New tires going on tomorrow.
 

The Wanli S-1063 tires are now at 30K, and they are ready to be replaced. I went to Les Schwab today (yesterday?) and ordered Federal SS-595s in 235/45-17. I've read a bunch of reviews online and its seems that everyone who has run them loved 'em, aside from road noise. The low point seems to be rain, although some people said they were great in the rain as well.

Pics tomorrow.

I've been curious about which tires we use, and why.

I bought my car in 2006. I installed a new set of Toyo Proxes 215/R60x15 on the sawblade rims. These lasted about 65,000 miles. The car was fun to drive and cornered very well. They were rather loud.
When they wore out I saw an interesting ad on Craig's list. Someone bought a set of
Westlake Radial SP06 size 205/60R16 for their 1997 Maxima. They drove the car for two weeks before wrecking their car. I paid 150 bucks for the tires and rims. Direct bolt on, same outside diameter. Since the wheel is larger, the handling improved, the ride not so much.

My Toyos were made in China, for a Japanese company.
The Westlakes are just plain Chinese.

I would rate the Westlakes as Good Enough. They work, nothing exciting, but adequate.
I am curious how a set of Michelin or similar quality would feel on my Maxima SE.

I just put a set of 4 new Michelin Defender's on 2 weeks ago. 205 65/15's on stock rims for my I30. They are quiet compared to the Faulkens I had on. I love them.

I have nitto 555 225 40 18s....on 18x8 helo rims with 1" spacers....stock height...99 se limited...love the nitto tires

What do you love about the tires?

The ride quality is nice...low road noise, excellent grip....low cost at $129 a tire

I drove to work for the first time after having the Federal (Super Steel) SS-595's installed and I was actually scared with the lack of stability. I felt like I had 20* of slop in the steering, and a broken track bar in the rear. I went Back to the tire shop and ordered the Cooper Zeon RS3-A's 235/45ZR-17 94W after doing some online searching. Seems they are supposed to be very responsive with positive feedback.

I will report that the Wanli S-1063's I had previously were worlds better than the Federals. I would have exchanged the Federals for Wanli, however they are discontinued.

Stay tuned.

http://www.federaltire.com/en/images...3394596846.jpg
SS-595

http://images.consumerreports.org/pr...r-zeonrs3a.jpg
RS3-A

Drawbacks to uni-directional tires like the SS-595 is that you can only rotate them front to back. Because the tire is always rolling forward, tire noise goes up as the tire ages.

Criss cross rotation enables the tire to be rotated from left front to right rear etc. This enables the tire to run 5K miles going forward, then 5K miles going backward. This enables the tire to wear better and stay quieter for longer.

Tires with patterns like the RS3-A (Marking on the sideall say THIS SIDE FACING OUT) allow criss-cross rotation, therefore better wear/noise potential during the life of the tire, assuming regular rotations, of course.

i have yokohama avid envigors 225 50 17's and they are noisy, that's where my stereo kicks in. :) i always liked the response of the yoko's, and they've been around for awhile. also, i stopped buying new tires about 2-3 years ago cause it's a waste of money, i have a great local used tire source or 2 that always has a decent set or however many i need. for about half price.

I used various flavors of 235/40-18's, and finally gave up after bent rims....

I've used Kumho Escsta 4x's and they seem to wear pretty fast, but I plan on getting another set of 4X 2's, with rebate it's in the $66 range for the SE 215's?

I had the Coopers installed they are quieter and more responsive.

I have the exact same size tires on the front of my car and 255/40r17 on the rear.

These are good tires for the money but there are definitely better tires out there. Handle well in wet or dry and are pretty quiet. I like these better than the Sumitumo htr3 I had on my g35c wheels, even though the Coopers are all season.

I have Yokohama YK580s on my Maxima and I am very happy with the level of road noise and responsiveness. They are very quiet and handle really well in my opinion.

you can't really compare $66.00 tires to $140.00 tires. that's what yokohama's are averaging for a good all season radial tire. i've had yoko's last 2-3 years a set as compared to cheaper stiff wall tires that are also low pro's that might last maybe a year. different driving styles because race car :D

I like Coopers.

I had the Cooper response touring from SEARs. Great all seasons. I ran the set for two years which for me is like 60k miles :p, the fronts were destroyed, Im still using the rears ;). Now im all mismatched tires lol.

I have another buddy who has Cooper CS4s. We got them around the same time and his are still going strong. albeit, he drives way less miles than me

When I bought my Max, it had Cooper CS4 tires. They looked fairly new with a little wear & tear. I've driven on the horrible freeways & streets of SoCal & they're still going strong! Great tires