After 17K, I finally gave up on the OEM Dunlop RF's. They were over half gone already. Had read many posts about their problems other than their $$$$$$. Went with the Goodyear Eagle GT's in 215/45 R17 Z rating. What a difference! Thought the steering was pretty solid before, it's iron solid now with excellent feel. Quieter and much smother ride, and they're not fully scrubbed in yet (20mi.). Palomar Mt. will take care of that tomorrow. How much? $608 out the door at Discount Tire . They torqued the wheels to 103'lbs. Dealer SA said proper torque was 90. That's par for them. I've reached the point where I'd double check them on the time of day. ut:
Actually Discount Tire is correct on the torque value. 1st gen cars with the 12mm bolts are torqued to 88ft/lbs 2nd gen cars with the 14mm bolts are torqued to 103ft/lbs
I AGREE Yup, I knew that. The comment was aimed at the dealer incazzato, not at Discount Tires. Been going to them since '78. Good people and prices.
How did the tires scrub? Better now after a nice run up Palomar Mt. road? How is the road noise after the scrubbing?
All Scrubbed Up By the time I had 20mi. on them that new-tire greasy feel was gone. The Mt. run was great with virtually no tire noise compared to the RFs. They would whine pretty good on that road. Sadly, I can't say the same for Palomar Mt. itself. Nearly half of of it burned in the big fires of 2007. :frown5:
Added protection from curb-rash About a month after I got Spike, I ended up scraping the curb :cryin: and incuring some curb rash. I've been way more careful since. Somebody mentioned that going from the 205/45/R17 to the 215/45/R17 would provide a bit more protection. Is that true? I imagine that the tire protection is so minimal that its hardly worth noting. What did you notice?
Rim Protector The Goodyear GT has a rim protector molded into the side wall bead. It looks like it will work, but I don't plan to test it. I clipped my right rear twice the first week I had Beelzebub! :mad2:
The 215/45-17 RE01s I have give significantly more protection than the 205/45-17 OEM rubber. Every little bit helps. Also check, not only the 'size' of the tire, but the specified dimensions of the tire, tires of the same 'size' can measure very differently.
Hmm that's interesting. I thought every 205 or 215 (or whatever) had the same width measurement. Well there's a set of Bridgestone's that I had my eye on. Not the greatest performer but a good all-round tire
Yeah, drift into some curbs sideways at increasing speeds and take pics after each smack. That way we will all know just how good those rim protectors really are. :smilewinkgrin:
Tires with rim protectors built in look a little ugly but they serve a good purpose. I personally don't worry about it... hardly any place to parallel park here. Mark