All 4 of my tires are currently reading 28 PSI at about 65degrees. (they have been sitting for over 4 hours so the reading should be accurate. Is this a good setting? My old max was at 32PSI so as a result i am wondering... What do you guys personally recommend. Stick with manual recommendations or is there something better....

 

0 PSI recommended

throw em in the garbage and get something else

 

Believe me, i am dying to throw these tires away but they need to last me about another month or so before i get new tires. thanks for the help in advance...

 

id say around 32 or 34 is good. thats what i ran on the stock tires

 

what the car says!! its under the armrest...and the owners manual

 

I remember seeing it somewhere... I was looking all over the door and whatnot for the little plaque that specifies the recommendations. Unfortunately i do not have a manual. Is anyone selling one for a 2k3 max or can i buy them from any location?... I also want that little binder thing that comes with the car. Since my car was used i only got one key and literally the car =(

 

mine are at 32-34. At 40k miles they still have tread! these things have no traction in the rain/snow but it rarely rains/snows here so ive kept them. maybe get new tires at 50K miles.

 

When I first got the car, they were over inflated at something like 35 PSI. I keep them at 31 PSI. Getting rid of them soon though.

 

I second "0 psi"! Get either Falkens or Pilot Sports.

 

i ran 35 front and 32 rear. this helped with the way the car pushed with stock suspension. for the winter you may want to go 34 front and 31 rear. if you play with these setting you can really dial in different performance characteristics depending on your setup. i had no unusual tire wear either.

 

32 Psi for the front
29 Psi for the back

If it snows by you, keep them slightly higher. That will give you better traction.

 

Shouldn't lower PSI give you more traction? Lower the PSI, mor contact with the road. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

Are you talking about the Falken Ziex ZE-512? I found a good deal on these and was thinking about getting them. If that is not it, what model Falken is everyone talking about??

 

Why does everyone have such a negative opinion of the stock Potenza tires? I've noticed several negative comments on different threads. We've had our car for 2 years and 20,6xx miles. The car has driven in the rain and snow and has provided excellent wet and dry traction. Are you guys rotating them every 7500 miles or has your negative opinion started prior to even needing to rotate them? Just curious.

 

I have Falken Ze512, 33 PSI all around, i've noticed 32 in the rear and 34 in the front does make a smoother ride and softer in the rear , but 33 all around does give me the best gas mileage or 34 all around.

offcourse winter i am going to leave 34 all around cold due to weather.

I would not suggest going anything lower then stock 32 cold psi by nissan standards. lower psi can decrease your gas mileage plus, poor tread wear and blow outs.

 

yeah that's the one

wwheeeee, free post, thanks nismo3point5

 

The potenza's have bad traction compaired to just about any aftermarket tire (even when they're brand, spakin' new). Once I burned through them and put on the Pilot Sports I could tell the difference. At WOT, the Craptenzas would break loose at 1-2 and 2-3 shift points in my A/T. I can break the pilots loose off the line, but rarely at the shift points. BUT, the worst part was in cornering. The Craptenza's are dangerous. Plain and simple. Driving in rain on the potenza's is like driving on snow in my Pilots.

 

i drove my potenzas pretty hard and they were exhausted by 18k. i actually liked them in the dry when the temp was higher than around 50F. the wet traction was my biggest complaint but by 15k they just couldnt hold the road in wet weather with even moderate acceleration. i rotated according to nissans suggestion and ran about 35psi all around.

 

No, thank you

 

I agree. They are not that bad at all, plus they are pretty light and have low rolling resistance too so acceleration doesn't suffer as it would with heavier tires. Keep in mind they are labeled as "performace" tires, NOT "High performace","Max performance" or "Ultra High" performance. So naturally they are not going to perform as well under extreme driving, but for everyday spirited driving, I think they are just fine. On three 5th gen Maxima's I've owned I've had Potenza SO3's, Michellin Pilot sport A/S's, Kumho 712's, Kumho KH11's and the stock Potenza's. I like the Potenza's the most for my moderately spirited style of driving, ALL things considered such treadwear, comfort/quiteness/smoothness, weight/acceleration and DRY performance (I don't do perfromance driving when it's wet).

 

where i live, i cant be having a tire that is potentially dangerous in wet weather traction, and it has proven to be dangerous, even when turning at around 15 mph i feel the car slipping...that is why everyone hates the craptenzas, not to mention theyre worse than my dunlops on my honduh civic in dry conditions....

 

I disagree that the Potenza have bad traction. I wonder how it is that my experience is so much different? I had Potenza RE950s on my BMW 750 and they performed well, too. I have had Bridgestone tires on 3 different vehicles (Maxima, Explorer, & BMW) and have been very pleased with the wet and dry handling, wear, and noise level. Of course, I'm always open to finding a better tire when these are ready to be replaced.

BTW, not to totally hijack the thread, I run 32 psi in all 4 tires on the Max.

 

Sleeper,

I see. Maybe people are looking for more of a Max performance tire (no pun intended). To me, the RE92 seems matched well to the car. Our first winter in Tulsa (2 years ago), I suggested to my wife that we get snow tires for the Maxima. She had driven the car several times in the snow by then and told me that snow tires were not necessary and the car handled fine in the snow. I was glad to hear that I didn't need to buy an extra set of wheels and tires.

 

opposite, you should lower the psi if you want them to stick better to the road

 

Just out of curiousity, are you braking at the same time as turning when you feel the car slipping in a 15 mph turn?

So far, I have not experienced any traction issues wet or dry with the Potenzas. Of course, I drive much more cautiously in the rain and expect some hydroplaning in heavy rain. I hope that these tires don't start going away fast as they have performed well for the first 20k miles. I'll have to see how they in the next 20k miles before I pass final judgement on them. I'm assuming a lot of people on this board have driven more miles on the RE92s than I have.

 

To answer the original question:I kept Potenzas at 32psi both front and rear.

I had the Potenza's and they were fine on dry pavement but once it started raining...watch out! I've never had a set of tires that hydroplaned more in rain than the Potenzas. I invested in my life (safety) by getting Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and don't regret it for a second. The wet traction is amazing! If there's one thing I believe you should not skimp on when it comes to cars is the tires.

 

I don't know why that is. I now have 34K miles on mine and they still perform close to like they did when new in the rain. I was driving home from New Orleans this past Saturday and it was sleeting and raining the whole trip back. Mine tires did not fail me in the least bit even while the wind was blowing pretty strong. I guess some of us got the good ones. I run 32 psi in mine all around whenever I get the urge to check them. I rotate them every 5k miles

 

Personally I hate them. Absolutely horrible rain traction and I spin the wheels sometimes going from 3-4 (on dry pavement!!!). I got the car used and these tires are the stock ones with 36600 miles on them... I am thinking about some Goodyear Eagles on tirerack for $150 each... they got great reviews.. I will definately consider the other two tires mentioned earlier... for now im going to stick with 29 front 32 rear... Thanks for everyone's input...

 

course not....its just those POS tires...mine may be just really worn, but from what basically everyone else is saying, its not just mine that have sucky traction