NEW EXALTO TIRE PRESSURE?

[INFINITINUTCASE]

Greetings Folks!

First of all, a Happy & HEALTHY New Year to you and yours!

I know, I know, I have been greatly remiss in being AWOL from here for an awfully long time; however, with homes over 2000 miles apart, and the Infinitis staying put while at the other home, I often do not give them much thought; however, I finally broke down and replaced the Pilot 235s the other day, w/ Exalto 225s, after 10 years, and 50K miles! Still maybe 5++K tread left, but sidewalls had begun showing cracks. I had bought these last spring when TR had a rebate on Michelins, and loving the way they transformed the handling of the M30 convertible (I run 32 psi in them, it being wife's car)! Mechanic put 36 psi all round in the new Exaltos on the Q (run 32 psi on M) and, it seems to ride very harsh, especially over pavement joints, worse even than the ancient Pilots! Now, many of us recall being advised to carry 37 psi front and 35 psi rear in the Pilots (believe this was a Q45Tech admonition), but I was not sure about the Exaltos, so am deferring to the more knowledgeable here! Normally, not an issue, but local know-it-alls (aka politicians) have embarked on a road project which may take another several years to finish (I tell folks that this entire job would have been done in 6 months out in Texas!) and there are more holes in the road than ever! (I often think Houston has more roads than the entire state of South Carolina!)

For grins, checked KBB on retail value on both vehicles and, Q in "good" condition valued at $1,536 and the convertible at $2,885! So, after spending about $800 on new tires and alignment, I still have a car worth $1,536! If time permits, I must take the Q down to T3 for some PM, primarily under the hood rubber replacement, etc. Figuring probably pushing $3,000 when that is finished! Then, I will still have a car worth $1,536! Oh Well! I still greatly enjoy driving the beast and try to rationalize keeping it by estimating what it would cost me to replace it w/ similar quality and performance (rationalization often quite helpful in life!)!

Take care folks and I await your sage advice!

John
South Carolina coast and
New Mexico Gila Mtns

[qship96]

Drop the pressures down to the factory recommended 29psi and drive it for a few days to see how it feels.....then add 2psi all around and see how it feels, continue this until you find the sweet spot that works for your individual comfort level and road conditions. I generally ran about 32psi on my 225/60/15V Exaltos, and got over 60,000 miles from both sets{ actually 68K on the last set} both sets wore extremely even shoulder to shoulder at 32psi.

[Q451990]

Good to see you John! I thought about you when I walked past a pearl M30 'vert today at the pull-a-part.

Heath

[INFINITINUTCASE]

Hi Heath!

Yes, the old Ms are getting like hens' teeth, once perhaps a half dozen down here on the coast, now only ours the best I can determine! Service manager at Tommy Baker's Auto Emporium (Benz, Infiniti, Rover, Maserati, Porsche) down here always wants to buy it when I am forced to take to the dealer! Parts are a bear to find though! Bought a 90Q up in Greenville area for parts and - thank you Lord - having needed only the cruise dash control switch, mine not lighting anymore! It sits back in the woods on my 10 acres here. (Would that one you saw in "reclaimed parts" yard be worth trailering down here, being able to put lots ofcars on 10 acres, all hidden by the pine forest?)

Stay away from the low country at the moment, unless you can move around via helicopter, the traffic something to see and not believe! Beach weather merely compounds problem, our traffic now so bad that even the transplanted Yankees from NYC (seemingly every other person,anymore!) complaining (in yesterday's local paper)!

John

[Q451990]

That M has been there for a while, so I'm sure it's pretty picked over. I don't know if they will sell a car back off of the lot once they've purchased it. From what I can tell they buy the cars for their scrap metal value, let the vultures (like me) pick over them for 2-3 months, then crush them.

They have a guy with a fork lift that can help pull motors and transmissions - but that's it for yard staff. Everything else is up to the buyer to take off. It's fun to see what people bring to get parts off. I saw a guy with a Honda generator and a bunch of elecric impact tools to get some heavy suspension parts off. Parts prices are as cheap as I've seen. http://www.pull-a-part.com

Pretty interesting business model.

Heath

[INFINITINUTCASE]

Shame on me, but sometimes I wish someone would smack the thing (no injuries to anyone, though!) and total it so I could rationalize (see, again using a tried and true method!) "needing" to replace it w/ another convertible, the Z car quite lovely!

Oh, BTW, dropped psi down to the recommended 29 and it worked miracles! Dropped it down on the M, too!

Thanks guys!

[qship96]

Take GOOD care of those Exaltos, as sadly, Michelin has discontinued making them in both the 215/65/15 and 225/60/15 sizes.

[INFINITINUTCASE]

......ARRRRRGHHHHHH! One of the reasons I hung on to the Pilots, probably past reasonable replacement age! BUT, if you got 68K out of yours, they may still be on the beast when they bury me in it!