Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

Is anyone else finding that the lifespan of their tires is like NIL?
I have the 6MT Coupe, and the Pilot Sports are virtually BALD with not even 14,000 miles on the car. For a $290.00 tire, that seems a bit ridiculous to me.
My dealer said I ought to have them changed ASAP and kinda made the suggestion that maybe I shouldn't be burning so much rubber, and that got me peeved! I DO NOT burn rubber with the car AT ALL, and pointed out to them that IF I was burning rubber all the time, to please explain why the FRONT tires are just as bald as the rears? Last time I checked the car isn't AWD...
I'm going to complain to Michelin about this, as well as my dealer and see what I can do about it, because at this rate I figure it's going to cost me on average about $1,500.00 A YEAR for tires? No way.
My baby never sees Michelins again. It's Dunlops, Goodyears, or Pirellis from now on.

2003 G35 Coupe 6MT Leather
Premium, Aero
"There is no spoon"

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

Your dealership is right and wrong. Under normal driving and maintenance, your pilot sports should last you 20k+ miles. There are too many variables that can account for your premature wear. Some owners have gone bald at 11k.

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Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

I'm at about 12k miles right now. Probably need to replace in 5k miles or so. Nothing out of the ordinary. These are high performance tires, not some super long life econo tire.

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Ivory Pearl/Graphite coupe
Clear corners-intake-exhaust

*coming soon*
Focal Polykevlar Powers, PG Titanium amps, PG Titanium subs

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

I am at 16k miles, my rears could do about 1000 more. I will be replacing the rears after the winter with a new set of pilots. The fronts look much better, so I believe I can get about 6000 miles more out of them.

Crawford Plenum / Z tube + Stillen Hi-Flow / Borla Dual Exhaust / Stillen Xdrilled+Stotted Rotors
Best 1/4 mile 14.371 @ 100.29, 60ft 2.347

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

The Pilot Sports have a short life - check out their tread rating in comparison to other tires. Actually most max. performance tires have a low tread rating - that is the penalty for making the tires so sticky.
14K is probably on the low side, but from what I've heard these tires only last 15-20K miles. If you want tires that last longer you may have to go to a less performace tire or even trade someone for the 17".
The problem right now is that very few tire choices are available in the 18" size we use. However the Pilots are supposed to be the best but are the most expensive. Check out Tire Rack.There are a few other choices that are less $$ and still in the max. performance category. They may not last any longer, but will cost you less to replace.

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

Does anyone know what the difference is between the Pilot Sport and the Pilot Sport A/S? The A/S supposedly has a treadwear rating of 400, but the regular Pilots are only 280? Which one comes stock? They look almost the same to me...

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...ductsBySize.do

2004 6MT (Silver/Willow), premium & aero packages

My old ride (I still miss her; put a lot of pride and joy into it): http://www.n-body.net/registry/john95ga/

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

The Pilot Sport is a max-performance summer tire. The A/S is a high-performance all-season tire.

Summer tires generally have better dry and wet traction, at the loss of ride comfort, tread life, and ability to grip in anything worse than rain (all-season).
All-season tires generally give up quite a bit of dry and a little bit of wet performance to get those other things back. In the case of the Pilot Sport A/S, however, they have new technology that doesn't give up much at all. It's supposed to perform very well in all categories. Here's a comparison chart of the two tires in question from Michelin's website.

Of interest to me would be how the Pilot Sport A/S compares to other company's max-performance offerings, such as the Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position or the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3.

2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter

153606-PilotComp.gif

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coup
 

I have on my car 24,000 miles and I rail my car around turns alot. However, I don't peel out everywhere. I think your braking habits have alot to do with it.

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

Well, I guess I know which Pilots I'll be using when the time comes to replace them..A/S all the way! The longer the tread life, the better, especially if the tires' performances are similar. I'm still tempted to try out the cheaper/similar Hancook Ventus tires for the rear though, despite the lower treadwear rating. Too bad they don't have both sizes in that tire available.

2004 6MT (Silver/Willow), premium & aero packages

My old ride (I still miss her; put a lot of pride and joy into it): http://www.n-body.net/registry/john95ga/

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

The stock 18"s Michelin Pilot Sports come with 10/32s of tread on them brand new. I have 8,000 miles on my car and have only worn off 3/32s of tread. The "nub" in the middle of the tread that indicates when you need tires is 2/32s from the base tread depth. Therefore, you should be able to burn about 8/32s of tread before you need to replace your stock tires....

Given that I have used 3/32s of tread in 8,000 miles, my tires should last for about exactly 20,000 miles, which after talking to a rep at www.tirerack.com on Friday, is exactly how long they are supposed to last.... Someone on the post said that it could be your braking, which I tend to agree with. I hardly ever brake hard, but I have burned out a couple of times and my tires are on pace to outlast yours....

I am going to go to Bridgstone Pole Position S-03s next... They average $200 per tire (front is $195, rear is $205 for the 18" setup).... but the rubber is so soft that they will only last for 12,000 - 15,000 miles.... All depends on what you want and how you are going to drive your car... I like the grip.

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- Homer Simpson

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coup
 

The S-03s are definitely much better tires than Pilot Sports in terms of performance. Michelin tires are way overpriced for such mediocre grip and treadwear. The best tire is the Toyo Proxes T1-S, if they make the sizes you need.

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coup
 

So what is the longest lasting tire for the people that don't care about performance? I have the Bridgestone S03s and I felt that the Michellins better suit me for spirted driving. I bought the bridgestones because they were the only tire that had had the sizes I wanted.

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2003 G35 Coupe 6mt Diamond Graphite
1992 Jeep Cherokee Blk 5.5 RE lift /w 33s
AIM= bkchang79

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coup
 

If you want a long-lasting tire and don't care about performance, look for Touring or Grand Touring tires. They are designed with treadlife and comfort in mind. Performance-wise, they fall in-between true performance tires and standard passenger tires. Excellent for just cruising around.

For the Coupe 17", TireRack shows the Michelin Pilot HX. I don't see anything for 18". For the sedan, you can switch to a 235/50R17 on the stock rims and get several choices. I haven't looked at alternate tires sizes for the coupe.

However, driven hard, Touring tires can be chewed up faster than performance tires, because they aren't designed to be driven that way. I have 8200 miles on my OEM Bridgestone Turanza EL42 tires. Judging by the treadwear rating and the mileage warranties of othe Bridgestone tires, I estimate this is supposed to be a 30-35k mile tire (but they don't specifically claim anything, since it's an OEM tire). Mine are just about ready for replacement, down to 4/32 already. I've been autocrossing on them all year, very hard braking and cornering about once a month.

2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coupe)?
 

One of the things to be careful about is alignment. I once had a car that ran thru front tires in 4,000 miles. It seems toe-in was badly set from the factory.

Re: Exceptionally Short Tire Life (stock 18's Coup
 

I researched these tires,...I may be wrong but I don't think they make a 225/45/18r for the front ....I definitely think they are the better way to go since bald tires are probably better than the stock pilots in even a dusting of snow....I know I slid into a curb real slow and still managed to mess the front rim so theres a $900 mistake...don't mind me I'm still pee'd at myself for that move.....