I just bought a set of bridgestone potenza re0960 pole position AS in the 245/40/18 for the back of my Z and I feel like these tires tend to "float" ( like wind blowing you car side to side; loose back-end) and NOT like grounded like the OEM potenza re040 when driven at high speeds in excess of 100mph.

Anyone feel the same way with any new tires?

Is it a bad tire? or is a trait of high performance All Season?

Would wider tires help? I live in the snowbelt region so i need all seasons. Anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

gotta drive them a couple hundred miles to break them in and let the mold release disappear.

 

Are they filled with nitrogen? Maybe that's why they are floating.

 

the shop might have put helium instead of N2

 

It sounds like you only replaced the rears, right? It's not uncommon when mixing tires to have the car handle and feel strange as different tires will have different characteristics.

 

They feel a little “wiggly” and you feel like they are slippery. Right?

No worries here since that always is the case with new tires. You need to “burn-off” the grease and "wear-in" the tread. Just drive them for a few hours on the expressway, and they will feel much better.

--Spike

 

You also have to consider the fact that you're replacing an "Ultra High Performance Summer" tire with an "Ultra High Performance All-Season" tire. They're definitely going to exhibit different driving characteristics. But as mentioned previously, drive them a couple hundred miles before passing final judgment. They were great on my old STI...the best all-seasons I've driven on.

 

Thanks everyone for the input!

 

Do you still have the stock size tires up front??? If so , its normal when the take the stagger in tire height away. My suggestion is, take you new rear tires and mount them up front , then buy the proper height (245/45-18) for the rear. All will be good then.

 

just a thought, but maybe you should not drive at speeds of 100mph since it is obvious you do not know how to control your car when doing so

 

^^agreed

 

I just bought the same exact tires for my rears last week and I had the same problem but Spike100 pretty much hit the nail on the head. Just ride around for alittle and you'll get a better response....
And yea the re0960s arent as good as the re040s but for the price im not complainin theyre still great tires

 

Is there really people out there that get new tires and immediately start traveling 100+ miles per hour on public roads? That gets a tick on the ol' doucheometer. How about making sure your car is handling okay at normal speeds before that? Or maybe don't break the law, there's always that option. Aw *** it, you're in Kentucky. Who gives a shiet.

I would suggest doing as the others have pointed out, drive on them and let the tires wear to promote proper adhesion with the road.

I also agree with Terrasmak, I believe he listed the correct size of the tires you should have purchased.

 

Hahaha some of you guys in this forum are funny and sarcastic! I can dig that.

The tire size. I missed typed. It is 245/45/18.

As for 100mph? Of course I didnt ragged on it right away. I did let it burn in a little. I have to agree with the post saying its the characteristics of 2 different sets of tires. I should of bought the whole set. But you all 350z owners should now tires aint cheap and our Zs eat up back tires like a *****!

If anyone who has something to say about excess of 100mph and breaking the law... and you havent? Who buys a Z and drives it like your granny? haha

I am enjoying the post though. thanks guys!

 

there is a difference with spirited driving and driving like an idiot. doing 100+ on public streets falls into the latter category. good luck and hope you dont kill anyone else with your stupidity

 

You can mix different brands of tires front-to-rear. I’ve done this without any problems. However, there are some important considerations when you do this:

• When mixing different brands of tire, remain within the same classification for all four tires (e.g., don’t mix summer-performance tires with all-season tires since that marriage could be very bad).
  
  
• It’s wise to maintain at least a 20mm width-stagger front-to-rear when mixing tire brands on your Z. This way you will have at least some under-steer and probably never go past neutral-steer. If you mount the same width tires and have different brands on the front and rear, the result could be a car that over-steers. That could be trouble for even experienced drivers.
  
  
• Try to keep within a reasonable sidewall stiffness factor front-to-rear. Soft sidewalls mixed with stiff sidewall makes the car feel “wiggly.” You can mix soft and stiff sidewalls safely as long as you stay within the 20mm width-stagger. Worst case scenario is very stiff backs with soft fronts since this tends to over-steer.
  
  
• Don’t mix brands of studless snow tires, and never run performance snow tires with studless snow tires. Your best arrangement with studless snow tires is to go all-square (225/55-17’ all around) and rotate the tires so they wear at the same rate. 225/55-17” works fine with even the most “fussy” VDC on a Z.
  
  
• And… Don’t go 100mph when testing your new mixed setup. At least until you have a few hours on the tires.

I’m sure that there are some other points that I don’t have in the list that someone else will point out.

--Spike