Okay, tires are on, everything's fixed, and I'm much happier.
My initial impressions: Car has NEVER been this quiet. SO nice to be able to hear my engine again! Tires are giving me less road feel, but not a terribly reduced amount. I can definitely feel the "squish" everyone's talking about- it's almost bouncy at times. I've got a minor road trip this evening, so I'll get a chance to really get to know them better. The 'hairyness" is very odd looking. Do these little nubs actually serve any purpose?

 

The nubs are from the tire mold. They wear away quickly.

 

So it won't hurt anything if I bribe the neighbor's kid to cut them off. Good to know. Looks like my car forgot to shave it's legs.

 

I never cut them off, I just make a few hard corners

 

Alright, I took the plunge and bought a set of 245/40/'s (not the PZ's); however, I don't want to have the dealer installing them. I have a couple of questions -and bear in mind, I am a knuckle head!.

1. Are the alignment settings going to be different from stock (sport suspension, 225/45/18 on 18x8" stock wheels) with the 245/40/18s?

2. If the answer to the above question is NO: are there any improvements over the stock alignment known to anyone in here for city / highway normal driving?

3. If the answer to question #1 is YES: what the heck should I ask them to dial on the 4 corners?

Thanks in advance!

 

I finally had mine put on today. The ride was noticably softer and quieter.

There were pictures posted much earlier in this thread showing how furry the tires are when new, but I was still surprised at the amount of "hair" on the tires. Is that why they are a little squirmy for the first few hundred miles?

 

a little squirmy the first couple of hundred because of a mold release compoud used so the can get the tires out of the mold. it is much more scary on a motorcycle.

beers

 

When I put the tires on, the tire shop recommended the same tire pressure as the stock tires (32PSI). Has anyone played around with the pressure and found increased happyness? :p

 

A bit off-topic, but related: I put my Summer tires back on a week ago (taking off my Continental Extremes). Wow, what a difference... the stock tires reduce body roll and make the car much more responsive to steering input. I'm not sure if they offer more or less grip, but they're definitely more fun.

 

I've had the PZero Nero M+S 245/40/18 ZR since March 12th and have nothing negative to say about them. They are simply great tires. I live in the Panhandle of Florida so i've been able to push the tires in the rain on many occasions. Out of the near 800 miles i've driven on these tires, I've lost traction only once, and it was because I was turning and hit a thick patch of sand. Luckily my traction control was still on.

And i still have the furries corners of the tire.

 

I thought I saw someone mention 36psi for the pirellis, but don't quote me on that- I'll read back through and see if I can find it.

 

I keep mine about 35 PSI.

And as for the fuzzies, they were still there after a hard day at the track and a couple thousand miles. So one day I paid my very bored 11 year old son a buck a wheel to sit there and trim them all off. Best $4 I ever spent. :D

 

I tried 36 today, and it definitely seemed to sharpen the handling a lot. Thanks for the tip.

 

It is not a competition I know but Melbourne road is generally very flat and I use 39 PSI around town on my own. I do have 36PSI for comfort but when I load the rear boot up with baby stuff, I usually get a PSI or 2 more.

So mine are 36-39 PSI depending situation.

 

Well Elara, we never did hear what YOU think about your '8s new shoes....?

 

I'm thinking of getting a set of the tires in the near future.. how does the 36-39 PSI range work with the TPMS? Or have you all just given up on it?

 

I've had my tires at 40psi for a autocross and no errors showed up.

 

I've only got a couple hundred miles on them, since the day after I got the car back I went on vacation, and then didn't drive it again till yesterday So far, though, I'm really noticing the squishyness right now. Seems like I'm getting a lot more body roll on the corners- but that could just be me. Going to check my tire pressure and see if I can bump it up a bit.

 

Not to worry, the squishy goes away. Plus bear in mind that you got used to the REALLY harsh Potenzas, and anything would feel like pillows as compared to them! :D

 

Omicron -- How many miles do you have on the PZeros now? Do you have an estimate how many miles you might get? Thanks!

 

I have about 8000 miles on them now and they still look new. I'm guessing I'll get at least 30000 miles out of them. Good thing I like 'em so much! :D

 

After driving on the Nero M+S since November of last year (235/45-17, mounted on wheels for winter use) I switched back to the Bridgestones for the summer.

First impression on switching back after one drive to work this morning: RE040s quite a bit louder, not terrible, but louder. They tend to hold onto the pebbles on the road and throw them into the wheel wells much more than the Neros. The crisp turn-in that I remember so fondly was back (most certainly a reflection that the Neros are 17 inch tires vs the 18 inch RE040). The RE040 also tend to follow the road irregularities much more than the Nero and are significantly harsher on bumps (again, both could be from the shorter sidewalls on the RE040).

What surprised me was the noticeable loss in traction, not huge but noticeable. To be fair it was a little chilly this morning at 42 degrees. In a tight left hander from a standstill close to my house, which I always get a little side slip with heavy usage of the loud pedal, the RE040 stepped out quite a bit more than the Neros. I chalked this up to being cold. About 10 miles into my commute, which is generally plenty of time to warm the tires up, there is a fairly long on ramp to the highway which starts with a tight right hander. RE040 again slid quite a bit with heavy throttle, noticeably more than the Neros. I still need to check the pressures on the RE040 (visual check after mounting, I did not check with gauge - shame on me).

 

did anyone recalculate the computer to acknowledge the 1% change in tire ratios? When speedo says 60 you are actually going 59mph. check a tire calculator.

 

Yep, confirmed with a CANScan also - hooked up the OBDII port.

 

I just ordered these tires from reading your great reviews...in that size too! I had one question though. With this tread pattern and change in width did you notice a difference in mileage? I'm worried the wider track will decrease my already horrendous gas mileage.