I'm curious as to why the Crossfires in Australia came equipped with Continental tyres and the hand book says Michelins which is what they are fitted with in the USA. Why did they decide against the Michelins for Australia? I'm looking to replace my tyres within the next 12 months and I want a soft comfortable ride to cope with our crap roads. Wear rate is not important. In order I need comfort, quietness, handling, wear factor. Anybody have any suggestions.

 

Well, first off, my roadster came from the factory to the US with Connies, not Michelins.
I replaced them at 45,000 miles with Hankooks and they are now about 1/2 gone at 57,000.
However, the 'kooks do run quieter and have a better feel than the Connies did.

 

Mine came with the Michelins. Ran them up to 28,500 miles. Good new, OK mid life and really noisey near the end. HOWEVER, they handled great. I bought Michelin Super Sports this time instead of the PS2's. I've had them on a year and put about 3,500 miles on them. They are summer tires, but they are quiet, definitely better on bumps (they are new) and handle very well. Not as good handling as the PS2's but they ride better. They are, however, expensive. Given my car isn't a daily car, I figured I'll get at least 5 to 6 years out of them so I invested the extra cash because they get great ratings.

 

If you want ride quality do not get run flats, they have stiffer sidewalls, great for cornering but bad for ride. I am happy with the gmax's I run on the back they have soft sidewalls. But for front I like stiff sidewalls to handle better. I do lots of interstate driving and the V groove tread on the gmax's do great in rain. Some reviews ppl say they can hear them but I do not notice any road noise. I have cat deleted though.