Learn me Top of the Line Road tires

This is an ever evolving subject that probably takes more effort to keep up with than the cars that run them, but what is with top of the line tires?

I always thought that Michelin Pilot Sport 2 was the go to super tire. Now I am seeing Pirelli P Zero Corsa and PIRELLI P ZERO TROFEO R being stock fitment.

I know alot of it is marketing and contract agreements but what is the real deal?

(FYI I have nothing in my garage that would require a high-speed high-grip tire, this is just a curiosity question)

I think the relevance for the leading edge of DOT tires is eligibility for Autox and crapcan racing.

All of extreme performance road tires these days have grip levels that are hard to explore responsibly on the street.

I dialed it back a notch and went with the Continental Extremecontact DW for my 330i. Affordable, all-around performance.

In reply to Tyler H:

Had the same tire on my X3 3.0 6-speed.

Good tire, I liked it for daily.

Tripled the above. I run Continental DWS and have been through 3 sets now. Great tire for the money.

Pilot Sport 2 was a great tire for a long time, but it's been eclipsed by advancing tech and is no longer made. Pilot Super Sports sort of fit into that niche now.

A lot of the tw200 autox tires don't seem to be made in the right sizes/weight capabilities for the big German sedans.

The RE-71R and Hankook RS3/4 are available in M3 and other E9x and E46 fitments if you play with it a bit.

However they're a bit rough around the edges for the BMWCCA crowd which prefers the Michelin PSS since it's whisper quiet, however, in my experience the PSS just can't handle abuse like the 200tw's can. On the street though, the PSS is a great tire that will take anything you can throw at it on the street.

I have no idea about the M5 though.

Another vote for the Continental DWS as a street tire.

Edit: DWS06

I think we are drifting.

Top of line monster HP and/or heavy cars ultra extra mega-summer performance tires.

What is THE hot thing.

Autocross is pretty cut and dry and you guys keep everyone in the loop on that.

The Contis are great for a performance with some life tire.

RE-71R or BFG Rival are still top of the heap for big cars If you can handle the noise and tire heat requirements. They're better than the megabuxx fancy supercar tires that the OEM's put on.

The only downside is that the RE-71R can't handle track days very well unless you only do very short runs or run a lot of tire for the car weight.

The C7 Z06 uses the Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup 2 ZP. The "Cup 2 ZP" is important as the regular Pilot Super Sport or the Super Sport ZP (which is OE on the Z51) is a 300TW tire that straddles the border between a UHP and a Max performance tire, the Cup 2 ZP is basically a slightly treaded R-Comp. It is a 180TW that is far less streetable than a RE-71R. I actually think the RE-71R's are not bad in the rain. The Cup 2 ZP is supposedly downright scary. However, they will apparently run on the track all day without falling off, no matter how hot you get them.

Flight Service wrote: I think we are drifting. Top of line monster HP and/or heavy cars ultra extra mega-summer performance tires. What is THE hot thing. Autocross is pretty cut and dry and you guys keep everyone in the loop on that. The Contis are great for a performance with some life tire.

Just because a tire comes on a supercar doesn't make it the best. They usually pick pretty good tires, but I wouldn't say they're "top of the line." They're usually not the tires I'd buy for my own cars even if I had an unlimited budget. They're pretty good tires that will do some justice to the supercar's capabilities while giving rich dudebros a sporting chance at not getting themselves killed, even if it's cold or raining outside.

If supercars DID come with the best streetable tires, I think we'd see them coming with EPS and DOT-R tires on them instead of UHPS/MPS.

Flight Service wrote: I think we are drifting. Top of line monster HP and/or heavy cars ultra extra mega-summer performance tires. What is THE hot thing. Autocross is pretty cut and dry and you guys keep everyone in the loop on that. The Contis are great for a performance with some life tire.

Andy Hollis has been raving about the Conti Extreme Contact, or whatever the replacement for the DW is.

That's what is going on the BRZ next.