Tire Suggestions Please

[Racinfan83]

I know I've been over this some in the past - long story short I got the car with brand new Nitto 555 Extreme tires on it. Have a serious vibration - after a couple places tried to balance them and failed - I had em Road Force balanced and they failed. Called Nitto, sent the tech guy all my invoices and info - they called the dealer who Road Forced them and also my local Nitto dealer and told him to get the tires and work out installation. Get here today and when the Shop Mgr calls Nitto for a warranty # he tells him they aren't going to warranty them because I wasn't the original purchaser. Didn't matter that they have less then
1/32 worn off of them and they obviously were new and defective. So now this shop is screwed and so am I - because this Nitto Tech lied all along. The Mgr. here at NTB is being really cool about it and not charging me special order charges or for the time they have spent. Nitto can as far as I'm concerned as they have led me and the shop to believe they were covering them only to wait til last minute and deny it...

SO - I am looking for suggestions on what to put on my car - (NOT Nitto). I don't race it, so I need something that will work for normal driving and on the highway. While I don't intend to ever drive it in rain - I might get caught in it someday so the tires gotta be somewhat "rain ready". And no I cannot afford the Goodyears. Gotta spend less the a grand on whatever set I get. Any help, links, etc would be much appreciated!

[GOLDCYLON]

I like the Goodyear F1 GS DS series however they are next to impossible to find these days. Since you have ruled out Nitto's.... My advise is Michelin Pilot Sports.

Dont even consider Sumitomo's GC

[efnfast]

I run the Pilot Sports and like them, although I have nothing to compare them to.

[WARP TEN]

I know not everyone likes them but I have had Sumitomos on both the ZR-1s and they have been fine. Don 't seem to flat spot as much as the early Sumis did, they are inexpensive and drive fine. They are not real great for drag racing traction. I have them now and they are fine, although they are getting older and I may change in the spring. Haven't decided what. I was thinking of the Nittos....:-) --Bob

[ZZZZZR1]

Originally Posted by GOLDCYLON

I like the Goodyear F1 GS DS series however they are next to impossible to find these days. Since you have ruled out Nitto's.... My advise is Michelin Pilot Sports.

Dont even consider Sumitomo's GC

Originally Posted by efnfast

I run the Pilot Sports and like them, although I have nothing to compare them to.

I agree 100% with Michelin Pilot Sports.

275 / 40 / 17

335 / 35 / 17

Fit our cars 100% and unreal road quality.

Sumi's are great for a budget and if you don't drive your car much.

Goodyear F1's are another great tire and one of the best in the rain.



David

[Racinfan83]

I will look at the Michelins. Update: I did - and no way can I afford those.. The Goodyears are $300 less and I can't do them...
And all the dealer who did the Road Force said was that "Tires Failed" due to bad sidewalls and that they were ordering 4 new ones (which didn't happen either) And it feels like all 4 are bad...
While I understand somewhat the position about "original invoice" these tires are OBVIOUSLY like BRAND NEW (MAYBE 3k miles on em). And I would think that Nitto would at the least be interested in why they failed? I mean come on - by what they told me today if I had bought the car from a dealer who had bought the tires new - and they were friggin SQUARE - they still wouldn't warranty them? I supplied the guy with all the info he wanted - even TOLD him both in the first e-mail I sent and on the first phone conversation that I was NOT the original purchaser. He could have told me straight up what their policy was and that they wouldn't do anything. I woulda been ticked - but not as bad as I am NOW after working with this guy AND the local NTB Mgr working with him and all he has done to get this worked out - only to get shot down after both of us being led to believe that Nitto was gonna cover it.

[ZZZZZR1]

I'll forward this thread to Robert. He has the tire connection!



David

[WVZR-1]

I realize the "bad taste" after the experience but since you appear to have few alternatives and now have had what seems like to have been a good experience with the NTB guy maybe give him the option of maybe helping you.

In your original thread I and others suggested "possibilities". Perhaps since the tires have so little wear investigate the options. Did you actually get the "road-force" report from the 2nd dealer the 2nd time around?

I suggested in your other thread marking the weight locations, valve stem locations and if you had situations on your 2nd visit to the 2nd dealer ask about repositioning the tires on the wheels. I'm guessing there was no attempt at that, the 2nd dealer said "failed" and then the bad experience. -Jeff has pretty much suggested the same again here and I see no reason to start spending on tires quite yet. I also mentioned in your other thread that maybe "wheels" might be in your future.

I'd think it foolish to rush to a tire buy right now.

If the NTB guy has "road-force" let him attempt a correction of the ones that appear to have "failed" by repositioning the tire. Bring the wheels into the conversation with the NTB guy - consider the next buy if there needs to be one from the NTB guy. It would be good if you had a similar experience with "whatever" the brand you could deal with it locally. With your recent experiences I can't imagine you're interested in a buy that isn't done "locally"!

Perhaps if there were a quantity of less than 4 involved Nitto may "rethink" their position. I realize they've aggravated you BUT -----

Revisit maybe your original thread:

http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread....ght=road+force

[Kevin]

my plan is go nitto next time, I was considering gsd3 or the early viper tyers but I don't have that kind of cash

[batchman]

I know you're past this, but -

Did all 4 fail road force balance???

Did anyone try re-indexing the tires on the wheels, and/or check for bent wheels? You'd be surprised how many bent aluminum wheels there are on the roads, and it doesn't take much of a bend to be felt.

Hard to believe you could really have 4 bad tires. And don't be so sure about blaming Nitto, do you really know what your prior owner did with the car? I hit a highway bridge seam with my 97 Lincoln 18 months ago, you know the kind where they post "BUMP" and it's usually nothing. Well this one wasn't nothing, and I did slow to 55-60 or so but still one tire failed that day and the other front failed three months ago (12k miles later).

And FWIW I've had good luck with Sumis on several cars, including the "going to the inspection station" tires on the ZR-1 (only street driven for transport).

And also FWIW I've found 2 places that will warranty without proof of original purchase - cars and hand tools. On anything else I can think of if I didn't give them the money I can't picture them happily giving back to me.

Best,
- Jeff