EVLR33, your friends are on crack.
I've done hillclimbs, cruises, autokhana's etc with 540's and they are brilliant, especially when on heat. Hell we even did Targa on 540's in 2000 and they were fantastic. As for tread, ever seen a new 540? tons of it
Not having a dig but those views you posted go against everyone elses i've heard on them