Z didn’t pass inspection, need new rear tires (I already knew that I needed new rears but also needed inspection before the month is up)
So I wanted to get pricing on the BFG KDW tires.
Called up Sears. Not in stock…on backorder. Sears called Michelin who makes BFG tires. KDWs in 275/40/18 are on National backorder and don’t even know when they are going to be MAKING more. It could be months.
I have read on other forums that most people don’t recommend mixing brands/compounds front/back. Especially since I go out to auto cross and flat out days on the road course occasionally. I’m not going to run out and get 4 new tires, so I need to get something different for the rears b/c I’m not sitting here all summer waiting for Michelin to make more of these dammed tires.
Can anyone recommend a tire that would be similar in compound/performance that isn’t going to compromise my safety? Or is it the general consensus that running two different tires is unsafe period?
I just wanted to get opinions from yall here locally. Also, if ANYONE has any connections that can actually FIND me a set KDW, KDW2 traditional tread OR new tread, please let me know I would appreciate it. Have two weeks to get new tires so I don’t have to pay for inspection again…
I don’t see the problem in running 2 different tires front and rear as long as it’s across the same axle as long as you stick with the required speed rating??
If that was the case, wouldn’t having different sizes compromise safety?
Just wondering…anyways, is there a certain price per tire that you want to stay under?
Sumitomo HTR Z III’s are brandy new(sort of) so I don’t know much about them, I’m going to run HTR Z II’s my next set though, I’ve heard good things about some of them…
You could call Sears up again, or any other tire place and have them see what IS available for immediate order in that size to help narrow your choices down.
I’ll check monday… Michelin’s home office isn’t open til then.
On a side note, I don’t see why you couldn’t match treads? The Rears are gonna wear faster than the front anyways and you don’t have AWD/4WD so you obviously don’t have to worry about diameters. Have you considered Michelin’s? On the Pricey side but they are excellent tires. The PS2 is amazing, although I don’t know the price off the top of my head. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.
I fucking hated the stock ones on the SRT. they were so loud, Victor doesnt like his either. I dont blame them, Mine wore really wierd, and oddly his wore the same(outer tread wear).
Tirerack wont tell me when they will have those either.
My recommendation, sell the fronts and go to a new full set. Mixing and matching can be done, but if you are hardcore and need a balanced set of grip tires, then i’d definitly match them.
What size do you need for the front? I can get you a package price from tirerack…
Yeah the fronts are close to being toast anyhow. I’m pretty sure I’m going to go with the two KD’s in the rear for the time being (I’m not THAT hard core lol) and end up getting fronts here in a few months. I appreciate the time and information. That is the word I’m getting direct from the mfg is that they don’t know when KDW’s will be available my size. I think I’ll be OK w/ the KD’s in the rear and the KDW’s up front for a little while, I don’t intentionally drive it in the rain and the KD’s aren’t that bad if I do get caught out in it.
That being said, I can’t believe that I can order them online from Sams club and pay LESS than tire rack by $30…
how do the tires wear? do you rotate them (or can you??? wheels staggered ?).
not sure what factory alignment specs are, but id assume they are pretty mellow and nuetral so any joe schmoe can drive the car w/o looping it. so baring that you have something messed up in the alignment, we can safely say that factory specs eat up tires. i assume your car is lowered. if so, was this taken into consideration on the alignment?
with that said, i’m willing to bet a proper alignment- which would be based off factory specs, suspension mods, and how your tires are wearing- could get you longer life out of your tires and make the car handle better.
The front tires wear from tire feathering (Staggered setup - no rotation). The REALLY weird thing about it is that there is no HARD evidence to what causes this on the Z’s. There is speculation of tieing the car down too hard on the boats(during shipping to the US) and bending tie rods, too much dampening from stock struts, and poor toe alignmenet specs. NONE of these are accurate and have been proven. The Z’s ride VERY VERY stiff. I would lean towards the over dampened suspension. I don’t mind the tire wear b/c my Accord ate the front tires off just as fast - FWD 350+HP.
My car has 14,000 miles on it now (10K when I bought it). The suspension is 100% factory. I don’t mind replacing the tires but the growling from the front tires when worn is annoying. I had the alignment checked about a month ago at the Sewickley car store - the guy who aligns all of their race cars (very knowledgable about factory and altered suspension alignments). He said everything was A-O-K. He also noted many of the Porsche’s w/ aggresive suspension from the factory, GT3’s ect - have the same feathing issues on the front.
feathering is usally from bad toe in setting. toe can be set to factory settings, and be ok on the rack-- yet this can change going down the road due to bushings flexing-- knocking your toe settings out of whack.
Thanks tho.