Tire questions

[rockfangd]

Hi all.

I am looking to get new tires for both of my 1997 Cadillacs. They are both P22560R16

Currently I have z rated tires on my Seville and just regular touring tires on the Deville.

I am looking for recommendations on good tires for both. I dont want to get sucked into what I wont like. alot of tire places just want the money but dont care after.

For my Deville I want all season touring. Must be quiet, and good for high speed handling, wet and dry.

For my Deville I want a summer tire. Preferably a higher speed rating. Must be quiet, and good for high speed handling, wet and dry.

I dont care about economy. I dont drive boats for good gas mileage. But comfort is a must.

I hope you guys can help to lead me in the right direction.

thank you all in advance

[Cadillac Jim]

Here's my cut. Since tires last for years, some tires may be better (or worse) or not available in OEM sizes anymore.

Michelin Pilot Sport A/s Plus - Excellent (best) all-around, all-season; old line, without the "Plus" was hard on the ride

Bridgestone (forget HP line name) - Excellent, another user complained about ride but I had no complaints

Goodyear (line names change yearly) - Excellent, possibly your summer tire; check current lines

Whatever you do, look at reviews online at TheTireRack.com and other sites. Don't let a tire dealer or other "expert" pick your tires for you. I found out the hard way once, when I was in a hurry, that what these guys think is an an upgrade is a tire you will take off within 24 hours.

A summer-only tire may be very hard to find in the OEM 225-60/15 size, but I have found that the Goodyear's that I have on my CTS-V, which are all-season, are competitive with the summer-only tires out there. Note the photo in my signature block, which shows over 1g peak cornering acceleration in both directions in my recent history. I'm running Goodyear all-season, a line that had just come out when I upgraded from some older summer-only tires a little over a year ago.

[OldCadTech]

Tires are a lot like opinions, everybody has one (or four) and ... will you know how that ends

I have most recently installed Toyo Z900s and I must say they are very quiet and hold extremely well in wet weather (which we have in abundance in Washington state) and cornering, and wet weather cornering. By the way cornering (hard) is how i wear out most of my tires and I rotate at 2500 miles, sometimes less depending on the look of the edges.

The Toyos made the 98 Seville STS come alive, they are whisper quiet and the ride quality is excellent. The tires that were on it (Goodyears) would allow way too much push for my liking and were extremely noisy to boot. I had the car two days before getting the new tires. The Goodyears had probably 50% tread-wear.

Below is the Toyo Z900:

Normally I have the tires siped which increases traction (esp lateral) and prolongs tread life by a bunch. It is getting difficult to find a tire shop that does siping and the last one I know of in my area I won't go back to.

They had an inexperienced kid doing the tire swap crack one of my rims on a Honda by setting the machine up for the wrong size wheel and the bottom spoon cracked the wheel. Mistakes happen BUT then to add insult to injury the management tried to tell me that it must have been like that when I brought it in (they did replace the wheel). So these are unsiped

They are a treadwear A and Temperature A tire... The Toyo's impressed me, they may not be what you're looking for but I can attest to the very low noise level. wet weather and cornering ability.

[KHE]

I have Michelin Harmony tires on my Deville. The Harmony has since been replaced by another model that I can't remember the name. Michelin makes about the best tire in my opinion. Long wearing and quiet. They are more expensive but you get what you pay for. It doesn't make much sense to install a higher speed tire on a base Devile unless it is the Concours model as the car is limited to 110 MPH.

Since you have z-rated tires on your Seville, it is an STS, correct? Back in the day, the STS came from the factory with z-rated tires but there were a lot of complaints on the harsh ride of the z-rated tires so the Z-rated tires became an option and the H rated tire was the standard for the STS.

If your Seville is a SLS model, it doesn't make sense to install a higher speed tire for the same reasons as the Deville.

[Cadillac Jim]

As you know, there are lots of lines of tires in each brand. The worst tires I ever had were Michelins that a dealer service tech recommended; my car was an ETC and I found later that the tires were intended for Devilles, and that the service tech didn't recommend the GM tires for the ETC because they were so much more expensive; these were the tires I took off the next morning.

Whenever I ask a tire dealer what they think, they look at the ETC as a boat and think I want a steadier boat, and recommend tires that would fit will on a BMW sedan but are sadly inadequate for an ETC or STS. I suggest that you look at reviews on TheTireRack's web site, Road & Track or Car & Driver, or other performance car enthusiast oriented tire tests and ratings.

But you can't go wrong with Michelin top-line ultra high performance tires. The last time I bought tires in 225/60R-16 size the best all-season ultra high performance Michelin was the Pilot Sport Plus. Good steering feel, excellent response on hard cornering and great control on sweepers like the 270-degree cloverleaf ramps between intersecting freeways. Amazingly, I find Michelin ultra high performance tires very good on snow.

[JohnnyG]

I'll side with Jim on the Michelin, but the Toyo's sound good too. I currently have Continentals on my E350 and they handle real well, but don't seem to be the quietest tire I've ever had. That distinction goes to a set of Yokahamas, which they probably don't make anymore. The issue with them (also took them off the same day) was that they weren't round! Couldn't get them to road force balance below 25#, which is disaster for the STS that I had at the time.

This brings me to my main point. Regardless of which tire you choose, make sure the seller is able to road force balance them, and have an agreement before starting that any tire which will not get less than 10 or 12 pounds of road force, will be exchanged immediately. These cars, particularly the STS, are very sensitive to road force, you will feel anything above 10# of road force.

[rockfangd]

I have absolutely learned my lesson on that one.

I have 4 tires on my nissan, They are directional. The two on the right are 24 and 26.= shakes. I got nowhere when I wanted them warrantied

[JohnnyG]

That set of Yokohamas had a tread pattern very similar to the Michelin Hydroedge, which I hear was a very quiet tire. Don't know if they still make them though. Point here is the tread pattern with the long sweeping curved out design might be worth a look.

[rockfangd]

Well some good news.

I decided to buy a new set for my Seville. Well deserved.

I bought a full set of Michelin premier A/S. 

Road force balanced, no tap on weights.

the ride is wonderful. Like a  new car. If I really like them I will buy another set for my Deville.

I misspelled the first post in this thread, The DD is my Deville, The seasonal is the Seville

The Premier A/S replaced the Michelin harmony. Very good reviews from countless owners. Good specs and recommendations.

Thanks all

[Bruce Nunnally]

Good report.  How many miles or years did you get from the last set?  

[JohnnyG]

I was wondering about how you were doing with your tires. Sounds like you made a good choice.....and they are ROUND! I was researching your request on info and ran across a little tidbit of info that might come in handy. BF Goodrich is now owned by Michelin. BF G makes a tire that is supposed to be designed for these Caddys, and they have that long sweeping tread pattern that I found to be very quiet on the aforementioned Yokos. Might be worth a try.

Sorry that I don't have the specific model info, but I found them on Tire Rack. Reviews were very positive.

[rockfangd]

500 miles on them so far. handle great, good wet traction, and quiet.