Recommendations for high mileage tires

[Tool Pants]

Give us a review on the HTR ZIII after you have some miles on them.

I have 15,000 miles on my second set of HTR ZII. I drive the Boxstir about 5,000 miles a year. For the past year I have had noise from the rear that I thought might be tire noise, but I did not think so because this is my second set of HTR ZII and the first set did not make noise. The noise is the same no matter the speed, or if I am on or off the gas. I did not have the noise when the tires were new.

Then I thought maybe wheel bearings but the noise did not change when I turned. Then I thought a bearing in the transaxle.

I had my clutch replaced 3 months ago by Marvin Weitz and I asked him to check the noise. After the transmission was out I went by the shop to see the car up on the rack. Marvin showed me that the inside of the rear tires were cupped, and he thought that was the source of the road noise.

I tend to agree with Marvin. Just strange this did not happen with the first set.

Might be some HTR ZIIIs in my future depending on your reivew.

[FrayAdjacent]

I put BFGoodrich GForce Sports all the way around. About 12,000 miles on the back pair, and they have plenty of tread left. Probably another 12k miles or so.

They are not as sticky as other tires, so be prepared for that, but they will last quite a bit longer. Since the car was/is my daily driver (have a motorcycle now, too), I wanted something that would last longer.

[Oaktown 986]

Originally Posted by FrayAdjacent

I put BFGoodrich GForce Sports all the way around. About 12,000 miles on the back pair, and they have plenty of tread left. Probably another 12k miles or so.

They are not as sticky as other tires, so be prepared for that, but they will last quite a bit longer. Since the car was/is my daily driver (have a motorcycle now, too), I wanted something that would last longer.

I also use my Boxster as my daily driver (my camry is used ONLY for large grocery loads/hardware store runs) and put Goodrich G Force's on. EXTREMELY satisfied with their wear/comfort/noise levels. And they're nearly silent at high speeds. They dont' handle at the limits like Pirellis, but when a torrential downpour catches me offguard, at least I can still drive.

And it still handles pretty happily. Highly recommended. In fact, if anyone in SF needs tires, the Big O on Geary has a Hunter 9700 for alignments, and are pretty flexible when it comes to haggling on labor. I got my tires at the best price I found online (they price match) and I got their recycling/junk fees/labor to mount/balance/and do a proper alignment for $200 even.

Jon

[sd_boxster]

Interesting to read about you two who are happy with the BFGs. I have the same times on my road wheels, and I despise them. They track like crazy, and the handling performance doesn't justify the harshness of the ride.

The Yokohama S.Drive's I have on my other set of wheels handle much better - no tracking. Only complaint on those is the sidewalls are a little soft, so I run a few more PSI to compensate.

I definitely won't buy the BFG's again - I will buy more Yokohamas, though.

[jaykay]

Does anybody rotate their tires side to side to even out the camber wear? Is this even permissable?

[Frank M]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Does anybody rotate their tires side to side to even out the camber wear? Is this even permissable?

eye due

[jaykay]

any vibration problems when you did it??

[986chris]

I've got HTRZ II also and I've noticed a much louder rear howl recently, espcially w/top up. So is the interior of the tire seperating and cupping.

[pbanders]

Get the Nexen N3000's. Even if you don't get as many miles as NickCats does (or more), they're so cheap that it doesn't matter. I had a new set on my car when I bought it, they were quiet, had good dry and wet traction, stayed in balance, and wore about as well as anything does on a Boxster.

When mine wore out, I moved to Goodyear F1 GS-D3's. I had them on my M3, they're not cheap, but they are the best compromise in tires I've found. Cheaper than Pilots, same dry traction, better wet traction, quieter, stay round and in balance better, and much, much better wear. Turn-in isn't as good, but you can't have everything.

[smokey-burnout]

I have yokohama ES 100's front and rear (17" sport package wheels ) Currently I have over 41,000 mostly highway miles on the rear tires. The previous tires were P zero's that I got just over 7,000 miles on even after an alignment at the dealer . The problem on these cars is not so much a tire issue but more of an alignment issue. The inside of the tires were worn out long before the outside of the tire was worn . To much negative camber is required just to get the toe setting correct. There is not enough adjustment in the factory toe links on the rear of the suspension to get the toe set correctly, thus you have to add more negative camber to get the toe set to zero . I did some modifications to the cross member and the control arm pickup points and pulled everything together with a cable puller , then torqued all the bolts back up and then set the camber then the toe. I went from 2 1/2 degrees on one side an 3 on the other to 3/4 and 1 degree with zero toe. These are light cars and these big tires should last a lot longer due to light loading then what most people are quoting that they get.

[silver arrow]

I'd say look at the Falken Ziex ZE-912. Fairly quiet, good wear, all weather capable, good ride and inexpensive.

[insite]

the Fuzion ZRi is made by bridgestone. they're around $500 for a set of four and last a good long time. they're also sticky & fairly quiet. i've even taken them on the track; they hold up very well.

[silver arrow]

GRM did a budget tire test last month and rated the Falken higher. It was faster around a track, more comfortable and about the same noise level. The fuzion has better feel on turn in, but the Falken had better overall grip and is an all season that will deal with everything up to light snow pretty well.