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Oem size: 235 - 45 - 17
And they look better than my Bridgestone S04's.
These also ride better (not as hard) as the S04's.
The GTZ also softens the smaller bumps the most. It is still firm on the medium and larger bumps, so it doesn't let you forget you are still on a performance tire.
But compared to the S04, the GTZ seems to glide along quieter, but if you have a very plush tire, and a very soft cruiser tire, then this tire may make a slightly bit more tread noise.
I think this Tire is a "lower medium" on tread noise. Your opinion will be based on what you are coming from.
The GTZ has a much much lighter steering wheel than the S04's. I noticed it immediately as I was backing out of the tire shop.
Cornering is better than the Hankook EVO, and the side walls are not weak like the EVO, but I think the S04 probably does better in the corners, but you also pay for it in a harsher ride.
I was intentionally trying to soften it up a bit. The GTZ is a 94w load rating, 93w is oem, and the S04's are 97w. bye bye Bridgestone 97's.
The GTZ tire compound is softer to the touch than the S04's. This might help the "all season" characteristics". Plus other reviews say the tire grips well. But to be honest, I have not driven it hard yet. I have only had them 3 days.
So I achieved about as good as what I was trying to do. That is, soften it up from those Ultrahigh/max performance S04's, and get a better looking tire, and I like the all season-ISH aspect to it. Plus it does handle pretty well. Although I have not pushed it much.
Got them from Sears on sale for $350 for 4, picked up. And since they wanted to charge me and an extra $50 for TPMS that I did not need, I just picked them up and took them to Hamm's Tire in Dallas and got them installed and balanced for $80. Total cost $430 mounted and balanced. Taxes and everything.
A shot from this morning. Car steers very light and is "eager" to turn. It Rolls real quiet and seems to swoosh along. Maybe it seems to swoosh along because it is quieter?
update: these do have some tread growl over most surfaces, even asphalt that is worn smooth. Are they as noisy as the bridgestone S04? (which is a summer tire). Overall, no.. But at 5 or 10 Mph, I think the GTX has more tread growl than the S04. They have a "subtle growl" at even a "crawling" speed which is really odd to me, but it seems to be drowned out or goes away at higher speeds like 45+ mph, or so. They Do absorb impacts better than the S04, and they look pretty good, handle pretty good, and the steering wheel is much lighter which had me worried with those S04's, and these will be better during winter since they are all-season, but they tend to make a bit more noise than I like. Overall, I think it is a good tire but the handling is not as good as the S04. But those S04's were unbearably harsh over bumps with even 1/2 the tread remaining. haha So that is why I had to switch early. My old TL doesn't like those hard super high performance tires. I couldn't imagine 35 ratio tires on this car. Good thing these GTX's were only $430 installed. Would I buy them again? NA!! haha I guess I'm looking for the perfect tire. Good looks, quiet, decent handling. Is that such a hard request?
concept: The shorter the sidewall (lower the ratio number ie: 235 45 17) the more softer of a tire you need to have in order to retain a similar ride quality as a taller tire. So, this should naturally shift your tire selection which choosing a tire. I also think the shorter the tire the better handling it will be. So, if you buy a real short tire, it may not be so critical to buy the high end tires. The extreme example of this would be "a nexen tire that is a 30 ratio will handle as well as a continental 45 ratio"... just using that as a hypothetical.
Another example of this is my 235 45 17 Uniroyal GTX has a load rating of 94. But this 40 series has a load rating of 99, and it is the same brand and model tire. Just a different size. So just shortening the sidewall can enable a person to buy a less ridged tire.. or a cheaper tire. And still retain load rating and even handling. That is another reason why it is nearly impossible to read all sorts of reviews on tires. Because a persons opinion on "how well a tire absorbs bumps/impacts" will be given based on the tire they just removed and what they are going to... and what size tire are they installing, which is likely not the same size you are installing.. The only thing that you can take away from online consumer reviews, is if there is a constant theme of what people are saying. But Ironically, if you go to sears, and look at their display, each tire has a round piece of cardboard in the center of each tire that says what is each tires characteristic, I think that is more reliable than reading reviews. And after listening to several of the tirerack reviews, I don't really think those are good reviews either. haha I was just as lost as I was before I heard the review. They only compare similar tires in each review.. So the contrast is minimal between each tire they review. And unless you already know what kind of a tire you want, and unless they have both of those tires in the same video review, then you are wasting your time.
I think sears has good reviews on the Roadhandler, which is made by hankook. Maybe I should have gone with that tire? It seems like it looks pretty good, but I didn't like the word "roadhandler" on the side of my tire.. haha I couldnt do it! They always screw up something on these tires.
I also just did the brembo brand Red pads and rotors all the way around.. painted my calipers, and bled the brakes (first time ever 91k miles), and installed the Speed Bleeders. Much smoother braking.. and more powerful with that new fluid. very sensitive!
On second thought, don't go to Hamms tire in dallas. They didn't get the balance right even though the machine said it was zero. I watched him. So I went to the same place I can always count on to get the balance right, Kwik kar lube on fitzhugh and 75. They found 2 tires were balanced but 2 were slightly out of balance. I know people on this website always have problems with vibrations. And based on my experience, I'm confident that people are going to shops that have their balancing machine out of calibration. Or they simply don't know how to use it. Also, I think some rotors have markings for a heavy/light side.
I'll stand by and stick with my General G-Max AS05's thank you very much. After several months, I still say these tires are the best bang for the buck out there!
I'm surprised the industry does not have a better way to test tires. For example they need to create a machine that accurately will track a tire and test its cornering capability and test it's wearing capability or longevity rather than just "seat of the pants" testing or listening to tire rack reviews. I'm still confused on how to tell if a tire is good or not or if it's going to require a lot of air to keep the side walls from rolling and stuff like that. And even which one produces more noise and you can measure noise but you just need a machine that will accurately detect it and measure it. I mean surely you could test a tire and slam on the brakes on that tire and see how much it gripz or braking power you know will it skid but how much force is required to get the tire to break traction or squall under braking.
like which Tire will provide a better ride I mean surely they can measure vibration absorption if they have the right machine to do it so I'm wondering why don't they have one?
Well it sounds like a great business opportunity. We need a 3rd party. And then they can get ads and sponsors just like Facebook and Google and YouTube . Oh my, even acurazine. What benefit would azine have in running a free website? Haha ADS.
Ever seen www.rtings.com ? They just started buying TVs with her own money and started reviewing them and they got so much traffic that now they have ads. And TVs are always coming out with new ones and tires are always coming out with new ones same thing. Next thing you know people will start paying you that to have a good review just like the stock market ratings companies they are also paid to give a AAA rating xcetera...
Doing the review isn't the issue. Creating standardized, repeatable, and relevant test methods and equipment are the big challenges. And as usual, what works or ranks highly in a lab environment, does not always translate well to the real world. So lab equipment that tests traction/friction, doesn't always mean that a high traction tire in the lab translates into a track worthy tire.
03-12-2018, 10:55 PM
