Huh, didn’t know about these. Glad there are more options in the less than “goes to 11” street performance tire range.
Let us know how you feel about them.
Our 2004 BMW M3 now had wheels—lightweight, strong forged alloys from Titan 7.
Now we needed to wrap them with something. Ideally something sticky. And black. And round.
Our tire size was easy: 265/35R18 all around, a known quantity for this chassis. And it’s a fairly popular size, too, with Tire Rack offering 49 difference choices.
Now to zero in a bit. Winter performance doesn’t matter, so that allowed us to cut any all-season models.
The big question: Is this a street car that will see some track use or a track car that will see some street use? Today’s market offers plenty of tires that can play in both camps.
Two of Yokohama’s latest offerings caught our eye. Its new ADVAN A052 quickly became a go-to model for today’s 200-treadwear street-tire classes, cleaning up at last year’s Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. This is an extreme performance tire. What exactly does that mean? From the Tire Rack website: “Hyper-focused on extreme dry grip, but gives up wet traction, comfort and tread life to get it.”
At the SEMA Show, we were introduced to the Yokohama ADVAN Apex V601. Its 280 AA A UTQG rating and "max-performance summer" classification hint that it might be a little more civil than the A052 yet still game for some track use. Here’s what Tire Rack has to say about max-performance summer tires: “Designed to deliver the highest combination of dry and wet traction along with reasonable ride and treadwear. Not for winter conditions.”
Which model would be better suited for our E46-chassis BMW M3? We queried Tire Rack’s Woody Rogers. Not only is he a nationally competitive driver, but he has been very involved in Tire Rack’s in-house testing. (And he’s nice.)
“You have to decide what side of which fence you are truly standing on: road manner reality or survive/perform when at the track,” he replies. “There is overlapping gray in between, but either way you choose you will have to live with the selection when doing the activity on the other side of the fence.”
Then he dug deeper: “In real terms, side by side, the Apex will ride noticeably better than the A052. The A052 is good among its peer group, but that’s a relatively low hurdle considering how firmly all extreme performance tires ride—probably close to, but maybe not quite as supple as, the 615K+.
“If it’s fun track days, then I’d enjoy the drive on the other 364 days in the year and go with Apex. If you want to run down the rabbit hole like J.G.'s C5, then stick A052s on it and rip around every corner you can apex, track or otherwise.”
After a bit of soul searching—okay, maybe this is a street car that will see the occasional track day—we ordered a set of the ADVAN Apex V601 tires. The available sizes range from 225/45R17 to 305/35R20, including our desired size of 265/35R18.
Retail price from Tire Rack is not quite $190 each. That’s less than max-performance summer tires from brands like Continental, Bridgestone and Michelin.
Do tire cosmetics matter to you? If not, skip this paragraph. If they do, the ADVAN Apex V601 does look beefy, sporting a tread and squared-off shoulder similar to the ADVAN A052. The family resemblance is there. The ADVAN Apex V601 also features a rim protector.
The tires just arrived, and we’ll report back soon. First, though, we should talk more about those spacers and studs.
Huh, didn’t know about these. Glad there are more options in the less than “goes to 11” street performance tire range.
Let us know how you feel about them.
Great thread! I have been running Yokos since 2006,
Started with Yoko AD07, then Yoko AD08.
Then moved to Yoko A048.
I am putting about 12,000 miles a year on various cars with these tires.
I have 2 sets of Yoko A052 in the stable that I just added, and love them to death.
The AD08R recently on my grocery getter beater has been a special favorite of mine in recent time.
I haven't been able to try the ADVAN Apex V601 that you went with, due to size constraints.
In reply to CyberEric :
Happy to share something new with our crew.
Look for a video feature on these tires really soon. I'll share the link once it goes live.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Do you have any updates with this tire on the M3?
I have these on my GTI. They're probably the most direct steering tire I've ever used, even compared to 200 tw tires. The responsiveness is unreal. Extra smoothness is required with the steering wheel because even the smallest of motions get a response, even mid corner. Grip level is high and almost certainly more than you'll ever want or need out of a street tire. Wet weather impressions are positive, they aren't sketchy or extra prone to hydro-planing. I haven't had them on track but I imagine they'd hold up just as well as anything in it's performance range. Noise level is in line with other performance tires.
My only complaint is that the ride quality kinda sucks, but it's a cheap performance tire so that's the compromise you're making. I also find that on certain stretches of freeway around where I live they cause an odd vibration throughout my car where other tires have not. It feels like the tires are poorly balanced, but it happens consistently on certain stretches of road and are fine elsewhere.
Overall I'm happy for the price, but if ride quality is of concern to you it may be worth spending a few extra pennies on Michelins.
lvm3sm46 said:In reply to David S. Wallens :
Do you have any updates with this tire on the M3?
Still happy. It's like a more civil 200tw. You trade a little crispness (and speed) but it's a very good fit for a daily.
Was heavily considering those for my Solstice that's a fair weather daily that might see a track day or 2 a year and vigorous mountain driving, sounds like it'll be a good choice.
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