I'm needing to get new tires in a month or so and wanted to get advice. This will be my first set of tires on my Max (bought it in July '07).

I live in northern Colorado. We get a 'fair' amount of snow in the winter. Generally less than a foot at a time, and sometimes only a few inches.

I currently have Goodyear Eagle RS-A's that were on it when I bought it. I can't stand the amount of road noise that I get out the tires. I know that it's impossible to get rid of all road noise, but I want it better than what I have right now.

I don't have any type of performance or suspension mods.

I'm leaning towards Toyo Proxes 4's based on customer reviews and member opinions, but I'd also like some direct feedback. What do you think of the Proxes 4's? Do you have any other recommendations? I've never tried Toyo's before, but used to work with a guy that swore by them.

 

great tire for a/s.

read the reviews man. search. tirerack, other forums, this forum, etc. youll get better feedback elsewhere.

 

If money is not a big object, i think most agree the best A/S out there is the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. Check out the Pirelli P Zero Nero M/S too!

I have personally used the Pilot Sport A/S and they are the best A/S tire ive ever used period.

 

I hear the Pilot Sport A/S is very good and I'm going to get a set of it on my maxima.

 

I also hear that the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position's are great a/s tires, but are a little pricey too.

If you want a less expensive a/s tire, but dont mind a little road noise, check out the BF goodrich traction T/A.....really good in the snow for an a/s but there is a slight amount of road noise.

 

Can someone give me an idea about tread life?

I see that the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S has a 35k mileage warranty. How about the Proxes 4? Does it come with a warranty? What is the average tread life that people have gotten with each tire?

Also, can you guys give me some feedback on how well the tires do in the rain/snow once they get a little bit worn? I've noticed that my Eagle RS-A's weren't too bad when they still had 7/32+ of tread on them. Now that they're in the 4/32 range, they are getting really dicey and I have to watch the throttle a little more.

Having worked in the tire business for a few years (almost 8 years ago), I remember that Michelin seemed to have trouble with some of it's higher speed rated tires. Are the Pilot Sport an exception to that?

 

the tires you said are all way better than RS-A's.

 

Does anyone have any experience with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus?

It's actually a dollar cheaper than the regular Pilot Sport, but it has a longer tread life warranty.

 

I had traction T/A's, even brand new they made more road noise then my Pilot sports with 3/32nds. They are not bad, but definately not a performance orientated tire like the Pilot Sport A/S, and i dont care what anyone says.

hands down the best All season tire money can buy is the Pilot Sport A/S. I drove those things into the ground, i did 5 1st and 2nd gear burnouts in them, smoking them for probably 2-3 minutes at a time, and they were still quieter then any tire ive driven on.

 

A/S has been upgraded to A/S Plus, so there is no longer A/S you can buy.

 

I agree completely about the traction t/a. Its great for an a/s tire in the snow and its very inexpensive. I recommended it incase he didnt mind a little road noise and not everyone needs a tire that make your car feel like its on rails.

The Pilot Sport A/S Plus replaced the Pilot Sport A/S. Pretty much the exact same tire but now has a better treadwear rating. If you can find those at a reasonable price, they are definitely the way to go. I have never heard anyone have anything negative whatsoever about them.

 

Thanks for the advice on the Pilots. I'll probably get another quote on the Toyos (which have to be ordered since no one carries that size stock) and then get a quote on the Michelins. Having the Michelins readily available might make the decision for me...

 

Just stay away from the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4's. They peform well but are noisy and have lousy treadwear. 15,000 miles and done. Looking on Discount Tire's review section, I'm not the only one who has experienced excessive wear.

Falken 912s are pretty quiet but apparently not too good in the snow. Looking at the tread design, I can see why-looks more like a summer performance tire than an A/S tire.

 

As I get closer to making my final decision, I'm beginning to wonder about a different size tire. My speedometer is off a little bit (reading 2-3 mph faster than what I'm actually driving). I'm thinking that a 235/45-17 might help correct that issue. I know I'd have to get different rims to make that happen though. Would a 17x8 wheel with 35mm offset and 5.91" backspacing work on my 2k SE (I'm looking at the ASA AR1 if you want to give feedback on it)?

I probably won't be changing suspension anytime soon (my wife already complains about the stock height) so I don't want to change rim/wheel size right now.

 

hey sorry to get a A LITTLE off topic but im selling a set of toyo proxes 4s brand new never mounted size 225 50 17....my lease is up so i won't be needing these anymore. i'm looking for $375 local pickup. if you know anyone thats interested let me know thanx. i'm located in queens nyc.

 

send pm if interested

 

I will continue to recommend Bridgestone potenza 960a/s pole postions. I've had these tires on for over a year and they are the best tires i've owned. They may be pricey but they are worth every dime. Quiet as hell and grip is awesome. Tread life is also awesome, they still look new. The sidewalls are the perfect stiffness, not as stiff as the stock potenza re92 but stiff enough.............Just check out the reviews on tire rack

 

Ordered my Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires yesterday. Will have them mounted next Wednesday. I'll write up an initial review and then a follow-up review once I've had them for a bit.

Thanks to everyone that gave feedback.

 

where'd you order them from and how much?

I have a feeling you will be pretty happy with them.

 

im on my 3rd set of proxies 4s, lovem

 

I ordered them from the local Discount Tire store. I got so excited about finally ordering the tires that I paid the $191 they we selling them for. Went back today and got the price match refund. They priced them down to $176 based on competition price and shipping costs.

 

Good Choice!
These weren't avail. when I was needing to buy back in Sept. -- so i went with the Potenza 960's...which I'm VERY pleased with, but they were EXpensive!

The Michelin's should be dam good tires....!

gr

 

For the price, they better be!!!

I'm starting to drool for Wednesday. I keep mentally wishing I could skip the next 3 days at work and just get straight to the install appointment.

 

I couldn't wait. I got done with my training early today and made it to Discount Tire before they closed.

Unfortunately, the drive home was uneventful and at city speeds. I'll get to test them a little more tomorrow on the commute to work. I'll give my initial review then.

Once I've let them break-in for a bit, I'll push 'em around a bit and give a little more comprehensive review.

 

Congrats man, there should be a BIG difference between those and the crappy RS-As. Both comfort and handling wise.

 

all the choice i've seen so far have been good... except I had some proxes4 and i didnt like them... i think maybe i got some bad tires though the sidewall flex was very unpredictable

 

Purchased some Nexen 3000's. Awesome ride on 2008' Max. SE 18's. Thinking about purchasing 4 more in advance.

 

Long time lurker, first time poster!

I need to buy some tires pretty quickly for my '03 Maxima SE as well. I have looked at so many tires and reviews. I think I made the process worse by over-analyzing my choices.

I think I've narrowed the potentials down to the following:

Bridgestone Potenza 960 PP

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus

Yokohama Advan S4

All are expensive. Sam's Club has the Michelin for about $180 per tire and the Bridgestone for about $190 per tire. They don't have the Yokohamas, but it's available from tirerack.com in the $170 range. With road hazard, shipping and mounting, they would be a little more expensive than the other two, plus I would lose the free rotation and balance every 6k miles.

Anybody have any pros/cons on these three models? The Michelin's tread design looks like it would make the tire pretty noisy. The sidewall (to me at least) looks like it would be out of place on a car such as the Maxima. I do like the 45M treadwear warranty though.

Thanks!

 

I am happy with the Michelin's so far - http://forums.maxima.org/tires-wheel...us-review.html - just stay away from SAM's Club for the install. If there is a Discount Tire in your area, I can recommend them, plus they'll price-match and guarantee the best out-the-door price. Discount Tire also bumps the treadlife warranty up by 5k for a total of 50k warranty.

The tread design on the Michelin's is deceiving. They are very quiet. The sidewall looks just fine on the Max. If I get a chance, I'll snap a picture of mine tomorrow and post it so you can see.

 

Cool - I'll look for the pics - thanks!

Right now, I'm really confused about my tire replacement. Honestly, I didn't have any problems with my OE Bridgestone RE92's and they have lasted up to the current 47K miles. I was going to go with the Michelin HX MXM4's, but they got ripped up in consumer responses on Tirerack.com as well as on Discounttiredirect.com. This was really weird as Consumer Reports lists them as a best buy in the performance tire category.

Unfortunately, there is no Discount Tire where I live (MS). The Sam's option is attractive as for the $15 installation, you get free balancing and rotation, flat repair and roadside assistance. I could save a few dollars and order then from Tirerack.com, but I'd lose the stuff I'd get with the Sam's installation for the same (or more money).

BTW, what do you not like about Sam's installation? I've bought tires for other cars there including my '93 Maxima SE and I haven't had any problems. Just wondering what I need to look out for.

 

The biggest issue that I have with SAM's Club is that their tire departments are not really equipped to deal with low-profile tires. Chances are, most (if not all) of their techs aren't as careful as a dedicated tire shop would be. I am comfortable making that assessment since I used to work (and later supervised) at the Largest Dollar Volume Sales tire department for SAM's Club.

 

 

Padawan, they do look good! Think I'll look at them a little closer.

I've had Pilot's on my PT Cruiser (purchased from Sam's). When they wore out, I was going to replace them with another set. However, I purchased a lifetime alignment from a corporate owned Firestone. Whenever I got my tires rotated at Sam's (waiting at least an hour), I'd go to Firestone to have my alignment done (waiting at least another hour). Because I had to wait all this time at two different stores, I decided to change brands and went with Bridgestone. I haven't regretted my choice and they were heads and shoulders above those deathtrap Goodyear LS's that originally came on it.

Back to the Maxima - my only exposure to the new Pilot AS Pluses was seeing them in my local Sam's as somebody had ordered a set and hadn't yet picked them up.

I'm not driving the Maxima much right now as I travel on my job quite a bit and prefer to put all the miles on my PT Cruiser. I'm also trying to see if Bridgestone or Michelin is going to run a promotion in the near future with some dollars off or freebie offering.

What did your choices boil down to before you selected the Michelin's? What was the deciding factor?

I'll keep you posted on my choice.

 

My choices had boiled down to the Toyo Proxes4 and the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus. I haven't had good luck with Goodyear and was ready to get rid of the RS-A's. I've worked for a store that sold Bridgestone/Firestone and I just can't get behind them.

The ultimate choice boiled down to the fact that the Michelins had a mileage warranty (Toyo doesn't offer one on the Proxes4). I needed a tire that would provide good traction in rain and ice/snow. I don't see a need to run winter tires since we don't get bombarded by snow in the winter. To be honest, I probably would still run an A/S tire even if we did.

You may want to check in the regional forums for recommendations on local tire shops. I still am nervous about a SAM's Club tech working with the low-profile tires. Even watching the guys at Discount was a little nerve-racking at first. But then I saw them use the low-profile arm on the changer and all was well (not sure if the changers at SAM's have the arm attached).

 

I still have not bought anything. I've been driving my PT Cruiser more to allow me more time to make an informed decision (and to see if anybody was going to have any decent incentives!). Bridgestone is now offering $100 and less prepaid Visa cards on certain sets of 4 of their tires purchased. However, I'm now leaning more towards the Turanza with Serenity after talkin to a guy at my local Firestone. The Michelin is cool, but I can get $100 off on the Bridgestones. Discounttiredirect.com has $70 back on a set of Michelins, but this offer ends this week. I'm having my local tire shop order me both the Turanza and the Pilot Sport so that I can see both up close.

The Turanza tire is a really good looking tire! I've been quoted a price of $830for the Michelins and $880 for the Bridgestones. Both prices include taxes, mounting and balancing, but does not include road hazard. It does include rotation, balancing and flat repair. I really want to give these local guys my business over a Sam's or some other faceless conglomerate.

 

OK - I finally bought some tires. I bought the Bridgestone Turanza w/Serenity. I just put them on a few days ago. So far, I am loving them. They have a good ride and they look good! I have not had the opportunity to drive them in the rain, but Tire Rack's tests reflected good performance in the wet. I even sprang for Nitrogen. I'll have to see if my $20 investment pays any dividends.

It was close between the Bridgestone's and the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus. However, Bridgestone's $100 prepaid Visa made the difference.

BTW, Michelin came out with a $60 prepaid Visa on last Friday if you buy a set of their tires.

Here are some pics of my Turanzas:

 

I was between either getting a set of these or the micheline pilot sport a/s and ended up going with the potenzas which are great tires and i'm glad I chose them.

 

Seriously, we put a set of Discount Tire's house-brand Arizonan Silver Edition Plus on our '01 SE last fall and we have been very impressed with the ride, durability, and their performance in wet and snow.

We've had many different brands on this car over the years (and lots of miles), including the Pilot Sport A/S, and these Arizonans are easily the best buy of the lot. I dearly loved the Pilot Sports, but just could not justify ever spending that kind of cash on tires ever again.