So I hung in there with the stock Turanza ER33's for 4000 miles on my new '05 "supposedly sport-tuned" Sedan. But I just couldn't take it anymore. I mean, they are just SOOO incredibly bad. For me, they were taking all the fun out of "spirited driving". (Once again, Infiniti, what were you thinking?)

After mulling over replacement options - there aren't many for the OEM 18x7.5" rims - I chose ContiSportContact 2 in the stock size (235/45/18). So far, I'm thrilled. I had the Continentals on my old 328i and thought they were outstanding. They don't seem to get much love here, but they're a very nice mix of comfort and max performance. (They're pretty popular on Porsche's and BMW's.) They are an absolute "night and day" improvement over the ridiculous Horrenza's! Not only to they grip extremely well and feel very solid during cornering, but they're about 3 lbs lighter per tire - so the performance gains are quite noticeable. It's like a whole new car. Yahoo!

-T

 

again, i thought the sport came with Goodyears?

 

Nope, I got the ER33's. I'm gonna wait until after winter to put something better on.

 

Mine came with Turanza ER33 also. Thanks for the review, Teeter, I was looking for replacements for my tires soon also. I'll definately look into those ContiSportContact 2. Anybody know if we can replace the OEM 235/45/18 with 245/45/18?

 

The sports came with Goodyears back in 03 and 04 when they were 17's....now the sedan sports package gets you different 18 inch rims on the Horrenza tires.

 

I've read that some sedans with the sport package come with the Goodyears and some come with the Turanzas. Not sure how Infiniti decides...nevertheless, mine came with the Turanzas. I was also thinking of getting the ContiSportContact2's as well. I like the fact that they were 3 lbs lighter. Better performance and probably will save a little gas.

 

guy at work got the Goodyears....i said , nice! you didnt get the Turanzas and he said he test drove 4 different modesl and none there at the dealer had the Turanzas

 

Incorrect.. the 05 Sports package came with either turanzas or goodyears. There's a pretty good mix of them. The lots I went to here in Socal (Tustin, Costa Mesa and Mission Viejo) all had varied stock of them when I was purchasing back in december.

 

^ My 2005 sedan came with Goodyear Eagle NCT5's.

They are pretty good tires.

 

In 03 it used to be if you bought the winter package on top of your sports package that you were downgraded from the summer goodyears to the Horrenza's AS tires. I'm still on my Horrenz'as after 29k miles and they still have a little tread on 'em.

 

Oh, I did not know that some of the 05's came with goodyears. Is it possible the Goodyears are summer tires and are for states like Cali, Arizona, etc...
And the Turanza's are for cold weather states like NY?

 

No, the Turanza ER33's are summer tires, but they're frickin' "Grand Touring" tires on a "sport-tuned" sedan. What a joke. What really gets me is that they're like $249 a piece at tire rack. I mean, for that kind of money they could have put some outstanding tires on these. It makes me sick to have to spend $800 to replace tires on a brand new car.

 

Only reason that they are $250 a piece is that they are OE tires. OE tires are always marked up around 50% You're better off just taking the tires off right when you get the car and getting some new ones. Or seeing if any tire store would do a trade or give you some money for them.

 

I'll guarantee you that Infiniti didn't spend $249 per tire. That may have a large part to do with the selection - which manufacturer offered them the best deal.

Back on the '03s, the Sport sedans came with the Turanza EL42's if you also had the Winter pkg. Since the heated seats and such became standard in '04, I'm not sure what criteria they use now.

 

Yep my 03.5 Sport sedan with the winter package has the Torenza EL42's

Man I want some new tires