tired of the yearly tire buy.

guys, I'm getting so frustrated with my Toyo Proxes 4s.. sure they handle great, have less road noise than stock and look cool, they USED TO BE cheap.. but since edgeracing has gone under I cant find them for cheap.

 

anyway.. I rotate them every other oil change. which is just front to back because of the directional tread.. They only last about 20k miles which puts me at 1 set a year OR LESS.. I'm exhausted by the yearly tire purchase.. is there a tire out there that is just as good, but lasts maybe 40k miles or so??

 

I daily drive on city roads more than anything, but I am an aggressive driver and cant be slipping and sliding around.

 

thanks yall.. Its tire time again.. I can probably slide around on these for a few months but I need to start deciding now.

Tires in the AS Michelin line have some good wear ratings. I don't know your tire size but I'll use the popular 225/45R17 as an example. Pilot Sport AS's are rated at 500 and a few of the others are rated around 300-340. Road grip will probably be just as good at Proxes if not better, IMO.

I have oem rims and tire size. I thought about changing that to 18s but.. I never have.. and dont really have any realistic plans to do that.

 

I'll look into the michelins. I usually pass up a brand like that.. for whatever reason when I think of michelin I think of SUVs and trucks.. not so much passenger cars.. performance oriented vehicles never even cross my mind with the brand recognition.. but moreso than not, this car is a commuter..

So you never heard of Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, Pilot Exalto PE2, Exalto A/S, Pilot A/S Plus?

Or Pilot Alpin or Primacy Alpin?

 

Michelin makes expensive tires (they have cheaper brands too like Uniroyal and BF Goodrich) and they are usually midpack to top in performance. Usually they provide better milage and last longer than competition.

 

I think I can say that they never provide the best bang for the buck. They might be the best bang but never for the buck ;-)

 

Krzys

 

PS In CR high performance comparo Pilot Exalto PE2 got quite decent performance notes and as the only tire in test get very good tread wear. Recently tire rack dropped the price (225/45R17) from 176 to 159 but it is still twice the price of Kumho Escta SPT. But they may last twice as long.

Yokohoma Advan S.4

 

I'm on my 2nd or 3rd season....can't remember. But they have way over 50% tread left. Which is about 4 times more than my Toyo's had at this point. This includes 2 road track days

this is my 1st car.. and although I've had it for about 4 years now I really dont know car tires.. just truck tires.

 

thanks for the info yall, keep em comin. I'll look into em. If its not directional that would be helpful I think.. but I dont want to comrpomise on dry and wet grip. I can compromise a bit on snow grip living in GA..

How cold does it get where you live?

 

Krzys

Bridgestone RE960AS

this is my 1st car.. and although I've had it for about 4 years now I really dont know car tires.. just truck tires.

 

thanks for the info yall, keep em comin. I'll look into em. If its not directional that would be helpful I think.. but I dont want to comrpomise on dry and wet grip. I can compromise a bit on snow grip living in GA..

 

First, switch to 225/45/17. You'll find more options suited to longer life.

 

Then, try out of the following:

 

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S

Bridgestone RE960 A/S

Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S (less performance oriented, but very nice still)

NEW continental extremecontact DWS (50,000 mile warranty)

Kumho Ecsta ASX (Cheaper and most people report 30+k miles out of them)

Pirello Pzero Nero All-season (not M+S) - 45,000 mile warranty

 

Just my .02...

 

I just put Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S in 225/45/17 on my 2006 Honda Civic SI. Transformed the car after trying falken ziex 912 and general exclaim UHP (both of which are similar to proxes 4). Amazingly more comfortable, excellent steering response, and great grip in dry and wet. Transient response is a bit looser though, but i'm running lower pressures too (transient response = try wiggling the steering wheel back and forth rapidly).

 

Very expensive tire, but if I get 40k+ out of them and I'm happy with them the whole time, then they are worth every penny. Got 3k on them now.

 

Joe

I've used Toyo Proxes T1-Rs (summer tires) on the highway with snow all over the ground...and snowing. Grip was pretty good considering it wasn't supposed to be used for those weather conditions at all, but I had to go back to school and had no choice.

 

I feel like you can use Summers pretty well in Georgia even if it snows a little. I've learned that if you drive aggressivly, its worth getting summers than all-seasons. My friend had Potenza RE050s and they lasted much much longer then his all-season Kumos. He had the RE050s and then changed to his current all-seasons. We aren't sure why the Kumos lasted longer but he beats on his tires like no other and didn't change driving styles once getting all seasons. I think his tires side tread is worn down and its been about less than 10,000 miles.

this is my 1st car.. and although I've had it for about 4 years now I really dont know car tires.. just truck tires.

 

thanks for the info yall, keep em comin. I'll look into em. If its not directional that would be helpful I think.. but I dont want to comrpomise on dry and wet grip. I can compromise a bit on snow grip living in GA..

 

Black ice??????

Michelins are also some the quietest running tires. They only offer the Pilot Sport Cups, Pilot Sports and PS2's as hardcore performance tires but the quality outweighs a lot of others.PS2's are standard OEM tires on the 911, M3, and V-series Caddys.

it can get in the teens here temp wise, but only in the mornings and only for 1-2 weeks out of the year. Rarely do we have a day that it remains below 20 degrees even in the dead of winter.

 

However.. this is cold enough that the runoff will freeze and it does snow here maybe an inch or so for a day or so, not substantial enough for salt on the roads or for dedicated winter tires, but I am kind of leary of the idea of having summer only tires.

 

my other vehicle is a truck with standard M+S H/T toyos of some kind.. they were new wehn I got the truck so I honestly dont know what model they are but there is a possibility that I could drive it on those 1 or 2 days when it snows.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+A%2FS+Plus&partnum=245YR7PSAS&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=98

 

michelin pilot sports seem to have a good overall rating. They seem pricey but its better than spending ~$100 a tire a year every year and putting up with the drifting in between.. (right now my driver side rear is smooth on the edges and if I get too squirley it tries to come out from under me. Great fun but not what I have in mind in tight maneuvers.)

 

I had michelins on my 1st vehicle (they were free cos of the firestone incident.) didnt like the way they looked on my suv but they never gave me a problem.

 

wont going with a thicker sidewall on the 225s set my speedometer off a bit and potentially leave the door open to sidewall mush?

RE960 is rated for 40,000 miles.

I've used Toyo Proxes T1-Rs (summer tires) on the highway with snow all over the ground...and snowing. Grip was pretty good considering it wasn't supposed to be used for those weather conditions at all, but I had to go back to school and had no choice.

 

I feel like you can use Summers pretty well in Georgia even if it snows a little. I've learned that if you drive aggressivly, its worth getting summers than all-seasons. My friend had Potenza RE050s and they lasted much much longer then his all-season Kumos. He had the RE050s and then changed to his current all-seasons. We aren't sure why the Kumos lasted longer but he beats on his tires like no other and didn't change driving styles once getting all seasons. I think his tires side tread is worn down and its been about less than 10,000 miles.

 

So how long did the T1 Rs last? I'll be looking for a 3 season tire soon.

You can try the Goodyear eagle f1gt's. They are quite quiet and rated to last 40k or so. I had them on my last car and was amazed at how quiet they were. And they handle well.

what are the michelin pilot sport a/s "plus" and the proxes T1R as related to noise to the proxes 4s? (if yall have any experience with them.. I usually have to run my radio at around volume 20 on the interstate with these tires..)

That's pretty high I think.

Definitely go with the new Conti's. They have an awesome 540AA rating. I've had plenty of the older Conti Extremes and have nothing but rave reviews.

So how long did the T1 Rs last? I'll be looking for a 3 season tire soon.

 

I put them on about 8,000 or so miles ago, it looks like i can get maybe 13,000 miles or so? This is a complete guess but its wearing a little faster then my F1 GS D3's but these, imo, perform better in the dry and just as well in the wet.

yea.. that really wont work for me.. especially considering the t1R's cost.

 

the contis seem to be a nice tire.. has a good review rating too, and is cheaper than the michelin pilots.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ExtremeContact+DWS&partnum=145WR7ECDWSXL&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=4&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H

what are the michelin pilot sport a/s "plus"

 

AFAIK it's pretty much just a slight evolution of the pilot sports, it seems like they've been getting good reviews mostly everywhere

 

i'm probably going to get them myself

looks like its between the michelin pilot sport a/s "plus" and the conti EC DWSs.. the contis are cheaper but the michelins look better.

 

I have a month or 2 to decide tho..

 

hopefully.. it seems only the outside and inside of my tires are worn really bad. The tread has probably 1/4 of its original tread left... but i'm rolling on "inside rubber" as the tire guy called it on the edges. under inflated? or am I just too hard in the corners for these?

Michelins are pricey but they are a nice tire. Do yourself a favor and check out the new Goodyear F1 Allseason - I have them in 245/40/18 on my STI (stock size) and REALLY like them. They have 95% of the grip of the stock summer tires and almost the same turn-in. Carbon sidewall technology...I'm impressed and I've had about ten different models of tires in five years.

how's road noise on the f1s?