Here is my dilemma.... I am driving Pirelli PZero ross's on the car (18 inch) and the front tires need to be replaced. I replaced the rears about 7k miles ago, so they probably have another 3-5k in them. I don't track the car, just use it for occasional driving to work and pleasure cruising.

4 Pirelli's installed (with Road Hazard certificates) are about $1,500 at TireRack and Discount Tires. If I get the front tires only it will set me back about $600, but it will also mean I will have to pay $900 in 6-12 months to get a new set of rears.

Do I really need the Pirelli's given how I use the car, or should I be ok using something cheaper. If so, what would you recommend? Thanks!

 

well, the difference in wear between fronts and rears are something we have to live with, so this is an exercise you'll repeat.

i drive with mismatched fronts and rears and the car performs fine for daily driving.

as far as brand, should you choose to buy a different one for you fronts, there are a wide variety of opinions. i run michelin pilot sports myself for the front. they are "n" rated and all that marketing stuff. i just happened to find a deal on them.

 

How much are you going to save, given your cost/month driving low miles, why not stick with the best tires you can run?

I'm not a good person for this question, because I think tires are one of the single most important items you can invest in to help maximize your car's performance. Whether it be traction, reduced noise, whatever your goal - the right tires can make a very noticeable difference in your driving experience. Saving a few bucks in my opinion, should only be reserved for when you can't tell an obvious difference, or simply can't afford the best replacement parts.

I run Michelin Pilot Sport Ribs and I'm very happy with them. However, they are quite expensive, relatively.

 

well, assuming performance characteristics are similar enough, do you think running mismatched sets is an issue?

 

I wouldn't lose too much sleep running mismatched if I were "migrating" to a new tire. Just an opinion... but I wouldn't do it indiscriminately.

 

mismatched sets aren't an issue for street driving frankly. The only noticable difference you'll have is in the noise characteristics. some brands have stiffer sidewalls, but I doubt again, for pleasure cruising, you'll notice any difference.

I'd say go ahead and use whatever brand you feel comfortable with.

I run Michelin Pilot Sport 2s but I've run the OEM contisport cotact 2, Bridgestone S02A, etc. The difference between them has been noise. Wear has been close enough to ignore and handling wise, you'd notice if you start to do push the car.

See if you can find a used set of tires. If not, you can always order the tire shaved from Tire Rack so you get it and have the tires match the wear to the ones you already have getting back in sync.

 

I swtiched from PZeros to HTR3s and love the quiet grippy ride and look forward to how long these 30K rated tires will last (no data there yet). Also the whole set was a touch above $600 uninstalled.

 

What brand is the HTR3?

Anybody driving Hankook tires... ventusSport K104 is dirt cheap (probably for a reason)

 

HTRZ 3 is a Sumitomo, a lesser brand of Dunlop, not a bad tire at all for the money.

 

Rikens are made by Michellin... and the entire set will cost you 500 bucks. If you don't track the car and you don't go on very intense runs, I don't see why you couldn't put something like that on. My NA 993 had them and for dd duty they were fine.. a little too hard, but I wasn't pushing them.

 

Back in sync? When do wear rates on the fronts and rears of these cars sync up? Unless you mean changing the fronts every other rear change.

 

Dutchie,

I ran through twe sets of P-Zeros rear tires in about 17.5K miles (first set 8K and second set 9.5k). The only reason I got a second pair of rears is that I wrote Pirelli and got a 50% credit.

After the second set of P-Zeros died, I got some Bridgestones - hated them. They cupped very badly after about 7K miles.

I then went with Micheline PS2's. I had 14k miles on them when the car went back to the leasing company. The leasing company's inspector estimated (actually measured) 60% tread wear left. Had I been able to keep the car, I think I could have gotten 7k to 8k additional mikes on them. FWIW.

 

That's a good point... wondering if I potentially am ok having a mismatch for a couple of months while migrating.

Then the next question is... what am I migrating to?

 

My 4 tires wear at the same exact rate, believe it or not. I think some of my street driving and track duty evens all of that out.

I'm very aggressive brake and don't spend much time going straight

 

Take the four 50-pound bags of sand out of the trunk and your front tire wear will improve.