Gary - Replacing OE RS-A's on 535Xi

[BruceOmega]

Gary,

You were very helpful a year ago in recommendations for replacing the original equipment Bridgestone Turanza's for my wife's 2006 X3. We got the Eagle F-1 A/S from you and they are much better.

Now I am thinking of replacing the original equipment Goodyear Eagle RS-A 225/50-17 A/S tires on my 2008 535Xi. The RS-A's still have decent tread at 23,000 miles, but the ratings on your web site are not very good for snow and ice, and winter is approaching.

My short list from using your web site is:
- Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position
- Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season
- Goodyear Eagle GT
- Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus

I assume all of the above provide better performance in general conditions. Do all of these also provide better performance in snow, ice, sleet and freezing rain?

Would appreciate your opinions on how these four compare, and what you would recommend.

Thanks
Bruce

[Gary@Tirerack]

You're correct that any of these should be a nice improvement over the RSA except in snow, where they should be pretty similar to the RSA.

All four of these tires are very close to each other in terms dry grip and steering response as well as most other measureable catagories. Wear and wet traction should be slightly better with the Re960A/S and Michelin Sport A/S.

[BruceOmega]

You're correct that any of these should be a nice improvement over the RSA except in snow, where they should be pretty similar to the RSA.

All four of these tires are very close to each other in terms dry grip and steering response as well as most other measureable catagories. Wear and wet traction should be slightly better with the Re960A/S and Michelin Sport A/S.

Gary,

Thank you, appreciate the information.

However, I was surprised when you said the candidate replacements should be similar to the RS-A in snow. According to the TireRack web site, the numerical ratings for the RS-A in snow, etc. are only about half as good as the other tires.

For example, the Bridgestone 960 Pole Position shows:
Light Snow Traction- 7.6
Deep Snow Traction- 6.6
Ice Traction- 7.0

The RS-A shows:
Light Snow Traction- 4.5
Deep Snow Traction- 3.1
Ice Traction- 3.2

Am I misreading these ratings, or did I misunderstand your comments?

Thanks
Bruce

[Gary@Tirerack]

Keep in mind that those are customer survey results spread over many different sizes and models of vehicles, not testing data. While the Bridgestone is better tire overall, it will not do much better in snow despite what the survey data would lead you to believe.

[BruceOmega]

Keep in mind that those are customer survey results spread over many different sizes and models of vehicles, not testing data. While the Bridgestone is better tire overall, it will not do much better in snow despite what the survey data would lead you to believe.

Gary,

Thanks for the explanation. Did not realize the numbers were from customners versus your tests.

Bruce