Just got new tires and HATE them...

225/45 17 Toyo Proxes 4

 

I live in a small town with one choice of tire shop... les schwab. SO I when with the proxes 4. I used to live in a larger area, so always had choices (tire rack, etc.) Les Scwab won't mount it if they didn't sell it. bastards.

 

The sidewalls absolutely suck butt. I hate the tire. The turn in is TERRIBLE. Turn wheel, front turns in, rear sways.... it sucks. I just wore out the RE92's and they were 5x's better than the proxes 4. Everyone says the re92s suck, but they haven't used proxes...

 

Would going back to the 215/45 make a big difference on the handling & turn-in characteristics? it's only a 1/4" difference in sidewall height...

 

Anyways, thought I'd rant.

I might call and see if I can return them and get my old tires back and shop out of town..... they have 2 or 3K miles left (58K on Re92s and I don't take it easy? weird huh)

Play with the tire pressures, see if more air will harden 'em up a bit for you.

 

I can't believe that you find the squirmy, squirelly RE92s to be a better performer than the Toyos.

 

 

Mind you, I've never owned a set.

I've run proxes 4 in the past. Great tires, except for snow.

The proxes have more traction, for sure (even better now with 50 hard miles on them) but I felt the re92 had stiffer sidewalls which feels much nicer below the traction limits.

 

I've decided just to keep them. The wife drives it more than me, I'll see if she notices. I'm not buying from les schawb anymore though, their selection sucks not to mention the lug nuts to 200lbs that gouged my Corrado's wheels, greasy hand prints on legacys interior, mixed 17 and 19mm lugs on the old mazada, and oh the best, the kid that thought I was out of sight that burned out accross the parking lot in my old gti vr6. I'm done with them.

 

spect2k, how are they in rain? I've heard good and bad from reviews. probably depends on the size and car.

keep in mind its not a fair comparison, your comparing a tire with 1-2 32nds to one with 8. You're going to have tread squirm, you'll have it with any new tire you buy after wearing down a old one.

 

Generally you should hold off on reviewing a tire until after 500 miles, it also gives a chances for the release coating to wear off the tire as well. good luck.

I have been running proxes 4 size 215/40ZR18 for about 10K now, which are very good. It rains a lot in Vancouver BC so I really need good traction on wet roads. I get lots of traction in rain on the proxes much better than the re92. The re92 kept slipping even at low speeds, the tires felt unsafe to drive.

 

check out 1010Tire result for proxes 4 http://www.1010tires.com/Tires/Reviews/Toyo/Proxes+4 and re92 http://www.1010tires.com/Tires/Reviews/Bridgestone/Potenza+RE92

versus what else I've driven, I found the proxes 4 to have great rain traction!

proxes 4 are better than average tires..

thanks for the replies. I was really just expecting too much I think, combines with my hatred of the tire store in town.

^ yeah hatred of your local shop showed through in the review.

The Proxes 4s are an old-school favorite (check the really old posts on the Forums, using the search engine for "Proxes" and cranking the date back) - you'll find that general consensus is that, overall, they are a "better" tire than the RE92s in virtually every measure.

 

I'm betting that the mold-release, the tread-depth differences, as well as tire-pressures are the three things that's most affecting your review at the moment, as well as your hatred of the retailer.

OP, go on google reviews and other review sites and warn prospective customers of your objective experiences.

Bummer man- sorry you don't like them. I have had them on my GT for about 2K miles now and I'm very impressed. I used 2 other brands prior to these and there is no comparison. I've pushed the car to the edge of my comfort level and they stay glued.

 

I am running the 215's since the 225's were not in stock at my local shop.

Saying that you like RE92's better than Proxy 4's?

 

Makes me question your judgment.

versus what else I've driven, I found the proxes 4 to have great rain traction!

 

 

 

+1 on the rain, one of the best I've tried in rain.

 

In snow they are useless.

 

The don't balance well either.

I had a set on my old Forester when I FIRST got it. Terribly soft sidewall, but good grip and one of the best rain tires I've ever driven. They were nothing but slicks in the snow, making my Forester nearly as useless as a Civic.

 

I only kept them on the car for the first snow of that year. I replaced them with a beefy A/T tire (the General Grabber AT2) after having to patch 4 flats on the toyos over 6 months of use.

^ Snow was a known shortcoming of the Proxes 4s.

 

Comparatively, they still fared better than the other same-vintage/contemporary aftermarket ultra-high-performance all-season favored at the time, which was the previous-revision Pirelli P-Zero Nero.

 

At the time (2005/6, again, a comprehensive past search would be invaluable), the three most often compared, of this genre, were the Proxes 4s, the Neros, and the Falken ZIEX ZE-512. Of the three, that the 512s were agreed upon by our community members to be best/better in wintry conditions says a lot about the others of this cohort, given the relatively weak performance of that tire in terms of winter capabilities, when compared to modern ultra-high and high-performance all-seasons.

 

That generation of Neros were agreed-upon to be the weakest winter performer of the trio, while returning with perhaps the most dry-road fun. The Proxes, most reported, really excelled in wet conditions, and were a near match for the Neros in the dry.

 

As it stands, now, though, none of these tires are really cream-of-the-crop, any more.

 

The Proxes still are of their original design. The Neros have evolved. There's also a more fair-weather specific ZIEX variant (the 912, although the 512 maintains noticeably better winter capabilities).

civics arent that bad in the snow, shoulda have used a rwd truck with an empty bed as an example, we race civics in the snow here just for shits and giggles, any who, ive used both generations of the proxes 4 and don't have anything bad to say about them, ride on them... get them wore in, and adjust the air press to your liking, ive put a ton of miles on them and they did fine, i even drove a winter with them on the rsx.. wasn't the best but i can drive so i didn't have any issues.

^ I didn't realize there's been two generations of the Proxes 4s already! Thanks! When did the change occur?

 

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Oh, BTW, going back to the OP -

 

Like the other, including myself, have said, don't rate tires so instantaneously. All those initial factors really come well into play. The tire may behave much more differently after they've worn off their mold release and pressures have been optimized to your liking.

 

One of the best recent examples is with winter tires.

 

Look at the early-dated consumer reviews of the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 on TireRack.

 

Every other rating was someone or another complaining about it being the worst tire they've ever owned. Fast forward a year, and after the known and respected tire-testing authorities inspected these tires and declared them king, virtually everyone's singing their praises.

 

With tires, it truly is hard not to instantly love or dislike them - particularly the latter.

 

But the true test comes a few thousand miles down the road.

i don't know a whole lot besides newer ones are suppose to have more silica in them, i dont knwo if they even consider them a different gen like the 615's

I've had them on my car for a few K, no real complaints.

i don't know a whole lot besides newer ones are suppose to have more silica in them, i dont knwo if they even consider them a different gen like the 615's

 

Ah, gotcha.

 

Thanks for that - I'll have to go back and search when they made the improvement!

I did indeed act too fast. Although they have a rather ugly profile, they do grip well, are quite enough. *most* of the squirm is calming down.

^ Glad they're getting better for ya! How many miles, now?

Only a couple hundred, but I made sure some of it was pretty heavy duty