[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by masraum

Yep, different tire construction can impact comfort without necessarily affecting ultimate handling. A stiff sidewall will make a ride more harsh and steering response better.

Years ago, when I had my miata, I tried a slew of tires trying to find the best balance that was available in 15". Lots of folks liked Yoko AVS ES100s, so I tried them. Stiff sidewall so great response, but grip was lower than most of the other tires that I'd tried, so I got rid of them before they were used up. What I settled on were some Toyos (don't remember the model). They had REALLY soft sidewalls but GREAT grip. It took some getting used to the delayed response, but once you learned to trust the tires, they were great. They were also very comfortable (noticeably smoother ride than the Yokos). I also had a similar experience in the boxster with a couple/few different tires but not so extreme. I didn't like the Bridgestone RE050 that is the "N" spec. They had good feel, but lacked grip. With the 19" wheels, I'm happy with a softer sidewall as long as the grip is there.

I’ve used the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 on a bunch of cars, they are excellent tires and very similar to the RE11 but less money. The E63 really chewed through them though, I don't think they liked the weight.