Has anyone out there seen or have bought the new Toyo Proxes 4 ? They're hi-po all season and come in 245x40x18. After this week I need to do some serious looking for better tires.

I've seen the tires, but don't own them. It looks to be a good tire for both all season and sport handling, but can't say for sure. I just installed Toyo proxes T1-S 245/35/19's on mine. It looks great and handles great, but i don't drive it in bad weather.

Just bought a set of Proxes 4 in 245/40/18 and installed them on my '8 over the weekend. I've not driven them in snow yet, but on a dry road they were no noisier than the stock RE040's. Despite the trendy tread pattern, the Proxes 4 is mud & snow rated. There are some lateral sipes (not visible in pictures) across the larger inner tread blocks, and there is much more void between treadblocks than on the RE040s. There's also a bit of sculpturing down in the grooves that I've not seen on other tires; I guess to help direct water outward better.

To me the Proxes 4 feels slightly more responsive to small steering inputs than the RE040, especially above 40 mph. The sidewall and shoulder of the Proxes 4 are more squared off than the RE040 and there is a solid center rib, so this could be expected.

I had Proxes FZ4's on my last car. The FZ4 is a more conventional mud&snow tread pattern than the 4, but overall it was a very good all season high performance tire for the money. It was a very competent tire in snowy conditions.

From the spec sheets, I note the Proxes 4 in 245/40/18 is 2 lbs. lighter than the same size FZ4. Proxes 4 has a rim protector ridge in the sidewall; FZ4 does not.

I got the Proxes 4's from treadepot.com in Atlanta for $130 each, supposedly an introductory price. My local Tire Discounters was willing to get them for over $200 per tire.

Between the price, lower weight, rim protector feature, and past experience with the FZ4's, I went ahead and bought the Proxes 4's. Hope that helps.

Thanks. That's what I wanted to hear. No problems with clearances? Let me know how they do in the snow when you do get some.

No clearance probs. Can let you know how they do in the snow when I stop stealing my daughter's Civic.

mdw 33333, just curious did you notice any improvement in power by just the green drop in filter?
this is because in previous posts someone claimed 7 hp extra on dyno with no filter element in stock airbox.
Your response would be appreciated.

FYI, there are favorable reviews of the Proxes 4 in the newest issues of Sport Compact Car and Super Street, including better explanation of the tire design and siping than I could provide.

I'm happy with mine. They are not squirmy at all, unlike many all-season treads.

What kind of treadlife do these Toyo's have?

I'm looking at some good UHP All seasons too, and have narrowed it down to the Toyo Proxes 4, the Continental ContiExtreme Contact, or the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S.

Any experiences anyone has with any of these tires would be appreciated...

Originally posted by Omicron
What kind of treadlife do these Toyo's have?

I'm looking at some good UHP All seasons too, and have narrowed it down to the Toyo Proxes 4, the Continental ContiExtreme Contact, or the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S.

Any experiences anyone has with any of these tires would be appreciated...

Omicron, these 'tars have a treadwear rating of 300, FWIW. Since they've just been introduced in 2004, there's not going to be much real-world experience out there.

Price-wise, Proxes 4 and the ContiExtremes should be very comparable. You might get more useful info on the Conti's from a Focus SVT board; I believe the Focii SVTs come equipped with them.

Real-world, if you can get 15-20k miles out of any W or Z rated tires you've done very well.

Thanks Ned, your posts have been VERY helpful. Any idea of what the stock Bridgestones weigh? Oh, and how much did shipping cost you?

I'm over in Miami, and my tires are pretty much on their last legs. Do you think these would be a good replacement? Weather here is hot, hot and humid, hot humid and rainy, and hot. What do ya'll think?

Originally posted by Omicron
Thanks Ned, your posts have been VERY helpful. Any idea of what the stock Bridgestones weigh? Oh, and how much did shipping cost you?

Sorry, I don't know what the RE040s weigh. I paid $130 per tire (which has gone up a few $ from treadepot.com since then) and cant break out shipping because I bought them mounted/balanced on some Enkei RPO2-Js. Shipping is normally negligible for unmounted tires.

Originally posted by Genom
I'm over in Miami, and my tires are pretty much on their last legs. Do you think these would be a good replacement? Weather here is hot, hot and humid, hot humid and rainy, and hot. What do ya'll think?

They'll last longer than a summer tire with a lower treadwear rating, but in every other measure they'll perform worse. All-season use requires compromises to tread pattern and compound - cornering grip and braking will be worse. If you don't mind giving up performance for longer tread life, then these would be OK (although there ARE other high performance summer tires with longer tread life, like Bridgestone's own S-03).

For wet and rainy conditions, again, high performance summer tires actually perform better than high performance all-season tires in general.

Regards,
Gordon

OK, just checking. I was pretty much looking at the S-03 as the best tire for the car/weather but wanted to make sure a set of all seasons wouldnt be better.

Road and Track did a test of these tires and raved about their performance for an all-season tire. They claimed they performed very close to a high performance summer tire.

Originally posted by Genom
but wanted to make sure a set of all seasons wouldnt be better.

all-season's wouldn't be better, but other performance tyres (like Toyo's T1-S or Falken's Azeni) are comparable options to the S-03.