Legend2TL

My 2005 TL 6MT is about finished the 2nd set of tires at 42K. EL92 replaced at 22K with Avon M550 AS to be replaced with TBD. The tire wear looks uniform and I typically run the tires at 38/35PSI F/R. My question is has anyone had consistently high tire wear no matter what tire was used on their 3G TL.

When I get the Avons replaced I'll get an alignment at the dealer.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Don't know how you drive the car, but the EL has a tread wear of 260 and the Avon 360.
I've got the Advan S.4 on our TL with a wear rating of 400, and at 15K on the set, they still look like new, a far cry from the mileage you've seen.

avs007

Likewise... The stock Pilot MXM tires were bald by 30,000 miles. The Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS that are on there now have 25,000 miles on em' and looks like they still have half (or more) of the tread left. (Plus they have orders of magnitude better traction in all scenarios than the factory garbage)

avs007

On a side note, you cannot compare wear numbers across different brands of tires. Those tests are not standardized, so those numbers are only valid for comparison within the same brand of tire. For example, my other car I had installed Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. That had a treadwear rating of like 420 or something like that. They went bald after 20,000 miles. The Potenza RE960AS on their now, also have a treadwear rating of 400 or 420 or something like that. Those tires have 17,000 miles on em and still look relatively new.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Maybe the way you drive to destroy a tire in 20K miles.
The numbers are be standardized, but interpretation across manufacturers may tend to be misleading, but a tire with a 180 rating is going to wear faster than a 400 rating without any doubt, regardless of the manufacturer. Whether the 400 will double the mileage I won't debate, but it certainly will afford better mileage. It's up to the manufacturer to determine the number during their testing, but they are under scrutiny by the NHTSA as they can be audited at any time.

Legend2TL

I knew that about each manufacturers treadwear rating. Thanks for your info on the Pilot Sport A/S experience, I almost bought them from Tirerack on a closeout deal of $109/tire (235/45-17) but missed out.

I'm leaning toward a new tire from Dunlap SP Sport Signature, hi performance A/S offering.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....port+Signature

Besides the poor wear charactoristics, the Avons M550 were also very noisy.

avs007

Could be, but it was actually a common problem with that tire on that particular car (G35 Coupe), judging by what I've seen on the boards. Fantastic tire otherwise tho.

AcuraVic

I run Yoko YK520's. Im on the third set of those tires. I average 30 to 35K per set. They are garunteed to 40K so I get a pretty good pro rate on the new set. For example, the last set of 4 only cost me $360, which included balance, rotate, road hazard (discount tire direct).
I think our cars are hard on tires. And for myself, the 22mm rear sway bar probably doesn't help.

avs007

If that's your price range, take a look at the Continental ContiExtremeContact tire. It's only three bucks more per tire than what you are looking at, but in a higher performance class (Ultra High Performance All Season vs High Performance All Season).

I ran that tire previously on a different car, and was VERY impressed with it's snow grip. (Not sure if you care). Even when that tire was almost worn out, I ascended our hill in 6-8" of snow without trouble, whereas many people were spinning out around me, including my wife driving the TL wearing the stock garbage when the car was almost new (ie: tires had tons of tread left)

Contis seemed to resist hydroplaning quite well also, and had pretty good performance in the wet/dry as well. Lasted me about 45,000 miles before I had to replace it. Sidewalls are a little ugly tho, not sure if that matters.

Altho they don't have a mileage warranty. From what I know, the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS tires are the only Ultra-High-Performance All/SEason tire with a warranty (40k miles). I love those tires personally, but they cost more. I just had one replaced yesterday because of a deng pothole. I was looking at the tire, it had 25,000 miles on it, but still had lots 'o meat left.

ngg19

My situation is very similar. Original Bridgestone RE030 wore out at 22,000, and now the General UHP have 20,000 on them; probably have 4000 miles left. I am now shopping for a longer wearing tire, like yourself. I am leaning towards a quieter longer wearing tire. The Yokohama Advan S4 is one contender. Also Kumho has a tire with a 600 tread life; not sure of its name nor ride characterstics.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Yup, therein lays the problem. The 350Z and G35 have experienced horrendous tire wear with some owners only seeing 10k miles because of the suspension settings.

avs007

I guess, but if you didn't notice, I have a shade under 20,000 miles on the RE960AS on my G Coupe now, and the tires still look new, unlike the Pilot Sport A/S they replaced with the same mileage. When I read the boards, most were complaining specifically about the Pilot Sport line of tires.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Car ever aligned since new?

avs007

No why? You implying my car needed an alignment when it rolled off the dealer's lot (since I got new wheels/tires when I got the car)? If that was the case, shouldn't my Potenzas be prematurely wearing out?

Besides, the suspension issues you are talking about is specific to the front suspension, not the rear, and it was causing uneven wear. My tires are wearing evenly.

avs007

Speaking of alignments, how often should I be getting them anyways? I hear some people saying to not bother unless your tires are wearing unevenly (or you get in a wreck), but I also hear some recommending to get an alignment at every tire rotation or even every oil change.

My Pontiac Grand Prix GTP for example... Has 155,000 miles on it, but I've never gotten an alignment on it, but it still drives straight, tires still wear evenly, and I'm averaging about 40,000 miles per set of tires.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Precisely, because all need an adjustment because of the factory settings, but as you stated your set just wore out evenly at 20K. Been around a lot of Z's and many complaints as you will see on the forums, and I assume that you already know. Many have used the Michelin Pilot A/S on other applications and have been very happy with the mileage, and see many more miles than the 20K you experienced.
Just an example, but I have Toyo Proxes T1s on my modified RX7 Turbo. With just over 30K on the fronts (215) and still decent tread, I'm on the third set of 235's on the rear as I only see about 13,000 per set. I'm not hard on the car, but the soft rubber just melts away. Have a new set of BFG’s for the front and Continentals for the rear to install once it becomes warmer.

Continued good luck with the Bridgestones.

avs007

Yeah definitely, I was just stating my experience. I did say I still thought it was a fantastic tire I still have the two off the front, that I'm trying to get rid of... (They are currently dismounted and sitting on a shelf in the garage) I'll even give them away for free, just pay for shipping. They are 245/40-18, with something like 7/32" tread left.

Note to mods: I apologize if this is inappropriate, but I thought it was relevant, and I'm not selling it, I'm giving them away Any takers?

Legend2TL

I've read/heard good thing about the ContiExtremeContact's. I'll look at those also in addition to the Dunlops.

Legend2TL

FWIW, I don't autocross the car, spin the tires, but DO drive fast on windy country roads, and like to take exit ramps well above the limit.

My tires are wearing fairly evenly, but will get a alignment since I believe the front right needs a slight camber adjustment.

There is very little info on the Dunlaps, in the past I had great experience with Dunlap D60A2's (which were replaced by Sp Sports), excellent Performance A/S tires. I used them and recommended them to relatives and friends.

Like some others on the forum I kinda wonder about the tire wear and the suspension design and setup on the 3G. I was hoping for tires to last 30-40K miles. My wife's Pilot got 78K on the Goodyear OEM Integrity's before we had to replace them. She laughed when I told her the TL needed tires at 22K.

ssmtl2nv

iTrader: (2)

in general the tl is pretty hard on tires.

Legend2TL

Unless there are issues with tire wear or the vehicle tracking straight my opinion is not to get an alignment. My wife's Pilto has 133K miles and it's never been aligned once since we bought it. Tracks straight and tire wear evenly.

The mileage BS from tire shops and dealers are just profit machines. I did similar with my Acura Legend and Integra, the Legend was aligned once and had over 220K miles ot it when we donated it.

blacksrt405

i actually sell tire's. the dunlop sp sigs are an awesome tire. ive been selling that tire to alot of acura's or even any of the other cars that need a v rated tire. Ive heard nothing but awesome things about them and plan on getting a set for myself when these crappy bridgestones wear out. the car came with the bridgestone el42's which are the WORST tires ive ever experienced.

also far as alignment's its def something you need to take into consideration. but from the sounds of it most of you dont rotate your tires to often, as that topic hasnt even been brought up when talking about tire wear. they should be rotated ever 6-8000k. not only that you need to make sure there are no loose suspension parts as well. (inner/outer tie rods, ball joints, ect)

csmeance

The MID tells owners to rotate tires every oil change which can be from 1300 miles until 8000 miles. I have my tires rotated every oil change and haven't gone wrong.

Numerous things affect tire wear:
Weather
Tire Compounds
Tire sizing
Alignment
Roads (paved, concrete, etc)
Tire Pressure
Load on Tire

I have had a pair of Falken Ziex 512's, those lasted about 30K until bald. Then I had a pair of Michelin mx4m's those lasted about 29K until bald. Now I have bridgestone Potenza RE960 A/S Pole Positions, after 20K they still have 6/32nds of tread left from the factory 8/32nds. Nothing has changed, keep the tires at 35 PSI all around COLD and have lived in FL since.

Also regarding alignments, It depends on the terrain and driving style. There is NO scheduled times when you should get one done, the only time you should have one done is when the car does not track straight or if the tires are wearing unevenly. (If your TL has heavy wear on the inside of the tires on the rear, you have to get a TSB performed on your car to replace the rear bump-stops.) It is recommended to have one done when you get a new set of tires so in the event it is off, it won't ruin your new tires.

avs007

lol, I just assumed everyone rotated their tires... I rotate mine every oil change or every other oil change, depending on miles.

Legend2TL

I decided to go with the Dunlop's, looked at the Continental's and Avid's but after reading the Tirerack tests and some of the review will try Dunlop. I had great experience using the Dunlop D60 A2's and SP Sports in the past. My only fair result with Dunlop's were a set of SP5000's on a 1989 Legend.

FWIW, I rotate tires every 6-8K miles using the Front to Rear same side, and Rear to Front cross sides.

I agree the EL92's were awful, esspecially in the wet/snow conditions. Still amazed how many cars they are OEM on from Toyota Sienna minivan to BMW 750's!

I'll report back after I get a set of the SP Signatures mounted and balanced.

avs007

Don't cross sides if your tires are uni-directional. (See if the sidewall has an arrow that shows tire rotation direction).

Every set of performance tires I've used (both all season and summer), were uni-directional. If this is the case, only rotate front-back and front-back, without crossing.

Jawbone

My recommended tire pressure on my 05 TL is 35 psi. I live in NY. I have been reading that alot of drivers are putting 38F/36R psi in their tires. I have been using the same psi for all four tires since I have owned my car. Does it benefit me with longer tire wear and ride comfort by using 2 different pressure on my 05TL? My wife drives an 06 525xi and the tire recommendation is 30F/36R psi.

Legend2TL

Decided to go with the ContiExtremeContact's, will mount/balance them tomorrow and get an alignment.

Also there is a OK offer from TireRack for a free TomTom GPS if you buy four tires over $440.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/specia...i_gps_0609.jsp