Spect2K3

I was just out speaking to some tire places, town fair and mavis to be specific. They told me I was crazy for looking at some of the other tires to purchase and I should get the toyo p4 without a doubt. They gave me $116.50 per tire which comes out to $555 out the door (tax/mounting/balancing). Does this sound like a good price to all of you having bought them?

sciontc_mich

yeah it is an all-season tire. All-season basically means that the tread compound can put up with a colder temperature and still have grip.. If someone had a summer-only tire and used it in anything, let's say, lower than 30-35 degrees then the tire wouldn't be able to grip until it warmed up. Just sliding around on dry but frozen pavement like as if there was ice.

The snow performance comes from also the tread compound, what it's made up of. The proxes4 is a silica-based compound. Which is why it does so well in wet conditions. I've seen the silica-based compound do really well in wet compared to a couple years ago the tires were mostly carbon-black based (horrible in cold and wet).
I haven't seen any snow yet but based on the wet and cold I've seen so far, yes this tire will probably be fine in the snow. Sure, any snow tire would out perform this, but for me if it has like 3-4 inches of snow, I will go slow and just get home. That's all an all-season is supposed to do anyway. If someone wants to go out in a snow bank and drive nuts, snow tires are for that.. lol

sciontc_mich

that price of 116.50 is about what i've seen from local toyo dealers..

beas_tc_oupe06

I stand corrected:
http://www.toyo.com/docs/tires/tires...ategory=luxury

Thats all the information straight from Toyo on that tire.

And I dont know about that price, if thats good or not, depends on what the charge for balancing is itself. Those tires would cost $370 shipped to your door, plus cost of balancing at a tire shop, if you ordered them through http://www.edgeracing.com/tire/897/

Spect2K3

I am doing the 225/45-17. I'm not sure which tire price that is, but the 225 is $93 a tire with $47 shipping. 93*4=372+47=$419 total. Still, that is a nice price. Then I would have to pay a tire place to do the install. My local tire dealer (town fair tire) said that they won't touch anyone elses tires. The advantage to getting it from there is that they do free tire rotations for life, free flat repairs (if it can't be fixed they replace it free), *free wheel alignment when I first buy them*, and a 30 day trial period. So yes, your right that it will probably cost around $50 more, but it may be worth it - i dunno, what do you guys think?

Sciontc_mich - you're absolutely right about the snow. I personally wouldn't even care if I had snow tires on. It is still a little scion tC, not a huge SUV with awd. I'd plan on just getting home safely and SLOWLY lol.
Interesting what you said about the compound though, that explains a lot

trdtcpr

I would buy it from your locals since what they are offering is pretty darn good you never know when any of those accidents might happen so I would go with them.

Spect2K3

Thats true, and its around the corner from my house, so its quite convenient as well.

As the winter is coming up, please post some reviews on here for how they handle in the light snow (for those of you who actually get some!)

trdtcpr

come on guys help a fellow tC owner out!!! we know you're out there wanting to help.

beas_tc_oupe06

Ahh well if they include they include replacement certificates then for sure get it done locally, I wasnt sure with the tire size you were going with.

Also to let you know, your speedo will be ~ 1.4% off, aka at 60mph on your speedo, you will actually be going 61, but thats a relatively low difference. This will actually also throw your ODO off a bit too, but again its a pretty minor difference and the 225's will protect the rim face a little better as well.

beas_tc_oupe06

If it helps anymore a customer at the dealership I work at has these on his RX8 and just put his wheels/tires in storage for a set of Blizzaks. Granted thats also a 9000rpm RWD "sports car" so Im sure they are a little less mild mannered.

I do know that as soon as it got cold (w/o snow) there was also a huge loss of traction. I did a huge burn out one night when I was ticked off with a half throttle launch from a stop sign... wasnt intending to do it at all. Mind you this was in a highly power overstated (read: 140wtq V6...___) AUTOMATIC Grand Am... no rain, just very cold out. In normal temps (60+) I could barely squeek them unless I was brake-torqueing the hell out of it.

From what I have read Silica compounds lose much of thier "Stickyness" i.e. traction at tempuratues less than 38*

Ryz0n

Would anyone pick Toyo Proxes 4 over Falken FK452? I really REALLY want Falkens but the price is hard for me to afford right now.

sciontc_mich

hmm.. i've seen just the opposite, the silica based compounds for non-snow tires are great.. it was the black carbon based tires couple years ago, that were slippery in temps lower than the 30's.. the silica based compound has been great in down to -10, lowest it got here last year..

sciontc_mich

yeah i just commented above this one to the compounds.. i've enjoyed the silica based compounds in the cold.. no more "warming them up" when it gets below 30.. it's scary in michigan with those older black carbon.. I'm glad they aren't making those anymore..

about the size, i think your speedo might be off a little too.. all the reviews i gave were for a 215/45-17.. get a larger size, not sure how my review would be apply to that other size. plus wider in snow, might spell more of a problem, but that's just my $0.02. and yeah i agree with staying at the local tire shop, they're more likely to help ya out if something happens, since you gave em your money before. I probably wouldn't let em mess with the alignment (seen too many who don't know how to work on a tc, not sure why, its JUST a car.. lol) but the rest does sound good..

trdtcpr

I did and I'm happy with them.

Spect2K3

Now i'm second guessing my choice as to going with the 225/45-17 rather than the 215s. I figured that since they made it a optional purchase with the tC (even though they are with different rims), I figured that it wouldn't give me any problem with my tC. But this doesn't sound very good that it'll be throwing off the odometer and speedo.

So throw me your opinions guys, i'm sure that the handling difference between 215 and 225 is VERY minimal and it will hurt me in the snow and throw off the odo and speedo. So the Pro list consists of slightly better handling and rim protection and the Con list consists of worse snow traction and throwing off the speedo and odo. What would you guys do in my shoes? Thanks!

Spect2K3

Oh, and of course the 225s are slightly more expensive!

beas_tc_oupe06

Well the "slightly" better traction in the dry is negligable, as our cars arent very powerful (realistically) so I doubt your going to see any difference from the extra half inch of width.

Me personaly, go with what fits... because that is what is on the car. The 225s that you could get on the tC from the factory were on an 18" wheel, so the tire size was 225/40/18 and thats why it didnt throw off the speedo/odo not to mention they have the tools to recalibrate anyways.

Go here to see what im referring to on the tire sizes/speedo readings

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Spect2K3

Yea, I see what you're saying with that calculator. So it looks like I should probably go with the 215s then.

Anyone else have an opinions on this?

trdtcpr

I'll say it again I feel the 225 better than the 215.

Spect2K3

You're saying that you dont think its a big deal if the speedo/odo is off by a fraction and would go with the performance (other than snow of course)?