does anybody know what's the tread life on stock 17' pontenza tires? i'm guessing 45k or so but want to make sure....

Go to tirerack.com or discount tire.com and research your tire's treadwear, traction, temp rating and test results.

On my OEM Potenza RE92 I racked up close to 70,000 miles before I swapped them out for Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (btw, which is literally night and day compared to the OEMs ). I drove mostly on freeways with minimum aggressiveness. I also rotated them every 5000 miles, and by the time I replaced them, there was still 2/16" treadlife left on them. I think most people here gets about 30,000 to 50,000 miles on them before they replace them. Hope this helps.

The official rating is a 160. I got about 40K miles out of them, drove them hard, wore them to the bone.

thats impressive. I have 15k on my 2002 and my tires are wearing terribly. i maintain proper inflation and rotate, but i have still managed to burn off the inside and outside edges of all 4 from hard cornering these tires absolutely suck and I can't wait to get replacements.

~jason

I've got 40K on mine, and they are getting VERY slippery.

i have 8k on mine and they have been slippery since day one.

How long is your driveway?

i have 22,900 and ive been agressive with em some of the times, i dont always take corners over 20 but once in a while. sometimes i take shoulder goin alot faster then i should but like i said not always, and i dont peel out....well i have like 2-3 times but not a bada$$ burn just a sec or two made more noise then anything really. btw the tires are nearly down to slicks maybe another 2K left if i baby it but i was scared to drive in the rain today.

Mine lasted 30K.....and driving home in the rain one night was very memorable (sliding all over the place)....it was fun too!

memorabel yeah, and i cant argue it is fun....til u get to the point were u cant stop sliding and almost hit something then it sucks.

Agreed, You CAN have too much of a good thing in this case. The sliding around would be a pain in this axx if it rained often here in NY.

No such problem with the S-03s.. They grip ferociously, even in the rain and under full throttle.

I replaced my stock 15" RE92's on my 2001 GXE 5-speed when they had about 19,500 miles earlier this year. The tread was only half worn, and they only had a rating of 160, so I couldn't complain. But I wanted much better performance, since I installed an Addeco RSB and Courtesy front tower brace. I also wanted to get rid of the steel wheels, so I purchased Bridgestone Potenza S-03's (215/55/16 - $159 each at America's Tire Company here in Redding) plus Enkei RS5 17.5 pound 16" wheels for $95 each. Everybody tell me what nice wheels I have. I've had people stop me and ask about them. These tires have a rating of 220, but you aren't supposed to get much more than 20,000 miles on them. Go figure. Now my Max is a pure pleasure to drive, especially the windy roads between here (Redding) and Reno. The tires grip extremely well on wet or dry, and do not hydroplane in heavy rain! I don't drive on ice or snow with them, as high performance tires are crappy on snow, but I'm going to get my old wheels fitted with snow tires. Tirerack.com sells this size for $134, if you are considering these tires, also this company has hundreds of customer reviews on this tire.