Touring vs. High Performance tires

[gms]

We picked up our “pre-owned” 2006 M35x last week and I’ve been catching up on forum posts ever since. I’m up to page 25. My wife has wanted an Infiniti ever since we bought a Maxima from the same dealer several years ago. Overall we love the car but seem to have some of the handling issues that are mentioned frequently here (e.g. tramlining.) Yes, there are new Goodyear RSA’s on the car (sigh.)

I have asked the dealer to make sure that the alignment is correct, check the suspension, steering rack and other things that I have learned here. I plan to give him a copies of the road crown and steering rack TSB’s. I will assume that they won’t find or admit to any problems other than road crown, ruts and the inherent characteristics of the car. That would leave replacement tires as the only other option.

Since neither my wife nor I are aggressive drivers and are more into luxury than “feel,” is there any reason why I couldn’t replace the RSA’s, a high performance tire, with a touring tire which should be quieter, more comfortable, and hopefully more forgiving?Living in Buffalo, snow performance is a must. According to Tire Rack, the top all weather grand touring tires are:

Michelin Primacy MXV4 (best in snow)Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum ($100 cheaper than the other two)Bridgestone Turanza Serenity (highest Tire Rack “would you buy again” rating)Nokian WR (Tire Rack doesn’t carry them & they’re expensive but I love them on our Mazda)

I would be interested in opinions.

[07sportm35]

Absolutely.

Yor first choice (Michelin Primacy) is a excellent tire that will be quiet, comfortable, and handle well for a luxury tire. Spend the extra money and get it right.

At discount tires they might give you as much as $60 a tire for the RSA's if you buy from them.

Or, talk the dealer into taking the tires back for $250.

[ken in az]

I have heard the Nitto Invo is a great tire. Very quiet tire but as far as road feel I'm not sure.

I wanted to go with the Invo's for my new set of wheels, but it looks like I'm going with the T1R's from Toyo.

The RSA from what I recalled is a touring tire - but I agree they are noisey and in reality they seem to be the bottom of the barrel as far as tires go. I would only use them on a car that was slammed since they are so cheap you wouldn't care about the alignment being off causing bad tire wear since they are literally 1/3rd to 1/2 the cost of other premium tires.

I live in Phoenix AZ so inclement wheather is something I don't have to deal with and that definitely affects my tire judgement so keep it at that,

[szh]

Living in Buffalo, snow performance is a must. According to Tire Rack, the top all weather grand touring tires are:

Michelin Primacy MXV4 (best in snow)Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum ($100 cheaper than the other two)Bridgestone Turanza Serenity (highest Tire Rack “would you buy again” rating)Nokian WR (Tire Rack doesn’t carry them & they’re expensive but I love them on our Mazda)

I would be interested in opinions.

The Michelin Primary is a good tire. Another possibility is the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus - not Touring, but a good All-season.

However, in Buffalo, given its heavy wet snowfall in winter , I would strongly recommend a second set of cheap 18" wheels and proper snow tires. Like the Michelin Alpine or equivalent.

Z

[07sportm35]

I have heard the Nitto Invo is a great tire. Very quiet tire but as far as road feel I'm not sure.

I wanted to go with the Invo's for my new set of wheels, but it looks like I'm going with the T1R's from Toyo.

The RSA from what I recalled is a touring tire - but I agree they are noisey and in reality they seem to be the bottom of the barrel as far as tires go. I would only use them on a car that was slammed since they are so cheap you wouldn't care about the alignment being off causing bad tire wear since they are literally 1/3rd to 1/2 the cost of other premium tires.

I live in Phoenix AZ so inclement wheather is something I don't have to deal with and that definitely affects my tire judgement so keep it at that,

Hey Ken I have Toyo T1R's on my car. Very nice tire, especially on the freeway. At freeway speeds so far, virtually can't be heard at all. I am really susprised how light they are. Only 25 pounds at 245/35/20.

On 20 inch wheels they do well due to the smaller sidewall, but a smaller wheel such as 19's leads me to believe the sidewalls are too soft. Very good riding tire for a performance tire but for stiff sidewalls I'd look elsewhere.

They are reasonably quiet on the street except for very hard cornering. They don't scream, but the road noise does increase by a fair amount.

They are also nice looking tires.

[M35 Sport]

I have the kuhmo Lx paltinums and they are a very smooth and comfortable tire. They took some of the fun out of my car (I have the sport package) but they are very smooth. I would say they are a very good choice for you. Plus they have a pretty high tread wear rating.

[palincal]

+1 for michellin primacy. Can't go wrong with these tires.

[ken in az]

Thanks 07sportm35!

Thats exactly what I wanted to hear. I want a nice soft ride, I don't do much sport driving but as long as they aren't any softer than what I have now. I had to do an emergency lane change the other night because of some a - hole drifted into my lane. I was up late finishing my exhaust and it was after 3 am when I went to pick up my future wife.

At 70mph I flipped the wheel pretty darn hard, hard enough for her to slam into the door and window with her head! I didn't get squirrelly or anything, just like it was on rails. Gotta thank RAS for that I guess.

[tigerclaws1318]

Thanks 07sportm35!

Thats exactly what I wanted to hear. I want a nice soft ride, I don't do much sport driving but as long as they aren't any softer than what I have now. I had to do an emergency lane change the other night because of some a - hole drifted into my lane. I was up late finishing my exhaust and it was after 3 am when I went to pick up my future wife.

At 70mph I flipped the wheel pretty darn hard, hard enough for her to slam into the door and window with her head! I didn't get squirrelly or anything, just like it was on rails. Gotta thank RAS for that I guess.

As far as the RSA system goes they are great in switching lanes in high speeds. You can switch lanes so quick the lane departure system wont even sense you cross over the lane.

The Nitto Invo tires will be in my front door tomorrow and I went for those because of its quietness. From every review everyone were surprised how quiet these tires are and the face they look awesome. When I get them mounted sometime this weekend I'll snap a couple of shots and write a short review about them.

[07sportm35]

As far as the RSA system goes they are great in switching lanes in high speeds. You can switch lanes so quick the lane departure system wont even sense you cross over the lane.

The Nitto Invo tires will be in my front door tomorrow and I went for those because of its quietness. From every review everyone were surprised how quiet these tires are and the face they look awesome. When I get them mounted sometime this weekend I'll snap a couple of shots and write a short review about them.

Remember, tires change a lot over the first 500-800 miles. When I first got mine, I thought I was driving a Licoln Continental. Super duper smooth, but handling was questionable. After about 800 miles they finally came into their own. It's as if it's a entirely different tire.

[1scott]

I recently brought a pre owned M45 that has a new set of Goodyear RSAs on it non sport model, I too prefer luxury with some sport and I live in Florida so dont know about the snow traction. So far only complaint with the RSA is they are noisey. I know cars differ from model to model but I have a 03 Toyota Sequoia, which my Wife drives a combo of highway and city,that I went thru tire hell with. First a set of Dunlops that were replaced at 13kmi due to noise, then a set of Firestones, they wore out in 25kmi and the handling was terrible. The Firestone dealer talked me into a set of very pricey Bridgestone Turanzas (Alenza model). They are simply the best tire I have ever had on a car to date, just excellent combination of ride vs handling. They are worn out now almost down to the tread bars and the SUV has 93kmi on it now, so the tires are over 50kmi on them which is extremely good for a full size SUV. Based on my experience with Bridgestone I would highly reccommend them assuming the Turanza model for the Infiniti are just as good, unless the Michlens are much lower priced.

[Q45tech]

For most people the 50 mph panic wet stopping distance will be the primary specification [if you consider the cost of insurance deductable on a rear end collision].

The exact same size tires on the same vehicle can have an up to 30 foot difference from just 50 mph!

Tire Rack shows tests of this IMPORTANT PARAMETER on new tires in average temperatures.

Unfortunately Summer tires only work well in Summer TEMPERATURES and are near worthless as it gets down to 45 degrees F especially in wet.All Season [Fall and spring tires] don't work as well in Summer but function down to 32F if it is not wet.

[ken in az]

As far as the RSA system goes they are great in switching lanes in high speeds. You can switch lanes so quick the lane departure system wont even sense you cross over the lane.

The Nitto Invo tires will be in my front door tomorrow and I went for those because of its quietness. From every review everyone were surprised how quiet these tires are and the face they look awesome. When I get them mounted sometime this weekend I'll snap a couple of shots and write a short review about them.

Thanks! Looking forward to it!

[gms]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'm definitely going to ditch the RSA's. In addition, the Infiniti salesman (who happen's to be the dealer's son) is dropping off a loaner '09 G37 at my house next week and taking the M with him to see if they can deal with the handling issues that are well documented here. He seems very supportive and willing to go the extra mile. We'll see how long that lasts.

I'll report back in a new thread.

gms

[marlin29311]

Remember, tires change a lot over the first 500-800 miles. When I first got mine, I thought I was driving a Licoln Continental. Super duper smooth, but handling was questionable. After about 800 miles they finally came into their own. It's as if it's a entirely different tire.

That's very important information to remember when buying and using new tires - every tire has a "wax" coating on them when they are shipped to prevent them from rubbing up on one another, and other protection as well. It takes about 500 miles of driving to have this layer removed and have you really start using the tread on the tires...

[szh]

For most people the 50 mph panic wet stopping distance will be the primary specification [if you consider the cost of insurance deductable on a rear end collision].

Wet handling and braking are my personal measurement criterion.

I dislike driving when it is raining - not because I do dangerous things, but because other people drive in rainy weather as if it were dry!

I want to be able to avoid bad situations created by those folks.

Z

[m35x_pilot]

I have an 06 M35X and put new tires on after only 25K. I chose the Yokohama Advan S4. I have had alot of tires in the past for my Audi, but this is truly one of the best tires i have ever put on a vehicle. This tire does not compromise the ride quality but gives you good traction in wet. I have actually used them in the snow and they were not bad at all. My recommendation would be the Yokohama's/////