Hey guys,

I've had my tC for 3 weeks and LOVE IT! I just turned 1000 miles on it and haven't ever been happier with a car in my life (it's my 6th - so I have something to base it on!). The only thing is that I live in Baltimore, MD and pretty soon the snow will begin to fall and I'm worried that the Bridgestone Potenzas on there now aren't going to get any traction in the snow despite the ALL SEASON claim.

Has anyone replaced their tires yet for the same reason? I'm only concerned from reading a Consumer Reports article that says they are HORRIBLE in the snow but great the other 3 seasons of the year.

Any feedback would be appreciated!

 

Actually from what I've read, they're horrible when the roads aren't dry. And I've had the wheels spun on me a few times from acceleration from a stop when the ground's wet.

Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S seem to be the concensus tire upgrade for the tC for all-season use... they run $130 a tire however. I'm considering getting an upgrade, they seem to improve not only handling and traction but quietness and ride smoothness.

 

The Potenza RE92s comes stock on a lot of cars. My old 5th gen Prelude had it stock. My friend's WRX has it stock. I've found that the RE92s are substandard in the dry, and pretty bad in the wet. It does give up pretty linearly at the limits, but it just gives up too early. OEM tires on this level of car are rarely good anyway, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

 

well i'll add my experience..

I ended up swapping out the RE92's for some Pirelli Pzero Nero M&S in the stock size (215/45-17).. first original set.. three were out of round.. of that replacement set i just got two replacements.. guy at discount tire(and who knows if this is really true) said that pirelli's have this problem.. he was trying to push me towards michelin..

i'm not sure if michelin's would have less of a problem, but i told him that i will continuie to warranty replace these Pzero's til they are fixed.. i don't care what the guy is trying to sell at the local discount tire.. since these pzero's are awesome tires! stick well, handle very sharply, ride well too.. changed the way the tC handles! night and day difference!! great improvement.. was kind of mushy before.. not anymore..

 

i dont have my tc yet. (flint mica 5-speed w/ side airbags) was quoted 8-12 weeks. been 12 weeks. dealership doesnt know when it is coming in. hopefully before the end of the month.

anyways, i heard that the stock tires, potenzas r92, are pretty bad. heard it slips in wet conditions. and heard you do not want to be driving in snow if you value life.

i ordered a snow tire/wheel package from tirerack (even though i dont have my tc yet)
16" steel wheels w/ dunlop winter sport m2 performance snow tires. wanted the m3s but tire rack has special right now on the m2s. this way, i dont have to worry about the snow eating up the stock rims.

after the stock tires wear out, i will probably replace them w/ the pirelli p zero nero m+s. heard they are great tires. if you dont want a winter tire package, these all seasons should be fine all year round.

 

As soon as I have the money, I'll probably get the Pirelli PZero Nero M+S too, mostly on Sciontc_mich's recommendation. My only question (something I've been thinking about lately) is if there is any possibility of going up a size in tire thickness with these - to improve ride quality over the stock low profiles. I'm not sure if they even make slightly larger ones (would it be something like 225/45-15's)? Anyway, my concern there is having a speedometer that isn't reading quite right, so I probably would stick with stock, but I wouldn't mind having slightly larger tires.

 

the stock tires are awwwwwful in the rain, today was sucky goin through them garden state tolls from philly to ny.. im thinkn about the pzero's but they seem to be even lower profile then the potenzas and im not liken that with philly "streets" aka swallow ur car pothole goat trails

 

for what it's worth, I heard the Pirelli's are like an inch wider. Might help with the potholes.

 

hmm might havta look into this a lil further thanks!

 

i've compared the pzero's to the stock re92's.. the re92's are reported to be 7.1 inches wide in tread.. the pirelli's when i looked had about another 1/2 inch more tread.. about 1/4 inch more on either shoulder when the tread was next to the re92.. so yes iowagary is right, it's more rubber on the road..

the one thing I've found is having that rubber equals more traction.. which is great, i just took about a 2 mpg hit in fuel economy.. oh well price i have to pay to have fun i guess.. off topic.. but i am getting about 25-26 mpg combined city/highway..

 

wow u doin a case study on ur car thanks for the info... think ill go pzero's when i chew mine up

 

I'm getting about 25mpg combined with my tC too, with a TRD exhaust. Keep in mind wider tires are bad for the snow so that's not exactly a good thing. Buy Blizzaks if you want good snow tires, plain and simple. No all season will ever beat the performance of a cheap snow tire in the snow season. My 2 cents...

 

lol.. yeah i can't help it.. all that engineering rubbed off on me ;)

and yes i do plan on getting snow tires.. still waiting to see what the snow season is going to be like here in michigan.. forecast models show it as drier than normal.. may be able to get away with not having to get the snow tires this year.. and yes i agree that snow tires are needed on a wide/low profile tire like the tC's.. been looking at michelin's alpin pa2 tire

 

225/45/17 would have wider tires, but i think you want more sidewall..if you want the the height of the tire to go up, the next size up, keeping the stock width would be like 215/50/17

 

I'm starting to have issues with the stock tires too.

I've had my car since the middle of September and last week in the rain here in Jersey I was not having a good time. Spinning out a bit when going from a stop, spinning a bit when turning corners.. ah, it was not fun at all.

I definitely want to get some new tires.

Also, I made a comment before about how LOUD the tires are in the rain. I was told this might be fixed with different tires too?

 

Thanks guys for the post on the stock tires, definetly be going with the Pirellis. Something told me the stocks would be an issue when I first started looking at the tC in Aug, just because of the Bridgestone name.
Anyway thanks again!!!!

 

If you're in Socal, I have the 18" wheels and tires and I want to trade/sell them for the original ones. Brand new, less than 70 miles on the car. If you're interested PM me or AIM me on "Bandit sama" :D

 

not sure how well a 225 would fit on a 7" rim...anybody know?

 

Some recommendations for All-Seasons in the O.E. size of 215/45R17 would be:

Dunlop SP Sport A2's
Yokohama AVID H4S's
Bridgestone Potenza RE950's
Continental Extreme Contact's
Kumho Ecsta ASX"s
Pirelli P-Zero Nero MS's

For more information on these tires, please visit our site by clicking on the following link:
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=DJ1&...ires/index.jsp

 

I love my 225/40-18 S-03s on my Matrix. But I see you want all season.