New wheel and tire review: Hartge/contixtreme

[billy in slo]

Installed the 7.5"x16" Hartge's w/Contiextreme 225-55 fr. and 245-50 rr. I had questioned the board for opinions on staggering the tires on uniform width wheels and seeing no really good reason not to, I did. No regrets, you can see the stagger and I like it a lot. Would have preferred the 8.5's in the rear but they are NLA (as are the 7.5's now). I had OEM 15" black and chrome baskets and Yoko AVS db2's which were on the car when I bought it and were worn out when I replaced them. I had extreme wear on the outer 2" of the fronts from the high caster BMW dials in and aggressive driving. The new wheels look very good to me, not much "bling" with the painted finish and no shiny lip but a nice subtle aggressive look. The Hartge center-caps add a nice touch and identify the wheels as something a little unique. I weighed the wheels at about 19 lb's and will check the baskets after I strip the tires off to compare.
The conti's were my second choice after the new P-zero Nero M&S but after waiting 3 months on backorder status I gave up. The conti's look O.K. but not great, sidewalls are a little busy and the tread looks a little like a tractor tire but that is the trade off for wet weather traction. The ride quality is improved and the straight ahead tracking is much better probably due to the wear on the Yoko's. The tires just "feel" much better. I have not tackled the twisties yet and need to snap some pics for opinions from the board but will do both soon and post a follow-up.
regards

[DaCan23]

I run ContiExtreme Contacts too.... they were my second choice after blowin a tire on my Mich Pilot XGT Z4s and they no longer carried my size 235/45/17... I didnt like the life I've heard of Yok's & some other brands, Pirelli's are good, but chose the Contis on price alone.... blow one tire... replace all 4... ya price is an issue. Now the Contis are less than half of my Mich's but I'd give em a 8.5 for all things considered... the Mich's a 9.5....

After the Conti's it's either Falken's or back to Mich's.... although Town Fair tire gives you a fool proof tread wear g-tee on the Yokos.... so buyin those might be an alternative... If I wear out the 1st set in 20k miles and get the 2nd set and do the same they'll think I'm a nut...lol

[Kalevera]

The Pirelli P-Zero Nero M&S is a VERY attractive tire to me these days. I recall it being in the same price range as the ContiExtreme. Definitely not for strictly high performance driving, but it appears to be a great all season tire that actually lasts a while and doesn't sound terrible after 10k miles. As well, the all season performance is a necessity for me because I spend a lot of time, regretably, driving in snow and such.

I've heard that the contiextremes get loud and nasty after a few thousand miles...

best, whit

[632 Regal]

oh boy... I had the conti extremes and the whole time on my car I fought with discount tire over them bouncing on the freeways. these were about the shittiest tire since the days of uniroyals uniegg designed tires. I was NEVER happy with these because of the balance issue. traction was great for about 15k miles then they got a bit slippery and completley useless in any amount of snow. I went and bought $260 worth of winter tires that I wouldnt trade for 2 sets of them contis. I still have them with about 2/3 tread left, any takers?

[DaCan23]

They did have a flaw in the manufacturing issue for a little bit... luckily I got mine right after they fixed.. I think it was around the time we broke off from roadflee and yes there were a lot of unhappy people.. Though the tires do prefer to run at a higher PSI... if they are low they r no good

[billy in slo]

you guys are doing wonders for my confidence :-). It will take me 3 or 4 years to put 15K on these so it may be a long term test or I may get bored with them and get the P Zero's or even the Avon which scored really well but don't have many miles under thier belt (pun unintended). Also, the conti's may still carry the same name but may have been improved over earlier versions (here's hoping). Thanks for the input.

[632 Regal]

they had to improve since last year but the dates on the tires werent too old either. I really like the tires but not being able to balance out of round tires really sucked, Discount tire (fags) didnt help my confidence or attitude either as they would take my money but not help even when I demanded it, the only options were to spend ANOTHER 400-500 to upgrade the tires to something I can buy on the net for 320 bucks. Imagine EVERY time you hit the road feeling like you need a balance.... was sickening after spending a small fortune and missing literally dozens of hours from work. Was the worst 1100 bux I spent (after upgrading to the Contis).

[gale]

Glad to hear the staggered tire sizes work well. Those are the same sizes I'm going to try on my 16x7.5 et15 e31 turbines.

[billy in slo]

Customer Rep phoned me today after my email inquiry. She said the tire has not changed in either design or material since it's introduction a couple of years ago. She did say that because it is a soft compound it is prone to flat spot while parked for any length of time and may take a while to come back to round especially in cold conditions but that is common for high performance tires. Time will tell.
Cheers