A tire review, if anybody cares...

[jeffcoslacker]

My '97 LS has the alloy wheels with 225/60/R16 tires, originally came with Bridgestone Potenza RE 910's. The 'Stones performed wonderfully, having excellent wet traction and a superb sidewall strength coupled with outstanding durability, something rare in a high-grip tire.

When they finally were done at 55,000 miles, I replaced them with an identical set, and had the same experience with them, finally wearing them out at 110,000 miles, with no flats, out of rounds or any other issues with either set, despite being driven to their limits daily.

This time around, I opted for a slightly cheaper but comparably rated Yokohama AS-430, those having a similar tread pattern and rain channelling as the RE 910's. The RE 910 has been discontinued, replaced by the 950 line, and have risen in price slightly. I may regret going with a cheaper tire to save $90 on a set, only time will tell.

There were even cheaper options for this tire size, but they were more of a standard passenger tire tread style (an outdated one at that) and their rain sweeping ability looked non-existant. The rubber felt hard and plasticky, and the sidewalls were paper thin. I would have destroyed any of these in short notice, as my driving style constantly flirts with the limits of tire grip and strength of construction.

After 5,000 miles, I can report that the Yokos are a very smooth, quiet tire, with great rain traction. They have shown no noticeable wear at this point, so I anticipate a long life. The only gripe I have is that they seem to flex much more than the RE 910's, leaving them prone to a wallowy feeling in a hairpin curve at high speed.

This may be due in part to the depth of the new tread, block flexing can produce this and most tires don't hit their best cornering performance until about 50% tread wear has occured. But I don't remember having this sensation on the Bridgestones when they were new.

There is no apparant scuffing or wear on the sidewalls, so I DON'T think that the issue is sidewall flex allowing the sides to knuckle under the wheel under stress, but the sensation continues to puzzle me.

All in all, I think these Yokos will be a good set, I may just need to adjust my driving to their particular characteristics, I have become set in my ways after 110,000 miles on Bridgestones. Time will tell, but I think these were an excellent value for the price.

If this car continues to outlast tire sets, I will have a new review for you in approximately 3 years or 50,000 miles, I will be at 165,00 by then!

[richtazz]

always nice to know that there is a lesser expensive alternative that is worth the money. Keep us posted, sometimes cheap is cheap, sometimes just less expensive.

[jeffcoslacker]

One thing I cannot say enough good about is the Bridgestone's dual-compound rubber construction, that reveals a softer compund rubber little by little as the tread wears away, allowing them to maintain wet traction and cornering grip as they wear, actually feeling remarkably sticky even as I only had a couple thousandths of tread depth left. I love a tire that performs down to the belts. The Yokos don't appear to have this factor, and that may become an issue as the tires age.

[PoliceCarToTaxiCab]

hello everyone,
I've only been driving my 99 lumina (3.8) for about 3 months now putting approximately 25,000 miles on it. I chose this car because I was impressed with a 97 lumina that I had previously leased. That car handled superbly in rain, snow, ice. I drove it through blizzards here in baltimore...proving to me that fwd cars can handle well and be roadworthy when it comes to severe driving conditions.

Anywho, my 99 lumina just doesn't handle the same. I've had problems with my car's rear end sliding around curves in the rain. One problem that I haven't got around to fixing yet is my ABS. The light's been on for a couple of weeks now. I believe that the Enhanced Traction System is disabled when the ABS is disabled. Do y'all think that this is directly related to my rear end sliding?
I'm gonna get to the bottom of my ABS problem real soon, and I'll be sure to let y'all know if I do some unintentional 360's on another beltway exit again. Thanks!

[cadgear]

My 99 handles great in any weather condition, but it was a base model (no ABS/trac), so I dunno what magic wizardry they add on for the ABS system. Though doing intentional 360s on the backroads is fun with the new car salesmen.

[Jay Beezy]

Anybody have a rating of the Goodyear Assurance with TripleTred? I've been thinking about putting those tires on my '92 Lumina Euro.