Stick it 2 ya

I currently have those Bridgestone Potenza tires that Maximas come with new as original equipment. Today on the way home from work they nearly caused an accident. I went to make a turn but my tires just spun and I sat there in the middle of the road with cars coming. These tires don't have any wet/winter traction at all. I was wondering if you can recommend a better tire for me. I want a tire that is not too expensive (its bad enough to have 17 inch wheels) and has good all around traction.....something much better than the potenzas. Any suggestions are welcome.

Y2K2Driver

iTrader: (1)

I hear you on the poor performane of those Potenzas. Its currently snowing here and I had just about no control most of the time. I would go to make a turn, already about to stall in 2nd, and the car would just keep going straight. Lucky for me no one was coming in the other direction. I know its the tires fault, but I can't help just geting ****ed off at the car and Nissan in particular. Seriously, these things are dangerous. Also, I have to think ABS is on crack at times. When I was coming out of my apartment's parking lot, I had to brake, instead of ABS coming on, the wheels just about locked and almost stalled the engine. Then later on when I had to turn around, I was making a really slow u-turn in some driveway so just when I'm almost done, I put it in neutral. At that exact moment, the car just stops turning whatsoever and ABS goes crazy. I mean, if the ABS isn't going to better car control, then why have it, it did nothing for me this morning. Sorry about the rant, but I'm really ****ed about this. And to think, when I buy newer wheels, these are supposed to be my winter set. I might as well just run summer tires all year round.

Stick it 2 ya

I also don't understand this new trend with automakers. Why are wheels getting bigger? The bigger the wheel, the bigger the tire and the bigger the tire....the more expensive the tire. I really wish the Maxima came with 16s instead. And what also ****es me off is that most places that sell tires don't carry 17 inch sizes.

As for those potenzas? I don't know what else to say. I guess I'll check my tire pressure to see if things are alright. I wonder how long I can expect these tires to last?

T-bone

iTrader: (1)

It sounds like you would be happy with a set of the OEM 16" wheels that came on some of the GXE's. Check out the classified section for a set of 16's. You will have a lot more tire choices with the 16's. Even better, you may be able to find someone who would trade you 16's for 17's. That is what I did


BTW, the problem with tires for the 17's is that they are only 7 inches wide and therefor only have a few options.
You could also step up to a 235/50 17 tire.

Ma><iManiac

Hey man, I know exactly what you mean about the Bridgestone "Pretendaz" After hydroplaning every time it rained, I decided that regardless of the price, it is worth it to replace them. Those things were literally putting me in danger. I decided to go with Kumho ECSTA 711's. VERY nice performance tire, and the handling in wet weather is night and day. These things handle in wet weather the way the potenzas used to in DRY. They are only $100 a tire too. Wider than the potenzas as well. I love them.

http://www.kumhousa.com/pages/pcr/711.htm

That's my suggestion...

badabing

As far as ABS goes, it will not activate at very low speeds from 3 to 6 MPH according to the manual. It makes sense, actually...

NewbieMaxOwner

Do these tires fit on the stock 17" Rims on an 2k1 SE?

Y2KSilvahSE

Just wondering...how are they in snow? jezzuz, anything is better than these suktenza's...you guys are right...they are dangerous to use in anything but sunny and 70 degrees...and going to the Michelin pilot sport a/s's for over 2 bills apiece is a bit tough to swallow financially...

These Kumho's look like a great alternative...might be the way I go next fall...
thanks for the info guy.

MadMax1996

iTrader: (1)

Hmm.. $100/tire is a deal. I know it says they work well in wet conditions - but how about snow? Also, what size did you get because the OEM size isn't listed.

With the snowfall of a couple of inches yesterday it was real fun going home from work last night...

Y2K2Driver

iTrader: (1)

I realize it makes sense, it just caught me off guard since I was barely braking and the wheels just locked immediately and almost stalled the engine.

Bigger wheels = larger brakes fit inside

Ma><iManiac

I will actually have to look and see what size they put on for me. They fit right on the stock SE 17" rims (2K2 SE). They are wider than the potenzas, and the profile is a little thinner, but not so much so that the ride suffers. As far as snow performance, I couldn't tell you. I live in Atlanta. But I would imagine they would do okay. The grooves are nice and deep, but other than that I don't really know what to look for in a snow tire. I've been in the south all my life. LOL. I was going to get Pirelli(sp?) P6000s but then the guy @ Kaufman suggested these tires. He said that they wouldnt ride as hard as the pirelli's, and they are a little wider which improves handling. I have loved them since the day I got them. Great deal for $96 a pop.

kramerica72

Please don't buy the 16" GXE wheels. They are the ugliest thing that Nissan has ever created. If you want factory 16", buy the 2K SE or the 4th gen 5-spoke SE wheels.

releasedtruth

I've got some spicy 16" chrome 5 spokes from the 01 GXE, pretty nice wheels and they came with Toyo Proxes, not a bad tire at all. I like em just fine. I'll sell the wheels when I get 18s, but for now they look good

T-bone

iTrader: (1)

I meant that I have the 5-spoke 16's (as my extra set of wheels). I have an SE that came with 17's and it is a 2K. Yes, those other wheels that you are refering to are ugly.

Jakester

iTrader: (1)

I have 16's on my 2k1 GXE, the front's are sporting Cooper Cobra GT's, they do give good traction in the snow, I havn't had a single issue with them, but, they do deliver a horrible amount of noise on dry surfaces, I get to the point where I have to check to see if I have a flat when the road surface changes!!!!!.

Blackgums100

if you are interested in Winter driving, the summer tires have specific compounds and tread patterns that do not do well in the Winter, you will need a good all season tire. Use the search function, there are so many posts related to tires it will make your head spin worse that your craptenzas.

BTW There are many awesome all season tires, but you get what you pay for, most are between 140-200 and that's from tirerack, who has pretty cheap shipping costs, if you buy them threw your local NTB it's expensive.

Shamus

College Guy, please do check the size of those tires. I'm intrigued that they are wider. Thanks much.

itdood

Those protenzas are horrible even in dry conditions!

The problem with the 17s on the max is that they made an odd rim size, from what I've read, they are 17x7. The norm for 17 I think is 17x7.5, so there aren't a lot of tire manufacturers that supply that size.

I use Dunlop SP5000 (asymetrics) on my Eagle Talon and love them (205 55r16). But I see they don't make the size for the max

They are excellent dry and wet, and I drove on 'em today in this Philly snow no problems.

I used Pirelli 7000 ss for a while. Excellent dry and wet tire, but they were noisey as hell as they wore out!!!!

The Dunlops are very quiet. I would highly recommend the dunlop SP5000s (asyms), but I'm not sure if they make 'em in our odd size.

Have you checked http://www.tirerack.com ???

itdood

NTB has always honered the cost I bring them from tirerack, bring the print out in and they'll meet the price!

Ma><iManiac

Hey man, I just went out to my car and grabbed the tire size. It is: 235/45R17 94H. I hope that helps!

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

H speed rating on an SE?!?! I guess you get what you pay for. Don't take it past the 130 MPH rating, which the SE can do...

Shamus

Thanks College Guy. You have any pics you can post?

Ma><iManiac

Please forgive my ignorance...Is an H speed rating bad??? I don't know much about tires.

jjs

TireRack used ot have a good info area, but can't find where they moved it to...

this might help though...

http://www.coopertire.com/tire_coope...-sidewall.html

Ma><iManiac

M 81
N 87
P 93
Q 99
R 106
S 112
T 118
U 124
H 130
V*(VR) 149
W**(ZR) 168
Y**(ZR) 186

Those are the respective ratings... I still don't know if H would be considered bad or not based on that guys post?? I know I never drive close to that speed, so I guess I shouldn't worry too much. What happens if you hit that speed?

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

Read this article under high speed failure.

Under normal driving conditions, you are ok, but keep in mind that you have no safety margin. The description casually mentions tire delamination in a matter of "seconds." In reality, what you'd be more concered about what happens after those delaminating seconds... Just ask the Explorer/Firestone owners that were probably going sightly over half of the 130+ mph what happens next.

Ma><iManiac

Wow, thanks for the info. I will always keep that in mind.

Stick it 2 ya

Tirerack.com? been there done that. I'm surprised at such little selection of tires for our Maximas. I also cannot fathom purchasing Micheling Pilots.....which will mean $800+ for a set of tires. The maxima isn't a camaro or viper so tires shouldn't even cost this much.

The Kumho's seem like a nice tire for me. As much as I'd love to hit the 145 MPH capeability of my Maxima, that would be very tough even on the highway. Whenever I feel in the mood for a spirited drive I always end up behind a minivan or Jeep Grand Cherokee I have taken my max up to 110 on the highway, my goal is 120 but its highly unlikely I'll hit 130 anytime soon. Its just getting more and more congested in my area and high speed runs are rare for me nowadays.

Anyways, thanks very much for all your help.

cwerdna

What's wrong w/them? I have them (5 spoke 2K2 GXE wheels) and I think they look fine. They don't look THAT different the 6 spoke SE and 7 spoke GLE wheels.

kramerica72

Which are like the 2K SE wheels I mention in my post. I am talking about the 2k GXE wheels

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

I dunno do you remember the rims Nissan out on the 85 and 86 Maxima's they might be a little worse than the 00-01 GXE's!

kramerica72

These beautiful babies??

cwerdna

What's interesting to me is that so many people on this board complain about Craptenza (I'm assuming they're referring to Potenza RE92s) in a variety of conditions, but esp. wet.... It sounds like the govt UTQG ratings aren't that useful since their traction tests are a measure of straight ahead wet braking only, not cornering.

From http://www.bridgestonetire.com/dpp/s...ssproductid=8, all of the Craptenza RE92s got A traction ratings.

More interesting is that this line of tires is included even on some Integras, Infiniti Q45s, Lexus IS300s, and ES300s.

I wonder how these tires compare to what came on my Max (Goodyear Eagle RS-A) which also got A ratings on wet traction...