My stock size (225/50r16) Bridgestone Potenza RE71's from the Tire Rack came
in yesterday ($370, shipped 2-day fedex). At first glance, they look to be
the same width as my current 245/45r16 Goodyear F1 GS's. They're supposedly
a tread width of 8.6, whereas the GY's are 8.9.
Many of you might recall that Wal-Mart could not mount my 245's last time
around and even cross threaded a couple of lugnuts putting them back on for
free. Well, having learned my lesson, I went straight back to Wal-Mart to
see if they could put my tires on, since they were stock size 225/50's.
Sure enough, they couldn't even get the old ones off. The bad part is, it
took them 2 hours to figure out they couldn't. The good part, haha.... the
manager said they're not supposed to deal with low profile tires and gave me
a free oil change (which I'll give to my Mom). Funny part, we were standing
right next to some 225/50r16 cheapo tires, and I asked him if he could put
these tires on my car, and he said sure; then I mentioned they were the same
size that I had wanted to put on... he drew a weird face.
So, to continue the story, I went to the local Firestone/Bridgestone dealer
where they had the equipment to work with the tires (the equipment consisted
mainly of 3 guys, 1 who weighed about twice as much as I did and was
probably nicknamed "Bubba" as well as a good tire machine). The total cost
for mounting and balancing was $50.81, plus the $370 for tires shipped,
comes out to around $420. Not bad. Only thing, it doesn't include the
lifetime balance warranty, so that's $7 a wheel when I need it re-done.
Here's a checklist for anyone having tires put on to make sure they:
- Can work with low profile tires
- Have a lift that does not press on the plastic sideskirts
- Use a 21mm socket to remove the lugnuts
- Don't scratch up the rim edge removing/installing tires
- Put directional tires and rims on in the proper direction
- Put the correct pressure in the tires (32f/26r OEM spec)
- Install the lugnuts in the proper order and to the proper torque (67-85
lb-ft)
As far as the new tires go, I hate how new tires feel squooshy, but that's
just a fact of life. My GY's had great steering response as slicks. The
RE71's have less road noise it seems. I'll give a post on the handling once
I start hitting a few curves. I just heat cycled them on the way home, so
I'll let them cool for a while. Next autox is in 3 weeks, so I'll give them
a beating then.
I highly regard the Tire Rack and my local Firestone dealer and recommend
them both.
Brian
--
95 Probe GT
Brian Berryhill
http://www.angelfire.com/ms/brianberryhill/
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