What tires are best?

[KuroNekko]

I checked the tire air pressure today and found all of them to be around 33 PSI which is 5 PSI lower than spec. My Kizashi's placard calls for 38 PSI all around.
I guess I should not have trusted the mechanic to have got it right when he installed the tires exactly a week ago. After all, the mechanic left a mess in my car so why should I have trusted the air pressure he put in my tires?


Anyhow, I pumped them up to 38 PSI and not surprisingly, the tires are quieter and overall performance seems to have improved. I wish I had just checked them myself right after the installation instead of trusting that it was done right and continuing on my road trip for hundreds of miles. Given the TPMS did not go off and the tires looked alright, I did not bother checking until now. Not a big deal, I know, but I wish "pros" would actually do professional-grade work more consistently.

[Sluggo]

KuroNekko, glad you decided to get the Michelins. This is probably the best handling A/S tire for your area. A super tire in the dry and rain. In snow and ice, well maybe not so good. I looked at these for my Subaru but decided to give up the super dry handling for something known to have better snow handling. I my area when it snows, and that is often and deep, the roads stay snow covered.
As far as your tire installer only putting in 33 psi. He most likely just thought the Kizashi had the same inflation as most other cars. Yes, he should have checked but running at 33 psi would not have damaged the tires. Please keep us informed on how your Michelins are wearing.

[KuroNekko]

Yeah, no damage from running 33 PSI for a week. After all, the TPMS warning did not even go off.

As for the snow handling, I agree that it's not much of a concern for me. If snow was really an issue, I'd have an AWD vehicle like I used to in the California mountains. DC and the surrounding Maryland and Virginia areas get rather light snow most winters. Enough to want All Season tires, but definitely no need for real winter tires or to choose an A/S tire that sacrifices dry/wet traction for snow/ice traction.
Given the choices at the store, I could have gone with the Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires, but they had no rebate while the Michelins offered $70 off. That was my deciding factor.

So far, I find that running the tires at 38 PSI offers smoother and quieter performance. Some of the roads around my area have been recently repaved so they are brand new and super smooth. I'm getting to enjoy the Kizashi's ride with the new tires on new roads. It's such a difference from the worn OE Dunlops.

[Woodie]

I checked the tire air pressure today and found all of them to be around 33 PSI which is 5 PSI lower than spec. My Kizashi's placard calls for 38 PSI all around.
I guess I should not have trusted the mechanic to have got it right when he installed the tires exactly a week ago. After all, the mechanic left a mess in my car so why should I have trusted the air pressure he put in my tires?

This is what you should expect at all times. Anytime anyone other than yourself does ANYTHING, you need to double check their work. It's disgusting how little people give a shit anymore.

You'd think that tire monkey would have gotten the tire pressure when he looked up the lug nut torque......oh shit, better check the lug nuts too.

[KuroNekko]

I checked the tire air pressure today and found all of them to be around 33 PSI which is 5 PSI lower than spec. My Kizashi's placard calls for 38 PSI all around.
I guess I should not have trusted the mechanic to have got it right when he installed the tires exactly a week ago. After all, the mechanic left a mess in my car so why should I have trusted the air pressure he put in my tires?

This is what you should expect at all times. Anytime anyone other than yourself does ANYTHING, you need to double check their work. It's disgusting how little people give a shit anymore.

You'd think that tire monkey would have gotten the tire pressure when he looked up the lug nut torque......oh shit, better check the lug nuts too.

Oh, I did check the lug nuts long before the air pressure. I also checked to make sure that all of my wheel locks were the correct ones.
However, I guess I'm not as cautious as I need to be and I blame being raised in Japan for that. They like to do things properly over there and that's what I was used to.
Things run on time, are clean, and customers are treated with respect. I used to think that was just how things were supposed to be by the norm.
Heck, convenience store clerks act like 4 star hotel staff over there. The way they address a customer is at a whole other level that can't be translated well to English.
I avoid riding the Metro in DC because I was spoiled by Japan's train system. They announce train arrivals in the seconds and you can damn-well take out a watch and time it. They are on time. In contrast, there have been times with the Metro when walking would have been faster.

Here, it's like I should be happy if I don't have smears in my Kizashi's interior or a half-eaten bagel left in my back seat (both have happened).

[SamirD]

I checked the tire air pressure today and found all of them to be around 33 PSI which is 5 PSI lower than spec. My Kizashi's placard calls for 38 PSI all around.
I guess I should not have trusted the mechanic to have got it right when he installed the tires exactly a week ago. After all, the mechanic left a mess in my car so why should I have trusted the air pressure he put in my tires?

This is what you should expect at all times. Anytime anyone other than yourself does ANYTHING, you need to double check their work. It's disgusting how little people give a shit anymore.

You'd think that tire monkey would have gotten the tire pressure when he looked up the lug nut torque......oh shit, better check the lug nuts too.

Oh, I did check the lug nuts long before the air pressure. I also checked to make sure that all of my wheel locks were the correct ones.
However, I guess I'm not as cautious as I need to be and I blame being raised in Japan for that. They like to do things properly over there and that's what I was used to.
Things run on time, are clean, and customers are treated with respect. I used to think that was just how things were supposed to be by the norm.
Heck, convenience store clerks act like 4 star hotel staff over there. The way they address a customer is at a whole other level that can't be translated well to English.
I avoid riding the Metro in DC because I was spoiled by Japan's train system. They announce train arrivals in the seconds and you can damn-well take out a watch and time it. They are on time. In contrast, there have been times with the Metro when walking would have been faster.

Here, it's like I should be happy if I don't have smears in my Kizashi's interior or a half-eaten bagel left in my back seat (both have happened).

It would be nice to live in Japan just for these reasons alone!

[SamirD]

We've had the Bridgestone RE760s for a few months now (can't remember when we even got them now), and the only thing I've found is that the rain performance isn't perfect anymore. I attribute that to the inner ribs being just a straight line and the more water channeling designs off to the side, with which our cars' camber, doesn't contact as solidly as the rest of the tire in a straight line.

Still, I think we got a great deal on the tires and since I have only gotten them to squeak only twice when driving aggressively, their dry grip is flat-out astonishing. I want to autocross the car just to learn how many Gs the things can take!

[bmw&kizzyownr]

Agree with KuroNekko on choice of tires. I know the Michelin Pilot AS 3s are expensive but as far as traction, handling, and ride go....I think they're worth the bucks.

Also agree that you have to watch what the 'neighborhood mechanic' does to your vehicle. Point of reference: I almost always change my own oil (yes, I know this is a thread on tires)....however, I recently had a synthetic oil change done on my Kizzy at a WALMART. Yes, very stupid & lazy of me, I admit it. Anyway, checked the oil afterwards and it was still dirty. Clearly, the mechanic didn't change the oil as promised & documented. The Store Manager viewed the surveillance tape and agreed that the oil/filter wasn't changed and promised to take action but couldn't (union/company rules) tell me what that action was. Hopefully the guy was fired!

And I don't mean to be a contrarian, to go off track, or to preach from a soapbox but: I was fortunate to have visited several dozen countries during my worklife as did my wife. She was in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS for Weapons Systems) field so we traveled often and found shady salesmen/mechanics/businessmen and/or govt/military reps in almost every country we went to. That includes cities in Japan like Atsugi, Nagasaki, Okinawa, Iwakuni, Tokyo, and a host of others. I'm not an expert in anything but I do know that America doesn't have a patent on poor business practices or shady dealings. Don't get me wrong.... I'm a HUGE fan of the Japanese culture as I am of many, many of the other people, cultures, and countries I've visited and/or done business in. But clearly the grass is not as green on the other side as you would be made to believe. The more one travels, I hope one realizes that people are inherently good regardless of what culture or country they come from...with a few exceptions. If you think people are more honest or that life would be better in Japan....I think that's NUTS (term a famous US warrior once used as in "no way"), but good luck. Just my two cents....

[Woodie]

The Store Manager viewed the surveillance tape and agreed that the oil/filter wasn't changed and promised to take action but couldn't (union/company rules) tell me what that action was. Hopefully the guy was fired!

I'll bet he got a pat on the back and some coaching. "We got caught that time, here's how you can be more careful." The tech has nothing to gain by not changing your oil, the store manager has plenty to gain, same amount of income, but much less expense, improves his store's numbers, increases his monthly bonus.

[bmw&kizzyownr]

Good point Woodie, you're probably right!