[No_bogey_robert]

I have a 2005 Gransport and after 5,000 need to replace all four tires ($2,000). The dealer could not find the same Pirelli Pzeros, and in the interest of time, opted to go with the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s. Any advice on tires (how low can you go on the tread indicator safely, how long should they last, and any feedback on other brands like Bridgestone, etc versus the Michelin and Pirellis?
Thanks,
RP

 

[txsmazzman]

Tires

That is way too expensive. My 06 GS came from the factory W/Pilot Sport
PS2's. This is a highly rated tire and it seems many prefer it to the Pirelli. My dealer ordered all his cars w/ Michellins due to the difficulty sometimes in finding a replacement p zero. If you do a search on the site you should find quite a few comments about different tires. I have heard good things about the Bridgestone and it is more economical. Several of the other lesser known names like Nitto etc. offer tires as well. If you have to buy 4 you might as well up size and go 245/35f, 275/30r. A great site to shop for tires is: thetirerack.com. You can look at all the tires made for your vehicle and they typically have revues on each by consumers. Depending on what you pick the savings will be between $600 to $1000 for a quality replacement vs. your 2k quote. Find a reputable local shop to mount and balance them ($150 +/-). NTB and some of the national chains will do it. Just tell them it was a special car/tire and you could not find it locally. They will gladly take your mount and balance money and move on. Insist they take your wheels on and off the car by hand. I believe the torque spec is 85ft lbs. SB

 

[radgts3bk]

My choice is Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's

My order of preference is:

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
Bridgestone Pole Position
Michelin Pilot (Maser OEM)
Pirelli PZero
Continental Conti Sport

I really liked #1 and #2 but preferred #1

I am nuetral on #3
I really disliked #4 because of quick wear and road noise
I really disliked and #5 because of everything

-------------
radgts3bk - 05 Spyder GT, Triple Black, 12k mi. Lowered 15 turns and will Purchase PS2's shortly.

 

[No_bogey_robert]

That is way too expensive. My 06 GS came from the factory W/Pilot Sport
PS2's. This is a highly rated tire and it seems many prefer it to the Pirelli. My dealer ordered all his cars w/ Michellins due to the difficulty sometimes in finding a replacement p zero. If you do a search on the site you should find quite a few comments about different tires. I have heard good things about the Bridgestone and it is more economical. Several of the other lesser known names like Nitto etc. offer tires as well. If you have to buy 4 you might as well up size and go 245/35f, 275/30r. A great site to shop for tires is: thetirerack.com. You can look at all the tires made for your vehicle and they typically have revues on each by consumers. Depending on what you pick the savings will be between $600 to $1000 for a quality replacement vs. your 2k quote. Find a reputable local shop to mount and balance them ($150 +/-). NTB and some of the national chains will do it. Just tell them it was a special car/tire and you could not find it locally. They will gladly take your mount and balance money and move on. Insist they take your wheels on and off the car by hand. I believe the torque spec is 85ft lbs. SB

Thanks for the tip. I thought $2K was too high.

 

[No_bogey_robert]

My order of preference is:

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
Bridgestone Pole Position
Michelin Pilot (Maser OEM)
Pirelli PZero
Continental Conti Sport

I really liked #1 and #2 but preferred #1

I am nuetral on #3
I really disliked #4 because of quick wear and road noise
I really disliked and #5 because of everything

-------------
radgts3bk - 05 Spyder GT, Triple Black, 12k mi. Lowered 15 turns and will Purchase PS2's shortly.

Thanks. Looked like I made the right call on the Michellins...hope they last longer than 5K miles. Is it true that you need to replace these tires when less than 2mm of tread are visible past the tread wear marker (ie., you cannot let the tire wear down to the marker)?

 

[haha]

or tirerack.com and find a local tire shop to mount them (usually $15-20 per tire).

 

[GrndLkNatv]

Nitto 555's...

Check out the Nitto 555, I like them better than my Michelin Pilots that I had and they are a fraction of the price... All four, $832.00 out the door.

 

[BeeYouZeeZee]

Does anyone know anything about the Kumho Ecsta ASX? They get good reviews and are only $170 each for the rears and $116 each for the fronts. Too good to be true?

 

[leadfoot_mf]

Thanks. Looked like I made the right call on the Michellins...hope they last longer than 5K miles. Is it true that you need to replace these tires when less than 2mm of tread are visible past the tread wear marker (ie., you cannot let the tire wear down to the marker)?

i haven't heard that. tires are tires they work the same on every car, but alas every car is different. what affects the wear of a tire is friction. the weight of the car is a huge factor on its own. also the driving patterns one puts on the tires as well. included in this is alignment if it is off it could have serious wear on tires and one would not know with out having the alignment checked until several thousand miles down the road by then it may be too late.

i let my tires wear down till there is no tread left or the tires don't stick worth a damn with too much understeer or oversteer i don't mind the oversteer. but i like the front end to go where pointed.

someone once said "oversteer is when the passenger is scared. understeer is when the driver is scared."

 

[The Head]

Buzz

I ran the ASX on the front of my car last year VERY hard tire if you like driving your car in a spirited manner I would recommend against them they just dont have the traction...I dont know if they are having a sale on the 18s but the grandsport sizes of the Yoko ES100 are on special through tire rack currently

 

[BeeYouZeeZee]

Buzz

I ran the ASX on the front of my car last year VERY hard tire if you like driving your car in a spirited manner I would recommend against them they just dont have the traction...I dont know if they are having a sale on the 18s but the grandsport sizes of the Yoko ES100 are on special through tire rack currently

Interesting. $170 for the rears sound great. Do you recall what the Yoko's are running? Are the ES100's good tires?

 

[The Head]

the ES 100 is a very good tire it is one of the higher end AVS series from Yokohama on special with my wholesale I am at 650 for all four but the 19 is usually signifigantly more expensive let me check 18s

ES100 are 135 and 156 in the 18s

Dunlop Direzza DZ-101 which I have run on my 240sx before are 113 and 140 in the 18"maser sizes

 

[paulc]

Kumhos are great

I ran through 2 sets on my Boxster S and was working on the third. I managed close to 30k miles from the first 2 sets, and that included a few track days. Great in the wet and dry, a bit buzzy on the highway on grooved pavement, but I will put them on my coupe as soon as the Michelin's are worn.

 

[No_bogey_robert]

i haven't heard that. tires are tires they work the same on every car, but alas every car is different. what affects the wear of a tire is friction. the weight of the car is a huge factor on its own. also the driving patterns one puts on the tires as well. included in this is alignment if it is off it could have serious wear on tires and one would not know with out having the alignment checked until several thousand miles down the road by then it may be too late.

i let my tires wear down till there is no tread left or the tires don't stick worth a damn with too much understeer or oversteer i don't mind the oversteer. but i like the front end to go where pointed.

someone once said "oversteer is when the passenger is scared. understeer is when the driver is scared."

Thanks for the advice. I think I will drive it to the nub on this next set. I don't drive it in the rain so tread grooves are not an issue for me. I just don't want a blowout because of not enough rubber on the road.

 

[paulc]

I had a blow out on the Kumhos

I had a screw in the tire and drove from Houston to Austin. It blew out in Austin. It was really no big deal. The tire has that little lip to protect the wheel from scraping on the ground if you run it flat. The worst part was putting the rear tire in the front seat since it did not fit anywhere else.

 

[Dolle Dolf]

I think that there is something wrong with puttint a japanese tyre on an Italian exotic. Just does not feel right. My alfas won't start if i put anything but a michelin or a pirelli on it

 

[haha]

...hope they last longer than 5K miles...

not exactly. ps2's are softer, sticks to the road better therefore wears faster. if you worry about wear, you should get something harder, however, if you change your drving behavior you might get more mileage out of them. having said that, 5K seems abnormal. I have had ps2's for 6K miles now and I would say it has worn out about 35%.

 

[haha]

potenza isn't bad either. good reviews

 

[Steeldream]

Have Potenzas on the Porsche (SO2 and now SO3) and getting good wear and traction from them. I've also been surprisingly impressed byt the Goodrich installed by the PO on the Spyder.

We don't get enough rain here for me to comment on wet traction

 

[No_bogey_robert]

That is way too expensive. My 06 GS came from the factory W/Pilot Sport
PS2's. This is a highly rated tire and it seems many prefer it to the Pirelli. My dealer ordered all his cars w/ Michellins due to the difficulty sometimes in finding a replacement p zero. If you do a search on the site you should find quite a few comments about different tires. I have heard good things about the Bridgestone and it is more economical. Several of the other lesser known names like Nitto etc. offer tires as well. If you have to buy 4 you might as well up size and go 245/35f, 275/30r. A great site to shop for tires is: thetirerack.com. You can look at all the tires made for your vehicle and they typically have revues on each by consumers. Depending on what you pick the savings will be between $600 to $1000 for a quality replacement vs. your 2k quote. Find a reputable local shop to mount and balance them ($150 +/-). NTB and some of the national chains will do it. Just tell them it was a special car/tire and you could not find it locally. They will gladly take your mount and balance money and move on. Insist they take your wheels on and off the car by hand. I believe the torque spec is 85ft lbs. SB

Will the stock wheels on the GS take the wider 245/275 tires without any special adjustments or impact on wheelwell coverage? thanks.