I found good prices on Pirelli PZero Nero M/S in 215/40/17 at 119 each on tirerack. the original size on my sisters tC and my rsx-s is 215/45/17. will I be able to run the 215/40/17 without problems or sacrificing much? i understand there is less sidewall, so it might be a bit louder than the 45's. the oem sizes are 141 per tire. i'd think it would be worth saving 84 dollars for a tiny tiny bit more road noise. i also understand that speed reading will be off a bit because it is a smaller tire.

I am also looking at these Continental ContiExtremeContact tires. they got good ratings from Tirerack users and are a fairly cheap tire. Another option would be the Goodyear Eagle GT's. Yokohama Avid W4s is also an option. All of these are priced at about 100-105 per tire at oem sizes.

My sister drives conservatively, so I don't really think she needs "ultra high performance" tires and I understand that is probably simply a marketing term.

 

Well, I would get tires in the proper size (for either car). Why ask for problems (like the gauges being off, etc)?

As for tires, I'm not sure why you're looking at all-season tires, since you live in SoCal. In your year-round moderate to warm temperatures, summer tires will give you better traction than all-season tires, on dry roads as well as in rain. The one advantage all-seasons have is that they last longer than summer tires (maybe 40-60K miles instead of 20-40K miles) - so if that's why you're considering them, fine. Just wanted to mention the positives and negatives.

In 215/45-17, if I were buying all-season tires, I wouldn't get the Pirelli PZero M+S. It's an excellent tire for an all-season, but it's very expensive ($141/tire at the Tire Rack). The Kumho ASX is another excellent all-season, and the Tire Rack sells them for $94/tire, although they don't have them in stock and they would need to special order them. But if I were buying all-season tires in that size right now, I'd get the Avon Tech M550 A/S, which is yet another excellent all-season. The Tire Rack has them in stock, and with a closeout price of $88/tire. Great price and it's the right size too!

If you decide to get summer tires, I recommend the Fuzion ZRi ($85/tire in 215/45-17), Kumho SPT ($93/tire), and Yokohama S.drive ($103/tire).

 

i was looking at all season tires because they last longer. i might have to fork up extra money in the beginning, but if i were to take the miles divided by the cost, it would cost a little less per mile if i was to get an all season tire. i get about 40 extra miles per dollar. however, i would save on mounting, balancing, disposal fee, environmental tax, and various other things.

how many miles do you think I would get out of the S drives with moderately conservative driving? how many miles do you think i would get out of bridgestone re960 pole positions?

 

Okay, just checking.

The S.drive summer tire should last 25-40K miles, maybe even 45K if you rotate them occasionally, check your pressure regularly, and use them all the way until they are down to the treadwear indicator bars at 2/32" (some people replace tires before then, others wait till then).

The RE960AS all-season tire should last you 35-60K miles (roughly a third more miles than the S.drive, given all the same conditions).

 

cool. thanks for the help.