WOW these tires suck!!!!!!!

I was messing w/ a Sentra SE-r on the highway....and I obviously spanked him in acceleration. But when we got off an on ramp(270degree), he pulled away by 3 lengths!!!! My rear end kept coming out. How crappy can tires be if my allwheel got pulled on by a front!!!! And it was about10 degrees out.

God , I can't wait for my 18x8.5 SSR proffesor sp-1's w/ Gforce 245 wides!

Mike.......

Dios, mio. So many other factors will dictate how a car behaves. If the tires have a highish plastic content, as the RE92s do, they will lose traction in the extreme cold, as do most tires. Suspension tuning also has a lot to do with it, as does car weight and yes, driver skills.

It isn't just the tires, is what I'm trying to say.

Kevin

Kevin- it's not very nice to tell everyone they're a bad driver

Actually, the tires are pretty bad. Especially in the very cold weather.

What tire pressure were you running? That could have a huge effect.

Craig

Face it the car just sucks

Maybe it was a Spec V, those are really amazing

Yeah, I agree.

The RE-92's stink pretty bad, but the SE-R has a much stiffer suspension

and is more tuned for the twisties and turns than our cars are.

Better tires might have made up 1/2 the difference, but it's not

like switching to better tires would of suddenly made the LGT

take corners better than the SE-R.

I put Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S on my car with lighter

18x7.5 Enkei wheels. I surely feel a handling and slight acceleration

improvement. The steering is sharper, and grip has improved, but

it was like I dropped in stiffer suspension and all.

The two things that stink the most about our cars is simple:

Brakes and Tires.

Both need improvement and should come better equipped from the factory!

It's a well-known fact that those bastard RE92s are to blame for all of the world's ills.

Or...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/Kaiser0929/re92poster.jpg

my crappy sentra spec-v handled better than this car with these tires.

reviewers of this car got anyone from .84 to .79g skidpad in this car

the sentra is .88 lat g it comes with decent rubber and weighs 500lbs less than teh leg

At any rate, thats the only field (stock vs stock) in which the se-r "spec-v" had the upper hand.

This topic always reminds me of an old Car & Driver article from about 15 or so years ago. The editor went out to one of Ford's proving grounds to meet Jackie Stewart for a ride-along, but was surprised to see it was a bone stock Ford Taurus that Stewart would be driving.

So, Stewart manages to terrorize this editor with some wickedly fast fast driving...even more so because he'd keep looking over and gesturing while discussing all manner of driving techniques. The guy was dumbstruck that Stewart was pulling all this off in a plain vanilla Taurus.

Moral of the story? What gtguy said.

I hate defending these tires (I have a set of Pilot Exaltos awaiting warmer weather), but they ain't that bad for factory tires.

10 degrees?? Other than pure snow tires, ANY a/s tire will suck!!

FWIW, I've been working down here in southern IN (Washington, to be exact). If you have watched the news. I-64 has been shut down near Evansville (50 miles from here), and we have been it with 12-15" of snow, but very cold temps and high winds.

For a/s tires, the RE92s have done just fine. I only became immobile when the blowing snow got too deep and I didn't have enough ground clearance to move the car. Otherwise, I have moved around just fine.

Now, I only have 3,200 miles on them, and I know that they will be worn too much by 10K, but the RE92s will only be used for the winter, as I will have separate warmer-weather tires.

FWIW, it was 14-below last night, and will be 6-10 below tonight (I work the 8 PM - 8 AM gig).

Kevin- it's not very nice to tell everyone they're a bad driver

 

Actually, the tires are pretty bad. Especially in the very cold weather.

Okay, for the record, I didn't say anyone was a bad driver, but the other guy could have been really good. Even more factors to consider, aside from vehicle weight (500 lbs less is significant), is drivetrain layout. All else being equal, an AWD car, particularly one tuned for a bit of sport such as the Legacy, will oversteer when an FWD car is understeering. We all know which one provides the greater sense of confidence. Within reason, you can always dial in more steering to turn an understeering car. Oversteer tends to make a driver say "Whoa," and back off.

Whenever I get a new car, I always take it to a friend who races (SCCA BMW stuff) so that I can see what it can really do. I'm good, but this guy is REALLY good.

It could also be that the Sentra (I don't know what tires come stock on the car) actually had LESS performance-oriented tires on it than the Legacy. Don't forget that the GT's stockers are a Z-rated tire, and a 45-series at that. The lower sidewall and firmer tread casing won't like very cold weather, at all. It's why I always think of snow tires as temperature tires. When it gets really cold (it was 1 degree when I was out this morning), the tires stay pliable, and give plenty of traction.

So, it could have been anything, or any number of things.

Update: Did some nosing around, and the SE-R has the same 215-45-17 Z-rated size as the Legacy GT. A lot of them come with Continental ExtremeContacts, it seems, which is a really nice tire.

Kevin

Yeah he had the Conti...whatever's . and he was a young punk and doubt he had any driving training. I have had a little , buit in no way thing i am an expert. I am used to oversteer. My other car is rear drive. And when the leg was oversteering I didn't back off, I just tried to feather the gas and keep it right at the edge of adhesion. I just couldn't catch up. I'd say we stayed about equall....but thats frustrating considering the powertrain " advantage" I have. My tire pressure is an even 30psi at all 4 corners. I know with a better tire I could have caught him , and I just wanted to say I think they stink.

Mike....

And when the leg was oversteering I didn't back off, I just tried to feather the gas and keep it right at the edge of adhesion. I just couldn't catch up. I'd say we stayed about equall....but thats frustrating considering the powertrain " advantage" I have. My tire pressure is an even 30psi at all 4 corners. I know with a better tire I could have caught him , and I just wanted to say I think they stink.

Mike....

Waaaaaay too low.. sidewall=bad for traction... oh and the car goes around much faster if you are smooth and not upsetting the car to the point where you're steering with the throttle. I was quite amazed how much quicker it went when I wasn't trying the drift around turns..

My tire pressure is an even 30psi at all 4 corners. I know with a better tire I could have caught him , and I just wanted to say I think they stink.

Mike....

You are at least 5 psi too low!! Plus, when were they set to 30 psi? If it was before this latest cold snap, they could be lower yet!!

"Feathering" is, in effect, backing off the throttle, which can induce oversteer.

FWIW, I wouldn't blame the tires.....the problem (if there is one) lies elsewhere.

Yeah he had the Conti...My tire pressure is an even 30psi at all 4 corners. I know with a better tire I could have caught him , and I just wanted to say I think they stink.

Mike....

If he had the Contis, he had a grip advantage, for sure. Something around 35-36 psi would have made things better for you, as well.

Kevin

Yeah he had the Conti...whatever's . and he was a young punk and doubt he had any driving training. I have had a little , buit in no way thing i am an expert. I am used to oversteer. My other car is rear drive. And when the leg was oversteering I didn't back off, I just tried to feather the gas and keep it right at the edge of adhesion. I just couldn't catch up. I'd say we stayed about equall....but thats frustrating considering the powertrain " advantage" I have. My tire pressure is an even 30psi at all 4 corners. I know with a better tire I could have caught him , and I just wanted to say I think they stink.

Mike....

Your pressure is way too low AND you should be running a couple PSI lower in the rears to deter oversteer. Look on the door jamb sticker for the recommended pressures and start from there.

Also, with AWD, feathering is likely to get you into trouble. Whenever you back off, the rear end will want to break loose and come around. best thing is to pick a throttle setting and stick with it. In fact, giving it more throttle will usually button down the back end.

CRaig

Thanx guys. I set the pressure in the cold(15deg.) I will raise it 2nite. Yeah I'm sure my driving technique from my 240 is not a good one for the AWD. I guess I'll have to get used to it.

Mike...

Yes pretty much all A/S tires suck in real cold and icy conditions.

But these tire also suck in warm but wet conditions. One emergency stop on wet pavement was all it took to convince me it was time to find llok for better tires.

I'm still not having any problems with mine....10K miles.....

I found a surefire fix for my RE92's - got rid of them. I donated them and stuck them on a set of used Motegis for use as my girlfriend's winter wheels on her Mini Cooper S - she has SP9000's on the stock wheels and needed something for the cold months. Any snowy days, we carpool anyways and take the LGT with the P1's and Kumho ASX.

One thing you havent mentioned is who entered the turn quicker-- it is possible and reasonable to assume that being new to the Legacy that you entered the turn too fast, and had a lower exit speed than the Sentra. If he was able to accelerate through the entire turn because he began it at a lower speed, and you had to slow down through the turn because of oversteer, then I can see how he pulled away from you in the turns. But don;t immediately blame the tires... In fact I plan on keeping the RE92s while I learn how to DRIVE the car, and then upgrade the tires anf further my experience from there. Rather than jumping up to a better tire from the get-go.

In less words, learning to drive with the RE92s will allow you to learn what causes the Legacy platform to oversteer, and how to control it once it does. Then, when you have new tires, you already know roughly what to expect when you start to lose the tail end at a (much higher) speed.

I was on his ASS. we both entered at a semi low speed. We both began accelerating around the same time, I just broke loose first and had to back off. I think it was the low tire psi, combined w/ the better suspension he has...had cuz my pink springs will be here tomorrow.

Mike...