Here's a screwy...

The best wearing, least noisy tires I have had to date (5 sets in 60,000 miles) are a crappy set of Falken Zeix tires. they are 40's so they are a little low and they handle like chipped beef on toast.

Quite simply, I could not afford another good set this year.

I got one set of Pilots free at 12000 miles and put on 2 sets of S-03 Poles my self. There was no money left this time.

Now I have a decent wearing, fairly quiet tire-- I am racking up mileage 3-4% over actual and I may not be reimbursed for the Flakens because they are undersized.

Atleast I am going to get something for the S-03's

I never dreamed I would put this many sets on by this mileage.
My 280s and 300s always got fair mileage even when I was a punk-azz kid driving like a lunatic. Oye! my achin' back!

 

Got my new front tires put on today. Smooth and quiet but for some reason they feel different. More on that later.

The new tires actually came in last week but the manager wanted me to wait till this week. They were getting their alignment machine calibrated. Rumor has it that the dealers are required to submit a calibration certificate with each warranty claim.

I got to the dealership to pick it up before it was totally finished so the mechanic that did the alignment is the one that drove the car out and handed me the paper work and the keys. I asked and he told me that the car had needed to be realigned.

Alignment and front L-R tire swap was done about 8mo/6K miles ago. He also admitted that the machine had been recalibrated Friday. It makes me wonder if it's been out of whack since the last time I brought it in. They aligned it to bad settings and that's why the feathering reappeared.

Before alignment today, my Toe settings were -0.34º/-0.37º. Way out when you compare it to the "after" setting of 0.05º/0.03º.

The highway I rode home on is old asphalt with lots of buckled spots and expansion joint bumps. To me it seemed as though the front tires are harder than the old ones. I seemed to feel every bump in the road through the steering wheel. Yes, tire pressure is correct at 35psi.

 

I also had my tires replaced on my 2004 Z. The dealer also re-aligned the front end to different specs. The tires do seem to be harder. I also think the car handled tight turns better before. The dealer re-assured me that I should not notice a negative impact on the handling. But I have not pushed it to the limits like I had before for a true test.

 

When I bought my Z in feb 2004 - I felt the tires were very noisy when I drove it home from the dealorship. I thought - perhaps this is just my imagination - having a Maxima before ( very quiet ). Then I eventually got on this site and realized others were complaining of noise and feathering. Mine didnt seem to be feathering.
I finally got a letter from Nissan about 4 weeks ago - stating they were replacing tires on my car ( 04) if feathering and percentage allowed was based on amount of tread left. Luckily I had enough tread left at 18,000 miles that I received 100 percent credit - no cost to have them replaced. I honestly didnt think they were that bad - and likely good for another 10,000 without danger. But I did get them replaced immediately - and the noise level reduction was amazing. I can now actually hear the engine when i slow down for a stop light! LOL
Keep at those dealers guys! They will replace them for uneven wear.