I want to replace my Dunlop Sport 8000's (205 55ZR16) from my 2000 sport package with some good all season tires that perform adequately in the snow and rain. I need to drive to Tahoe and to Colorado in the winter's.

I've checked the archives but there are too many conflicting opinions.

I'm looking for:
-comfort
-traction
-adequate tread life (45,000 miles or so)
-good wet/dry snow.

What's a good tire that fits the A4 with these characteristics?

thanks for all of the help,
de

The Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Ultra High Performance All-Season Radial was developed to meet the year-round needs of today's sports car, coupe and sedan drivers by blending dry and wet road performance with light snow and slush traction.

The SP Sport 5000 features an innovative asymmetric tread design to balance year-round traction with performance. Interconnected outer shoulder blocks and large independent tread blocks enhance dry cornering and stability, while inner tread blocks are separated by sweeping tread grooves to enhance wet traction and reduce the risk of hydroplaning. Full-face, cross-cut sipes are engineered into the tread pattern to provide multiple biting edges for even greater wet grip and all-season traction, and an exclusive high performance all-season tread compound (patent pending) is used to blend grip, rolling resistance and treadwear to meet a wide range of driving and weather conditions.

Internally, the SP Sport 5000 tire's twin steel belts are reinforced by Dunlop's Jointless Band (JLB) technology which uses spirally wound nylon strips to provide long term integrity under high speed conditions while it reduces weight and helps provide more uniform ride quality. The SP Sport 5000 tires feature sidewalls which resist lateral deflection to generate cornering force, while Max Flange Shield (MFS) rim protector ribs help protect alloy wheels from curb damage.

The SP Sport 5000 tires feature subtle black letter styling and are available in 65-, 60-, 55-, 50-, 45-, and 40-series; H-, V-, and W-speed rated sizes for 15" to 17" wheel diameters. Ultra High Performance ... plus All-Season Versatility ... the SP Sport 5000.

UTQG: 340 AA A

We just did your track testing & road ride last Thursday. The test results should be posted soon.. Some early thoughts on that test:


Tested up against the Michelin Pilot XGTZ4 & the BFG CompT/A ZR. Dunlops had a VERY impressive ride & noise level to them, one of the quietest tires I have been on. I drove the road course dry & on that, found ride very comfortable, with a very good level of handling to them.. TheMichelins seemed to have a slightly faster steering response on the road surface, but very close.

As for the track, in the wet, the Dunlop really shined thru. Had a real nice level of handling compared to the Michelin & the BFGS were scary on the track wet (E46 328i- 2nd gear, ASC off is how we test) under hard cornering & acceleration. The SP5000s really held the line & produced the fastest wet times of the three.

Now my recommendation. I would have liked to have tested them up against the Pirelli P7000 Supersports, but thats the way it goes. I think from a performance wet & dry standpoint, you will still feel the Pirellis to have the performance advanatage overall, but if you live in an area where you are dealing with actually needing to use the "all season" end of the capability, the P7000SS's will fall short. For that, I say the SP5000s are going to be the hot ticket to run.

This is a real good example of where you trade off some of a summer tires handling to gain the all season capability. As for the question of how will it do in snow, well, we dont know yet, since it hasnt been around.

In meeting with our Dunlop engineer thier goal for winter traction got a slight improvement over the SP4000, so the SP5000s are about 5% better in snow over the earlier SP4000s, which ranked decent for snow performance for this type of tire. I think we all came away fairly impressed with the overall performance of the tire and I will definitely be recommending them.

Best of all, Dunlop has them Priced pretty economically, so it is a great tire from a bang-for-the-buck standpoint also.

Hope this helps for anyone who is interested!

As always call me or email with any questions!
Eddie
800.428.8355, ext 369<ul><li><a href="http://www.bimmer.org/3series/messages/archive/msgsy1999w41/65437.html">Eddie's review of Dunlop SP5000 on Bimmer.org</a></li></ul>

<b>UTQG Ratings </b>

Uniform Tire Quality Grading
The Department of Transportation requires each manufacturer to grade its tires under the Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) labeling system and establish ratings for treadwear, traction, and temperature resistance. These tests are conducted independently by each manufacturer following government guidelines to assign values that represent a comparison between the tested tire and a control tire. While traction and temperature resistance ratings are specific performance levels, the treadwear ratings are assigned by the manufacturers following field testing and are most accurate when comparing tires of the same brand.

Treadwear
Treadwear receives a comparative rating based on wear rate of the the tire in field testing following a government specified course. For example, a tire grade of 150 wears 1.5 times longer than a tire graded 100. Actual performance of the tire can vary significantly depending on conditions, driving habits, care, road characteristics, and climate.

Traction
Straight-a-head wet braking traction has been represented by a grade of A, B, or C with A being the highest. In 1997 a new top rating of "AA" has been introduced to indicate even greater wet braking traction. However, due to its newness, this grade will probably be applied initially to new tire lines as they are introduced and later to existing lines which excel in wet braking, but had been limited to the previous top grade of "A". Traction grades do not indicate wet cornering ability.

Temperature
Temperature resistance is graded A, B or C. It represents the tire's resistance to the heat generated by running at high speed. Grade C is the minimum level of performance for all passenger car tires as set under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. This grade is established for a tire that is properly inflated and not overloaded.

Note: UTQG ratings are not required on winter and light truck sized tires.

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