Maxima-2

iTrader: (8)

Hey, Im ordering a new set of tires monday and replacing the crappy OEMs. I have (2) questions.

1. Has anyone tried 255 45 R18 on the stock rims instead of the 245 45 R18?
2. What are your thought on the Yokohama AVID ENVigor

Thanks is advance. Please chime in. I've always gone a little wider on my aftermarket rims. Just not sure how it would look on the stockers.

Dan

nate_man

Any reason that you want to go wider on the stock rims?

Why not consider a wheel package when you look at purchasing your new tires...

Schneid

I don't buy or recommend anything but Michelins. They are smooth, give great wet and dry traction and you can really put some mileage on them. I put 90,000 miles on a set of Michelin Energy MXV4s on my last car, a Honda Accord. I can't wait until the stock Goodyears wear out on my Max so I can put Michelin Pilots on. Now mileage-wise, I don't know how the Pilots will hold up against the MXV4, so we'll see.

Also has anyone else noticed a slight vibration in the stock Goodyears 50 MPH and above? I'm not impressed with the stock Goodyears on this car.

Maxima-2

iTrader: (8)

nate_man:
- I like the wider tire casue it protects the lip of the wheel as it wraps. I also like the look.

- I live in the northeast and snow is an issuse. In a perfect world, I'd go buy the 20's Ive been wanting w/ summer tires and throw a set of snows on the stockers or sell the stock rims and throw snows on thinner set of 18"s. I was blessed with a baby boy last October and I just dont have the liquid funds I once had.

Schneid:
- I'll go check those out. (Awesome tires I know, but Im still a little bitter)

- Yes, I have said vibration. Its in a ton of threads.

BTW... Im sure you wont wait long for your OEM tires to wear out. Mine are shot in 30K miles with regular rotations.

Dan

Schneid

Thanks Maxima-2 and congrats on your new baby. I'm relatively new to the forum, didn't know about the previous vibration threads, but it confirms what I thought was the case with the stock tires.

Where are you from in Buffalo? I grew up in West Seneca.

Maxima-2

iTrader: (8)

Welcome to the boards. Born and still living in Williamsville. You may recgonize the max in my signature that was my 00 that i drove till I purchased my 2k9. Small world!

Schneid

It is a small world. My dad still lives their with my step mom and me the wife and kids take the trip up to Buffalo from DC to see him every summer. Every summer when we visit I always have to go to Gabriels Gate for wings, Duffs for wings, Bocces for pizza and LaNova for pizza. Great, now I'm hungry.

smarty666

Not that I'm saying Pilots don't work, but if I were you, I would put on Primacy MXV4s. The reviews I read of them put them much higher than the Pilot MXV4s in ride quality and noise level. Just a thought!

Schneid

Interesting, I just looked at them on Tire Rack and they not only rate the Primacy higher than some of Pilots, the Primacys are less expensive. Thanks for the tip.

smarty666

Yeah, they get great reviews for the most part and highest rated Grand touring all season on tirerack so you can't go wrong with them. They would most likely be my number one choice to replace these god awful RS-As. If you have time, go to the high performance all season survey on tirerack and see how low the RS-As are ranked for high performance all season

lightonthehill

255/45R18 tires require a wheel width between 8.0 and 9.5, so the 8.0 OEM wheels on the Maxima will take these tires just fine.

You might consider tires that are getting excellent reviews at a price below the Michelins; I'm talking about the Continental Extreme Contact DWS (Dry/Wet/Snow). The Conti DWS is rated for very high mileage (govt rating 540), and comes in the 255/45R18 size you are considering. Actually, the Contis are marked 255/45Z18; the Z means the tire is rated for use above 149 MPH.

Maxima-2

iTrader: (8)

Thanks for the opinions gents. I think im going to stay with stock width. Without seening 255's on stock wheels im concerned it may look silly and beyond that the gains of the thinner ( i know not drastically as 245's are still pretty wide) "pizza cutter" effect will help in the snow. Gotta think about my familys safety. fawk Im getting old. lol

jhatfie

Per lightonthehill's recommendation,

I had the Continental Extreme Contact DWS's on my 07' Civic SI. They were really quite good in the dry and pretty amazing in the rain and snow for a high performance all weather tire. Compared to the OEM Michelin Pilot's the Continentals were about equal in the dry, but tons better in the rain and snow. In all conditions they gave great feedback and really let you know when the limits of the tire was being reached.

I ran Pirelli Pzero Nero M+S on my 05' Legacy GT with 18" Prodrive PFF7's and they were pretty good as well, better than the Dunlops I believe that came with it. However, although I cannot directly compare, I believe that the Continental's are a better tire.

gizzsdad

Interestingly, I decided to check Tire Rack for the first time in a while, and Pirelli's PZero Nero All Season has won the last two UHAS tests. This appears to be the latest:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=134

And this seems to be the last that includes Pirelli, Michelin, and Continental:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=119

245/45R18's appear to be $161 currently in the ZR rating. Also interestingly, the Pirelli's were rated best in ride comfort and noise comfort in both tests - which are very important categories for me personally.

lightonthehill

Lots of interesting info on TireRack. Noise and Ride comfort are very important to me too, but I decided to look at other factors also.

Comparing other factors TireRack shows us between the Conti Extreme Contact DWS and the Pirelli PZero Nero All Season:

Average Customer Rating: Conti - 8.5, Pirelli - 7.9
Tread Wear Rating: Conti - 540, Pirelli 400
Warranty Rating: Conti 5 star, Pirelli 4 star [Conti road hazard free 1st year, Pirelli $19.32 per tire]
Service Designation: Conti - Y (186mph), Pirelli - W (168mph) [although both show only the the generalized 'Z' on the sidewall]

In a winter driving test done in Northern Sweeden, TireRack pronounced the Conti Extreme Contact DWS 'A LEAGUE above the others in winter driving.'

So drivers must pick and choose based on what factors are important to them. These are both excellent tires, and I could easily go with either. If I lived up north, I would definitely go with the Conti. But I live in the south, so would let driveout price (including road hazard, etc) be an important factor.

LtLeary

I guess the vehicle type plays an important role here. The PZeroNero's that I had on my Bride's Grand Cherokee (while grippy and quiet) lasted only 30K miles. The Michelins that are currently on, have over 60K and still going strong and for her driving style here in the south, quiet, grippy and durable. On my old Fiat 124 sports coupe, the PZero Nero's only lasted around 25K Miles....but they were fun miles! My Primacy MXV4s on my 7th Gen now have 40K Miles and are still looking strong....of course the RSAs lasted over 70K but the Primacy's are (IMHO) the superior tire for my driving style (Highways)

Schneid

All I can say is that I when I sold my 2002 Honda Accord a few months ago after I bought my Maxima the car had only it's second set of Michelins on it and they still had at least 40% of the tread on the tires. I even got the car inspected a few days before I sold it. That is 2 sets of tires in 140,000 miles, pretty incredible if you ask me and I don't drive a car gently. Although I will say that many of the miles on my car are highway miles. Pirellis, Coninentals whatever, Michelins last in my experience with them and that is what will be going on my Maxima once these piece of junk Goodyears have gone by way of the dodo bird. By the way, my wife has a 2007 Honda Pilot with 33k on the odometer and the stock Goodyears are ready to be replaced. I don't know why the Honda and Nissan choose Goodyear, they are junk IMO.

gizzsdad

[QUOTE=lightonthehill;7934153]
Average Customer Rating: Conti - 8.5, Pirelli - 7.9
Tread Wear Rating: Conti - 540, Pirelli 400
Warranty Rating: Conti 5 star, Pirelli 4 star [Conti road hazard free 1st year, Pirelli $19.32 per tire]
Service Designation: Conti - Y (186mph), Pirelli - W (168mph) [although both show only the the generalized 'Z' on the sidewall]QUOTE]

Good points. A couple of notes - I would consider TR's ratings more objective - especially when they are comparing tires side-by-side. Consumer ratings are notoriously fickle and all over the board. In fact, the most recent reviews I saw for the DWS the other day were not great. I also suspect the reviews for the Pirellis may be driven down by the former PZero Nero (before the re-design), though I don't know that for sure.

Treadwear ratings are comparable only within brands. They are not meant to be used to compare brands, as all companies have different criteria.

Not sure if the service designation would matter to me - if anything the 'Y' rating would likely indicate a stiffer sidewall - which would not be attractive to me.

Also - since I run dedicated winter tires - I could care less about the snow capabilities. But I can certainly see that someone who uses the tires year round would have a different conclusion.

If I had to decide today - it would probably between the Michelin Primacy MXV4, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus, and the Pirellis. I, like Schneid, have had very good luck with Michelins.

DapperGuy

I put Michelin Primacy MXV4's only on my front wheels after a blow-out on a pot-hole last winter. The result was loss of steering sharpness and no on-center feel in the steering wheel. I had to actively steer to keep the car tracking on the highway (not an alignment problem). Recently, I had them rotated to the back. I like how they feel on the rear. The ride is smoother and less jarring, even with the Goodyear RS-A's rotated to the front. BTW, the steering sharpness and on-center feel have returned.

Would I buy a full set of MXV4? I think not. The fun character of the car was lost with these on the front.

Maybe the new Continental ExtremeContact DWS will be my next set.

CanMaxima

I have about 3000 miles on my 2009 Maxima SV with Premium and Tech packages (no winters, 2008 Pathfinder for that) and will it will be back on the road on May 1. But I gotta get rid of the RS-A's. They are so noisy and break away so easily. My wife wonders why they put a radio in the car, these are so noisy. So I can go with summer tires only. I note that Edmunds thought the car was probably designed around Bridgestones. I also like Nokians. Any thoughts on either of these in hopes of cutting down noise and harshness?

gizzsdad

Appears to be a new player in the mix:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=147

It is amazing how close these tires are.

ah_max11

I need to sell my OEM's. I have 245/40 R19 Goodyear Eagle RS/A All-Season... set of 4. Anyone looking to buy them?

They only have 140 miles on them, as thats only how much I have on the car.

Helo-Tech

I recently replaced the garbage OEM's with Falken 452's and I have to say, I'm really impressed. They are sooo much quieter than the goodyears and soooo much better in the rain. Not to mention, priced reasonably.
The reason I went with Falken brand is because I have had there Ziex tires on my truck for several years now, and have gotten very good mileage out of them. In fact, they have already surpassed the mileage of the ****ty goodyears that were on the truck too. Might want to give'em a look.

gqblair22

all season there is no better than bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position / Michelin Pilot Sport A/S PLUS....BOTTOM LINE

bluefish7

I just had Goodyear replace all 4 RS-A's at 21,000 mi because the Goodyear auto shop could not balance them to a point where it wouldn't vibrate around 60-65. No cost for a replacement with a new set of RS-A's, so of course I ponied up a little bit to get a different tire, since it had to be Goodyear/Dunlop/Kelly in order for them to be free I got the Goodyear Assurance Touring. Haven't gotten them on the highway yet but they have great ratings all around and a serious treadlife, give up some handling but I don't zip around curves that much.

lightonthehill

This may turn out to be a very good move on your part. Yes, the RS-As may enable you to race around mountain roads a tad quicker, but I feel the Assurance Touring tires will be better for 90% of Maxima drivers. Increased mileage, smoother quieter ride and the ability to get them balanced correctly would be major plusses.

Be sure and keep us informed as to how this works out, because we have had others here not pleased with the RS-As.

smarty666

Light are you referring to the Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring tires? I've been given them a look and if ride quality and noise level are your top priority, like they are for me, this might be a tire to consider. Plus, you might be able to work out something with a Goodyear tire dealer to get a little knock off because of how poor the RS-As have been. So far, they are rated number 1 on tirerack by consumers, even higher than the Primacy MXV4s.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey....jsp?type=GTAS

The only downside to the ComforTreds I've read is that they do not have a rim guard like the RS-As and other Grand Touring tires do. I would also recommend the Bridgestone Serenity's. They are a bit pricy but I have them on my Acura and they completely transformed the car compared to the OEM junk.

bluefish7

To update my post above, the Goodyear comfort touring have developed the same unbalanceable wear pattern and even after a high speed balance at Butler, there is still a significant vibration on the highway, seems to be picky about when it shows up though. About 7 shops have now failed to balance the car smooth, so any ideas about what else might cause the car to vibrate even after the tires have been "balanced"?
Better yet, what would cause the same wavy wear pattern in every set of tires?

beerman1378

I am running the stock Goodyear Eagle RS-A's and they absolutely blow. I cant wait to get rid of them but Im going to wait the summer out because there is a lot of rubber left. I was thinking of the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's. The reviews on them are pretty good and they definitely cant be any worse than the RS-A's! Anybody running these Pilot A/S 3's?

Yes or No?!

rader023

Yes. And they are great.

RCM78

The RS-A's absolutely SUCK!!! Cant wait to put a set of Pilot Sport A/S3's on this car...

Shipwreck

I can vouch for the Pilot Sport A/S 3s. They're amazing. Barely any slippage unless I but the car under extreme conditions. Road noise at low speeds is kind of annoying though.

ThinBlue82

iTrader: (1)

I have the Primacy MXV4's on my 09 sport/tech and I love them. Great traction and no real road noise.

Fundem

https://maxima.org/forums/7th-genera...ml#post8986531

rtirbany

hey guys,
Been a long time maxima owner and just got an 09 last week and have been researching tires.
Aside from the usual suspects (contis DWS, michelins), I don't see you guys giving a lot of love for the pirelli cinturado p7+ all seasons

tire rack reviews have them significantly higher than the regular guys...any thoughts/feedback? anyone buy these for their ride??

TIA

MaximaDrvr

iTrader: (1)

For future reference, don't bring up a thread that is a year old to ask a question,me specially a copy of the same thing you posted in another thread.