my 04 z now has about 13000 miles on it and i notice that the car handles worse than it did when it was new. im suspecting that this is due to normal tire wear. however, i dont plan on getting another set of the bridgestones that come on the z stock when 30k miles comes around or when i get some new wheels. btw i live in california so wet grip isnt a deciding factor for me. any suggestions on some good gripping tires?

im considering:
bridgestone s03
toyo t1-s
yokohama avs sport
bfgoodrich g-force t/a or sport
michelin ps2
nitto 555 (RII)
kumho ecsta supra

thanks for the help in advance

 

what exactly makes a tire "aftermarket"?

 

I think he means anything that's not OEM with the car when it is purchased.....

I've had Kuhmo Supra Ecsta's before and they worked fine, I think you can get them for the Z and they are not ridiculously expensive, I know there are better tires out there though. Personally I think I'll get some toyo's or somethin with a tight lookin tread to go on mine when the time comes.

 

I spent a lot of time on tires before deciding on Toyo T1 Rs (new version of T1 Ss).

Other tires that seem to be well regarded are Bridgdtone S 03s, Michelin PS2s, and Goodyear F1 GSD3s. My first choice was the Goodyears but went with Toyo because the T1 Rs came in OEM sizes for the 18" wheels.

Check Tirerack survey:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ay.jsp?type=MP

Toyos are not included in Tirerack surveys.

 

Whatever you buy be sure & get an alignment once the new tires are installed.

 

Not sure if they make the sizes you would need as I use them for track tires (17's) but I'm loving the Falken RT-615's. Great grip and pretty good wear characteristics so far (tracked them twice so far). I have the BFGoodrich KDW's on a set of 19" Volks for the street. Seem fine in terms of wear, but I don't really push them so I don't know what the grip is like. But if you are looking for some longer wearing tires these might fit the bill. Good luck!

 

Recommendations are from Consumer Reports.

 

bfgoodrich g-force t/a - i have them, i like them... and i would buy them again.

 

Consumer Reports, often they rate stuff that is no longer available (though it does note that fact) Michelin now as a version 2 of that tire.
I bought the Bridgstone SO3, because the OEM tires did not fit on my Nismos.
I like the tires. I also live in SoCal.
If you're around the west side of LA, Stokes Tire Pros in S Monica are very knowledgeable. John, the owner, has a stable of very hot cars. He suggested the SO3's

MJD

 

davidv, nice to see someone else in here that likes to get CRs take on things when making a decision.

Also, nice job of posting the CR charts.

 

For excellent grip, my vote goes for some big Michelin Pilot Sports.

 

bfgoodrich kdw ver 2. what i run on all my cars now and the z will get some in a thousand miles or so.

 

I thought about getting the Michelin Pilot Sport or the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 at first. After I talked with the tire guys at America's Tire Co (Discount Tires) I went with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S that they recommended. They were well aware of the feathering problem with the Z and they said that the Pilot Sport A/S resisted feathering better than the Pilot Sport and that it would last longer. They also said that the Pilot Sport A/S handles very close to the Pilot Sport in dry conditions and that it handled better in wet or cold conditions. It's great that they are slightly less expensive, too.

 

thanks for all your help everyone. im still undecided but i have plenty of time to think about it. please add more comments if you come up with any. thanks again!

 

True. Consumer Reports usually updates ratings with “no longer available” or “similar to the model tested.” If I post from Consumer Reports, I try to find the most up-to-date information.

 

Thanks. I prefer CR over TireRack testing. TireRack will compare 5 tires, and rate then 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9 and 9.0. In other words, little or no substantial difference between tires. Since TireRack sells tires, I take their recommendations with great caution.

 

anoter vote on potenzas..

 

my vote

 

im going to be putting on Direzza DZ101's when i switch to 255's