Due to a series of events (let's just say it involved my 05 tC, my significant other, and an intervention with a curb), the sidewall on the rear passenger tire has a decent gash in the thick part. These are the stock tires that came with the car.

The remaining tires are still in decent shape, so I'd really only like to have to replace this one tire if I can.

Any recommendations on what I should go for? Also, I'm in North New Jersey (Essex County) - if anyone knows a good tire shop, I'd love to hear...

There goes the tax refund

Thanks

 

My recommendation. The stock tires are such garbage to begin with, it's not worth spending a dime for them, especially considering how much they cost new. I'd either find a used one if you have no money, but if you have the money, just replace them with some quality tires. Its worth the money for the safety and quality that you'll be getting. Tires are such a vital part of the car for safety and performance and the stocks are just not good enough. I recommend the toyo proxes 4 tires.

 

I had a feeling this may be the case. Looking at it this morning (it happened yesterday evening after dark), it removed some rubber from the thick rim protector - let's say around an 1/16" - 1/8" inch deep, and a section about 2"-2.5".

Ok, time to do the research. I'm in NJ, so I'd like an all-season tire (although, I must say, I was thinking about getting some winter tires after having to push the car during a bad storm earlier this year).

I did some calls around on the Proxes 4 - locally (for the places that have them in stock) they're running about 150-160 each including installation and road hazard warranty.

J.

 

if you want winter tires i'd go for a summer rim / tire and a winter rim / tire keep your winter rim as the stocker but thats jmo.

bc proxes 4 will not do well in the snow and you don't want to have to keep swaping out tires every season

 

Yeah - unfortunately I'm not so flush with cash to make that a reasonable proposal right now (I was definitely in dreamland when thinking about that)

Would the Proxes 4 do better in snow than the OEM RE92s?

 

toyo proxes 4 are much better snow tires than the stock tenzas. Don't get me wrong, they arent snow tires and aren't even GREAT in the snow, but most anything is better than the RE92s. I'm in NY and I just used my toyo proxes 4 this winter. I didn't have any problems.

You can get the toyos online for around $90 a tire. Check out www.edgeracing.com There are various other websites as well. Check around. And dont waste money on road hazard packages BTW. They never come out to be worth it in the long run.

 

I'm with Spec, we're tagteaming the Proxes 4 club right now..haha

 

Thanks for the quick response guys - the feedback is much appreciated. Ok, looks like it is time to go tire shopping.

As far as road hazard warranties go - I must admit, the only experience I have had with them is with tires I've bought from Costco for our other car. I have used it a couple of times - one for a repair, the other for a heavily discounted replacement. I am guessing, though, that their warranty is a little different from your regular joe-blow tire shop. It would be great if Costco stocked Toyos ;)

 

I did the same exact thing with mine. I went to Pepboys and asked for the cheapest of the cheap (since I only run my stocks in the winter) and I still paid $115 after mounting and balancing.

 

You might want to check with your dealer too, as they might have some "take-offs" from customers that upgraded their wheel & tire package. If so, you might be able to get the single stock replacement tire at a decent price, far less than the ~$180each MSRP. It'd only take you a few minutes to call a couple Scion dealers and find out.

Otherwise, it'd be better to get two tires to replace the fronts, with the two best stock tires going on the rear. There are several tires available that would give you better performance than stock, yet you could get a pair for about the same as MSRP of a single stock tire.

 

Thanks for the idea - I phoned a few Scion dealers around my part of NJ, but didn't get any joy (though they would gladly sell me a new replacement tire for around $220 installed )

As for mixing brands of tires on different axles, any chance I may experience some weird handling issues?

 

okay i have to tag team as well.. Toyo Proxes4 for the world! (FTW for those who know).

I am in michigan, snow wasn't a problem this winter. Sure, you aren't going to be able to take corners quickly, but if you're careful you can get home safely. I had no problems at all. ABS didn't come on that much at all, which means it was gripping! Slush/wet these are great in. But I think for the majority of Ultra-High Performance tire category where the Proxes4 is, it's good in snow for the group.

yes I agree snow tires would be the ultimate, of course. But for what the Proxes4 are, not bad at all when the weather turns cold and snowy.

 

I see you're in Jersey, I would take a look at a local mavis for a decent price. I got mine in Connecticut at Town Fair tire for $112 a pop in size 225/45-17. I could've gotten the 215/45-17 for $106. You need to shop around so that you can make use of "we will match or beat any price that you find". If you are up to it however, you can buy them online and save even more money. Then just bring the car and tires to a local shop and have them mount and balance the tires for you. Lets say $10-15 a tire - $40-60 total beyond the cost of the tire.

 

No, it's fine as long as you don't mix them side-to-side, each "axle" should have identical tires. And put the new, better performing tires on the front. People have done this for years without issue.

 

Hmm, i'd have to disagree with this last statement. It is NOT okay to mix tires on the car. This is for the same reason that you cant put summer tires on the rear and winter tires on the front in bad weather. You need the front and back of the car to loose traction at the same time to make handling predictable. The same goes for side to side. Think about accelerating with two different tires on the front wheels. Maybe you're on a patch of water. You accelerate and one tire holds but the other doesn't. The tire that has traction will pull the car forward and the other will not. if your front left is the one with traction, your car is actually goign to turn to the right. Any tire place will say its a bad idea to do that. Its not the safest thing to do. As tires are of upmost importance to a car's safety, this isn't the place to skimp.

 

^ I realize you're simply thinking through it logically, and those points seem to make sense, but how much experience do you have driving cars with different tires front & rear?

Myself and others have done it for >30years on many different makes, models & types of vehicles, and didn't experience any issues to be concerned about. And as I originally stated, you don''t mix tires on the same axle, both fronts should match, just as both rear tires should be alike, but different front versus rear is ok.

Real-world experience versus logical speculation. Each person can decide what's best for them in their specific situation.

 

You're right about each axle matching being more important than the different axles matching, but physics is physics. Just because it hasn't caused you to crash your car doesn't mean its the safest option. My quick writeup was information that I got from a friend of mine who own a tire shop. He and his dad (the actual owner) are very reliable sources when it comes to this information. You can say that they hook me up real well when i come in for tires, they wouldn't rip me off. My mini-writeup above is the information that they gave me. So I understand you are using the 46 years old to the 21 year old attack, but that may have been a bit short-sighted....I listen to the experts.

 

Check this thread;
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...465001#2465001
Last post was 4/7, but said he still has one left - can't beat the price.

 

Geez dude, chill out. I wasn't "attacking" you, and in fact even tried to compliment your logical thought. But it appears I was mistaken, you weren't thinking, but simply listening to what others had told you...and they just happened to be people who sell tires.

Oh well, you do whatever you'd like, such as buying 4 tires in the OP's scenario, when at most only two are needed. If you don't want to listen to or learn from other people with experience that like to help others, that's ok too, it's your decision.

 

:D