Tires, Tires, And More Tires

[Mikey95hd]

Well It looks like they have finally gave us more tires then the stock 215/45-18 bridgestone tires in 07. So what too choose now? They seem to wear the same on these machines, I've had the orginals and SPT's so far with 14,000 miles average on both. What about the 2010 220/40-18 I believe, will they fit on our older cars? (nervous) Anyway did the brakes on the front at 37,600 with same stock pads, the best deal I found was on OEM at 177. Centric makes the same pads *(Ferodo) for 130's. Dealer wanted 224 and surface rotors for 400 plus. Stock pads, re-surface under 200. Big difference in handling with new brakes, and rotors turned...(flash)

 

[gogogomoveit]

2010 have 225/40 R18 size which will fit on a 7.5inch to 9 inch wide rim

 

[BigDaddyMS3]

Tires

I just installed a set of Hankook Ventus V12 tires to replace my B-Stone potenzas. I was down to the tread bars at 22,000 miles. What a difference! Road noise is quieter, bite is good on take off, turn in and steering response feels crisp. Its nice to have 10/32 of tread on the ground again. After much review and debate, I went with the stock 215/45/18 size, as I still have the original 7 inch wide wheel.
Will post pics and more info after a few hundred miles and a track event in April.
I also installed the COBB RSB but don't really notice a significant difference, YET! I have it on the soft setting though.

 

[wmherman@mchsi.]

New tires today

I'm getting rid of the stock Potenza's today. They have 24k miles on them and have been noisy for ages (they cupped early in the process, ruining the enjoyment of driving or riding in this car which I purchased new - 2008 MS3).

Even though they're not quite worn down to the wear indicators, they hydroplane pretty bad on wet roads. After studying up on these "summer" tires, it seems they do that even when new. As this is mainly my wife's car, I'm concerned about her safety and have decided to go ahead and replace them now.

I've decided to put on Goodyear Eagle GT's in the stock size. This tire appears to be a good choice for this car for "street" use. We don't race the car but I did want to preserve as much performance as possible while adding more "all season" performance. I also didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for a set of tires although I would have paid that if necessary to get decent tires.

Another factor in choosing this tire is appearance. I know from past experience that different tires can have a dramatic affect on a car's appearance. My wife will shoot me if these tires don't look as good on the car as the stock tires.

Tires should be at the tire shop in a few hours and I might post first impressions sometime tonight.

I also considered the GoodYear Eagle F1 A/S-C tire which would have been roughly $100 less expensive for the set of four. I went with the GT's because they seem to look better (IMHO) and are "Z" rated. The F1's look more like something that would come stock on a Mustang or Camaro.

Does anyone have any experience with the F1's or GT's on this car and if so, please share impressions...

 

[wmherman@mchsi.]

New tire report

New GY Eagle GT's installed. These tires look great on the car and appear to be wider than the stock Potenza's. Noise problem is gone and I feel like we're finally able to enjoy driving this car again. I suspect the rear alignment had been "off" from day one (causing cupping) as they found the right, rear toe to be out of spec quite a bit as well as one side of the front to be out slightly. I had aligned the front previously at another business but I'm not sure they did anything with the rear.

As regards handling, I am very satisfied thus far with the limited driving I've done in one evening. Maybe I'll come back on and give another report after I've put about 10k miles or so on the tires.

Regarding the Potenza's (24k miles), one was down to the wear indicators, another was close, and the other two looked like they would go another 5k miles or so. I did not swap or rotate the tires as I should have, having only swapped front to rear once. The two more heavily worn tires had been on the front, where the weight is, much longer than the other two tires.

I'm not sure why some folks would only get 10k miles on the Potenza's, other than extreme driving, racing, cornering hard, etc.

I strongly considered the GY Eagle F1 A/S-C's, which would have been roughly $100 less due to costing less to start with and the $80 rebate (GT's had only a $20 rebate). I went with the GT's because I though they'd look better on the car and specs were very similar.