A&Q about 350Z
Q:
Has anyone got any long term feedback yet on the 255/40-18 and 275/40-18 Goodyear Eagle combo suggested by jjgdyr ? Do they work well with the standard 8" wheels ? Any wear issues yet ? Ride and handling ?
-nicolm
350Z Silverstone Performance
A:
i got them about 2 months ago.
immediately i noticed much increased stability especially in the corners.
they appear to be wearing well but it is too early to say.
i took my car in to be aligned and the dealer said that he could not get his machine on the rims because of the increased tire size.
i personally think that they will wear better because of the tread pattern as previously explained. i think that other folks make similar tread patterns at lower cost.
i also like the way the car looks. there is a significant cosmetic difference with the wider tires and the car looks much beefier especially from the back.
A:
I have those on the rear in 275/40-18 and they are great.
A:
I've used the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3, but wouldn't recommend going any larger than a 245/40/18 on a 8" wide wheel. Sure, you can put a wider tire on, but the contact patch will be severely compromised. If you've gotta have the wider tires for looks, don't fool yourself on performance.
As for the Eagle FI D3's road and track performance, I'd say they are on par with the best for wet performance (my other fav is the S03) and are close to the best in dry traction, feedback and predictability. They have a 280 treadwear rating and were average for high-performance tire wear and durability.
A:
hi all
if you're outside the calif bay area, i would suggest tire rack
up to the 5th of this month, if u buy a set, goodyear will mail u a check for $60.
f y i
A:
I installed G3 about 6 weeks ago at 10K miles. I now have 11.6K miles, having driven about 1600 on the G3's. Overall, I am very pleased. My Z has 17" wheels, with 245x45x17's on the front, and 255x45x17's on the rear. The wider profile certainly improves the appearance of the car.
Based on my experience so far I would rate them as follows:
1. Wet road performance - superb, very good street tire, great as a daily driver. Much better than the RE040's.
2. Dry road performance - excellent, about the same as the RE040's.
3. Ride smoothness is much better. I used to joke that if you ran over a strand of human hair, you would feel it. With the G3's you don't feel every little bump. As an unintended benefit, many of the annoying rattles have been reduced substantially,
4. Steering response is slightly softer. The softer sidewall does not provide quite the "cornering on rails" feeling. Based on tireracks track testing, the track times of the G3's was very competitive. I doubt the softer steering response would significantly change the track times compared to the RE040's. It is more of a steering feeling issue vs. a steering performance issue.
5. Too soon to tell about feathering, but so far there are no signs of it. I am checking every week. I do believe that the different tread design along with the 280 (vs 140 for the 040) tread wear rating should at least significantly reduce the tendency to feather.
I will keep everyone on this forum advised as I accumulate more mileage.