Update on tire review I promised

I posted way back about the new tires I bought for the '97 LS. I went with the Yokohama AS430's, instead of the Bridgestone Potenza RE910's that came on it, and that I replaced them with when that set was done. I went with the Yoko's outta money concerns, and the RE910's were now an obsolete tire, replaced with a new model with some claimed improvements, but a higher price as well.

The Yoko's were gonna save me about $80 for the set, which, being unemployed at the time was hard to pass up. I was just concerned that the Yoko's might not live up to the level of performance and durability that I had come to expect from the Bridgestones.

My initial assesment of the AS430's was that they seemed to be as good or better for ride quality and noise, but felt like they were "curling under" when cornering, as if they weren't as rigid in the sidewall as the Potenzas. Well, I'm pleased to report that this apparantly was the result of an unusually persistant mold-release compound on the tires that didn't wash off on the first cleaning, and in fact remained until driven in the rain several times.

Now these tires have shaped up nicely, standing up to whatever sidethrust I can generate with the Lumina, loosing their grip only in the most extreme cornering situation but just before the limit of what the chassis can do without trying to roll over, so that's not a bad thing:grinno:

They break traction gradually, giving ample warning before control is lost entirely.

Rain grip and water siping are excellent. That was another thing that was incredible about the Potenzas, that I wondered if I would loose in going to a cheaper tire. I'm glad to say, this is not the case. I've run these tires at near 80 mph in heavy rain, and gave the car a quick left-right jink to see if hydroplaning was happening. It remained firmly planted, and holds the road securely at any sane cornering speed. They are very confidence-inspiring, just like the Bridgestones.

Snow traction is adequate, as good as can be expected from a speed rated 60 series tire.

Despite my daily antics, there is no measurable wear or rounding off of the shoulders happening after several months of hard use, so I anticipate long service life.

The Bridgestones were a dual-compound design, a softer rubber running through the tread blocks is exposed more and more as the other rubber wears down. The result is a design that progressively exposes more and more soft compound for outstanding grip even as the tread depth wears away. At the point of replacement, they still grip as well as when new, except for being suceptable to hydroplaning, due to shallowness or the tread. The Yoko's make no claim to anything like this, so towards the end of their service life may be where the extra money was well-spent on the Bridgestones. That remains to be seen. I'll keep ya' posted.

AS430 Yokohama 225/60/16 vs. Bridgestone Potenza RE-910 225/60/16

I put some Bridgestone Insignias on mine. They're T-rated, so the sidewalls don't flex toooo much, and they are GREAT in the snow up here in the North. I haven't put myself in a high-speed cornering situation yet to comment on that.