Hi all,

Well the tires are on and have run their first 1000 miles. It's rather obvious how well they grip the road after looking at the tread pattern and riding on them. Unfortunately, I haven't encountered any rain or snow to provide addtional information. Whomever said the tires were quieter than the Potenzas was wrong, but they really are not much louder either. They seem to be louder than the Potenzas were at slower speeds more than at higher speeds. The definitely have improved the ride....bumps are more cushioned. The car seems to steer "stronger/more confidently" than it did with potenzas. That's it. I still think the price sucks, but oh well ...the cash is gone now.

I agree Doug, the Pilot's are a little noisier than than Potenza's at all speeds. I have 67,000 on my 2k and only about 500 on the Pilot's but I totally agree with you on the handling issue - MUCH better. The car changes lanes at highway speeds like it's on rails! I hope to put about 60,000 on these tires to get my money's worth, just have to keep them aired up and rotated. By the way, I am running 33 lbs in them - you?

I'm curious what the differences would be between the Michelin Sport and the Dunlop Sport A2's (16") I just put on. The Dunlops are very quiet as well and hold the road just as tight as my SP8000 Z rated 17" tires did on the highway. To quote 2KSE - My car feels like it's on rails on the highway as well. Haven't tried them in the rain yet, but I'm more then happy with the way they perform dry. And at 1/2 the price of the Michelin!

I had the A2'S on a car years ago, great tires for the money. Dunlop has a new tire (Tirerack.com) That was MUCH cheaper than the Pilots but no where near the size I needed (17"). Judging from the A2's on another car and the Pilot's on my Max the extra money for the pilot's may not be worth it, Dunlop makes a good tire. Just my .02 worth, maybe somebody else can help.

?? New tire? Or are you saying the A2 is the 'new tire'?

Dunlop had a D60 A2 "years ago". The Sport A2 is the tire that replaced it. The Sport A2 is current, the D60 A2 is probably what you were running "years ago".

I just bit the bullet and ordered them from Sears for 204 each - about the same price as Tire Rack.

I can't begin to tell you how aggravated I am at having to spend that much for tires when there are great tires out there for much less IN OTHER SIZES.

One thing I will say, the Potenza performance improved dramatically when I added a FSTB. If you haven't done it, do it. I'd also bet that it will improve tire life.

Keep the information going on your experience with the Sport A/S. I am strongly considering buying these, but still have a lot of tread left on my Potenza's. One reason for upgrading was a prior report of lower noise, now it seems that is not true. I hate the Potenza's in the rain. Let us know if there is an improvement with your new tires.
RP

Yep, your right. Sorry for the mistake

Yeah, I'm running around 32/33 myself. It seemed like I lost a couple of lbs of pressure after the first day, but now they've held steady for a week and 1000 miles of driving.

Yeah, I had about 4000 or 5000 miles that I could have gotten out of the potenzas in dry conditions. I just got really tired of sliding/hydroplaning in the rain. And now that snow may be an issue I definitely wanted some new tires. Don't wait too long if your sliding in rain....it only takes one time to screw up a nice car.


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I am running 28psi back and 34 up front....

Turning a very tight corner at higher speed eliminated understeer....

I will keep this setting until I get my RSB.

I run 35psi on both back and front. Have had mine(prior model XGTZ4's) for about 4k. I firmly beleive, other than my Stillling Y-pipe, these tires to be the absolutely BEST MOD EVER, for the $$$. They are expensive, but if you think back to about six, seven years ago, BG Goodrich's Z-rated tires(16"s) were about $200 a piece. Enjoy the ride. I am so glad to hear about all of you guys joining the rest and correcting the single laregest flaw that our cars have(Potenza's).

Why are you quoting me?

BTW, I DO NOT HAVE PILOT SPORT A/S!!

I have Pilot Sport.

So soooorry for quoting you. I was trying to emphasize about the tire pressure in my first line. I'm sure that your tires are grrreat even if they are Pilot Sport A/S.

Rubman, Telus has the Pilot Sports, NOT the A/S. The A/S stands for All Season and is considered to be a better handling tire on dry pavement. BUT....here in the midwest we have to run an All Season OR separate snows in the winter. I would burn up a set of snows in one season easy so it's not practical for me to buy a set of Blizzaks. I drive about 30K/Year - I am in sales and cover the entire state of Indiana. I practically live in my car during the week and the Max has been great, I traded a 96' GXE that I put 100K on it and never had a problem with it - not one.

Michelin website says pilot sports handle better on dry than the a/s. A/S handle better on wet.

Crap, after re-reading my post it doesn't sound right to me either. Sorry about that I should have been more careful how I worded it, your right Max Gator.

The Pilot Sport (non-A/S) are likely to produce more road noise and a harsher ride, but will certainly kill the A/S on dry traction. Its practically a slick.

I took a drive down to Portland yesterday (about 400 miles round-trip) and the Pilot Sport A/S tires I've got on performed well. Not sure about the road noise thing yet. It seems to have quieted down as the tires break in...I've got about 1,000 miles on mine now. On good roads, they are perfectly quiet. A lot of the highways on I-5 have the crappy white asphalt...those produced pretty nasty noise, but I had nothing to compare it to. With daily driving, I have no complaints.

No change on the handling call...these things blow the Potenza's away with handling and traction.