Max Performance Summer tires are for serious driving enthusiasts who want a combination of a performance appearance, competent handling and Z-speed rated (orhigher) durability with enhanced dry and wet traction. Often used as Original Equipment (O.E.) on powerful sports cars, performance coupes and high performancesedans, Max Performance Summer tires are not intended to be driven in near-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice.
O.E. Max Performance Summer tires are typically purchased as direct replacements for worn-out pairs/sets of thevehicle’s original tires. They can also be used for other vehicle applications in complete sets of four or axle pairs if available in an appropriate size, loadrange and speed rating to match the existing O.E. tires’ performance category and specifications.
Founder at Tiresout. Used to be working as an engineer at Bridgestone Tires Akron Technical Center. The responsibilities included but were not limited to technical computing, indoor & outdoor testing of new tires.
I have been pleased with this tire. I have another BMW with staggered tire sizes and only get about half the mileage that this rear tire has given me. The front tires 275?40 r21 have been good as well in this particular tire. I am choosing to change all 4 for convenience although the front tires do not need changing yet.
was not the tire that was listed as coming on the car. Have a bubble in one and slow leak in another. Have taken to the track three times for short runs ( 12 to 15 total laps at AMP ) tires have worn to tread bars already. Should have insisted they replace them with Michelin when i took delivery. This years formula 1 season sums up the lack of engineering and quality. I track another car with michelin and toyo tires and get much better handling and wear.
I bought these tires for my 2013 Focus ST, along with a set of Motegi MR116 rims. I bought them to run summer tires, instead of the all-seasons I have been running, which had excellent summer performance, but meh winter performance.These turned out to be a fantastic upgrade, despite the pretty good performance of the old tires. They feel excellent and grippy, way better in the corners. I only have one car, which is both my fun car, and my daily driver, and these tires feel great whether I’m stuck in traffic or WOT on a back road somewhere.I would buy these again, especially for the price.
Reason for my ratings: Tire does an exceptional job in the rain. As we had a severe storm here in San Antonio, TX. Never have I experienced hydroplaning thus far despite the severe storm the other night. Road noise is okay but not perfect. Already down to 8/10 tread after barely 5k miles… so that’s not too good but still, a great tire this is! As the price I paid, this is still a great alternative to the all-mighty PSS 4S! I will probably buy these new PZ4s again. TLDR: An excellent tire in severe t-storms but mediocre tread life.
These tires have great dry weather traction, average wet weather traction but with only a little over 8k miles I now have to replace them. I have never had to replace a tire at eight thousand miles. I drive a mustang GTPP and keep traction control on and use a light throttle to prevent vaporizing the tires.
These came on my 2015 Ford Focus ST when I bought it new. At 9,000 miles they started cupping and wearing unevenly. I rotate them every 6000 miles. The noise from these tires is ridiculously loud.. And even in the dry anytime you go near the accelerator they will spin. I would not recommend these.
I purchased these tires for track/AX use only. Big mistake! Apparently it is well known in Porsche circles that these tires are not suited for AX service. These tires overheat quickly and begin to fail almost immediately. The front tires were heavily damaged after just one event and had to be replaced after the second event. I suspect these tires would be very acceptable as street tires but they should not be used for high performance events.
This review is only my first impression. I’ve only put 200 miles on themI replaced my original wheels and tires with this Tire. I usually try to find a safe place to find the traction break point on my cars just so it won’t surprise me if it happens. I have been unable to break loose on these tires. My unmodified FRS is not powerful enough. If I go to a parking lot and turn the steering wheel all the way and floor it in 1st that would probably do it but doughnuts are more extreme than I will experience on the road. Bottom line is; These tires are more comfortable than the OEM wheels. (not as much feedback) More traction than I’m used to. They handle like the car is on rails and they don’t feel like it. My road trips are going to be so much more enjoyable.
I bought these tires to replace my wife’s daily driver CLA 250 FWD’s OEM Pirelli Cinaturato P7 All Season Run Flat tires. She always complains about these All Season tires because they just don’t have enough grip and she gets a lot of wheel spins. After replacing these crapy tires with P Zero PZ4, which is the second gen of Original P Zero, I am glad to say that they are soooooo much better in terms of comfort, road noise and traction. Definitely gonna buy again.
Tires were factory tires from Audi at time of purchase. We noticed vibrating and shuddering at speeds over 55 for the past few months (8,000 miles +/-). Audi tried to tell us we need an all- wheel drive alignment as we must have hit something. Finally, I persuaded Audi to check balance, they found the front two tires could not be balanced, they were not sure of issue and suggested tires to be replaced, they indicated cost would be $875. So dissatisfied with dealer I took my car to local tire shop. Come to find out tires the noise dampening foam inside tire was loose and had separated from tire. I called Pirelli and have found out this would be covered under their warranty program. They confirmed there was an adhesive issue during manufacturing. Although they agreed it was a manufacturing issue I am now responsible to may 65% of cost for new tires (prorated based on wear). Pirelli sent Audi dealer the same tires as currently on vehicle. I am currently working through issue that has been going on since October 2018. Both Pirelli and dealership have been very difficult to deal with as no one can tell me the straight story. I am running on the original tires having a tire shop remove the foam and rebalancing tires at my cost. You decide for yourself if these tires are worth the purchase?.
Tires perform and ride the way you would expect from a quality set of new tires. Only been on the car for 24 hrs so I can’t answer for wear but I would imagine I should get 20k to 30k miles. I would say it is a premium ride quality and cornering seems pretty spot on. First time buying w/tirerack. Process was so simple and the ability to compare tires in one place made the process fun. Thank you
Dry cornering traction is pretty impressive. Dry straight line traction is not great. Wet traction is ok, but on a wet highway it feels pretty dicey. Once below 50 degrees, be prepared to drive like its ice! Price point is good for this type of tire, but the treadwear is abominable. Don’t expect more than 10-12,000 miles on them.
Horrible. I have a set of winter rims/tires, so these tires were used from the months of April-November last year at about 8,000 miles. Both the VW dealer and Firestone (at both locations in same week for 2 different car appointments) said that the tires were the worst they had ever seen for such low mileage/use. They look like someone took a razor blade to them all over the raised tread areas. On each of the tires some of the tread grooves per tire are ok, and others per tire have completely split. My tires are stored the same way every year, for over a decade, so it’s not an issue with how they were stored (as TireRack told me when I called to make a claim — which Firestone strongly disagrees). Like VW and Firestone said, I too have never seen anything like this in such a short amount of time. Going back to the stock brand for my vehicle after this even if the tires cost more initially — because buying these (cheaper) costs more in the long run if they are not meant to last.
I replaced my stock “summer” tires for these and what a difference. These tires are very grippy and the traction is great. My old tires would chirp or trigger my VSA system from taking off from 1st gear or from 2nd to 3rd gear if I’d give it too much throttle. I haven’t been able to lose traction in these under spirited driving. I daily drive this vehicle and my only complaint would be the road noise. I usually have the radio blasting or my exhaust drowns our the noise. These tires have good responsiveness when turning. I’ve avoided a few accidents from being able to dart out of the way. I sometimes drive through some country back roads and these are amazing around corners. I also love that these fit a little wide on my aftermarket wheel so it protects the wheel from curbs and it also makes the car look more aggressive with the wider stance. I’ve used these tires in 30-40 degree weather in the winter and they still performed great once they warmed up a bit. I haven’t had any cracking or chipping from the temperature changes. So far I have enjoyed these tires, and I will probably buy another set.
Do NOT buy these tires! Dry and wet straight line traction is great. Cornering is also very good. The treadwear life, however, is terrible. At 14,000 miles all four tires are down to the treadwear indicators. The wear is also uneven across the tread on the tires. I am unable to go faster than 50 MPH due to the severe vibration from the tires. I’ve had the alignment and inflation pressure checked on the tires and all are fine. The OEM tires for this vehicle (Pirelli P Zero) were not much better (24,000 miles).
Worst Wearing tire….EVER! Okay, I’m just under 10k miles and these maybe have another 2-3k left on them. I didn’t even think it was possible for tires to wear this poorly. Most of my miles are highway too! Worst part of it is that there are only 2 other tires options for this wheel (all Max Summer). I wish I would have checked before going with OEM 21’s. I’ll try the Michelin Pilot Sports next- the only option with a tire warranty (30k miles) Tire Size255/35R21
Dry Traction – Very Good.Wet Traction – Good but when it runs over water puddles it tends to hydro-plan almost instantaneously (at medium to high speeds) without warning as opposed to exhibiting progressive hydro-planning! On one occasion, it momentarily lost directional control when it hit a water puddle when travelling in a straight line – corrective inputs made to steer were futile.Verdict – These PZero PZ4 can give you a “nasty bite” in the wet if you are not careful especially when you are close to the limit.Treat them with respect! I very much admire the wet handling of a Michelin PS4 or PS4S where I find they are quite predictable – which most probably I am going to use once these current Pirelli’s are worn out.
I’ve yet to put any miles on this most recent set of P Zeros as its winter here in New England, however this is my second set of these tires. These are an impressive tire from a performance and handling perspective, however tread life is horrendous. My last set lasted 2 seasons, or approximately 10,000 miles. I chose to give the P Zeros another go thanks for a great deal on Tire Rack, however if I’m forced to replace these again, I will shift over to the Michelin Pilot Sports.
The PZ4’s were stock initially, decided to replace the rears when TR had them on clearance. Got around 16k miles out of the first set (RWD); for the price they are a decent tire, performance is not quite as nice as the SuperSports, but for the lower price tag a solid option.
These came OEM on our 2019 GLE43 AMG SUV. Turn in responsiveness is surprisingly good, in fact I am almost shocked at how well they bite and track on initial turn in. Overall grip is high as expected for this tire. Noise is average for a hi-po tire, I think these are actually quieter than the Pirellis on our E53 sedan. The vehicle does, however, sometimes wander a bit on drive highways with grooves so tracking isn’t all that great. Wet grip – eh – seems okay but since the wife and I both tend to get conservative in the wet hard for me to offer any insight as to high speed wet grip. The tires do, however, seem a bit fragile. Right rear tire had slow leak from day one, and was replaced by dealer after abt 300 miles gratis. Today wife ran over a steel bar and right front tire went flat in about 30 seconds. So road hazard resistance could be better. And looking at tread wear after 3500 miles I think these will maybe last 15K-20K miles max….. So, I give them a pretty good but not awesome rating overall.
These OEM tires were on a used 2019 RS3 that I purchased. Within a couple of thousand miles one of the tires developed a bulge in the sidewall. I don’t recall any kind of impact that might have caused it so it’s a bit disappointing that it happened. The tires seem good, but when I replace the full set I’ll likely go with Kumhos, which have similar performance at a significantly lower price.
After bringing my car to the dealership for service, I was told that I had a nail in my tire. he dealership wanted a little over $1700 to replace all 4 tires. I went to the nearest tire store (the dealer will not patch a tire) and I was told that they are unable to patch the tire because it was too close to the outer part of the tire. The wheel shop quoted me a little less than $500. Since my car is an AWD, I decided I was going to look at other places (ie Costco, Wheel Works, etc.). When I went on-line, I saw that Tire Rack had the exact OEM tire for much less. Since I was a little hesitate, I contacted Tire Rack to ask if the prices were indeed correct. I was assured that the tire price was correct and it is just a clearance sale. I ended up buying 4 tires and sent it to my friend’s shop for install. It was a hassle free transaction and the tires arrived within a couple of days. I use Tire Rack for all my tire needs.
I bought a low mileage 2017 Audi S3 with a new set of Pirelli PZeros recently installed. The fact that the tires needed replacement at all told me something about tread wear, as the car had only 17,000 miles on it at date of purchase, yet had already had its tires replaced.Overall I like the tire, though I am predisposed to Michelins, and will probably replace these with a set of Pilot Sport 4s’s when these wear out. I will have to think about it though, as these tires have superior wet performance, and living near the Gulf of Mexico we have frequent torrential rains.
Got these OEM on my 2017 Boxster.This tire has a number of serious issues:1. Wet traction is very poor, I got caught off guard a number of times with the car sliding around in fairly innocuous conditions. Basically, if the road is less than perfectly dry, the grip is gone. I have very low confidence in the rain, especially when cornering. This not an aquaplaning issue – this happens without any standing water on the road. Aquaplaning resistance is OK.2. Dry traction is good (or can actually be great) when the tire is up to the temp. If it’s below 60F outside, I have to drive carefully to warm up the tire, otherwise the car feels and handles like it’s on slippy plastic rollers.3. Tread wear is very uneven. After 10K miles, I have about 50% tread left (expected given the wear ratings) but 2 of the tires (right front and left rear) are worn by 1mm more than the other two. There’re no issues with alignment and the wear across each of the tires individually is even.Subjectively, after trading in my older Boxster (which I always ran on Michelins) for this newer one, I immediately had the “plastic rollers” sensation – these tires felt inferior to Michelin right off the lot. The sentiment is still very much true even after 10K miles.Another gripe is that steering feedback does not feel as great and precise as my old car, but I don’t know if this is the car (newer vs older generation Boxster) or the tire.Overall, I don’t recommend them and definitely would not buy again.