Hello all,

Just wondering what your experiences are with the stock Bridgestone Turanza EL42 215/55/17 V-rated that came with the 05 g35x. A simple search on the net shows really poor reviews on these tires. I've only had my G for a little over a month and only drove it on snow and it seem fine to me. Maybe it's because of the Awd that was helping. Obviously on dry it's fine unless you are cornering like a maniac. I haven't really drive it in the rain and reviews said it hydroplanes like crazy. Where I am in NY now it probably won't rain for a while, just plain snow. Does the G w/MT 18inch wheels also come with Turanza EL42? Just wondering why Infiniti slaps these on the G if the tires are so crappy. For one thing, the tread pattern looks very conservative, definitely not sporty whatsoever. What about the 04 x-models, what tires did the come with?

 

Worst tires in the world. I almost died on a set of those. I changed them at 12K with a boatload of tread left in favor of some real tires. They are a deathtrap. I can't say more about it, it makes me damn angry when I think about those tires, seriously. UGH!

When I almost died on them they had around 2.5K on them. It took me a while to replace them because I had a hard time believing that I'd have to buy new tires so early on... I was in denial... Then some rain came around again and I lost control again - regular driving - with my kid in the car. That same weekend they were off the car.

 

This is with the VDC on? Is your car RWD or AWD?

 

Your VDC must have been switched off. I've personally never had an issue with the EL42s on either of my Gs in heavy rain. I just keep VDC on and drive at a sane speed. I think the EL42s are an average all-season tire that would do well on a basic family sedan (i.e. Taurus, Malibu, etc) but I don't think they belong on a G with the sport suspension.

Now if you're wondering what happened to my first G, it was totalled when I lost control during an emergency manuever (with VDC switched off). The tires broke loose, the car fishtailed, and I went off into the median and hit two trees. I strongly feel that if I had real performance tires on my first G, I wouldn't now be driving my second G. Also, VDC would have saved my butt.

 

Hmm....interesting. I mean I only have 900 miles on my tires. Would hate to shell out like 700 bucks or so for 4 new tires. I'll see how it is the next time it rains here. I would think in dry road it should be fine. Motor Trend still gave it like a .85 on the skidpad or something and this is with the X model without sport suspension.

 

Admittedly RWD but yes, with VDC on.

However even with twice the number of driving tires I will still never trust my life to these tires again. Both times VDC was on. The first time, and the worst time, I was driving about 60 at nighttime in bad rain. The car started to rotate and that was pretty much the end of the story. VDC had no hope and neither did I, really. Once the tires had lost traction there was nothing I or VDC could do to regain it. We (my wife and I) ended up passing over the median, and about 8 feet away from oncoming traffic, facing the wrong way. After that I realized that driving over about 40 in these tires in the rain was folly. Was kind of embarassing having minivans and dodge neons blasting by me at 60 while I was limited to 40 before I'd start to hydroplane again. What's crazy is while we were spinning and sliding I had lots of time to tell my wife to brace herself for impact, and how etc. The only thing that stopped us I believe is the deep mud in the median. We were on the pavement for a while (prolly about 500 feet) where the tires did nothing for us and then the grass, (probably another 500 feet) obviously no traction there either, but I wouldn't expect that.

The second time wasn't half as bad and VDC did do a little better, I managed to keep the car from completely rotating but we still ended up on grass. That time I was probably going about 30 in the same wet conditions. It wasn't half as bad but at that point I threw in the towel.

I'm not exaggerating, these tires are seriously a recipe for death. I will never ever consider buying a car that comes with these again nor will I allow my friends to buy them.


One thing I did find though is that users of this tire seem to be in two groups, their opinion of the tire being opposite sides of the pole. I noticed there's about 40% with this tire that think it's just swell and they've never had a problem with it. About 60% have a similar opinion to me. look at the ratings on tirerack and you'll see the same. Some raves, many rants. I seriously wonder if there aren't two 'models' of this same tire, one good, one bad. Whatever, I'm still not entertaining taking the 50% gamble.

I'm really not trying to put a spin (no pun intended) on this whole thing but I really am under the opinion that they are the worst tires ever made. They ranked #31 out of 32 tires on tirerack.com, and I think that speaks volumes.

I now own a set of Goodyear F1-GSD3's and they are in a different league. The difference between these tires is absolutely incredible. I feel confident in the wet and dry both now and it honestly feels like I'm driving a different car. They cost me $1000 well before I expected to have to pay that but now I've done it I'd say for the improvement I'd easily pay $2000. My and my family's lives are worth WAY more than that to me.

 

I know this is obnoxious but I have to do it:

tirerack.com reviews:
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"These came standard on my TL 6 speed and they are without question the worst tires Ive ever had on any car..."

"Dry traction seems good although I have nothing to compare it with on the same car. Hydroplaning resistance is the worst of any tire Ive ever used especially considering these are new."

"Bought the car 8 months ago, 15K miles......horrible tires."

"These tires are on special at almost half the price of the alternatives for this size, and that makes them STILL too expensive!"

"Overall, they have been nothing spectacular... just OK. "

"No real complaints but SoCal is an easy landscape."


"Only seen snow/ice once and performed about average for a rear wheel car. Definitely not a great winter tire, but seems above average in all other attributes spring to fall!"

"For a mediocre tire in the dry, I would have expected it to be better in bad weather. Thank got for stability control"

"I have to admit that the numerous negative reviews of these "sneakers" came as quite a surprise to me and caused me to seriously consider my alternatives to replace them. I felt they handled extremely well and there was no problem at all with hydroplaning on slick, wet highway conditions (maybe due to the traction package)."

"These are the O.E.M. tire that came with the car and were noisey from day one. While handling and summer wet traction are ok, my traction control and A.B.S. systems were the only things keeping me from getting stuck in snow and ice."

"These tires are rated as VR but they tend break loose fairly easily under heavey acceleration. Wet traction is good and feels secure and stable."

"These tires are terrible. Avoid them like the plague. Do not buy these tires. These have to be the most terrible tires in the rain. These tires lose traction at the first sight of water. I would never buy these tires again."

"...the first time it rained here in SoCal, I wound up in the DITCH becuase they hydroplaned so bad."

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See what I mean? Some good, some bad... That smells to me of multiple revisions or extremely poor quality control.

 

I don't want anybody to think I actually recommend these tires. Although I personally have never had a problem with them (in the rain) I would never buy them myself. I was upset that my '03 had them but, at the time, that was the only way to get heated seats (with the Winter package). As for my '04, that's all that was available when I looking for a replacement for my '03. They stick well if you don't push your car but if you do, they are terrible. It all depends on how you drive.

I had an S2000 a while ago and there was a similar debate on that car's Bridgestone Potenza S-02s (specifically designed for the S2000). The tires were strictly rated for "summer" use (the S2000-specific S-02s had larger treadblocks and narrower voids to increase the contact patch than the normal S-02). Many people complained that they hydroplaned at the drop of a hat in rain. While I never purposely drove my car in the rain, I was caught in an unexpected downpour on the way home from work one day. We are talking minimal visibility because the wipers couldn't keep up with the rain coming down. I just kept my speed between 30-40 mph in a 65 mph zone and I was fine.

Doogie:
Could your tires have been over-inflated at the time of your mishaps? Could it be possible you just had some bad luck and happen to hit some deeper standing water that other cars didn't? I'm not saying you're incompetent or anything like that.

 

No worries, I've been through all the questions before... I know there are lots of variables but it really all came down to the tires in combination with the rain. I checked all the tires for pressure right after the incident before I started to drive on the highway again and they were all inflated to 32PSI. The treadwear was good (2.5k miles remember) and although I could have hit a patch of oil, that doesn't explain my continued experience with hydroplaning for the remaining 13k miles in the rain at the drop of a hat (admittedly though after that my top speed in the rain was a crawl compared with other folks on the road)

I should note in neither case was I maneuvering at all. It was just a case where one tire would start to hydroplane and the others could not pick up the slack from a traction perspective. I rotated the tires 3 times before they were eventually retired.

Your comments just highlight the bi-polarity of people's experiences with these tires. Again, some people think these are the best thing since sliced bread.

 

i think these tires are horrible ....read the socres from tireracks.com ...even dry traction are just little above average!! i m not going to buy this tire for sure.

 

They came standard on my 04 X, now with 12k miles. They are decent in the dry (but a little soft in the sidewall for this type of car), but not confidence inspiring in the wet. Being in New England, there has been a lot of snow lately. With the X, I've had no problem getting through anything. However, with a more aggressive tread, I can only imagine the AWD would be much more enjoyable. With the VDC disengaged, these tires are barely able to hook up on any type of snow pack.
It is annoying to have to try to justify the expense of new tires, before wearing through these. I'm waiting for some tire rack "surveys" to come in from G owners for the new Avons they carry- which are reasonably priced at just over $100/each.
As a side note, I've heard many complaints (including my own) from Honda owners...as Honda also seems to now be outfitting their vehicles with real crappy tires. My wife's Pilot came through with complete P.O.S. Goodyear car tires.

 

Ah, gee whiz guys, thanks for the good news. My stock tires(turanzas EL42) and rims are in storage , never been used and you say they are a total POS. My car had the Blizzak WS-50's and alloys installed as soon as the car came in, so I have not had the chance to try theses tires. I know one thing, my winter set up is awesome.

 

LOL....
I love my EL42s
they're great to hold down the cover on my pool steps.

 

hehe, thanks for the encouraging words inTgr8r . Well they are all season tires, glad you found a use for them.

 

The last remaining EL42 I will ever own is currently hanging from the tree in my back yard... Occasionally a 4 year old boy gets some use out of it