Got new tires, but rough ride now

[clarkemode]

My stock conti's were showing the tread wear bars and were starting to shimmy so i decided to get new tires. I headed to my local Sears Auto Center and they only had a few brands in my size in stock. The Sumitomo THRH4's were buy 3 get 1 free so i got those and when i left, i thought they were a good tires...more grippy, better handling but then i noticed how much more ROUGH my ride was...like i felt the seat vibrating even on the smoothest roads....so i brought the car back and got the tires re-checked for balance issues and still had the same roughness..so i went back then next day and the manager said "yea, i other customers complained about these tires for roughness" so he swapped them out for Falken Zeix 912's and told me these would be MUCH smoother but sure enough, i feel the same issues with the vibrations on smooth highways... Now the Falken 912's were rated fairly well for Consumer Reports but I'm finding it hard to believe that 2 sets of brand new tires are causing the same roughness so I am hoping its not something else and I'm just getting a bad batch of tires. I didn't think the stock conti's were great, but compared to these, they were MUCH better for ride comfort!

Did anyone else have issues after tires replaced on their v's? Anyone have any ideas of what I should do now or a good, comfortable replacement tire brand?thanks, Larry

[br4dysays]

i don't run stock size but when i went from the stocks to 17 kumho's it improved, didn't worsen.

something must be up

[NODES]

Falken Zeix 912: From my experience those are not quiet tires at all. The Michelin Alto A/S are awesome for this which I run now.

You can get it balanced somewhere else in case the machine is having a bad day(again learned that today no machine is equal)

[Codelicious]

I have Falken tires on my V (17's) I can't remember their what they are called exactly. Ill look and let you know.

My tires ride A LOT better though. It's really nice.

[Shad0wXCalibur]

Falkens aren't the smoothest riding tire. I had some on my old Neon and I felt more than I did with the old tires. Some good tires for ride comfort are Michillen Primacy MXV4, Bridgestone Turanza Serenity, Kumho Ecsta Platinum, Cooper CS4 Touring, and maybe a few others. If you choose a performance tire, you usually give up some ride comfort. I'm waiting for my Continentals to wear out to try out something smoother. I know some of it comes from the stiff stock suspension but I'd like to feel less of the bumps. I was behind a Versa one day and was amazed at how it rode over bumps exactly like a lowered car with a stiffer suspension. The whole car went up and down unlike bigger cars where you can see the just the wheels going up and down and absorbing things very well. But despite it's height, it does make for good stock handling. I've driven other cars that have far worse stock handling.

[silverarrow27]

You are comparing apples to oranges. When transitioning from a smooth year round tire to a performance oriented tire, the performance tires are just that; performance. If you want to stay with something smooth and quiet, stick with the year round tires that can't really handle for crap.

[Bubs daddy]

Indeed, the stock tires are made for ride quality and a balance of quietness and durability. Mine have 30,000 miles and look great.

As mentioned, tires that perform better are going to give a more stiff ride. It's a trade off. I don't quite understand the need for performance tires on an economy car like the Versa.

[Shad0wXCalibur]

I don't quite understand the need for performance tires on an economy car like the Versa.

Gotta have mad traction to keep that insane 120 HP motor in check

[steed77]

Gotta have mad traction to keep that insane 120 HP motor in check

I don't know about you.. but I would like to stop and turn as best as possible. the 60-0mph is more important.

Since my wheel/tire upgrade. 2 dramatic changes.. The braking is 100X better. Almost no brake fade after a few 60-0 test runs. I bet the distance is 30' shorter than stock. The Handling. Quick lane changes are much more manageable. No more squishy, wondering if it will step out feeling.

[silverarrow27]

I don't know about you.. but I would like to stop and turn as best as possible. the 60-0mph is more important.

Since my wheel/tire upgrade. 2 dramatic changes.. The braking is 100X better. Almost no brake fade after a few 60-0 test runs. I bet the distance is 30' shorter than stock. The Handling. Quick lane changes are much more manageable. No more squishy, wondering if it will step out feeling.

Isn't that why most people go with performance tires? LOL

[Shad0wXCalibur]

I don't know about you.. but I would like to stop and turn as best as possible. the 60-0mph is more important.

Since my wheel/tire upgrade. 2 dramatic changes.. The braking is 100X better. Almost no brake fade after a few 60-0 test runs. I bet the distance is 30' shorter than stock. The Handling. Quick lane changes are much more manageable. No more squishy, wondering if it will step out feeling.

I can agree on the braking. Dry traction is not bad on stock tires but wet traction needs to be better. But handling? What is everyone comparing this car to? Considering the STOCK suspension and tires, handling feels great. I don't race around corners but I can take a sharp turn every now and then with no problem. No problem with quick lane changes either. I don't get that "squishy" feeling. If anything, I feel more of the road than I'd like. If traction and handling is a concern, there are plenty of touring tires that do better than the stock Continentals. Most people go straight for the performance tires though and complain about the rough ride. Stiff sidewalls will do that.