swapping out my tires...

[Zedyone_kenobi]

going from a set of Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grips, to a set of Bridgestone 960AS pole positions. The tire place local to me said they would do the swap for the price of mounting and balacing. I am pretty happy with that. I was just never happy with the side wall response of the Grips. I am hoping an ultra high performance tire is better than a high performance tire.. HAHA.

anybody online run the Potenza 960AS tires?

[WingZr0]

What do you mean by sidewall response?

[70 Cam Guy]

I am not sure if this link is going to work but it looks like the 960AS is ranked pretty well on Tire Rack in the category.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=UHPAS&width=195%2F&ratio=60&diameter=15&tireSearch=true

I have actually been happy with the 019's on my Honda but they 205/55/16 so maybe the response is different.

What sort of driving are you going to be doing with the car? When I get tires soon, I'll be trying the General Exclaim UHP (Summer Tire). The size I am looking at is W rated. I plan to run at the track some more this year and drive to work occasionally. I don't need a high mileage tire but I am keeping possible rain performance in mind. It even has a 380 tread wear rating

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Exclaim+UHP

They are rated #5 in the category against some big name contenders and are nicely priced against the others in the top 5

[Mike B]

I have two sets of the 15" RE960AS that I got last year, but I haven't put many miles on them. Also, my cars are stock, so probably not the best platform to compare high performance tires.

-Mike

[Zedyone_kenobi]

I NEVER drive my car in the rain if I can help it. Its a fun weekend car. I have now fixed it up to the point where all my mechanicals I believe are up to autocross, and light track day duty. However, the sidewalls of my G019's flex so much in turns that the steering response is not always in phase with the body of the car. I have grown accustomed to the car doing what the wheel tells it to do. I had some summer tires on there, that were extremely old. I took them off for safety reasons. But trying to find summer tires was near impossible in a 195/60/15. A 205/60/15 rubbed on my front body work, so it had to go. I know ES100's are available but my local tire shop would have to special order them. If I could get a competition tire I would. I do not need wet weather traction at all, Certainly an all season is not the perfect fit, but it will do. Since I only drive about 700 miles a year, I could get away with come DOT street legal race tires, but trying to find them in the right size is nuts.

So, having said all that, the RE960AS seems to get great reviews from all the car forums, as an all season tire with near summer tire response. Sounds like the ticket.

Also, the 960AS gets great reviews for ride comfort. Since my car is primarily a street car, the refinement of a softer tire was a welcome change in my G019's, and its good to know the 960AS gets better reviews for that. THe Z likes those softer tires, as it creaks and moans a bit less than with those rock had 10 year old summer tires I use to have. I will report back on how I like the 960AS's. I get them installed on the 15th.

To answer your question WING, sidewall response to me is defined as how much the rim can move axially in the tire. Imagine the car parked. Get out and push on the fender. The tires do not move but the rim goes back and forth inside the tire. This leads to very slow steering response and a more numb feeling. Good summer tires usually have reinforced sidewalls that respond immediately to steering inputs. Less flex, means less delay and quicker transitions.

[tlorber]

I have Falken Azenis on my roadster, and plan on getting something similar for the Z once I get there. They are soft and sticky, but I won't be getting that many miles out of them.

If I get 15,000 out of them that will be a lot. However, for the amount of total mileage I put on that car, I'll probably run out of time on them before mileage.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

I ran several sets of RT-615's for autocrossing, and was hoping to get some for the Z, but alas, my size is not available. I may be able to get some if I go to 14" or 16" though..

[WingZr0]

Ah yes, the dreaded tire flex. You wouldn't like my Grand Prix GT's either. Theres this 90 degree turn on my way home I like to dive into coming off the highway and the tires feel like they're gonna come of the rim some times. Then again I am going kinda fast . Still don't feel safe though. Ever tried the reproduction Goodyear Polyglass GT's? Heard they make them with modern stuff inside now but retro looks outside. Might be worth a look and they come in 15's.

Edited February 14, 2010 by WingZr0

[70 Cam Guy]

A 205/55/15 opens some possibilities but that looks a hair shorter overall than the 195/60. I am sure you'll like the 960AS's, they seem quite popular on the tire rack reviews. Sometimes the internet can hurt our decision making since we have the ability to over-research anything now. Go with your gut and have fun on the new Bridgestones!

[Zedyone_kenobi]

THe local tire shop forgot to order my tires. For the second day in a row. Then they said I could come back after lunch. So I did, then they told me that they are too busy to do the swap. This is the third time I have tried to get them to do this...I think its quite apparent that they really do not want to.

Sort of ticks me off. As I just dropped 889 bucks on some RE-11's for my Mazdaspeed3, and 8 weeks before, 411 dollars on these tires for the Z. I think I am done with them. I will just live with the mushy sidewalls.

[70 Cam Guy]

That's too bad about the shop. Maybe you can play with the tire pressures to improve the response and performance.

I rotate mine every oil change, which is 5K on my Honda. I missed a couple early on in their tread life and I'm regretting it now. They are pretty noisy because of the wear. Newer Civics have -2 degrees rear camber so they do a number on rear tires

[d240zx2]

Re #10. Do you not think it may be because they don't want to take the chance of damaging your wheels during install?