One of the favorite things to do in this forum is to trash our OEM 225/50R17 Bridgestone Potenza RE92 tires. Listen to some people and you'll come away with the impression that the RE92 is the worse tire ever made and you should get rid of them immediately regardless of mileage. Listen to others and they'll tell you that they got over 50k miles on their RE92s before they replaced them. So who's right?

Cast your vote.

 

I got 41k out of them... but that was living very dangerously

 

jnovember got 52K out of his RE92s and he lives in NEW JERSEY! I live in sunny Southern California. I've got 30k miles on mine and there's plenty of tread life left on them. Based on jnovember's experience, I'd feel like a wimp if I didn't get at least 40k miles out of mine.

 

i got 42,000 out of mine, i'm in florida. i could of probably went another 5k.

i got some pilots in 235/50/17, which should last a bit longer than the potenzas.

 

I got rid of mine with 30-some thousand, but I bought the car with 22K. I hated them. Rain traction is awful. I don't know how Nissan and Bridgestone can justify those being useful tires.

 

34k on mine. yup they suuk in rain and are even worse in snow, But if you are REAL careful in those conditions you are ok. Theres still plenty of tread left too, so I can't justify spending close to a grand on Michelens yet. I almost wish they'd wear out faster...They'd be a great tire for Florida or Arizona...but not up here in Mass.

 

I am from MA as well and almost killed myself this morning!! I have already been through 2 winters with those damn things and they were somewhat tolerable until now. 25k on them and they are even more worthless than before....if that is possible

 

Yup I know what you mean maxoman...Its like you have to really lay back and be very conservative in your driving style to be safe, which, in the snow I really dont mind. Most of the time I try and stay off the roads anyways during snowstorms. If I must go out I'll use the fiance's Accord.

 

When these tires were brand new they weren't really that bad. However, now that I have 30K on these tires the wet traction is really bad. I need to get rid of these tires before bad things happen.

 

I replaced mine at around 45k. By then they were completely unusable in the wet. They seem okay when new, but they drop-off in performance fairly quickly...suprising since they aren't exactly soft compound tires. Forget about snow. Just don't do it.

Anyway, I have a new set of Pilot Sport A/S's on my SE and have been completely satisfied with them.

 

Good:
------
--Good tread left for 16,500 miles, but 95+% are highway with 40+psi.
--Dry traction is very good.
--I like that these tires are very linear at the loss of traction point allowing you to feel the car slowly let go with PLENTY of warning to recover.

BAD:
----
--Noisy, noisy, noisy. Pebbles sound like boulders and oil patches on cracks THUD loudly.
--Traction in the rain is scaaaaaary, luckily it doesn't rain here much.
--Squeal pretty easily on turns.

 

i traded up the pilots at 17k. i probably could have gone another thousand miles or so but i had too many occurences in the rain where i could easily break traction at around 25-30mph. they were good in the beginning but starting giving way around 10k. they were a good tire when it was dry but just scary when it was raining even if i tried babying it.

 

Can only give an account for the last 8k of the 41k miles they were on. bought my car with 33k miles on it.

33k - 41k dry driving conditions, decent.

33k - 41k wet driving conditions, well i was the slow driving Sterling Mist that you past on your way home, to work, school,......

41k - Pilots arrived and well it's a whole nother ball-game.

 

I bought the car with 16k miles on it, and had to replace the tires at 22k miles. I live in Atlanta and driving in the rain in this traffic was absolutely insane. Way too slippery on the old tires.

 

I bought the car in the high 30's last winter. I drove it once in the snow and then I FINALLY replaced them about a week ago. In the rain, they are not great. They were fine in the dry...for me. I switched them at 57K!!!

 

11,000 miles and getting Pilot Sport A/S's installed next week (only cause they had to order them).

Not bad in the dry (cut a 2.15 60' on 'em ), but can't even make a lousy turn in my office parking lot without pushing when it's drizzling.

And in the recent snow we've had in the Chicago area (around an inch in my area), let's just say I couldn't even leave a stoplight, it felt like I was going to get stuck.

 

Dry traction is acceptable. Wet traction is poor. Snow traction sucks my ***. My '91 Cavalier with it's $35 tires had better traction. I felt safer in that car. I'm ordering steelies with snow tires ASAP. I don't know how these tires ever qualified for all-season.

And they have tons of road noise too. Another thing I'm looking forward to when I get my snow tires is less road noise.

 

Just replaced them @ 292xx miles. Her car and she does not drive it agressively unless she is ticked. Anyway, I say for 15k miles they were ok (basically the first 2 winters we had the car) and then around 20k miles the wanted to the 4 wheel drift in corners. The last 5k have been dangerous, especially on our crazy roads. Just installed a set of Cooper Lifeliner SLE Touring 225/50VR17's on it and it is a totally different car! Much quieter (much closer to the 99 SE we had previously with Toyo Proxes on it). Their retail price is around $135 per tire by I got a deal thru my old man's shop! Drove it all weekend in snow and rain and they have great bite on either snow or wet surfaces. Only with it on the floor in wet or in 2-3 inches of snow did the TC light flash at me. What is more important is that she feels much better about driving her Max now! And when she is happy I am happy!

 

The RE92s are PEICES OF CRAP. Nissan really needs to learn to put a decent tire on their cars. The RE92 sucks in the dry, rain, and snow. For a "high performance all seeason tire" the dry grip is pretty pathetic. Bridgestone has to be crazy for selling them for 160 a tire.

 

I test drove 03 in the rain and the sales guy nearly wet his pants, I'd say I puckered up a little...I almost lost it but the fronts caught and avoided my buying one right then and there....yeah those are not all weather tires.

 

Despite the browbeating the RE92's traditionally take on this forum, 3 out of 5 Maxima owners who have voted thus far indicate that they are generally satisfied with their tires provided they don't push them too hard in wet weather. I'd say that pretty much does away with the notion that those who complain the most also speak for the majority of us.

 

my dad's Q45 also came with RE92s(215/60/16s). because my dad and even i dont' really drive that crazy with the Q, the tires were actually pretty good, even in rain. gave us pretty good mileage too considering the tire had a tread wear of 160(we got 51,000miles out of the tires, mostly highway driving). now, i don't know how much of a difference going from 215/60/16s to 225/50/17s make, but i think as long as you drive within the limit of the tires, it's ok.

 

My Re92's are great at the track but other than that I would trust pep boys 4 for $99 tires more

 

Had mine on for the 1st 10k. They were ok on dry pavement but were horrible when it rained. Snow? Fuggheddaboudit...

One time it snowed all day while I was at work and I have a 40 min commute home. Well on the way home I noticed that I was the slowest car on the highway! No joke....And I still felt uneasy driving that day. Shame on Nissan for eqquiping the Max with this garbage.

 

They certainly don't have Uni T, whatever the hell that is. Got 28K plus miles on mine (about half tread or so) and after driving in the Chicago snow earlier this week, they sure don't compare to the traction they had when new. The week I bought the car I went throuh a yellow light exiting a highway on slush and it handled pretty well (back then). If I tried that today I'd end down the 35 foot ramp embankment...

 

I currently have 22,3xx on my tires - If you really baby them in the wet, then they are barely acceptable. However, I've had one to many scary experiences with these tires in the wet. If it's wet and my clutch/gas pedal timing if off a hair the front wheels spin like crazy. Or if I take a turn a little to fast it's hydroplane city!

 

They SUCK!!! Replace them ASAP!!!

Seriously, it is unacceptable to me to run on tires that require pampering in anything but dry conditions. Obvisouly all tires will hydroplane or break loose at some limit of another...the limit on the RE92's is dangerously low.

Also, I don't know how one defines "don't push them in wet weather"...what is pushing? Down here when it rains, it is often a near 'white-out' of rain and spray from other vehicles, puddles of water, etc. AND traffic flows (at least where I drive) at 70+ mph. This is "normal driving conditions".

 

They are as bad as everyone says. Check out the Tirerack's rating of them.

The RE92s are a horrible tire and rip off. The RE92s in suck in wet weather, they hydroplane way too easily. In snow they cause white knuckles and lack any type of traction.

Your poll is kind of flawed.....It should have included the type of climate you lived in. In the Southwest, I can see these tires being decent. In any area where the temperature drops below 32 and snow is a possibilty, these tires are a joke.

 

That voted "They're excellent. Keep them as long as you can.". You clearly clicked the wrong vote and/or don't drive on these tires.

There always has to be one wise azz, who goes against the vote because he wants to be cool.

 

You may be right, MAX2000JP. But obviously there was no way to include climate in the number of responses I had to work with. In addition, I believe I saw a poll once indicating that most Org contributors live East of the Mississippi. If that's the case, climate can't be as much of an issue as you make it out to be. After all, jnovember managed to get 52K miles out of his Potenzas living in New Jersey. I assume the weather in New Jersey still gets below freezing in the winter.

 

You know, Mr. Moderator, it's possible that you're wrong and that the individual in question actually likes their tires. Perhaps someone in your position should take a somewhat more unbiased view of other people's opinions. Just a thought.

 

I'm not a moderator. No power.

Anyways, no need to be unbiased, just use common sense. Sure manufacturers use the BEST tire available, right? Of course not, it's all about the $$$$$. Not to mention noise and wet traction. I don't get much rain out here and I'd still want a tire that offers better wet traction.

So, if we are talking Performance, as this thread has focused on, your a fool if you think OEM tires are "excellent". Aparently, you've NEVER driven another tire for comparison.

 

You are correct. Why your status indicates "Moderator" is beyond me. But the fact that you're not a moderator is not surprising. And BTW, I'm not the person who voted as you suspect. I'm just one of the practically 2 to 1 majority who voted that the RE92s are not as bad as you and others make them out to be.

 

Not surprising, eh?

I voted the same as you then and pretty much knew it wasn't you. I figured, it's just someone trying to stir up the bees nest.

I call a spade a spade. No more, no less.

 

NP

 

I almost forgot. Did you/your wife ever make it by Technosquare?

If not, it's ok, I never heard back from him. I was just hoping for and update.

 

Nope. I doubt that will happen before the 1st of the year.

 

Hell, I doubt we'll see a product ever!

[edit]
I just reread my post above and I meant "you" and "your" in a General reference NOT directed to you personally. Foolish was probably a better word then fool anyways.
[/edit]

 

I am going to make a blanket statement here.....

Anyone that says that the RE92 is acceptable really doesn't know much about tires. There is no way that they are even close to my current KWDS's in ANY catagory, nor the leader of the segment, the Pilot A/S's.

 

I don't think anyone is arguing that point, MAX2000JP. I think the consensus view is that the RE92s are basically OK as long as you don't push them too hard in wet weather. That's all.