 PSI, so I'm running them at 40-42. They feel good to me at that inflation. Some may think its a bit firm, but 30 PSI felt mushy as hell.

 

Yes, but only around town. Average snow traction is about all I can say. The slip light was going on regularly, but I was never concerned about being able to control the car. Face it, its a 280 HP car with a lot of lowend torque, any non-studded tire is going to break loose in the slushy. And ice? fuggedaboutit. Stay home.

 

I now have 10k miles on them and have been through 5 good NE storms. I drive 140 miles a day and have been out in all 5 storms. Tread wear has been good. I have not had any issues in the snow. I am not going to say it performs like a WRX or a Quatro, but i have always gotten where I need to go without fearing for my life. Once in a while I have to turn the VDC off to go up a hill, but the tires stick well enough get up the hill every time. This is the only situation where the VDC was crutch.

I had the P.O.S. Turanzas previously and there is no comparison.

Wet traction is good too. As for dry surfaces, they are not track tires, but they are plenty responsive for aggresive road driving.

The M550's have been a great alternative to the Pilot A/S. These tires have stopped my search to trade this car for an A4.

 

A couple have asked, I went with the 235/50 setup even thought the Avon's do come in 215/55. I always thought it was too narrow a tire for this car. I did notice a 3-4 mile per gallon drop in gas mileage after the switch.

 

U said 3-4 gallons drop??

Some us are getting 16mpg city/20mpg hwy. So u r saying we will be getting
12mpg city/16mpg hwy.

That is steep man. I am thinking about going with 235/50/17s too but now I am thinking twice.

 

I find that hard to believe since I went from 50s to 45 on my older CL and did not see any change whatsoever in mileage. I did notice a change in handling.

But if I am going to lose some noticeable mileage from dropoing to 50 series, I will probably buy the 55s

 

I always love the comments: "My brand new brand X tires feel so much better than my old worn out Brand Y tires"
So isn't that always the case new tires are better than old worn out 8-10,000 mile tires.

Most tires are only optimized for first 8-10k after that down hill fast.......still plenty of tread but the rubber continues to vulcanize from road location heat.

 

I have decided to go with the summer tire (Tech M500) instead of the all season tech M550. The main reason is that I do not have a need for snow traction in Houston Rockets country. That allows me to take advantage of the far superior handling capabilities in wet and dry pavement on the tech m500. Just to let you know, the tech 500 stops faster in wet than the 550 stops in dry.
m500 dry stop from 50mph: 84.7 ft; m550 dry:92ft
m500 wet stop from 50mph: 87.5 ft; m550 wet:101.4ft
That means a lot, since it rains a lot in Houston. The other performance numbers are much better as well. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...ech_m500_c.jsp

In choosing the m500, I will also be able to go a bit wider(225/55WR17) and still preserve the O.E. 55 series sidewall.

The only tradeoff, besides snow traction--I am ok with:
"Out on the Real World Road Ride, the Tech M500 delivered a nice blend of performance and comfort for tires in the Ultra High Performance Summer category. Compared to the Original Equipment comparison tire, the Tech M500 did feel a bit firmer over the bumps and expansion joints and generated some additional tread noise, as was expected. This moderate tradeoff paid back with crisper handling and a more connected feel through the steering wheel, leaving our team feeling they gained more than they lost."

The price is only $10 more per tire at $120. I have the sport suspension, so I am hoping the G will handle/ride like a dream. I will let you all know very soon. If the tires will last to 24kmi, they will last me 2 years.

 

I went from 20-22 mpg down to 16-18 mpg, but this winter has been brutal so it could be VDC related as well.

As for the age old arguement of "my new are better than my worn out old". Of course they are, thanks for the obvious. I waited until I had driven them for 4 months to post. They are better than the Turanza's ever were and extremely close to the Pilot A/S on my friends IS300.

 

Just got these tires described in my previous post above. Initial rx is very positive. Smooth, quiet, comfortable ride. Tread pattern/sidewall is very nice/agressive. Handling is very good imo--$124.25 per tire installed+tax. I payed xtra for lifetime spin balance/free replacement road hazard. I plan to drive with a desire to make them last as long as possible--with a spirited turn here and there. Rotate/pressure watch/align all that good stuff--I hope to get at least 3yrs out of them-I avg. about 8500 miles a year. I will update with some more miles down the road--if asked.

What a nice new rubber smell that slaps my face when I open the door to the garage--reminds me of the 80s in a bike shop and smelling new rubber from a redline pl20, or GT, or Diamondback silverstreak/viper--I digress.

http://www.avontyresusa.com/tires/tech_m500.html


For ratings/reviews/tests-impressive:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes


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