amaghazi

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share with you my own experiences with these tires on my 2000 2G GS300 running on 245/40R18. I used the following tires:
1- Bridgestome Potenza RE960AS pole position
2- Goodyear Eagle F1 A/S-C EMT
3- Michelin pilot sport A/S
4- Toyo Proxes 4
5- Yokohama ADVAN s.4.


I used these in Boston, MA all around the season in summer/ rain and light snow in the winter.


I drove every set of tires for about 20,000 miles over the last few years on my own car and my wife's which is also a 2000 2G GS300. I am using the stock 16" as a reference. i got the car with Goodyear Eagle (which was a piece of crap and I had to change them to Michelim Pilot Exalto A/S- which was ok). Here is my review:

1- Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS. Quite expensive. Nice tires. Good handling. I liked the feeling. Noise on the road was slightly higher. Rougher ride. They were ok tires. No complaints but they are not wow and I wouldnt pay that price for these tires again.

2- Goodyear Eagle F1. I ABSOLUELY hated these tires. They were good in handling and were somewhat quite. My problem with them was that my car had a shake at abot 65mph with these tires. I alligned them multiple times without any effect. I took the car to the dealer who told me that they think it's the tires and that they do not recommend goodyear (weird because Lexus originally came with goodyear). I actually had a HUGE fight with the dealership and I called the corporate office complaining because these tires were recommended by Lexus. They ended up not doing anything about it and telling me Lexus does not support any brand of tires over another. I was about to sue them but dropped the issue. This shake that I used to get is different from the shake that other G owners described, it was deffinitely a tire related shake and the dealership said they saw it on the alignment system and their recommendations was to change the tires. I started getting this vibration when the tires were about 9000 miles driven and it became really bad. at 12,000 I had to abandon the tire, took them to goodyear for inspection/warranty. Their rude customer service representative told me they examined them and they find them fine. I had the dealer call them and basically we were running around in circles as the dealer refused to admit fault be recommending these tires and the goodyear people saying it's a good tire and there must be a problem with the car. So i dropped the subject, threw the tires away and swore not to buy goodyear again.

3- Michelin Pilot sport A/S. These were my 2nd best tires to fit the car. I got them after the goodyear and you could definitely feel the difference. they are not that noisy. I had good experience handling them during rain and in sharp corners. They were slightly better than the bridgestone in my experience and definitely dependable. The three problems are 1) they are ridiculously expensive with no performance difference to justify that jump in price. 2) they had ridiculously LOW treadlife. I think they were gone in 17,000 miles with slightly more aggressive than normal driving. 3) light snow traction was bad, really bad that i almost got into an accident because of these tires on very light snow.

4- Toyo Proxes 4 A/S. best tires period on my GS. Absolutely quiet. Handling is superb. Wet and dry traction is AMAZING and 2nd to none. Tracking in light snow is SUPERB (you probably dont need winter tires in light snow). They lasted for 35,000 miles with aggressive driving and always looked new and hot, I loved these tires and I am definitely going to buy them. My wife loved them as well and said the car felt totally different with these babies on. More importantly they were not not pricey, and they came with ridiculously great warranty (free replacement/repair through the treadlife of the tire) from town fair tire in massachusetts.

5- Yokohama. These were good tires. I rank them 3rd after Toyo and Michelin. slightly noisier than Toyo. handling is worse than Toyo and Michelin but still very good. Treadlife is fantastic and prices are good. I just was not that comfortable with them especially in rain and slight snow.

Scott1258

Great write up! Thanks for the info.

Question about the Toyo's - Did they tramaline on the road or did they track nice and straight?

Also, what was the performance like? They are an all season tire so I would guess they did not handle as well as say the Goodyears. Let me know if I'm wrong and how they handle.

And, are the sidewalls more soft or more firm?

Thanks!

Scott

amaghazi

hey scott.

the toyo were nice and straight.

The handling performance is better than all A/S 've seen but of course takig into account they are all-season, of course they are not as the dedicated summer tires. But in winter they have great tracking in rain and light snow.

I am not sure if the sidewalls are soft or firm honestly.

hope that helps.

AG

Nunzie

I thought about getting the TOYO FZ4, but after hearing your high regards for the proxes 4, I might get those for the extra $100 for all four.

Thanks for sharing this great info.

JRRRRRR

I have the Goodyear Eagles and can testify to their noisiness. I recently put on a set of Blizzak WS-60 snow tires and that's when I realized how quiet my car could be. I definitely going to be looking at the Toyo's next spring, when these Blizzaks come off and get stored.

-JRRRRRR

bhuwan

Does tirerack have the Toyo Proxes 4 A/S ? I dont see them?

greyBLITZ

iTrader: (2)

Fantastic! I was hoping there would be a write-up like this to compare all the major brands. Thanks a lot, it's been really helpful.

Nunzie

Call them. I got mine from Tirerack in NH

Brennan401

Thank you for the brake down. I have Goodyear F1 GS D4, 245s on 18x8. I ALSO am having the same problem with mine. It is a strange shake at 68 mph and stops after 70 mph then comes back over 85 mph but softer. I have had my tires road forces balanced, from end aligned, and so..I changed my spaces to H&Rs. I really thought I was crazy. I really want to thank you for the info. This helps alot.

WhitBaby

I had a situation like this with some Goodyears some years ago on a new Taurus.

During the third trip to the Goodyear store I ran across an old timer, manager, actually he was a co-owner, semiretired, that just happened to be in the shop area that morning.

He looked at the work order and called the youngster over that had installed the tires, balanced, etc. and been my main contact with this problem.

He asked the kid if the tires were round. The kid said he balanced them, that's all anyone can do. The manager looked him in the eye and said:

"Boy, you can BALANCE a SQUARE tire!"

The second wheel they put on the balancer was out of round by over 3/16", the wheel was fine, and it was indeed balanced.

The old dude said at one time they had something called a 'skiver' that could slice rubber off new tires to make them round. But the tires have gotten so much better over the last couple decades no one had them anymore.

They replaced the tire, balanced it, checked for roundness and worked great.

WhitBaby

JRRRRRR

This may exactly what I am experiencing. Lexus has balanced the tires and yet I continue to feel a very slight vibration. Where do I go to find out if the wheels are round? Lexus? A tire company?

-JRRRRRR

WhitBaby

The tire shop at Goodyear just put them on the balancer (rotating, not bubble ;-) and used a white chalk like a dial indicator on a lathe. The tire was spinning slowly, he steadied his forearm against the machine and slowly lowered the hand-held chalk until it just made contact with the tire.

The resulting chalk mark should make near-constant contact with the tire all the way around. NOT the sudden solid mark at the high point.
You might be able to do this yourself on a jack with a helper.

Good luck,
Whit

gadgetman1

This is probably apples & oranges, but I purchased a new 2006 Toyota Tundra TSS pickup with stock Toyo Proxes 20" tires. They almost looked like a racing tire. They road like a tank. In less than 3,000 miles, the truck began to pull if you let go of the steering wheel. We went to the local Toyota dealer for them to check out the truck & tires. They are directional, so they tried them front to back & vice versa & the truck still pulled. They reversed the rotation & found they pulled the opposite way then. They determined three out of the four tires were defective, but said I would have to deal with Toyo myself. I opened up a case & found there was no local dealer for those tires & they further angered me by stating they could only replace two tires & not three. Who does this?! That is complete bs. I found the nearest dealer & purchased a tire warranty from them. Then, I took my dealer paperwork & warranty info in & had them evaluate the truck. They determined the tires were bad & suggested I switch to Yokahoma tires for a better ride & better longevity. They were a major tire distributor & said they had lots of issues with the Toyo tires (the reason there weren't many dealers). I will NEVER own Toyo tires again. I was extremely happy with the Yokohamas. Just food for thought in considering tire warranties. I've had bad tires from Goodyear & they replaced all four with no drama. I've had good service from several Bridgestone & Michelin tires. To each, his own.