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Ok - initial impressions.
First the look - these are meaty. Nice and thick. Almost like having a 5mm spacer all around. Made me mad because these protect the rims from curbs nicely unlike the SSR's that were on before : (
Just a quick shout out that I didn't mention - the Hankook Evo v12 was super highly rated by BMW people and I didn't mention it earlier for someone looking for an A/S that is UHP.
Now for feedback - first its new so everything is super creamy. The way it rolls, the way it steers. Lots of this may be topped off air pressures and also any residual manufacturing oils. Everything feels more lubricated compared to the oem.
As for noise, arguably 'louder' but the noise is different. No rumble at all, just a slight white noise higher pitch. There was a few hour difference between tires so it could be my imagination the loudness but there definitely is a slight TV static sound that wasn't there before.
Now for the real difference which is just 'feel'. There is a bit of off center wierdness. You can jiggle the wheel with no effect which you used to not be able to do before. However, once off center the turning resistance is higher than the OEM - and much more direct. It's much sharper and more immediate and you may infer that it's grabby. Almost twitchy. No way to know if this is just a difference in pressure or newness and the sensitivity will go as the outer layer wears. The previous tires were more sedate. They took a set and were more deliberate not as reactive. Mind you these tires still have that butteryness that the OEM's didn't.
I'm going to chalk this up to how these tires have a wide solid center band which 'wants' to stay straight and there is resistance to turn, however once turned there's more grip. Other tires with no bands and just tread blocks won't feel this. Still it's only been 90 min so will know more after 500 miles.
Seth
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