Nissan 370Z Forum - If you live in SoCal, please chime in with a tire recommendation...

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- - If you live in SoCal, please chime in with a tire recommendation... (http://www.the370z.com/wheels-tires/53578-if-you-live-socal-please-chime-tire-recommendation.html)

If you live in SoCal, please chime in with a tire recommendation...

If you are in the SoCal area, you're familiar with the weather we have. Mostly sunny, rarely some rain and for an intermittent period. With that being said, which type of tire should I get?
I'm looking at the Continental DW because it's not all season. What are all these other categories like "Extreme Summer" or "Max Summer"?

I can't distinguish between the two but I feel like I need summer tires that have some wet surface grip as well.
I've figured out my sizes today with your help so please help find the right type of tire now. Thanks!

Even if you're not in SoCal but can recommend something based on the description above, please do so. I would greatly appreciate it.

Getyourwheels.com . Eric will help you.

First of all- welcome to the family!

The short answer? Yokohama ADVAN sports, stock size up front, 275 rear width. Super tight budget? Just need rear tires for now? If they're bald, don't wait, buy a pair of rears to match whatever fronts you have. It takes FOREVER to sell a set of base front tires here. FOREVER. The stock ADVANS are great tires. Go wider than stock on the rear! More meat = they will last longer and break loose less when you slam shift into 2nd.. Repeatedly.

Now the answer you need, considering you have to live with your decision for about 2 years: The more disciplined you are about safe driving, the better tire you can get. Here's the thing: these cars have WAY more HP than the stock rear tires can handle, especially the base rims/tires. You'll fry the rears before you've used 20% of the fronts and this equation is extremely dangerous when the streets are wet. BECAUSE we don't get much rain here when we do it gets VERY greasy because of the oil buildup and traction goes from 100% to about 20% instantly.

That being said, keeping the stock 18's gives you more good options in tires and less cost per tire than 19" rims, so the important factors are a) your income level b) intentions with the car c) driving habits.

Generally the inexpensive tires have relatively poor or unpredictable grip, and are best for gentle mature drivers or students on a budget. Hankook Ventus V-12 is an example, or anything inexpensive from Falken or Kumho. The more expensive Grippier (BStone RE-11, Michelin Pilots) tires wear very fast (rears) but are predictable under hard cornering and braking and in my opinion worth the extra couple hundred dollars.

Keeping the 18's for a while? Know how to short shift and leave a gap when it's (even slightly) wet? Get the widest tires your 8" fronts and 9" rears will handle. Stay with the stock Yokos or Bridgestones the car came with, go wider.

Getting rims right away? Your avatar looks like you want to have some flush fit 19's or 20's with spacers and a 1" drop, which is fine. Price out tires to fit them first. Assume $100 install if you get them from Tire Rack or have them shipped to you. Get 19's with 9" fronts (for ease of turning) and 10-10.5" rears. Spacers are $100-$200 used here.

Thinking of going on lots of canyon runs? Tracking your Z? :tup: No room for error, and glad to hear you have cash to burn. Pilot Sport or RE-11's. Expert driver? Hankook RS-3 or Nitto NT01 (racing compound) and be SUPER careful in the rain.

Enjoy the ride!

Quote:

Originally Posted by threeseventy (Post 1678928)

First of all- welcome to the family!

The short answer? Yokohama ADVAN sports, stock size up front, 275 rear width.

Now the answer you want: The more disciplined you are about safe driving, the better tire you can get. Here's the thing: these cars have WAY more HP than the stock rear tires can handle, especially the base rims/tires. You'll fry the rears before you've used 20% of the fronts and this equation is extremely dangerous when the streets are wet. BECAUSE we don't get much rain here when we do it gets VERY greasy because of the oil buildup and traction goes from 100% to about 20% instantly.

That being said, keeping the stock 18's gives you more good options in tires and less cost per tire than 19" rims, so the important factors are a) your income level b) intentions with the car c) driving habits.

Generally the inexpensive tires have relatively poor or unpredictable grip, and are best for gentle mature drivers or students on a budget. Hankook Ventus V-12 is an example, or anything inexpensive from Falken or Kumho. The more expensive Grippier (BStone RE-11, Michelin Pilots) tires wear very fast (rears) but are predictable under hard cornering and braking and in my opinion worth the extra couple hundred dollars.

Keeping the 18's for a while? Know how to short shift and leave a gap when it's (even slightly) wet? Get the widest tires your 8" fronts and 9" rears will handle. Stay with the stock Yokos or Bridgestones the car came with, go wider.

Getting rims right away? Your avatar looks like you want to have some flush fit 19's or 20's with spacers and a 1" drop, which is fine. Price out tires to fit them first. Assume $100 install if you get them from Tire Rack or have them shipped to you. Get 19's with 9" fronts (for ease of turning) and 10-10.5" rears. Spacers are $100-$200 used here.

Thinking of going on lots of canyon runs? Tracking your Z? :tup: No room for error, and glad to hear you have cash to burn. Pilot Sport or RE-11's. Expert driver? Hankook RS-3 or Nitto NT01 (racing compound) and be SUPER careful in the rain.

Super tight budget? Just need rear tires for now? If they're bald, don't wait, buy a pair of rears to match whatever fronts you have. It takes FOREVER to sell a set of base front tires here. FOREVER. The stock ADVANS are great tires. Go wider than stock on the rear! More meat = they will last longer and break loose less when you slam shift into 2nd.. Repeatedly.

Enjoy the ride!

Thank you for the super informative post! I appreciate the welcome as well (just bought the car on Thursday). :)

Yes I plan on keeping the stock 18" rims for now. Yes I plan to get a relatively budget set of tires (Hankook, Continentals, or even Kumho). No I don't plan to ever track it or do any canyon runs.

Still can't get over how thorough this post is. It deserves a sticky in and of itself. I'm going to read over the different scenarios over again and think about it some more. I have a mechanic friend who works for a big car dealership. They get tires at employee pricing + 10% so depending what the numbers run, I may get a decent set of tires. If not, I'll go with plan A.

thank you for taking the time to write this up.

You're welcome. Lots of coffee, wife at the gym, the kid's asleep, and I'm sitting here watching F1 and hangin on the forum.

What's the widest tire size for base rears with Megan lowering springs ? Anyone ? ��