Quote:
Originally Posted by Armen383
I think you mix a bit what real high performance tires are (look @ the tread for one) vs. the ones put on the F15...
P.S. F15 M50d here pending ACS installation (430 bhp), driving speeds way past 200 km/h. So hell no am I driving on shitty rubber  ) |
Yeah, good point; 2 things I should have mentioned.
First off, I'm not saying BMW should put shitty rubber on the car. I'm saying that, given the fact that it's a 4WD truck, and the fact that most of the US experiences winter; putting summer max performance "track style" tires on there doesn't make a lot of sense. Especially when coupled with the fact that the highest speed limit in the US (at least that I know of) is 80MPH, tires that have some winter grip but reduced high speed performance make a lot more sense.
The other thing; this is a 4WD vehicle that, as equipped (at least with the 20's) doesn't stand a chance in any situation that requires 4WD. Snow? Don't even think about it. Off road? Well, maybe, if it's sandy. But if it's muddy, the 20" tires have almost no profile, they will become slick as ice. Pulling a boat out of the water on a muddy ramp (another common use for 4WD here in the US); good luck!
All of these "sport trucks" are excercises in condtradiction, I get that. It makes no sense to take something so heavy and high and try to get it to corner/accelerate like a car. But we do...
However, IMHO, for the vast majority of users, the tire selection that comes on this vehicle is just wrong/silly. The number of owners who track the car vs drive it in the snow are probably weighted 1000-1 to the snow drivers. The number of owners who push the tires to cornering/acceleration limits compared to the number of owners who drive off road occasionally (dirt roads that could be muddy)? Probably less skewed, but, I'd still say it's 10 offroad drivers to 1 guy who likes to see how many G's the truck can pull in a turn.
Also, having had all season and high performance rubber on some pretty powerful cars, the difference between the 2 in good conditions driven at the limit is there, it's appreciable, but if I had to give it a number, it's maybe 30% better. For example, a max performance summer tire might be able to get to 1G before breaking loose where an all season might only be able to do .7G.
However, the opposite it NOT true. A tire like the ones that come on the 20" M wheels it maybe 1/10th as good as a DWS tire in inclement conditions. They are totally worthless in any kind of freezing/snowy weather, you might as well install ice skates!
So you give up a tremendous amount of performance in cold conditions to gain a small amount of performance (and then, only at the limits) in dry conditions. I'm just not sure that makes a lot of sense on a SUV.
Now, all this said, I live in FL, so, this isn't a major concern for me. The setup that came on my truck is fine except for how quickly tires like this wear. And they aren't that good in the rain (but they aren't terrible). I just think that for a huge proportion of the X5's sold in America, the tire setup that comes stock with the 20" rims is not at all the optimal configuration.