Gotta get tires which tires NOT to buy?

[nucking futs]

Got a 99t and right now I have Michelins. They are okay but I am thinking about Fuzions this time around and maybe go a little wider. Hell while I am at it I might as well get some new wheels.

So any recommendations? Good or bad would be greatly appreciated.

[Jeff Williams]

Not sure about your car, but the Fuzions I had on Layla (1994 Q45) were terrible. Good looking tire, cheap, but noisy. I had the 255/45/17 all the way around on 17 x 8 wheels.

Go for the BFG G Force Sport tires. They are cheap on Tire Rack, and I dont think the tread will be a noise problem down the road. They have a great rating.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...ce=10

[RobertsnewQ]

I just got BFG KDWs and I like them so far. Quiet, which is a HUGE improvement over the howling 350z Bridgestone RE040s on before.

[maxnix]

A 17x7.5 wheel is a little narrow, but might look at the Goodyears recommended by Szhosain in an ideal 255/45-17 size.

Look at the tire thread in Infiniti General. Also Tire Rack is good, as is our guyfrom TR Blake Bauer in the Tire and Wheel Forum.

My recommendation is only the best summer performance tires from the top brands. Avoid no name brands, like the one you named. One exception for value is the Avon MTech 500. They are better than they should be for the price.

Truth is, one generally gets for what one pays in tires, especially 10K miles down the road. Lots of great threads, so do search.
Modified by maxnix at 1:01 PM 2/22/2006

[szh]

A 17x7.5 wheel is a little narrow, but might look at the Goodyears recommended by Szhosain in an ideal 255/45-17 size.

Yes! The Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 is an outstanding tire ... second only (and it is a very close second) to the discontinued Firestone Firehawk SZ-50 EP (my favorite tire of all time!) I have them on both our cars now and am very, very pleased with them.

But, I do plan to try the Avon M550 as well (would prefer the Avon M500, but that is not yet available in the size I want for my M45,) because the price is so low.

Oh, yes. Almost forgot to mention that on 17x7.5 wheels on my 1995 Q45, I used 245/45-17 tires (Falken Ziex 512 ... not the Goodyears) and those were a reasonable size too for most tire brands. The 255/45-17 tires usually need 8.0" minimum width wheels, but 7.5" is probably close enough to work okay.

My own preference would be to stick to 245/45-17, since when you put a tire on a too-narrow wheel, there is enough sidewall inward "bending" that the tread width actually put down is probably close to what a 245/45-17 would do anyway. And, reducing tire pressure to compensate for this, has the side effect of reducing the load rating.

Z

[qship96]

going from michelins to any other brand.....is a downgrade

[szh]

going from michelins to any other brand.....is a downgrade

Depends on the Michelins and on the other brand! In my experience, going from the Michelin Pilot XGT-V to some other brands/models was safer, because I did not hydroplane in light rain - the Pilot XGT-V is downright dangerous in wet weather!

I also do not have experience with the current Pilot Sport or Pilot Sport A/S or Pilot Sport PS2, so cannot make a comment about them.

But, I can say that the Firestone Firehawk SZ-50 EP and Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D are the finest tires I have ever used, in over 30 years of driving - number of cars, number of tires!

Car & Driver, in the Dec 2005 issue, agrees on the Goodyears, by the way - see here for a link (second post) to that review: zerothread?id=159468.

Z

[elwesso]

the goodyears are fabulous tires... Remember even michelin makes crappy tires for cheap buyers..... Gotta compare apples with apples..

[MattB]

I've got the Yokohama Avid H4S series tires on my G20 now and am thrilled with them. Great dry and bad-weather traction.

[DuDro]

The Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires are crap...

I repeat, the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires are really CRAP!

I've had good experiences with the Continental ContiExtreme Contact tires and the Toyo Proxes 4 tires.

I had both these tires in 245/45-18s...

Good luck with your search and let us know what you end up with!

[DuDro]

One more thing...

The Continentals were on an Audi A6 and the Toyos were on a Lexus GS430.

[99q45t_vl]

I've had Conti Extremes in size 245/45-17 and they wore out fast ~ 10 K. Now I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 225/50-17 and there is much improvement in ride, control and threadlife (~12 K so far and about 2/3 of the thread is still there).

[jamesmost]

contis - suckkumo - suckavon - suckdunlop sp 5000 - decentpirelli P zero nero - better than the dunlops

just my experience avonson car now but next year back to pIRELLI

i USED TO LIKE bf goodrich but havent had in years

[RobertsnewQ]

I had the Contis (sportcontact) on my spec V - man those tires BLOW.

Had the treadwear of sticky tires but the grip of cheap & nasty tires.

Same from my limited time with Bridgestone RE040s on the 350z wheels. NOISY!!!

I had good luck with Kumho 712s back in the day - wore fast, but were cheap and sticky. I don't think they still make them.

I used Kumho MX on my race wheels with the spec - they worked good but were not as good as the Falken Azenis St-115 from a few years ago. The Azenis had phenomenal cold grip but got greasy after a few runs.

[Jesda]

Firestone Insignias suck for big cars.

[Q45tech]

Michelin XGT V haven't been made in about 7 years so useless to bring them up. Directional tires are designed to be useless when half worn to gain a tiny bit BRAND NEW for testing! Created by manufacturers to sell more tires more frequently.

Expecting any tire to perform well [on accurate professional testing] after 10-12,000 miles is pretty wishful thinking.

Michelin was the rare honest company which provided data that tires fail exponentially after 20,000 miles and should be changed prior to that point.

Consider that a Q45 has 1200 pounds of static sitting still weight on each front tire and in turning or curves this can peak at > 1500 pounds and in braking can exceed 1650 pounds on each tire.

Trying to get a 1521 pound rated tire [AT 44 PSI] to last with 35 psi or less requires some very mild smooth non aggressive driving below the speed limit.

BMW 745 come with special 245/50/18SL 100 load rating. They understand that 1764 pounds [reserve strength] is a lot better than 1521 pounds that came on the Q

[maxnix]

I've got the Yokohama Avid H4S series tires on my G20 now and am thrilled with them. Great dry and bad-weather traction.

Light FWD slower car completely different from heavy fast RWD car.

Why one has to read the TR reports with a grain of salt as BMW 330i are no where near as stressful as the front of a heavy G50 Q45. You must review carcass contruction details and pay attention to load ratings.

[Jeff Williams]

I agree, it is useless to try to compare tires on 2 different cars, expecially when you are talking about the Q45.

ANY directional tire is a total waste, in my opinion, on the Q. They work great for about 10K, then suck the big one! They are noisy, and the Q eats them up, and

The continental ContiSports I have now seem to be great, but are only 7,000 miles old. New tension rods helped a bunch with inside tire wear.

Sumitomo HTR+ were cheap, relatively quite, and lasted OK. AZHitman had them on Quella before the PZeros.

[szh]

Consider that a Q45 has 1200 pounds of static sitting still weight on each front tire and in turning or curves this can peak at > 1500 pounds and in braking can exceed 1650 pounds on each tire.

Trying to get a 1521 pound rated tire [AT 44 PSI] to last with 35 psi or less requires some very mild smooth non aggressive driving below the speed limit.

BMW 745 come with special 245/50/18SL 100 load rating. They understand that 1764 pounds [reserve strength] is a lot better than 1521 pounds that came on the Q

This is also one of the reasons that I like the 245/45-18 Goodyear Eagle. They now come in a 100W load index (as well as the older 96Y) for the same 1764 pounds rating. Needless to say, I have the 100W on my 2003 M45!

Z

[szh]

Michelin XGT V haven't been made in about 7 years so useless to bring them up.

Sorry, Dennis, if I was not clear ... I meant the "replacement" Michelin Pilot XGT-V, which is still available for a bit longer (although they are apparently being replaced too!), for my rant about their wet weather handling. I know that this is a very different tire from the original XGTV that I had on my 1991 Q45 when I bought it. I remember pictures you posted on their tread differences, etc.

Z

[nucking futs]

This is very helpful but what about Falken tires? Anyone every tried those?

[elwesso]

Depends on which one.....

Chekc out the tire review sticky in the infiniti general forum.

[VJ1]

Not sure how the Fuzion would work on your size, but I've been running the HR1 on my piepans for about 2000 miles now, so far no problems. They are made by Bridgestone and have "A" ratings for Traction, Temperature and Threadwear. You also get 30 day trial run on them with a 100% credit if you're not happy with them. Low noise, OK on cornering, great on braking, excellent on waterlogged highways. The steering does get light at 110 mph or so, did'nt have that problem with the Michelin Pilots on previously. Overall, Ok for normal driving. Great price though, around $55.00 each plus install.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Whatever you do, DON'T get Goodyear Eagle RS-As.

zerothread?id=160447

[pdqwrx]

This is very helpful but what about Falken tires? Anyone every tried those?

Hello-I have put about 2000 miles on a new set of Falcon Azenis 235-40ZR18's and I love them. They are great rain or shine and not noisy at all. They also don't seem to follow ruts and odd pavement like my Yok's did. I had Yokahama es100's on my last wheels (350Z) and am now running 18" maxima wheels. The falcons came recomended to me by a good friend that runs an Americas Tire (Discount Tire to some of you). They have the right load rating and he ran them on a Pontiac Grand Prix (Another rather heavy car that wears out front tires) and got great mileage (About 30,000).

Anyway, so far so good.

CheersScott

[BadQ45t]

which flavor of the Azenis are you running, what number after Azenis?

I have the ES100's now too and I loved them for 10k and now it is getting time to move on, well sometime this year when I have some money.

[maxnix]

ANY directional tire is a total waste, in my opinion, on the Q. They work great for about 10K, then suck the big one! They are noisy, and the Q eats them up, and

Why it is absolutely mandatory for suspension to be up to OEM as new specifications.

I treat all my tires as if they were directional tires. Best, strongest summer tires from top national brands will almost always be better shape halfway through their life than mid level models or top models from off brands. When in comes to carcasses, Michelin makes the best with more quality control. Rubber compounds, tread patterns, are only areas where others can compete well.

Most any tire seems great when new if close todesign specification, especially if the previous set had the life run out of them. It's after 10K where construction quality differences really show.

The tires are the vehicle's only interface wtih the road. It doesn't matter what else you have done if you have less then optimal tires.

Why track runners don't wear cheap pumps to compete after training for years! Might look good, but compromises doom performance.

[Q45tech]

I have put about 2000 miles on a new set

Most tires are decent until you drive 4-5,000 miles on them........except many of the low cost ones [those that are half the price of Michelins].

Michelins only major claim to fame is they use $1-$2-$3 more expensive stronger but lighter materials per tire. Many of these materials were developed and are patented by Michelin. So others just use weaker and heavier materials.

To minimize defects they use robots and x ray performance grade tires..................all this cost money..........so much in fact that Michelin doesn't make much profit just 3.3% of sales.

Federal testing uses a 8,000 mile MAXIMUM test to extrapolate treadwear so every manufacturer has learned how to optimize the first 8,000 miles so they can lie with a straight face.

[qship96]

going from michelins to any other brand.....is a downgrade

read the above...........

[nchopp]

Yes! The Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 is an outstanding tire ... second only (and it is a very close second) to the discontinued Firestone Firehawk SZ-50 EP (my favorite tire of all time!) I have them on both our cars now and am very, very pleased with them.

But, I do plan to try the Avon M550 as well (would prefer the Avon M500, but that is not yet available in the size I want for my M45,) because the price is so low.

Oh, yes. Almost forgot to mention that on 17x7.5 wheels on my 1995 Q45, I used 245/45-17 tires (Falken Ziex 512 ... not the Goodyears) and those were a reasonable size too for most tire brands. The 255/45-17 tires usually need 8.0" minimum width wheels, but 7.5" is probably close enough to work okay.

My own preference would be to stick to 245/45-17, since when you put a tire on a too-narrow wheel, there is enough sidewall inward "bending" that the tread width actually put down is probably close to what a 245/45-17 would do anyway. And, reducing tire pressure to compensate for this, has the side effect of reducing the load rating.

Z

The The Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 is one of ther preferred tires of a lot of NSX owners. That says smething, I think.