Not an upgrade, but it is - stock tire size as replacements

by **mmcdonald** » Tue May 10, 2005 4:37 am

Okay, this is supposed to be for mods, but this sort of works.

Most of you are upsizing replacement tires after getting rid of those nasty turanza's. I called Tirerack and they did not recommend going with a 225 on the stock 17" rims. So I followed their recommendation and got the 215/55WR17 on the Avon Tech M550 A/S replacements I wanted.

The Avon is a unidirectional tire, which is what is recommended in the first part of the left drift tsb. So that solved a good deal of that issue just with these tires. And why is Toyota recommending a type of tire different from their stock tires to fix this problem? Are they using a unidirectional tire for stock now? Maybe this is why the dealers are so reluctant to do this TSB, since it FIRST recommends replacing the sh*tty stock turanzas!

It also is much wider than the Turanza's, which leads me to believe that the turanzas were not measured properly, perhaps, for a 215. The turanzas look like 205, 195 compared to the Avon 215, which looks like 225 on the car.

And yes, they are all/season, but they look great, ride great (and quiet), and were only $110 each. They were the second highest rated tire on the tirerack site.

So INSTEAD of modding the stock tires when it comes time to replace them (30K miles and no sidewall left) try the stock size in a different unidirectional tire, if you are keeping the stock rims.

And be sure to get them match-mounted and spin balanced.

by **slingshot** » Tue May 10, 2005 5:35 am

Can you post pics?

by **MrMikeL** » Tue May 10, 2005 11:44 am

and don't forget to ROTATE THE TIRES every 5k miles!!!

by **mmcdonald** » Wed May 11, 2005 5:07 am

I will take pics and try to post them. I don't have a site right now. Can anyone make recommendations to host pics?

And I WILL rotate them with every other oil change this time!!!

by **RichD978** » Wed May 11, 2005 5:09 am

mmcdonald wrote:I will take pics and try to post them. I don't have a site right now. Can anyone make recommendations to host pics?

And I WILL rotate them with every other oil change this time!!!

http://www.cardomain.com

by **mmcdonald** » Wed May 11, 2005 2:12 pm

Whew, that's worse than tripod. I am used to FrontPage and DreamWeaver, not that sort of content management. I'll have to get my own page again.

Here is where the pic is: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/839134/1

I hope that works.

by **slingshot** » Wed May 11, 2005 5:46 pm

One faraway pic of the tires? Looks nice but I was hoping for some more closeups. Gotta love this car in black when it's shiny and clean.

by **mmcdonald** » Thu May 12, 2005 4:02 pm

Here are some more pics.

The BAD thing about black is that a small sprinkle during pollen season shows every bit of gunk. There's some bird poo there for you now too.

And a close up of the tread pattern.

These are nice tires. Smooth riding, good grip, especially compared to the stock POS.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/839134/1

by **slingshot** » Thu May 12, 2005 4:45 pm

Very nice tires. I looked them up at Tirerack and they have super reviews and ratings. Only problem is it says Not Available. Did you get them shipped to yourself or to a place to put them on?

by **mmcdonald** » Fri May 13, 2005 4:22 am

I had them sent directly to the installer (Hillmuth in Clarksville, MD).

I did have to pay $10 extra to get them from Indiana (I think) cause they were out of them in Ohio. So I guess they are out of them there as well.

I tell you, they were well worth it. Of course, it may be that I got so mistreated by the stock turanza's, that anything would seem great now!

They are a really good tire. Quiet, lotsa grip. I haven't driven them in the rain yet, or snow. But the pattern looks good for those conditions. Plenty of grooves and sipes.

by **slingshot** » Fri May 13, 2005 6:08 am

Again, great find for that cheap price. Let us know how it works next time it rains. Did it get rid of the left drift? Do unidirectional tires rotate only fore and back not side to side?

by **mmcdonald** » Fri May 13, 2005 11:55 am

Unidirectional can only be rotated front to back, never side to side.

I will post after this weekend. It is supposed to rain. I'll see if I can get loose. Well, I know I can, but see where the limits are.

They did solve some of the left drift, but it is still there. It kind of feels like the tires are putting up a better fight against it. I am going back for the concentric bolts in two weeks, so I'll see what happens then. Hopefully they won't have to remove the springs.

by **mmcdonald** » Fri May 13, 2005 11:55 am

I should have said "rotate" the springs.

by **mmcdonald** » Fri May 13, 2005 6:22 pm

I tried the tires in the dry on a 280 degree or so off ramp, and was able to break them loose at about 50mph. Nice oversteer with the TRD rear sway bar set in the middle hole, and the TRD front strut tower brace. Just a flick of the wheel took it in and out of adhesion very controlably.

Maybe I should set it on the inner hole. And get lowering springs...

Don't tell the missus.

Not an upgrade, but it is - stock tire size as replacements

Not an upgrade, but it is - stock tire size as replacements

Whew

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