Tyre choices and reviews - Australia only please.

[Shaneous]

Howdy guys

hmm ok, so in relation to my other thread, I should really be looking at the Michelin's? (or maybe pirelli's?)

Any info on price compared to the Yokahama E70's?

Ive been really happy with the E70's particulaly how well they have lasted, ride smothhness and noise level... but if there is soemthing better perofrming for less money, that'd be sweet.

[TonusMcBronus]

I can't complain about the stock E70s on my XL. Quiet, smooth, good handling and excellent braking. Car was 4 days old when I had to stop suddenly. Saw a 4WD bearing down behind me so pulled over and stopped behind the car in front (and to the side). The 4WD came through at 80 kmh on Brisbane Road Arundel and wiped out 3 cars. Glad I looked in the rear view mirror and pulled over. Yokies & the car saved us from certain destruction.

[bootymac]

I can't complain about the stock E70s on my XL. Quiet, smooth, good handling and excellent braking. Car was 4 days old when I had to stop suddenly. Saw a 4WD bearing down behind me so pulled over and stopped behind the car in front (and to the side). The 4WD came through at 80 kmh on Brisbane Road Arundel and wiped out 3 cars. Glad I looked in the rear view mirror and pulled over. Yokies & the car saved us from certain destruction.

Holy shit. That's some Final Destination stuff right there

[murcod]

I think that was more excellent observations skills!

Wait to you change them to something else . I recently refitted mine temporarily (215/55R17's like you'd have on an XL) and didn't like it at all. Less directional stability, more noise on coarse surfaces and rougher over lumpy roads.

[coref1]

Fitted two Michelin pilot Sport 3 235/45/18 to my Kizashi Prestige yesterday. 36k from my original Yoko's which I'm a bit disappointed with. Was hoping to get at least 40k out of them but despite having a wheel alignment done it seems my wheels aren't aligned. $269 each from Jax. Too early to say what they're like as I've done only a few klms.

[ms_enj]

Replaced the OE 235/45R18 Yokohama dB Decibels after 60,500km on my XLS yesterday.

They were rotated front to back every 15000km, and were just reaching the wear markers... I honestly hated them. Poor wet grip when cornering, broke traction easily on take off in the dry, and just generally felt like they didn't do justice to the Kizashi's chassis.

Replaced them with Bridgestone MY-02 Sporty Style in a 245/45R18 - Slight size increase, but a much, much wider variety of tyres available (this is the standard 18" fitment for the VE Commodore) and the size difference is negligible over the OE tyres.

Also got a 4 wheel alignment as well. This caused the tyre shop a bit of consternation as the Kizashi wasn't in their Corghi alignment machine's database. The manager phoned the rep and had an update emailed immediately though, so there wasn't much of a holdup.

Have done about 400km already, and these are my observations so far.

Pros:
- Excellent value for money at $195 each fitted and balanced.
- The slight increase in sidewall thickness and carcass width fills out the Kizashi's flared arches nicely.
- Much, much better dry grip than the Yokohama tyres. No more squealing under hard cornering and chirping on acceleration.
- Improved handling. The sidewalls appear to be stiffer, and it feels like the car is more planted through corners - The dB Decibels on the other hand felt sort of squirmy in the front whenever the car's weight shifted through corners, and especially through anything tight when the car leaned on the inside front wheel and the suspension loaded up.
- No vibration at any speed I've found.
- Noise levels are excellent. Bridgestone claim their chamfered shoulder reduces noise over a normal rounded shoulder, and I'm inclined to agree. These are as quiet on WA's coarse chip tarmac as the Yokohamas, if not slightly quieter.
- The directional lightning-shaped tread pattern looks sporty, and suits the Kizashi's character. While not as aggressive looking as say, a Goodyear Eagle F1, or as slick as a Hankook Ventus R-S3, they look purposeful at least. (Of course, this is entirely subjective.)

Cons:
- The sidewalls are very flashy-looking and overly decorated, and they actually have the text "Sporty Style" moulded into them, which looks a bit wanky to me.
- There is white printing from the manufacturing process inside the centre line of the tread pattern. I'm sure this will wear off over time, but it's quite obvious once you've noticed it.
- The ride is just slightly firmer, which is to be expected with larger, thicker sidewalls. This doesn't bother me too much, but if you're all about comfort, it might bother you.
- The size change will change your speedo reading. Mine has gone from showing 9km/h over the car's GPS reported speed at 100km/h, to around 3km/h over. I have to keep reminding myself of this so I don't get a speeding fine.
- These tyres are made in Indonesia. This doesn't worry me given they are a name brand and well reviewed, but I do know some people who will only have Japanese, Australian, or US made tyres because of a belief that Asian tyres are all of poor quality.
- No wheel rash protection lip like you'd find on more expensive tyres.

I haven't yet tested these in the wet, nor have I had them long enough to get any meaningful measurements on wear rates, but so far, these are a great tyre overall, and an excellent mid-range choice for the Kizashi owner who can't or doesn't want to spend a ridiculous amount on top-end tyres.

I'll report back in a few months on how they're going.

[aranciata-oz]

Hi there guys,

Hope you don't mind me resurrecting an old topic ... my 235/45R18's are due for replacement soon.

The ones I've had for the past 30k kms are Hankook Ventus Prime 2's - they've been very very good tyres - quiet, gripped in the dry like it was on rails. In the wet they grip hard but do break traction quite abruptly but I suspect that's just normal for a wide 18 incher like these. I'd be happy to replace them with another set of Prime 2's, but they're something like Aus$220 now and most of the other brand name equivalents are much more again. I'm happy to pay for quality tyres but would prefer a wider choice. And the slightly wider 245/45R18 size offer many more options at the sub $200 mark.

My question is has anyone in Aust used the slightly wider (and therefore slightly higher sidewall due to the same 45 aspect ratio) like some of our friends here in the States in years past? (refer viewtopic.php?p=45687#p45687). I'm aware the speedo will be closer to 3% overestimating the actual speed compared to 10% from this slightly higher tyre but to me that's a good thing (I will verify with the GPS anyway). Why I'm asking this is also because I'm hoping to improve the ride of my Kiz a little which I hope the slight increase in sidewall height might offer (if it doesn't, it's not a deal breaker).

Any real world experiences or general advice appreciated. Happy to hear of particular model tyres too that you rate highly in terms of performance/value balance (if I'm going to pay $250 I'd rather go all the way to the Michelins). Thanks.

[Ronzuki]

Don't know if the Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 235/45R18 94W are available to you, but I've put a thousand or so miles on them since earlier this year and am, pleasantly, quite surprised. They are a very nice budget tire (not low-budget) and are holding their own well compared to the other more expensive sets I'd put on the K previously. Dry grip is outstanding, and I am not at all gentle on the car when negotiating the twisties on dry pavement. Obviously the jury is out on how they'll perform beyond 1/2 life since I'm no where near that point yet. Admittedly, the Kiz hasn't seen much rain, if any, since these were installed. It's become more of my fair-weather fun-car garage-queen last couple years.

[aranciata-oz]

Don't know if the Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 235/45R18 94W are available to you, but I've put a thousand or so miles on them since earlier this year and am, pleasantly, quite surprised. They are a very nice budget tire (not low-budget) and are holding their own well compared to the other more expensive sets I'd put on the K previously. Dry grip is outstanding, and I am not at all gentle on the car when negotiating the twisties on dry pavement. Obviously the jury is out on how they'll perform beyond 1/2 life since I'm no where near that point yet. Admittedly, the Kiz hasn't seen much rain, if any, since these were installed. It's become more of my fair-weather fun-car garage-queen last couple years.

Hi Ronzuki,

Where do u get these HTR’s? Interesting as I used to swear by these same Sumi HTR’s in the late 90’s on my 1st gen “widebody” Camry - it was explained to me then that the tyre was not budget but the price was, given there was no heavy advertising to factor into the price. As I was planning ahead when the tyres eventually needed changing, I actually enquired about these HTR’s with a Sydney dealer last year but I vaguely recalled the HTR wasn’t in this 235/45R18 size or there was no stock, and they recommended the equivalent Falken instead which they explained was made by the same company ... anyway keen to hear where u got yours given I didn’t see them on the usual online tyre sites ....


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[Ronzuki]

I was going to order them from tire rack myself and have them sent to my garage here in PA for install. They are also a tire rack premier installer. Instead I just had the garage obtain them. Not sure if they got them from tire rack or not.