Tire Upgrade

Yea re the '67 Cougar. I had a "sixty-nine Chevy with a 396 ..."

Thanks for the wise tips on tire wear. They make a lot of sense.

Here in NYC where we frequently have to pull in and out of parallel parking spaces that are only a foot or two longer than our car, we tend to turn the wheel a lot while the car isn't moving. I'm going to try to avoid doing that whenever I can.

 

Yea Boo! Parallel parking's rough on tire wear. Just let it inch/creep a little to release the rubber as you turn the wheel.

 

DWREED3RD - hey, i just saw this thread on tires. i recently purchased the bridgestone potenza's. they're awesome! good wear (supposedly) and good traction, dry and wet. i would recommend them. makes the car handle on rails without a big hit on the mpg.

my car is NOT an original touring, it's been converted. so, with the integrity's, i was getting about 47.4-47.5 mpg, now, it's at 47.2. i know i lost some mpg's, but my goodness, it's a super handling car.

 

Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S
Be very careful buying these as replacement tires.
I have been disappointed with these tires (noisy and bad high speed handling) and I am still a Michelin die hard (have other Michelins on my other 2 cars).
I bought 195/65/15's to replace my original 185/65/15's half worn Goodyear's thinking I would get a quieter tire (Michelin) AND better handling (wider tire).
These Michelin's are almost as noisy as the original Goodyear's BUT they do handle better in WET traction. I feel a lot more confident in rainy weather than the Goodyear's that came on the car. I have NOT driven them in Winter weather yet.
Just realize that my experience is having to run them at lower pressure of 33 lbs vs. any higher pressures (had 35 in them from the day I bought them new at Sam's Club) due to handling issues at high speeds (65 mph and over). Handling is HORRIBLE with the prior mentioned speed and tire pressure of 35 lbs. The car darted and was hard to hold on the road period. Anything lower than 60 MPH I could not tell any difference in handling with either tire at either pressures. My opinion.
Since recently lowering the pressures to 33 lbs they handle fine now at 70 mph on dry roads but I would say no better than the Goodyears (remember I am now talking dry pavement).
I will NOT buy these Michelin's next time but would spend more ($93/piece) on other Michelin's now that I know what I know about Pilot Exalto's A/S.

 

Out of curiosity, what size tires & wheels were you running to get your comments above? Any mods on the car for handling (things like Tom's Suspension Braces or the BT Tech plate)? Were the tires mounted correctly (they are directional tires; they have to be mounted with the molded arrow on he sidewall facing in the direction of rotation)? Not trying to get in your face, but I have had completely different experience with the Pilot Exalto A/S tires on my Prius.

 

Sorry I did not post in the earlier version.
In regards to the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tire, I have NO mods to the suspension of my car nor the body (braces) but have wondered if the tower or lower/ under car brace would help? in my car's handling?
And yes, the tires are correctly mounted. I watched the installer and he showed me if I ever had them rotated or repaired somewhere else, to make sure they were put on the car in the correct direction. Thanks for telling me to edit my original post. I still like Michelins, just not Pilot Exaltos on Prius's.

 

As regards improving the handling of the car, adding the braces will definitely improve the handling of the car. I have the Toms's upper and lower front braces and the Tom's rear braces (2 components - an A-shaped brace along with a C-shaped brace) on my car. The result is probably 80% of the handling capability of a MINI. Combining the suspension braces with the 205mm tire width of the Pilot Exalto A/S tires, I have zero susceptibility to cross winds as an additional benefit.

I am able to run higher inflation pressures than you are (38F/36R; I have gone higher, but the 38/36 number seems to be a nice compromise between higher mpgs vs. ride harshness) with no handling problems, so something is amiss.

You haven't mentioned the tire or wheel sizes you are using. Could you provide that data?

 

Where did you buy the suspension braces? Do you have the website address? Also, did you install them yourself? Thanks!

 

URL: Sigma Automotive – Toyota Hybrid Prius 2004 - 2009 OEM & JDM auto accessories There may be a SoCal Toyota dealer (Carlson?) that sells the Tom's bits, but I have no experience with them.

Re. Installation, the front suspension braces are pretty easy to install. The rear brace (A-frame shaped item) requires some spacers to be able to clear the gas tank. I used flat washers and longer bolts to get the necessary clearance. After installing everything, I would have the car's alignment reset in case anything got shifted during installation.

 

Thanks for the info! Do you need to install both or can you just install the front braces for the steering?

 

I am not quite sure what you mean by your reference to steering?

If you want the handling improvement, then you pretty much have to go with the front and rear braces. Personally, I would also do the wider wheels & tires, but that starts to get into the $. The way that I 'justified' the expense is that I was able to vastly improve the handling of the Prius (got rid of the susceptibility to cross winds in the bargain) at no mpg penalty....

 

Man... Now I'm REALLY confused. I had reserved 4 Mich Pilot Exalto A/S tires at Sears to install them today, and the seeming contradiction in feedback is worrying me. I don't want to spend over $400 on tires that will kill my MPG and my handling! Maybe I should re-examine my other 3 choices?

195/60/15

Falken Ziex Ze 912
Continental ContiProContact (HR)
Kumho Solus KR21

??? Anyone have negative feedback on any of these 3?

-Vikki

 

My Kumho Solus KR21's didn't affect my MPG and give a great quiet ride.

 

Seasalsa,

Thanks for the input! Did you notice much change in your speedo/odo readings? How is the handling in wet conditions?

-Vikki

 

OK. I bit the bullet finally. Ordered 4 Kumho KR21's in 195/60/15 for $258 shipped, plus $72 installation. Total $330. I hope to get them by next weekend. I will let you know my experiences with them a few months down the road.

Thanks to all who provided the valuable input in this (and a few other) threads!

-Vikki

 

Very little change according to my GPS. They handle great in the rain and are rated #1 in the Standard Touring All-Season category by Tirerack.

 

Here's a bit of early feedback on the Pirelli P4 Four Seasons in 195/60/15. Had them installed on 7/3 and left for a family vacation the next morning with a very full car (wife, 2 kids, and as much stuff as we could fit for 10 days). Traveled over 1200 miles in both dry and very wet (torential downpour) conditions. The tires handled great in all conditions. Just a huge improvement over the Intregrities, where I would have been very antsy and nervous in the downpours at highway speeds; I barely had to slow down with these Pirellis. They just hug the road.

I haven't noticed any significant hit to mileage. It's hard to compare though since we haven't done this exact trip before. But overall we averaged about 46 mpg (cruising in the low 70s mostly). This is with about 800 lbs of passengers and cargo I would estimate. I had seen similar results in the past with the stock tires under similar conditions. The only difference is that I had the Integreties at about 40 PSI at that time and went right up to 50 PSI with these Pirelli's. So perhaps there is a bit of a mpg decrease. I'll know better after a few days of commuting by myself where I can compare apples to apples and will report back later in the week.

 

Good luck on the Kumho's. I found Kumho's to be a bit hard with a lot of road noise. I had Continental Pro Contact's on my BMW 530i and they were great tires. In fact they're standard on BMW's.

 

All things change over time. The Kumho Solus K-21 uses new compounding technology which allows them a #1 rating in the Tire rack survey for Standard All-Season Touring tires. Mine have shown greatly reduced road noise and a much better ride that the OEM Goodyears.

 

I'm always suspect of tire surveys from stores that sell tires. It's my belief that they always point you to tires that they can sell for a high profit. I believe that they have to be better than the Integritys. These tire are one step over solid rubber trike tires.