Given
86%
while driving a
Mazda 3 Series
(225/45 R17) on
mostly motorways
for 18
average miles
I am on to my second set of these tires (16' rims). These tires are simply hold the road like glue. In the dry they are fantastic. Dry cornering is truely amazing and very progressive (not that I drive fast enough to get close to loss of traction, but my guess is the SP 20 would roll before the tires let go). Wet traction not quite as good but still offers high degree of confidence. Wet cornering, the tire works very well and still progressive - some understeer in wet conditions but only at quite low speeds with hard cornering - and possibly more due to the suspension geometry), no motorway aquaplaning experienced in very wet conditions (I replaced when 1 mm above the tread wear indicators). All tires wore evenly on this fw drive with only 2 rotations.
For those complaining about wear on these tires, I'd say that any AA traction rating will come with this drawback. If a dealership tries to sell you these for a large car (ie 6 cylinder or SUV or 4x4) then I'd ask for something else (eg a Pirelli P7 or Eagle Asymmetric etc). From my point of view, the performance well outweighs the wear issue in a medium sized car. There is a small drawback in terms of balance/noise niggles after rotation if left longer than recommended, but doesn't affect performance, and seems to scrub off pretty quickly.
The proof is in the pudding for me. I had my first set for just under 3 years (30 000 kms), and I didn't hesitate to get a second full set. NB in Australia we don't have the issue of needing winter tires. We have very wet roads in the island state of Tasmania at times (and poor average road surfaces) - so for me this tire is an all year round tire (but can't speak to snow conditions). BTW our roads are pretty rough - I'd expect to get significantly more (say 20%) wear on really good motorways.
I got my second set discounted to $130 AU per corner fitted (down from $220 AU) It's always worth shopping around. The tire wear isn't an issue at all if you get the right price. If you want performance without going silly with dollars, buy these.