Most of the forum regulars will know that I have been, for many years, a devout Michelin PS2 man. For my money, there was no better road tyre available that had as high levels of dry grip, driver feedback, stability and outright speed on a track. It was the only road tyre I found that could approach the qualities of a track tyre in terms of response and grip. Indeed if driving at a wet track, a PS2-shod car was often quicker and safer than a similar car shod with Toyo R888s. The downside of the PS2 was the excessively high cost and a lesser ability in the wet when compared to wet-specialist tyres like the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta and the Continental ContiSportContact 3.
Michelin have in the past few months sought to improve the PS2 and have launched the Pilot Sport 3. Unfortunately, the PS3 is not yet available in BMW 19" sizes and won't be until the middle of next year. Shortly after the PS3 was announced, Continental also announced their new ContiSportContact 5P tyre which they claimed had better levels of dry grip than the Michelin PS2, whilst retaining and improving in some areas the qualities of their wet weather performance.
Three weeks ago I ordered a set of the Continental 5Ps for my new 269 Performance wheels. I wanted to see whether the new tyres really were all they had been reported to be. It was a timely change as I was off to the 'Ring shortly after and instead of taking track tyres I thought I'd scrub them in during the drive over and really try them out in anger on the 'Ring.
First impressions - newly installed, the release compound on the rubber meant that there was substantially less grip than I expected, and the car was permanently understeering. It took maybe 200 miles for the tyres to start to key in, especially at the front.
Once lightly scrubbed the tyres started to come to life. There was a consistent and treacly quality to the front end grip - there was lots of feedback through the wheel, and whilst there wasn't such a massive amount of grip given the tyres were still new, it was clear that these tyres would not be lacking in the handling stakes.
By the time I got to the 'Ring the tyres were ready for a more severe workout. And the result? I was amazed at how vastly improved they are in comparison to the previous Sport 3s. They gripped and gripped, and even at the very limit of lateral handling they were progressive and announced the impending drift clearly and with plenty of time to control. They were as impressive as the Michelin PS2s which is no mean feat, and if anything had probably even more grip than the PS2s, although not as much feel around the straight ahead. Marcel, one of our 'Ring companions, even commented that he couldn't believe the speed and grip I managed to generate through the most technical corners.
I was also able to try out the wet weather performance in torrential rain on the autobahn on the way to Prague. It absolutely chucked it down monsoon style, and yet I had huge amounts of confidence and grip such that I was comfortably tanking along at 100mph in steaming rain without realising I was going that quickly! When braking hard the car tracked straight and true, meaning the tyres kept their shape well without deflection side to side.
Out in Prague I had to drive on the quite terrible and cobble-stoned roads and noticed that the ride quality was actually much improved over the PS2. The Continentals also seemed quieter on the autobahn, although that is very much a subjective thing as the roads in Germany are notably quieter anyway than the ones in the UK.
So the conclusion?? Absolute no-brainer - in my opinion the best tyre available on the market at the moment. Dry grip at least as good as the Michelin PS2, wet weather performance literally miles ahead of the competition, and eminently comfortable. Downside? Initial feel around the straight-ahead is not as high as I would have liked. They are sensitive to pressures - I've played around and have found 37/39psi front/rear seems to work very well. 39/41psi is a bit brittle on my car, whilst softening them down to 35psi on the front loses front-end accuracy. Tyre wear is also unknown at the moment.
Oh, and the best thing? Michelin PS2s in 19" sizes are around £1000 fitted. I paid £812, fitted and balanced, for the Continental 5Ps - 235/35 front and 265/30 rear.
Continental 5Ps get 5* from me!
They are available in standard 18" and 19" sizes - 225/40/18 & 255/35/18 - 225/35/19 & 255/30/19 - 235/35/19 & 265/30/19
The 18" sizes are designated MO - Mercedes OEM fitment, but they are suitable for BMWs as well because the load rating is higher than that required for our own cars.
Oh and by the way, I LOVE the new BMW Performance 269 wheels
