fishacura

I won't be popular on this one but here it goes...

I bought my car for transportation and a comfortable ride. I could care less that I get the perfect quiet tires the hug the road. Give me a couple of rocks that I can get 40,000 miles on and I'd be happy.

Hrein lies the issue. The stock michelins with my 2004 TL lasted 15k and now my falken ziexs are going to get me no more than 15k also.

Any way to downgrade on the speed rating or change something about the size to get into more of an all season radial with some sort of guarantee (sport tires generallydon't give milage guarantees)

We're rated at a 97W. How imporant is it to keep that? Can I go lower to get into a tire that would last longer? Any ideas or insight is appreciated. Keep in mind, I am obviously not a pureist here and know you may not agree with my thoughts but I have a budget here too and this is killing me!

randomthought

Isn't mileage determined more on the composition and design of the tread itself? No gaurentee that a lower speed and weight rating will help. Comfort wise, a sport tire doesn't really fit for that category, as it is meant to hold the road, not soften it. I've no idea on how the weight and speed ratings affect treadwear, but I don;t think they really matter mcuh. However, as long as the weight rating is sufficient for the car and speed rating fits your driving style (W is for speeds over 150, which is pointless unless the car is taken to the track or you have a lead foot), getting a lower rated tire should be fine.

fishacura

Interesting. I had heard that you shouldn't go below the speed rating of W for our cars but am not sure where or why or if that was just an opinion.

Anyone out there get a tire for an 2004 TL that actually had a mileage warranty?

richrath

It's definitely NOT a requirement to use V, W, or Z rated tires on the TL. If Fish doesn't care about top-notch cornering, and doesn't need a stiff sidewall and high heat resistance, then an H-rated tire for comfort and longevity, and some all-weather driving in that part of PA, is just fine. Use TireRack to do your research; depending on your budget you can find some long-lasting comfort tires. Check the Grand Touring category, like Bridgestone Turanza LS-H (NOT the Turanza EL), or Michelin touring tires with high treadwear ratings. Also certain High Performance All Seasons, such as the Yoko Avid H4S will get you a very nice blend of all the good things including handling, at about $100 per tire.

If you need to go inexpensive, go Kumho, in whatever size fits your car and budget.

Just my opinion based on way too much tirerack reading. Hope it helps.

I've gotten 35K out of my set of P-Zero Neros and absolutely loved the comfort, grip and low noise; rotation every 5K and lots of highway miles kept 'em going. They started getting louder at 15-20K and at this point are getting touchy in the rain. But up to 25K they were better in the rain than the stock EL-42's EVER were. I'm replacing with Kumho Ecsta ASX soon due to being cash-strapped right now....

your_mom

Go buy a Buick. Those are made for fogeys like you. And sell your TL to someone who will appreciate performance.

p.s. You can afford a 35k car and you're complaining about buying tires - WTF?

FiveLiterCheater

ngg19

I disagree. There are plenty of cars that handle (BMW, MB, Lexus, Infiniti) but do not allow every road imperfection to enter the cabin. I too was tired of the noise and vibration and roughness; I chalked it up to a stiff suspension. I changed my tires from OEM HPT to General UHP--based upon tire rack surveys and price $420 installed--with the hope that my car would still handle but without the harshness.

The generals are much improved over the OEM--ride is a bit softer but more comfortable. Keep your car, change your tires to all season or try the UHPs. Note the UHP do emit noticeable tire noise.

FiveLiterCheater

Uh, whatever floats your boat. My cousin has a G35 coupe, my friend has an IS300, my other friend has an M3, ANOTHER friend has a 330ci, and I drove a C240 Kompressor (rental car)

I can pretty much tell you that all of those cars have pretty stiff suspension, and you do feel a lot of whats on the road.

I swear, half of the people that compare our cars to others never even drove the ones theyre comparing it to.

richrath

/soapbox

JJaber06, talk to us about old-fogeydom when and if you make it to that age. How old is fogey to you, anyway? When I was 18, 30 was OLD. Now, not so much. Grow up. And learn to spell. Beginning has 2 N's -- well, 3 altogether. I've driven my sister-in-law's '06 IS 250 and it's great fun, with a smooth ride, but it's too small for my family. I've also driven friends Benz's (S-class) and Beemers. Each one is set up the way the old-fogey owners want it. Some are stiff, some not. So save your bragging for someone who cares.

Your_mom, were you insulting me or Fishacura? At 31, you're not far behind us

Why waste bandwidth begrudging someone a fine car like the TL b/c they aren't f***in' racing it around. Why should I risk the lives of my wife and 5 yr old son? It's a sweet ride for a daily driver or family trip too, when comfort matters. I still use performance tires on mine for when I want and can drive that way, alone and traffic permitting. The Zeros give excellent comfort along with performance.

//soapbox (it's a tires thread after all)

csmeance

lets get back onto the subject and stop arguing. Anyway, the ride will feel like most things are entering the cabin because the tires are low profile. If you anted a bit of a better ride and didn't car about the cost, i'd go out and buy some 16x8 rims and put some thicker tires on them. As for tires with your current rims, id suggest these:

Bridgestone Turanza LS-Z
Continental ContiProContact
Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position
Avon Tech M550 A/S

The only diffrence i think there is between preformace tires and the normal tires are that the performance tires are much more stickier in dry conditions so the car can have a really good grip on the road. All of the tires above have the proper spped ratings, size and are all-seasons.

bmaczo6

iTrader: (1)

Check out Tire Rack and look at the comparison surveys and pay particular attention to the column for tread life. The speed rating should not be a very big concern if you do not drive at triple digit speeds.

richrath

I apologize for losing my cool, but Fishacura asked a perfectly good question and got slammed for it. I was upset that folks would just flip older TL drivers off like that.

I thank csmeance and bmaczo6 for putting us back on track.

legionofdoom

To each their own. It's his car and he can drive it or want it to ride any way he wants. Slamming him for not wanting as sporty a ride as some is pretty childish.

Fish, you can try calling Tire Rack too and ask them for advise/suggestions. From what I've read in some reviews, they seem to be pretty helpful.

Desert_TL

Before I settled on the TL, I test drove an ES 350 three times, an IS 350 twice, a C350, an '06 G35, an A4, an Avalon, a Z4, a 330i, an RL, and a TL twice. I can definitely say that the TL has the stiffest suspension out of all of those cars. It's very noticeable compared to the other cars. You get more road noise and you can feel every pebble in the road, but in return you get very-well controlled body roll and the car sticks to the road really well for a FWD. If you didn't want a very stiff, sporty, albeit noisy and bumpy ride, you probably should have gone for another car. Many of the other cars I listed above have a more balanced suspension. The ES is like driving on a cloud, although you can't take corners very fast and there's no feedback from the steering wheel

leedogg

I dont think a lot of people here really understood his request. He wants cheap long lasting tires, to heck with performance.

Not sure how long lasting they are, but the continental's and avon techs are pretty cheap < 100/tire plus they have good reviews.

jime

I went from the Pzeros to Yokohama AVIDs H4S because they have a better ride, are just as quiet, handle very well - I don't need z-rated tires-, are cheaper and have a wear rating of 500 as compared to the Pzero's 400.

I picked the Yokos using a comparative analysis that I did of TL 3G tires using Tire Rack tests. If you want to look at a lot of numbers I posted the analysis at http://home.comcast.net/~jherick/TL/tires.htm

I haven't added any data for about 6 months, but the information should still be accurate.

ding069

yeah i bought the TL because it was one of the sportiest of the bunch. i drove the ES, C-Class, G35, 330 and my fav was the BMW, but it was more money. I wish i bought that car overall tho. The TL is def the best overall value, and perhaps the ES would have been the best car for fish.....but he has a TL now so he's gotta be happy with it, just like i am trying to be.

yokohama makes nice tires, for a good price with great comfort. i didn't think that the stock MXV4's are that bad......they are much smoother than my Toyo T1R 18's.

drdug27

i ran BF Good Traction TA on both my last 2 cars, nice tire and i got a 60000 mile warranty with them.

Adobeman

Ditto.

I threw 4 "H" rated of those on my old 95 Saab 900 and they were actually very good. Cornering actually improved over the worn "V" rated RE920s (i think) that came off the car.

The ol' 900S was a different beast entirely so I'm not sure I'd go H rated on the TL but that's my personal choice. I run snow tires so I get a good 4 summers (~25Km) out of my summer tires. "60Km" tires would get too old and hard by the time I even used 1/2 of them. Once my EL42s are toast I'll probably switch to a pure summer tire.

Fishacura, do what you want. If you're cool with a but less performance for better tread wear then go right ahead.

rick06

i think csmeance is on the right track if you want less expensive and longer lasting tires. by going to 16" tires and wheels, the cost of the tires will be lower and you'll probably have a better selecton. tire rack will be able to help with the minus sizing. as far as recommendations on specific tires, go tire rack and look at the tread wear ratings, and try to find tire reviews by TL owners. tires that work well on a BMW may be terrible on a TL.

hondafan

Fish I'm right there with you. I'm on my 3rd set of $1200 tires (255/40/18) in 28 months and only have 30k miles on my car. I'm almost to the point of leaving my 17's on full time and running a harder tire all season tire year round.

Aznpersuasion

I'm using the Falken GBR Tire's sorry to jack the thread, But what other good tire's are out there for a resonable price, Cause the tires I have seem to wear out alot faster than I expected lol, I had them for about 5months, or 5 and 1/2
~Jason

04TLinSYR

Nice work on collecting all this data . I ran a quick mean and standard deviation analysis to find much better than average and much worse than average on your data.

I am also more interested in comfort and quiet than high performance...let's get real, I live in Syracuse, NY and there's no track days at Watkins Glen that I'm going to get down to. I'm happy with average performance if I can get above average quiet and comfort.

For me, the data points to
Bridgestone Turanza LS-V (not sure I want to take another chance on Bridgestones after the OEM experience)
Continental ConitPro Contact
Michelin Hydroedge (seems odd that a tire with this name has such crappy wet performance but it had one of the lowest cost ratings)

kennyc

Dunlop SP Sport 5000 might be a good A/S for you.... softer than average sidewall, good wear rating and reasonable price.

paul revere

I've had Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position on my 04 TL for about 3 weeks. The ride is less harsh and in the snow this morning they did very well. I think they are a bit noisey, but all-in-all I'm very pleased with these tires. So far no flat spotting either.