I have no complaints at all with my Kumho Ecsta LX Platinums... high treadwear rating of 600, quiet, sidewalls look good.

 

Greetings All-
Yes I know there is a tire section but thought I would target my fellow 3rd Gen owners with this question. The set of Falken Ziex tires on wifes car are about to go **** up and I've been searching the world over for something a step up to be honest. Road noise and harshness from these have been a bit too much. Shaving it down to a few sets here and wanted to see if anyone has 18" wheels and perhaps these tires on their ride. My wheels are Foose (machined w/ black) and look sharp on white frost car. Order of preference:

1. Cooper CS4
2. Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum
3. Conti Extreme DWS

Would love and feedback from you folks and perhaps pics on an 18" wheel. Willing to forgive the severe sport ride for a bit of comfort, as the Coopers seem to profess. Side note-just bought a huge set of Toyo tires for my Dodge 2500 and Tread Depot had the best prices I've seen on tires after shipping. Matter of fact their prices on the above tires are best I've seen too! Many thanks!

Semper Fi !

Fitz

 

Although they are not on your list, I have found the Michelin Pilot Sport AS Plus's to be the best tires. They have great traction, long life and are quiet. Just my 2 cents and opinion.

 

Michelin Primacy MXV4 245/45-18 can't even tell the difference between my Toyo Proxes 4 which is supposed to be a high performance tire. I have also owned the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S series 2 no difference to my MXV4. That's my choice.

 

By the way i rode the Kumho Ecsta ASX for 2 weeks and returned to discount tire for the Michelins. Go big or go home.

 

Continentals or Michelins for me.

I run the Conti DW in the warm months and MXV4 in the cold months. I'll get the DWS for winter next time around.

(BUT... I have heard that Cooper has been doing really well recently, and that there are VERY few comparisons to some of the heavy hitters.)

 

Good info gents. Thx!

 

I thought our tires were 245/40 R18 on the stock 18" rims??

 

They are, but a 245/45-18 gives you another inch of ground clearance and more sidewall for a more comfortable ride and fills up your tire wells quite well. Plus maybe slows down the odometer just a bit.

 

I've run the MXV4s on a couple cars and still have them on the GS300. Great tire. Running Nitto's NT555 on GS350 and love these tires and the price even more.

 

Very good way of putting it ziggy. Found the lower profile creates a more harsh ride so opted for the 45s. The rep at Tread Depot asked same question if they fit ok. No issues on the Falkens I ran over last year but looking fwd to a smoother ride with th e Conti.

 

There are a bunch of threads on this topic (whether you can go 245/45/18 as opposed to 245/40/18). There are a number of guys who have done it, but they have reported rubbing issues on full turns (e.g., pulling in and out of parking spaces). Is that not the case? I am getting ready for new tires and would love the slightly taller sidewall for purposes of ride comfort.

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I've had good experienced with Toyo Proxes 4's, Conti DW's and currently running Falken Azenis PT 722's. All have been smooth, quiet and have pretty good grip. Good tread life also but that all depends on the driver. I don't push my GS like I did my IS.

 

Michelin tires FTW........

 

Happy with the Coopers I'm running. I have the RS3-A's. Much better than Dunlop run flats. But then again, it doesn't take much to outperform run flats.