Silver350ZAZ

My OE Bridgestones are worn on my 2005 Z Roadster and it is time to replace them.

Please provide any opinions on replacement tires.

Dry pavement handling and overall handling is my #1 PRIORITY!

I live in Arizona, so wet pavement handling is not important at all.

Treat life is not important.

Thanks,

Swiffer

iTrader: (8)

Damn, how many miles do you have already?

Tirerack has a bunch of reviews for OEM sizes.

Silver350ZAZ

I'm at 14,300 miles. The rears have about a 1000 miles left on them and the fronts have about 7000 left on them, since I fliped and rotated them about 5000 miles ago.

However, I don't want to replace the rears with the Bridgestones. I'd rather get 4 new tires - new brand, so I am looking for opinions from those that have replpaced their tires.

I read the TireRack reviews, but it is more valuable to get opinions from Z owners and find out how the tires are with our car.

Thanks,

kovalf

Agree with Camaro194, TireRack's web site is an excellent resource for information, even if you don't buy there. I've been partial to Michelin Pilot Sports since I bought my '96 300ZX TT and replaced the sh**tty Goodyear Gatorbacks with them. They've come out with different flavors of Pilots since the original, so I don't know if they're a big improvement or not, but I just replaced the rears on my 2004 roadster with Pilot Sports last week, and I plan to do the same with the fronts when the front Bridgestones die.

Anomaly

iTrader: (7)

My recommendation: BFG KDW2.

Check out the Tirerack.com reviews. Excellent in all aspects. I've had zero complaints about this tire (as compared to the Bridgestone Potenza RE040 stockers).

Silver350ZAZ

_________________________

Is your car handling OK with 2 different brands?

I though you were not supposed to interchange brands.

Swiffer

iTrader: (8)

You can have different tires on the front and back, but not left and right. For example, on the Z, when the rear tires need replaced, I'll just replace those. I'm not going to change the front tires to match the rear tires. I'll then change the fronts when they get low on tread.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

Tire suggestions are in the tire forum. I haven't the faintest idea why they are hidden there!

hypeiv

iTrader: (2)

i was able to fit 245/45/17 on my oem fronts and 255/45/17 on my rears. There are more options in that size than in the stock 225/50/17 and 235/50/17 though now I think Falken & Kumho make a cheap set in that size... but the wider with the smaller aspect ratio keep the stock stagger and are pretty close to the oem size and I think perform really well. I run Falken Ziex 512 btw they were $590 installed from discount and I haven't had any problems with them.

MannishBoy

iTrader: (1)

Moved.

HighwaySpeed

Michelin Pilot Sport - 18"

225/45WR18 91W 220 AA A

245/45WR18 96W 220 AA A

Or

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 - 17"

225/50-YR17 94Y 280 AA A

235/50-YR17 96Y 280 AA A

streetracer

iTrader: (1)

Agree with brand. Disagree with size. I would go wider. Also I have some Dunlops 9000 and they run insanely good.

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

I wou;d not think of running different brands front/back. I replaced all four with Toyo T 1Rs. So far so good with them.

sidewayz2

How wide of a rear tire can I run on the new stock 18" '06 wheels. I want the widest tire without rubbing or hitting. From the rear it would look ominous with some fatties out back.

350Zteve

iTrader: (6)

Without a doubt, BFG KD's

heezyo2o

Agreed since he has a priority on dry performance. Also look into the michelin PS2s, the yokahoma Advans and perhaps some pilot cup sports.

streetracer

iTrader: (1)

To give you an idea of size, mi Track Model Rays of the prior edition are 18x8" front and 18x8.5" Back. I run 255/35/18 front and 265/35/18 back and it looks and feels perfect. I would've like a little higher aspect ratio of 40 but I buy my tires used and those were the ones I could find. Fronts are Dunlops 9000 and backs are Michellin Pilot Sports. I'm trying to post a picture but always have trouble bringing down the picture size to 73 kb. My pictures range about 800 Kb per photo. Actually, any help on this is greatly appreaciated.

Kolia

iTrader: (2)

Falken Azenis RT-615

235/40R18 Front
255/40R18 Rear

Will last longer than the OEM and have better dry grip than anything else, short of DOT R-compouds. Even the Kuhmo MX can't beat them on the dry.

Get them at www.vulcaintires.com

stunnashadeson

ive gone through a few sets of tires since having my z...

Ive had the bridgestone potenza s-03s and loved them, but they only lasted about 2 months. expensive too.

The michelin ps2s were a good all around tire. wet weather traction was pretty good. dry traction was pretty good. like i said, it was a good all around tire. but it was just as expensive as the s-03s

I recently bought some Falken Azenis RT615 through a friend at Americas Tire, and couldnt be happier. Excellent, excellent, dry traction, and good wet traction. so for this summer i would highly recommend it. i havent tracked them as of yet, but when i went last time i rode with a dude who had them on a Lotus Elise. he ran them so hard they started clumping and adhering to the body panels directly behing the wheel well.

hope this helps!