Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[///M1]

Hey folks,

Just wanted to give some perspective and rave about how happy I am with the General Exclaim UHP tires that just replaced my run craps. I couldn't take anymore the choppiness in the ride, the bumpy go-cart feel of the RFTs, increased noise, white knuckle driving in rain, and knowing each one is over $300, and if I ever get stuck in a non-metro area good luck finding these sizes anywhere (regional dealer included - horror stories have been posted here).

I thought long and hard what tire to get, I have had a series of high performance cars and have tried just about every imaginable brand and tire...other than General. So needless to say I was a bit skeptic. I have a very trusted tire shop (TireRack recommended installer and in business for generations) who have served me well for nearly 8 yrs, and the owner's advice is something I take with little reservation (they are more than a tire shop, they have done quite a few mods and repairs on my M5 especially). So when he recommended the General Exclaim UHPs, I was a bit like: "huh???"

I ended up going through the consumer reviews on TR over the last yr, and the results were very very good, in fact the few bad marks that it got were from people that you can tell through their commentary weren't quite, shall we say tire savvy. Was surprised to see how many owners of performance cars (Vettes, Stangs, S4s, Boxters, M3s, etc.) had nothing but praise for these.

So I took the Pepsi challenge and had a set mounted. It helped my decision that the tireshop bought my stock runflats for $300, so the net expense was very digestable. I went to 225/255 setup which makes the car more agressive, but also I felt the 135i is undershoed relative to its power output (I suppose BMW kept it that way intentionally so it remains a step below the 335i even tire patch wise!) Also, the sidewall is a little bit thicker as I kept the aspect ratio (40%/35%) while increasing width. The 225/255 combo is a lot more common and your choice of tire is much much higher than the 215/245 setup.

I've driven on the tires for about 200 miles, which granted is not much. But these miles came in several operating conditions:
1. Massive rain downpoor at highway speeds (car felt much more planted and no sign of aquaplaning, which I cannot say for the RFTs)
2. Sunny warm (60Fs) day - sound improvement and even grip was noticeable
3. Below freezing night temps (30F) - tire held its own and didn't firm up to the point of feeling plastic as the RFTs did.

While it technically says M+S, TR will not give it an all-season endorsement, which I understand. There are several customer reviews that claim the tire is actually pretty good in light snow. Don't plan on driving it in deep snow anyhow (have my Quattro GmbH vehicle for that), and also not planning it use it on track. The latter because I feel the compound may be too soft for extensive track use, and when pushed really hard, the sidewall feels a bit softish. If you read the reviews, that was the only gripe people had, but most had much higher profile which I recon exacerbates the problem. As a daily driver, there is no other tire I can recommend for the money. Made in either Portugal, Czech Republic, or Germany, this really is a rebranded Continental tire (of course Conti ownes General, and with the infusion of technology General has little to do with the US tire you once knew).

I ended up buying 2 Fix-a-flats from Pep Boys, and a small 4-ton hydralic jack (even though 2-ton would suffice). I also scoopedd a wrench as we have no. All items fit in the battery compartment with no issues. Any weight addition you may ask? None, in fact less weight, as the General tires weigh a lot less than the RFTs (5lbs per each wheel in front alone!), and this of course is rotational mass, so def some good weight reduction.

As a drawback, I did notice the speedo showing a bit more aggressive when compared to the speed given by my Garmin 265wt Nav unit (car speedometer showed about 3-4 mph higher than the Nuvi), but certainly something I can live with.

Anyhow, sorry for the long review, but wanted to let anyone considering (wisely!) replacing their RFTs, that they cannot go wrong with this setup.

[crex]

did they get rid of the choppiness in the ride and that strange bouncing?

[///M1]

Originally Posted by crex

did they get rid of the choppiness in the ride and that strange bouncing?

Absolutely - that is arguable the most noticeable of all benefits!