GrantG

I am looking to replace my stock 2001 GS430 stock tires. Right now I have the 17" rims on my car. I am driving in Chicago so I will be driving with some snow on the ground in the winter. I am not looking to replace my tires for summer/winter driving however.

Here are the tires I have been looking at:

continental contiextreme contact, michelin pilot sport a/s, and toyo proxies 4,

Toyo review:
http://www.1010tires.com/tirereviews...e_reviews.html

Michelin Review:
http://www.1010tires.com/tirereviews...e_reviews.html

Basically I wanted something that will work well in the snow when it snows but I won't be driving in the snow that often. I am looking for something that will still be high performance in the summer as well. Cost really isn't a big deal but I would like something that would last about 20,000 miles..

Has anyone had any experience with any of these tires and would recommend one over the other?

Thanks,
Grant

e-man

I've got the 17" Pilot Sport A/S. They are great tires, summer and winter (although I currently have a set of 16s on for the winter). I have 23,000 miles on them, and they will probably last only until 30,000 miles (if I'm lucky). Performance is great in the summer. Relatively quiet and comfortable and very sticky. They perform well in the winter as well, although I think they're more geared for summer driving. I live in Chicago also, and I think that unless you're going to get a set of snow tires (which really isn't necessary here), you can't go wrong with the Pilot Sport A/S's.

e-man

slawek65

Hey, I live in Chicago to. I have Toyo Proxes 4 on my car now and I love them. I have set of winter rims with tires to but I don't put them on my car yet (no snow so far) I don't think You needed winter tires if You drive most of the time in the city.I can't tell how good Toyo's are for snow, have them on my car for few months now but overall I am very happy with this tires. BTW- Toyo's price is very good compare to overpriced Michelin Pilots.

GrantG

Thanks for the advice. I was leaning toward the Toyo tires myself... The reason I was asking specifically about tires in the snow was because I was driving on the 94 the other day and it started to snow and I was going about 40MPH and my car kept fish tailing even though I was driving completely straight. Maybe something else is wrong with the car? Sometimes I will be driving it and it seems to suddently swerve to the right. The alignment I know is a little off but not too much. It does tend to pull to the right a little. I do know my tires have about 24,000 miles on them and they are the stock ones (which aren't that bad I think). I think the stock 17" tires are the Potenza tires?

Thanks,
Grant

mmarshall

"Overpriced", however, is a relative term. With tires, you usually get what you pay for. There is a reason WHY Michelins cost what they do....especially an excellent tire like the Pilot Sport.

flipside909

I'll vouch for the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. I've had them on my IS now for 7 months and logged over 15k miles on them. I've driven them long distance, canyon carving trips and several hard laps around California Speedway and they still run as smooth as they were new. The tread design and compound is great. With the recent rains we had here in SoCal, wet weather grip is more superior than the stock Bridgestone RE040's I used to have on the car. The longer treadwear is definitely a bonus if you do high mileage commuting like myself. You get what you pay for but it's definitely worth every penny.

e-man

It may not be your alignment. I've heard that the stock Potenzas have a tendency to pull one way or the other when they get deep into the tread wear (I've also heard that they're a little on the noisy side). My Pilot Sport A/S's were also pulling to the right after 20,000 miles. However, once I rotated them front/back, it solved the problem.

slawek65

Yes, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is very good tire, but for much less You can get same if not better tire. Check Tirerack, under all season tires Michelin Pilot is #2 and Pirelli Nero is #1 with price much less then Michelin.So if You going with price, the higher the price the better the tire Michelin is the winner, but if You going with price plus overall performance I don't think Michelin is #1.But this is only my opinion.

mmarshall

Do you have a limited-slip-differential? On some rear-drive cars, an LSD can cause minor side-to-side rocking on slippery surfaces by constantly re-shifting the torque back and forth between the two rear wheels.

mooretorque

24k miles is a lot on those Bridgestone RE030s. By and large, I think most of us agree that they are overpriced crap: noisy, bad tramlining, tendency to pull to one side or another (as opposed to tramlining = following grooves/ruts/pavement irregularities), poor wet traction, and, of course, worthless in snow/slush (and not too good when the temp drops below 40 F.). With the exception of winter traction (for which neither the RE030 or the S03 were designed anyway), Bridgestone has a FAR better tire in the S03.

You might also want to look at Pirelli P Zero Neros. They were highly rated by Tire Rack (and the consumer posted ratings were even higher than the Michelins) plus about $65/tire cheaper. TR will drop ship them whereever you designate. I had a slight problem with 2 of the 4 they sent me initially and they responded by same-day shipping two replacements!!! Without charging my credit card!! (Ordinarily these places will charge your card and then issue a credit when the defectives are actually returned.)

I've got a thread elsewhere on the Tire subforum in which I talk about performance to date, but I'll summarize by saying that, when time comes to replace these Pirellis, there will have to be something demonstrably better for me to change!!!

Lexusfreak

Grant, what is the exact tire size you need? There maybe more (perhaps better) choices in the size you need.

GrantG

My tires size is 235/45zr17. That is what I have on my car now.

Lexusfreak

The only other tire I would ad to your list would be the Falken Ziex ZE-512. Awesome tire & came in first place overall in a test of about 20 all season performance tires. Excellent in heavy rain, snow & ice traction are fantastic! www.falkentire.com (go to 'all season performance after selecting 'tires') They are made by Sumitmo, a Japanese tire company. Much cheaper than the others too! Good Luck!

aks_01

I would recommend for you to go for goodyear eagle f1 with EMT I think they are the most perfect tyres for wet and dry surfaces

and as a second option comes contenintal tyres as well ,,, but they are not good as goodyears ones ...

mostly for the wet surface I ll go as well for bridgestone GR50 they are very perfect on wet surfaces ,,, but be carfe for the year of make and the secifications of your car size, treadware, hight and width,, this more important than the tyres type .

Lexusfreak

aks, Do to the location of where Grant lives (snow & ice conditions this time of year), soem of your suggestions are for summer or warm climates, not for all season conditions.