RON430

I realize that this may not be the right area but there was a discussion before Christmas on tires and I said I would post some impressions after my wife's Maxima had the db's put on it.

The car is a Maxima GXE and the only real change was KYB gas shocks. Currently has 75K miles. Replaced Michelin MXV (VR rated) with AVS db, also VR rated, although this car has had XGT Michelins and Pirelli's. This is not necessarily the quietest car in the world, certainly not compared to Lexus. First thing I checked out was the amount of weight to balance. One tire required no weights, two look like they balanced with almost no weight (looks like one quarter ounce), and the final tire looks like it needed one half ounce. To me this is a good sign. If you want problems with a specific tire/wheel combo, have one where there are several ounces of weight required to balance. As for tire noise, there really isn't any up to somewhere in the range of 45 to 50 mph. All comments are with the windows up, too cold and wet around here for anything else. At somewhere around 50 you do finally hear some tire noise although it is extremely low and somewhat dependent on road surface. First surprise, it really does not change with speed. At least up to around 80 there is no increase in the noise level. One of the ways you realize the tires are quieter is you hear other noises more. In this case, the fan on the engine is really noticeable with the dbs on. Ride is subjective but seems very close to the Michelins. We had some good rain over the weekend so the first handling issue was in the wet. Second surprise, the Yokohama's are much better in the wet than the Michelins. If I had Michelin's on my wife's car, I obviously feel they are a very good tire but the Yokohama's are quite noticeably better handling in the wet. After the rain let up the results were about the same. The Yokohama's are a very noticeable improvement in dry handling over the Michelin's. In both the wet and dry, the difference is not subtle in this size (205/65-15 VR) on this car, the difference is, once again, very noticeable. The car just feels that much more stuck to the road. The Michelin's at Costco are (I think) somewhere in the range of $130 to $150 per tire (don't remember and it was a while ago that we bought them). The Yoko's at America's Tire Store were $80 each in the VR rating.

The only area I won't know for a while is tread wear and at this time, I would expect the Michelin to win (nothing to base it on but the Michelin traditionally does very well in this area). In every other area the Yokohama's, at least in my opinion, are a superior tire. The noise difference is dramatic. Michelin's aren't very quiet and worn Michelin's really howl in my experience. And yes, my wife did notice both the drop in noise level and increase in handling. That should let you know that it was a significant change.

Obviously, these comments are on a specific size on a specific vehicle and they might be different in other sizes. I have owned a lot of different tires over the years and some are not so good but a lot of the better tires are comparable but the db's are an impressive tire. Don't know how some of the other performance tires are doing but the comments on the AVS db being one of, if not the quietest tire around seem to be true. While not strictly a high performance tire, the handling is very good and the price also seems to be very good for a VR rated tire.

Hope this helps.

eppan

Good update....I just wished it was on the GS instead of the Maxima.

I think I will buy a set when it is time to replace. I too like having really quiet tires.