Michael Cornwall

I'm driving a 2015 Ecoboost with 265/35 R20 Tires.
I'm due for a new set and I'm not finding many available options.
I'm basically at $300 a piece.

I'm running Pirelli PZero's now (stock) and the car is bumpy as hell. The car is a daily driver and I don't intend to take it to the track so I'm looking for a tire that gives me a softer, quieter ride.

The two that I've found that aren't Pirelli's and are in stock around me are these two:

Michelin PilotSport
Continental ProContact

Does anybody have any experience with these? I'm leaning towards the Michelin's but I really don't have a lot of experience buying tires.

Has anyone else had luck with a comfort fit at 265/35 R20?

proeagles

There is no such thing as comfort with a 20" tire diameter and a 35 sidewall, that is the problem. If you want comfort, get a smaller diameter wheel like a 18" with a 55 sidewall or a 19" with a 45. It is the sidewall that makes the comfort with more compliance. Having said that, you can't go wrong with the Pilot Sport replacement, Michelin makes the best tire on the planet. Still won't be comfortable, but will be quieter and better.

Michael Cornwall

Thank you! I'm going in tomorrow and that's the way that I was leaning. So I'll go for it with managed expectations.

bluebeastsrt

Another good option for your budget is nitto 555g2. I just bought a set in 305/255 staggered 20s. They are probably 90% of the pilots as far as performance. For about 75% of the price. I paid $800 for the set of four on discount tire direct. You could probably get a set of four 265s for about the same $800. The 555s have good grip and a quite ride.

Norm Peterson

The MPSS really is a decent-riding tire. Even when installed on wheels that are out to the maximum recommended width for whatever size tire, they still aren't bad. Think 285/35's on 11" wide wheels, the diameter is irrelevant but the fact that this isn't on a relatively soft-riding IRS car is. Higher than door sticker inflation pressure up front, too.


Norm

proeagles

He didn't mean to say the diameter wasn't relevant in terms of CORRECT size. A 285/35 has the correct diameter for your car and a 285/55 will not be correct in that it will be greater in diameter than stock and throw off your speedometer and wheel speed sensors as suggested in an earlier post.

Norm Peterson

My point was only about ride comfort. It should be easy enough to conclude that 265/35's on 9" wide rims will ride softer than 285/35's on 11's. I couldn't care less about speedometer accuracy or wheel speed sensors at this point.

For ride quality, wheel diameter is far less important than tire section width, tire profile, and wheel width . . . pretty much negligible, actually. So when OP finds out that my wheels are 18's instead of 20's like his, he can still use my evaluation of MPSS ride quality.


Norm

Derf00

A tuner will easily compensate for tire size and/or overall diameter. Once corrected, the rest is irrelevant because the cars computer corrects for that information. Also you can drop the tire section width and increase your sidewall ratio to maintain the overall diameter close to stock to not have to worry about it in the first place.

(This part you know since you already pointed it out in your original post) A tire with an aspect ratio of 35 (a rubber band) is considered for performance and handling first and less so for comfort so you will need something like a 45 or 50/55 aspect ratio to maintain some semblance of performance while adding comfort. There is just no way around that.