Yokohama Advan S.4.
 

I've gone through another set of P Zero's on the rear. I was really shocked at how fast this set went... only lasted about 4 months of driving.

Anyways, I'm looking for a replacement. I figure since I still have plenty of life on the front P Zero's, I'll just put another matched set on. Looking down the road though, I think I'd like to move to something a little more economical.... something that will last a bit longer, and hopefully be a bit quieter than the Pirelli's.

I've seen the Yokohama's Advan S.4.'s online, and see that they're rated with a treadlife of 400 (P Zero is something like 200), and the Yoko's claim that they have the same traction as the Pirelli's and according to one site the Yoko's beat them in nearly every category.

So can anyone vouch for the Yokohama's? Are they as good as advertised? Any other tire I should look at? A local performance shop was trying hard to talk me into Toyo's and swore up and down they're as good as the tires that cost twice as much. Any truth to that?

toyos are pretty good.

that S. drive i've heard mixed reviews. just know that in general when you gain long life out of tires, the cornering ability goes down.

a harder tire doesn't grip as well, but will last longer.

I run S.4's on my Audi A8L and works great on that car, but it's also a big luxo cruiser where I care more about comfort and wear. FWIW.

It's amazing the effect of marketing on items like tires.

Truth is, there's a lot of performance rubber on cars where neither the driver or the drive warrant them.

Most of the technology and materials going into high performance tires is wasted and the owner gets little value for their money.

Peer pressure also plays a part with people thinking they HAVE to have cutting edge because it's a Porsche, or that somehow their own image is affected should someone see they are running an inferior tire..

If you don't track your car, or only occaisionally press the WOW pedal closer to the center of the earth, there's really nothing wrong with a good quality set of M&S tires that will go 30k+ mi.

Even someone who Tracks or Auto-Xs only occaisionally is fooling themselves. With such infrequent performance driving, a lack, or 'rustiness' of driver skill will almost certainly negate any advantage performance tires may offer anyway.

Are Hyper-performance ZR rated tires better? Sure! But, only if you need them to be.

If yours is just a street car, you probably won't notice any difference between them, and a good M&S tire, except of course in your wallet.

"I've gone through another set of P Zero's on the rear. I was really shocked at how fast this set went... only lasted about 4 months of driving. Anyways, I'm looking for a replacement. I figure since I still have plenty of life on the front P Zero's, I'll just put another matched set on. Looking down the road though, I think I'd like to move to something a little more economical.... something that will last a bit longer, and hopefully be a bit quieter than the Pirelli's."

I am sorta glad to hear that other folks are not getting many miles out of their performance tires. I have gone through several sets of rear PS2's on my base 2000 boxster and have not gotten 5,000 miles out of any of them. And that's for normal street driving.

I have a second set of wheels and to keep from spending 700.00 or so for another set of rear PS2's, I recently put a complete set of Nexen 3000's on my extra set of wheels. I had heard good feedback from other memebers that have tried the Nexen tires.

On the plus side the Nexens are very cheap, I paid less than 500.00 for a set of four, road force balanced and mounted. They also have a higher wear rating than do the Michellins and hence should last longer. They give a smooth ride and the tread noise is quite low. I have not had in rain yet to be able to comment on their wet-weather performance.

So they have some good points, but they are sure no PS2's. They have lots of sidewall flex (I have tried lots of different tire pressures), lots of tread squirm, they feel heavy and not very responsive, and its much harder to feel the road under the car.

On balance I find that the car handles significantly more poorly with the Nexens. When I got them I thought they would not be as good as the Michellins as they are one of the very most inexpensive tires available for 18" wheels. But I was still suprised by how much lower performance they offered. No two ways about , I miss my PS2's. I suppose I will have petition "she-who-must-be-obeyed) for 700 bucks for another set of PS2 rears, then enjoy the ride as they melt away before my eyes.....


Ed

:cheers:

Yes yes. Tires are always a tradeoff. Get the ones that most suit you and your driving style. If your car is a daily driver, All Season tires make a lot of sense. If it is a weekend toy a set of soft compound street tires like PS2's will offer better performance and may last 2 years or more.

Ed, just cut back a little on those tire roasting donuts in the University parking lot after school. :)