Hey, I have been needing tires pretty badly for most of the summer, and have been looking at craigslist, hoping to find a wheel/tire combo with decent tread for around 2 bills (I know, Im a cheap ass).
Recently SWMBO relented and was down with maybe spending $350 or so (basically, what I could get some cheap no-name tires for at the local tire place).
Today I came up with this:
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/pts/3358792102.html
What do you think? At first look, I didnt care much for the wheels, but they are a decent gunmetal color, perfectly new, and Bridgestone tires that have supposedly never seen pavement. I know that the bolt pattern will line up, but will offset etc match up on a 99 G20? I am a complete wheel newb, so Im useless, I dont even know where to start on doing the homework on these. But, If I can talk the guy down $50, and theyll fit, then I think its a great deal. I know from research online that other people report needing between 35 and 45 mm offset for 195/60/15 on my chassis. The tires above are 195/55/16 - Im assuming the 195/55 bit is something like overall diameter and width? Like I said, newb. I have no Idea what those numbers mean lol
(I know, how can I call myself a car guy when I dont know wheels/tire/fitment etc).
let me know what you guys think. I want to jump on these quick if theres a chance that they wont rub over curbs or cornering etc.
For that much budget, you might be able to get a new set of General Altimax HP tires put on your old wheels. Overall they are the best all seasons you can buy.
Those tires are going to be somewhat taller than what you have on the car now. The first number is the width in mm and the second one is the height as a percentage of the width. Here is what the tire size calculator on Miata..net says:
Specification Sidewall Radius Diameter Circumference Revs/Mile Difference
195/60-15 4.6in 12.1in 24.2in 76.1in 833 0.0%
195/55-16 4.2in 12.2in 24.4in 76.8in 825 1.0%
As far as the offset goes I have no idea.
Do you need all season tires? (Are you going to be driving on them in the winter?)
Yep, these will see all year use.
In general, how do Potenzas stack up in terms of ride and grip, etc
B-stone site calls them all season, but doesnt mention snow specifically
a solid all-season tire and a performance tire wrapped up in a racy looking package! Traction is the key, and exclusive technology delivers in both wet and dry-even as the tire wears. Silica and a leading edge sipe add to the wet/dry adaptability. If you want undaunted performance when the weather switches gears, go with the Potenza
The Potenza Page gives generic "performance" info for the tire in different conditions. It gets a "better" (looks like a 75%?) rating in 7 of 8 areas: wet, dry, quiet, comfort, efficiency, wear rate, and "winter", but no rating on Ice.
What says the brain trust? Each winter in Cinci, I will likely see maybe a half to a bakers dozen days of actual real snow on the roads, the rest of the time, the roads may be wet or slushy, but otherwise treated. If things get real bad, the Terrain is AWD, and can limp along pretty safely in pretty bad stuff (I know, I know, theres a difference between snow and Ice, and AWD =/= real 4x4).
Go on tire rack and look at the survey results.
FWIW, when Tire Rack tested snows versus all-seasons versus summers they found the snow tires whooped the all-seasons in every test, including the heat/dry. I run snows year-round.
Javelin wrote:
FWIW, when Tire Rack tested snows versus all-seasons versus summers they found the snow tires whooped the all-seasons in every test, including the heat/dry. I run snows year-round.
What about the long-term wear test?
I can almost literally watch my snow tires wear down in summer.
In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:
We switched to snows year-round on SWMBO's Grand Prix in 2008. The same tires are still on it 50K miles later with tons of tread and grip. They wear just fine up here, but granted we never get over 100 degrees.
Remember that snow compound isn't "softer" as much as it just doesn't freeze into a rock.
Javelin wrote:
In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:
We switched to snows year-round on SWMBO's Grand Prix in 2008. The same tires are still on it 50K miles later with tons of tread and grip. They wear just fine up here, but granted we never get over 100 degrees.
Remember that snow compound isn't "softer" as much as it just doesn't freeze into a rock.
I've got nothin', then. I think my Winterforces would last maybe... 5k miles in summer.
I've got nothing to add about the tires, bit I dig those wheels
In reply to HappyAndy:
Yeah, theyd probably look pretty good on my car...the wheels now are like my avatar - Split 8 ways...the Cubes are nearly the same, just split 4 - If nothing, being more open, theyd probably vent my brakes a little better. Larger diameter means likely no weight savings though.
Ive contacted the seller, waiting to hear back
In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:
We have General Altimax and Hankook iPike tires FWIW. 225/60/16 on hers, 205/?/17 on the 5.
Again though, we don't get that hot up here. If it did I would still run the snow tires 2-3 seasons and swap to summer (cough ST-category 140TW's cough) tires. All seasons just plain suck all year, and you might as well get a self-driving Google Prius then. 
I ran snows (Blizzaks) year round on the LS400 just because I put so few miles on it but it needed snow tires for winter because the traction control was terrible in the snow. One disadvantage was they were noisier, having a more open tread design and softer rubber, but they didn't seem to wear significantly faster than the previous tires. But again I only put a few thousand miles a year on each of my cars.
From what I have read real snow tires work better when the temp gets below 40 or so. For both my car and my wifes cross over I have two sets of wheels/tires. One set is a summer tire and one set is a snow tire. I usually change them over after Thanksgiving and then back again in the spring when the temps stay in the upper 30's.
Up until last year I usually got my snows from CL, you usually can find good deals on them and since they are not on the car all that long they will last.
lolol so no" love it" or "hate it"'s for the Potenzas? Im probably going to pull the trigger...shorter sidewall, newer wheels, same price as cheaper models...no brainer. Still havent heard from the seller.
Thanks for the input guys...uhh...I think?!?
In reply to 4cylndrfury:
Sorry man. They're OEM tires so unless one of us bought whatever ugly duckling Nissan those come on we don't have any opinion on it, beyond the general "all all-seasons suck" bit.
Personally, $350 buys an awful lot of good, brand new, tire...
Tire rack website is down right now. What would you put up against the C-list offering, mounted, tax paid etc at $350?
195/65/15
Gotta at least play nice in the frozen north when the evil white stuff falls, as well as behave (wear) well in temps greater than 100°.
Falken ZIEX 612 for all seasons.
Hankook i-Pike is what I run year-round.
Kuhmo Solus (hehehe, "soulless") is the closest equivalent to what you are looking at.
I've heard good things about the Goodyear LS2.
Thanks for the suggestions...time to start comparing...
Don't forget to add in the cost of a new set ow wheels. With that factored in I think it would be hard to beat the CL deal.
Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote:
Don't forget to add in the cost of a new set ow wheels. With that factored in I think it would be hard to beat the CL deal.
Why? He has wheels with dead tires on them. What's wrong with them?
Nothing is wrong with the wheels he has, bu tI am sick and have at least two sets of wheels for each of my cars.
If he got the wheels and tres off of the CL add the old wheels could be sold thus reducing the cost of the initial purchase. Besides the tire choices in 16in are somewhat better than 15in.
Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote:
Besides the tire choices in 16in are somewhat better than 15in.
I have found the exact opposite to be true, at least on anything remotely sporty whatsoever. We have to dump the 16's on SWMBO's Grand Prix, and I couldn't run the 951 16's on my 944.
That may be true now, I have not shopped 15 or 16 in tires since I got rid of my Alfa. Though to be fair anything "all season" is not going to be all that sporting in the first place.
