Overview There are many factors to consider when choosing new tires. This article is to help the average person to make an educated choice when looking for new tires for their vehicles. Please read this article closely and consider the options.

1. What will you be using these tires for? This should be the primary factor in choosing new rubber. The tires needed if you are going to be using the car for AutoX or any other track event will differ greatly if you just use it as a daily driver. Treadwear of track tires tends to be a lot less than that of All seasons for everyday use.

2. What kind of weather are you going to be using your new tires for? This wasn't a huge issue for me as I live in Los Angeles, it's almost always sunny except for those few months where it rains for short periods of time. I wanted to get a good summer tire that performed great in dry conditions as well as in rain(I don't want to hydroplane the one day it does rain).

3. How aggressive of a driver are you, if you're like me(and almost any other Z driver I've met), you like to occasionally drive down the mountain and have some cornering fun around the town, then you need some tires that will give you pretty good traction.

4. Price- Don't go cheap!! You will regret it, if you can't afford new tires, buy some good used ones that are at least the same tread on the axle.

Technical Information

The following information is being used if you have a 350Z. Obviously, if you drive a Nissan Cube, your tire selection will be different. When buying new tires for the 350Z, make sure you get at least Z rated tires, no this doesn't mean that the tires were engineered for the Z.

Speed Ratings and info taken from http://www.tirerack.comL 75 mph 120 km/h Off-Road & Light Truck TiresM 81 mph 130 km/hN 87 mph 140km/h Temporary Spare TiresP 93 mph 150 km/hQ 99 mph 160 km/h Studless & Studdable Winter TiresR 106 mph 170 km/h H.D. Light Truck TiresS 112 mph 180 km/h Family Sedans & VansT 118 mph 190 km/h Family Sedans & VansU 124 mph 200 km/hH 130 mph 210 km/h Sport Sedans & CoupesV 149 mph 240 km/h Sport Sedans, Coupes & Sports CarsZ 149+mph 240+km/h Sport Sedans, Coupes & Sports CarsW 168 mph 270 km/h Exotic Sports CarsY 186 mph 300 km/h Exotic Sports Cars

Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) Standards A.K.A. Treadwear Grade, Traction Grade, Temperature Grade

i.e. 300AA A

The number 300 represents treadwear rating as defined by U.S. Department of Transportation(DOT)

Toyo Proxes 4 Treadwear Rating is 300

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Rating is 140

The higher the Number, the more they will last!

On Treadwear - the higher the number, the harder the rubber compound is - yes, this usually equates to better wear, but this also sometimes comes at compromised grip/traction on the road during cornering and braking...

The Following letters AA represent the Traction grade as defined by U.S. (DOT)

On Traction grading - Note that these letters are derived from the tire's ability to make a stop under wet conditions, nothing else.

Traction Asphalt ConcreteGrades g force g force

AA Above 0.54 0.41A Above 0.47 0.35B Above 0.38 0.26C Less Than 0.38 0.26

AA is the highest rating right now

And lastly, Temperature Grade, The UTQG Temperature Grade indicates the extent to which heat is generated/ or dissipated by a tire. If the tire is unable to dissipate the heat effectively or if the tire is unable to resist the destructive effects of heat buildup, its ability to run at high speeds is reduced. The grade is established by measuring a loaded tire's ability to operate at high speeds without failure by running an inflated test tire against a large diameter high-speed laboratory test wheel.

Temperature Speeds in MPHGrades

A Over 115B Between 100 to 115C Between 85 to 100

Numbers and charts were taken from http://www.tirerack.com

To learn more about UTQG, click here

To learn more about Tire Sizes, click here

Originally posted by albert_ey and marlin29311