antigeek

Having just bought new tires this week, I thought I'd share my tire experience over the 11+ years I've had my SC430. Looking back over what I've purchased, hopefully this can be yet another resource when you need a new set. Too many reviews give high marks to too many tires b/c they're the first ones they've had since the dreaded RFs.

Bridgestone Potenza R040 (factory run-flats): 2 years, 22.5K miles
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S: 2.75 years, 24.7K miles
Pirelli P-Zero Nero AS: 2.25 years, 20.1K miles
Bridgestone Potenza RE960: 4.25 years, 32K miles
Bridgestone Potenza RE970 AS Pole Position: new, ???

I made my last Pirelli choice of my life in in '06.
They sucked, and I even spun in the street crossing runoff from a sprinkler system the day before I replaced them.

I got exceptional mileage from the Potenza RE960s, and never had ANY sense of lost grip. While the insides were expectedly worn out (the "Lexus camber"), I wasn't quite down to the indicators in the center.

I loved my old Michelins (like many others do), and I could have gotten them for $240 after $70 rebate on 4, but at $221 / tire with the mileage I got out of my last set, the Bridgestones were a no-brainer. I'll update if my decision turns out to be a poor one.

Happy motoring!

bb430

iTrader: (1)

I have always liked Continental tires, those ContiSports are quiet and wear well. Their prices are reasonable as well.
Just my 2 cents....

toxic

Just put a set of Pilot Sports on my 430 and in 1inch of snow (tranny on snow setting) they were worthless. I had a hard time creeping up a hill to get it back home. Note...I am an experienced winter driver but whether it is a characteristic of the car or the tires, I will be running my Jeep Wrangler when the white stuff falls. Now for water and hydroplaning, they are very good. Snow...not so much. Now to top it off, I got a tire sensor light glowing and it's back to the shop because all of the tires are at the right psi and this happened shortly after the new tires got mounted.

TOXIC

sixonemale

Not surprising, but I'm not sure if the tires are at fault. I use to live in NoVA/DC and have also done a lot driving in the show. Almost all front engine cars with back wheel drive are worthless in the snow, including the four wheel drive I had when not engaged. The small cars, like an Accord, with front wheel drive did a lot better in snow than the back wheel drive cars.

I'm not saying that the traction could not be improved with different or snow tires, probably so, but for the price of the ride and noise on dry weather days.

KBALL

Ride comfort, noise level, traction, etc would be useful as well as what psi you kept them at...The thing thats always so difficult to determine is the new tires are always being compared to the old tires with many miles on them.

mandyfig

Sold on Potenzas!

mandyfig

Potenzas are a bit cheaper than Pilots anyway.

mandyfig

At least at Costco. Stil trying to come up with a scenario on how to dump my P Zero RFT's with the wifey. I still have at least 5K miles on the tires.

Maybe the next Bridgestone sale.

huy33

Good to see that you're still alive Alec (Antigeek).

OBP

I guess the qn is which Mich Pilot Sports you had on the SC ... A/S or Sport Cup or Sport 3 or PS2 ? Only the A/S would have given you a fighting chance in the snow. The others are optimized for summer conditions and probably not M+S rated so if you had one of the other three Michie's on, well of course you had a tough time.

I've run the SC in 2 inches of snow in NJ on Blizzaks and of course I was fine. And I've run my RL in a snow storm with 2 or 3 inches on Mich Pilot A/S and I was fine though of course the RL is an AWD. Mind you, even with AWD, if you have the wrong tires, you're still in a mess - I know cos I was slipping and sliding in Mich Pilot HX MXM4s in the AWD RL and things only got better with the Mich Pilot A/S.

For all weather year round capability, I would take Conti DWS first followed by Mich Pilot A/S Plus second. Otherwise the SC will need winter shoes anywhere it snows.

Harold57

Alec,
Can you compare the ride and noise levels of each of the tires? So you only got 24.7kmi out of the Michelin's even though they have a 45 kmi warranty. Interesting.

I've used the Potenza R040 RF, Pirelli PZ RF and now the Yokohama YK520 NRF. The nonRF are definitely preferable. I hated the R040; rough, loud, tracked every little groove. The Pirellis were a major improvement, though near the end the tracking and noise got considerably worse. The Yokos have been the best and cheapest so far and even came with a warranty (50k or 60kmi?). I'll have to go check my records on the mileage of each. It seems like I got about 20kmi out of the first two and am still running the Yokohamas (I'm not sure how long so far though).
Harold

OBP

Me three on the Pirelli P Zero Nero RFTs. Had them on new when I got my SC CPO in 2008 and they lasted about somewhere in the low 20's k miles. And yes they got pretty noisy at 18-20 k miles and one of them even had a swishing sound with every rotation. Yuck ! And they did tramline on uneven road surfaces too. But all told, I hear they are better than the OEM Dunlop DSSTs but not as good as Mich Pilot Sport A/S ZP.

jasone36

Antigeek, thanks for sharing your experience!

It sounds like Bridgestone Potenza RE960 is the way to go, considering how long they lasted you.

deathstar

I live in VA also. Im running Yokohama Artic Ice snow tires and I am passing 4X4's on the road. These tires grip like crazy in snow and i have driven on ice twice this year with no problems. They are on 17 rims and the ride is just fine.

tromly

:: yes, this was an excellent report about all our tire controversy!