tomz17

I have a Max with 17" OEM wheels (se w/ c&c package)...

Yesterday, I pull out of garage, and (for some reason), turned down the radio, only to hear "clickity-clack"... I stop, took a look around, and everything looked ok... But there was still this gut feeling that prevented me from getting on the highway...

I stopped again, and this time, I noticed a screw lodged in my tire... so i pulled it out, and checked whether there was a leak... (i put soap on the spot, and sure enough, air was leaking out... but slowly)..

So i drove down to my nissan dealer (like a 5 min trip) so that he could plug it...


Funny thing is, that while he was able to plug THAT hole, the guy doing it found a nail lodged in the inside wall of another tire... (it was a real nasty cut)... so after about 30 minutes of trying to plug it, he said that they're gonna have to replace the tire, cuz it wouldn't be safe to drive on it... So they had it in stock, for $188... So I'm like "WOW... $188???".. I knew that these tires were expensive, but not THAT expensive!!!

Anyway, I had them put the new tire on, and it came out to $229 (for plugging, mounting/balancing, + parts [plugs + tire])...

My Question is, what are my options when it comes time to change all 4 tires... (as you can see $188 x 4 = LOTS OF MONEY).

Also, how long should I expect the potenzas to last (miles), and how often should they be rotated (in theory, at least)... My Nissan dealer claims every 7,500 miles...

-Tom

Oh, and one more thing, would an alignment under 12,000 miles be necessary (I heard somewhere on the board that Nissan would cover the cost)...

Sonic

1.) Your going to here this from everyone, the RE92s are okay in dry weather, but leave alot to be desired in wet weather. As for there tread life, I believe that they are about average, about 25000 miles depending on driving conditions of course.
2.)Michelin and Nitto make tires in 225/50/-17 sizes also. Pilot XGT Z4s are approximately 171 a tire and Pilot SX MXX3s are 221 a tire. They both have good dry traction and acceptable wet weather traction. Nittos? I don't know but I hear from others that the wet weather traction is not so great also. That's about it for the 225/50 size. You can get many more options for tires by going to a non OEM size, but be warned that your odometer and speedometer will be off anywhere from 2 to 6 percent depending on tire size. The rim is 7" across, limiting your tire width to about 245. Unfortunely, tires about 16 inches get to be very expensive quickly dur to the limit market for them. By the time you get to 19" tires, they cost about 300 a tire.

3.)Tires should be rotated to even out unequal wear from being in any one position, unless they are unidirectional. Every 7500 miles is recommended for most tires. As for an alignment, it depends on your driving situation. In NYC with its many, MANY unavoidable potholes, frequent alignments are a necessity. But make sure that it is due to a misalignment, and not a suspension or steering componenent wearing out.

bert

The thing with going to a different size is that the first place we look is to a wider tire, usualy something like a 235/45R17. Unfortunately this fit is not reccomended for a 7 inch wide rim so we risk premature wear.

Maxmann

I had Nissan replace my stock protendas with Michellin HX MXM4. Now I have a flawless highway ride and have not given up anything in grip and performance handling. My ride with the protendas was jittery and did not inspire confidence on the road.

The Protendas were trash and I lived with them for 2 months while waiting for Nissan to take them back.

As for me and my max...Michellins will be the only tire between it and the road. And they are in spec size...no change in tire size was necessary.

2001SE

This sunday the 18th, i parked my car and i noticed a tear on the side of the rear passanger tire. I took a look and it was very deep. I went to Sears Auto center to take a look and the guy told me not to bother. so I drove for another day and i decided to go to the dealer because i thought about the tire blowing or somthing would happen to it. They told me it should be replaced and it cost 250 with the labor. I was shocked that a tire like that cost about 200 bucks. so i am thinking when i'll need to replace all four it would cost me a grand. so i replaced it and i took the bad tire home. When i get home i see that there were 3 nails and screws in it. I was saying where the fu*k could those come from.

Anyway the dealer said i probably ran into a pothole while i was turning.

I hope it won't happen again

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like you guys have some JEALOUS neighbors or something! Damn that's a lot of road trash in your tires. Makes me want to go check mine out right now.


srmtn, How did you convince your dealer to swap your Potenzas? I to think these tires lack in ride quality.

MrBurner

srmtm...you should try some real performance tires...if you like the michelins, you will love any sort of performance oriented Z rated tire w/ a V or W tread...if you have the money, get the bridgestone potenza pole position s02's...you will then say that you will never get anything else...explore your options before making a statement like that...the stock potenzas suck in every possible way (i got 14,500 miles out of mine) so i changed to bf goodrich g-force tires...i am fairly happy w/ these tires but, since i live in arizona, we don't get rain often...the dry traction on these tires is better than the re92's, but after being in many of my friends cars w/ nittos and performance tires like that, i decided to trade the g-force tires in for bridgestone potenza re730s...these are a fair price of $140 per tire and are supposed to handle extremely well in wet and dry...just when you replace your tires (when the stock ones wear out) try out other options...i'm not saying buy a bunch of tires and test them, but make friends w/ people with modified cars and take rides in them...or go to a used car lot and look for a car w/ the tires you want and take that and a version w/o the tires for a test drive...sure you may notice a small difference between the michelins and the re92s, but if you get something like the potenza s02's, you will feel the most control you have ever felt behind the wheel...putting on cattman coilovers, a set of 18" rims w/ potenza s02 tires, fstb, rsb, rstb should all add up to bring you skidpad well over .95 and possibly over 1...new tires make a huge difference...that being said

i got a call from discount tire today and they have my re730's in...they just got them so i am going there tomorrow morning to get them installed...i'll let everyone know how it turns out

i would reccomend going with 235/45ZR17 tires because then you get many more options than with the rare stock size...

i'd reccomend the bridgestone potenza pole position s02's (if you have the money...i think they are around the area of $210 each), potenza re730s, toyo proxes t1-s, nitto nt-555 etc...the longer a tire lasts most likely the worse it will perform for you in dry/wet conditions (not always true, but mostly...the s02's last for under 20,000 miles, but i've heard they are well worth it)...if you go with 235/45ZR17, your speedometer will be off by a maximum of 1 or 2 mph and your handling should improve and you have many more tire options

slick

for the potenzas? i have the toyo's, h-rated i think, and the dealer told me that the tread should last for 40k, to even 50k miles, depending on driving conditions of course. i dont drive fast(i dont race or anything), so should the tires actually last that long, or was that salesperson smoking something?

NYC2SD

I got quoted $155 for the Nitto's from discount tire. Word of advice for all 17" owners. Get the tire road hazard insurance from your local tire shop. It should cost around $50 for all 4 tires. It will save you big $$$ when you need you tires replaced or even if you get a repairable flat or two.

Sonic

You could in theory get that much mileage, but you better baby that car and the tires. Where do you live? How much do you drive. on highway or less smooth roads? Hw hard do you launch or brake? Like I said before, you could get that much mileage off of them, but remember that the salesmans job is to sell you a tire by telling you whst you want to here. For a review of the tire go to http://www.tirerack.com go to tires and then go to Brdgestone Potenza RE92s. They even have bad things to say about the tire.

Maxmann

Well, it started as soon as I bought the car. I complained about the ride quality because it felt as though the tires needed balanced. After all, it was made in July and I bought in December. I thought it was a reasonable assertion, even thought they might have developed a flat spot since when I took delivery it only had 85 miles, and 60 of those were to deliver the car to Nashville.

Anyway, the dealer took the car, balanced the tires, and adjusted the Road Force Variance on the front...thought that would help. It did, but marginally. It still felt as though the tires were out of balance especially at 70+ mph. So, I took the car to NTB for them to check balance, and it is here I began asking about exchange on another set. NTB found only minor out of balance, not enough to cause a bad ride. By this time, I was convinced the tires were fine, but that this ride quality was simply the ride they delivered. I knew that this car should deliver a better ride, and the tires were the cause. After NTB contacted BS about an exchange, it was a no go, I talked to BS, no go, then went back to dealer. They had me report to Nissan zone rep, and then followed up on my behalf. I told Nissan dealer and the zone rep my demands, basically, a replacement tire set of my choice at no cost to me. After a couple hours, they had the approval from Nissan to order the replacement tires.

I landed on the Michellin HX after speaking with several reputable tire dealers and surveying my choices for identical size replacements. Also, the Infinit dealer here told me that they routinely replace stock BS with Michellins as they've numerous customers complain about the poor ride quality. Having had only positive experience with Michellins on two other cars, I felt like I was getting a good tire.

The proof came to me on that first ride home. The jittery ride quality was gone. I have a flawless highway ride, and these tires handle as well as, if not better than, the Potenzas. So, to the fellow who criticized me for not checking my options...be silent, because I had about 6 weeks to do my homework on my tire options. At the end of the day, I found the tire that meets my criteria and I am very happy with my car now. The sad thing is that I was really having buyer's remorse with this car...and the reality is that it was all due to the poor qualities and characteristics of the stock tires.

srm

Max_Gator

In my experience - never get a tire plugged if you can avoid it. Find somewhere that PATCHES tires. It is far better. I have had ride problems with just about every tire I have ever had plugged. FWIW.

javamax

Has anyone tried out the Nitto 450 Extreme? They offer it in a 225/50VR17 for about $120. The UTQG is 300 A A.

UMD_MaxSE

iTrader: (1)

I just noticed that one of my tires (the sucky potenzas) is losing air also. I checked the air pressure in my tires saturday and then again sunday. I had to add air to my rear passenger side tire. When I checked on Sunday, the same rear passenger side tire had lost like 5 psi. This sucks! I only have like 10.5k miles on them. I checked the tread for nails, but didn't find anything. How much do dealers usually charge to patch up tires?

Evangelo2

UMD_MaxSE, you may not need a patch on your tire. If you hit a pot hole or something air can slowly leak from between the tire and rim (I live in NYC, Potholes suck here). Have them check that possibility.

UMD_MaxSE

iTrader: (1)

yeah, I never thought of that..... I will get it checked out soon...... thanks!

jgadlage

iTrader: (1)

Try some Kumho Supra's. Not a bad for $100 a tire. Performance and handling is good for the price that you pay.
Go to <A HREF="http://www.tirerack.com">Tire Rack</A> and check out their prices. I have been very happy with the prices and service that they gave me

psing23

i like the pirelli p7000ss in 235/45/17 size... that will be my next tire..

UMD_MaxSE

iTrader: (1)

Well, I got my tire fixed. First I went to merchant's tire and they said it would be a three hour wait. So then I went to my nissan dealer and they did it right there. Turns out there was a 2 inch nail in the tire. They plugged the hole up and didn't charge me anything for it either. I guess some nissan service isn't all that bad....