Tires and what problems should I anticipate?

[Fancycargal]

I'm brand new as a member. (Lurking for years.) I was going to sell my '95 LSi, but have been talking about it for 3 years, can't seem to do it, may just have to find a way to bring in more cash to keep it in style. Just signed up for Reading. My first meet, can't wait!

Questions.
1. I'm getting new tires next week. Have a recommendation, did some surfing, but I'm still not sure what to mount. Really want a QUIET tire with handling. Is this possible? (The car is entirely stock.) I would appreciate any thoughts ASAP.

2. I'm wondering what expenses I am in for if I keep the SVX indefinitely. Have 54K miles now, replaced a burned part in trans at 12K, fixed the power window mechanism, sunvisors, and anti-knock $ensor recently. It's garaged but driven every week and everything works, so I am hopeful. Can someone tell me more about bearing problems? Could the trans go again after a while? I'm easy on brakes, but hear the rotors are a problem. Bottom line: when it's in the shop next week, what should the mechanic look at, and what should I keep my eyes and ears out for over time? Help!

Thanks!
Fancy

[green_eyed_lady]

Originally Posted by Fancycargal

I'm brand new as a member. (Lurking for years.) I was going to sell my '95 LSi, but have been talking about it for 3 years, can't seem to do it, may just have to find a way to bring in more cash to keep it in style. Just signed up for Reading. My first meet, can't wait!

Questions.
1. I'm getting new tires next week. Have a recommendation, did some surfing, but I'm still not sure what to mount. Really want a QUIET tire with handling. Is this possible? (The car is entirely stock.) I would appreciate any thoughts ASAP.

2. I'm wondering what expenses I am in for if I keep the SVX indefinitely. Have 54K miles now, replaced a burned part in trans at 12K, fixed the power window mechanism, sunvisors, and anti-knock $ensor recently. It's garaged but driven every week and everything works, so I am hopeful. Can someone tell me more about bearing problems? Could the trans go again after a while? I'm easy on brakes, but hear the rotors are a problem. Bottom line: when it's in the shop next week, what should the mechanic look at, and what should I keep my eyes and ears out for over time? Help!

Thanks!
Fancy

Not to scare you, but I hope you have a competent mechanic.

The trans will last a lot longer if you put on a cooler, do a search on tranny coolers and I'm sure you'll find a wealth of info. 54K miles isn't even broken in! (I have 183K or so on mine )

Wheel bearings are an issue, but if your mechanic will listen to you when and if you need them replaced, they will last. It has to do with the grease they are shipped in not being compatible with the high-temp bearing grease they pack them with to install them. You have to INSIST they remove all the packing grease and replace it with the bearing grease. A lot of mechanics won't do it and it causes premature failure.

Even with gas going for 3.50 a gallon, mine is still my daily driver and I hate the thought of driving anything else.

I'm sure many others will jump in with more advice. There's a document in the "how-to's" telling what to look for when you are thinking about buying an SVX. That may be a good place to start with your mechanic. Link here.

[SuberNatural]

As for tires i suggest the Hankook k106. Has a nice tread, has a surprising grip on the snow (especially packed snow), and i got all 4 for $288 shipped. Depending on you driving habits you should get 2 years out of them at least.

[Rhoujin]

Well from my experience you're going to have to decide between handling or a quiet wide ( you can find something in the middle but you wont get the best of either end). My personal favorites are the yokohama avid h4s, and my friend is using W4s on his jetta and seems to love them.

You should look up SVXfiles since he's also in MD and an excellent SVX mechanic. He offers a proffesional service for SVXs repair and is 50% cheaper then the average auto shop. Once I start my internship I'm going to hit him up for some light mods to my SVX.

Maintaining my SVX hasn't been too expensive for me, you just have to find source for used parts ( like Crazy Rays junk yard) and a decent mechanic. It will also save you some money by learning how to do the light repairs on your own(when all you need is a jack and a craftsmen set).


Keep an eye out for leaks(power steering, transmission) and the cv joints...though I did fudge mine up due to autocrossing ^_^

[Manarius]

Originally Posted by SuberNatural

As for tires i suggest the Hankook k106. Has a nice tread, has a surprising grip on the snow (especially packed snow), and i got all 4 for $288 shipped. Depending on you driving habits you should get 2 years out of them at least.

I have those tires. They are very very bad in snow. I also question them on wet pavement. I would recommend anything else other than those tires (especially since they're only summer tires).

[SVXRide]

I'm using Bridgestone 050 as my street tire (Yoko ES100 before them) and they're pretty quiet and have decent grip (okay, not as good as my Hoosiers, but much, much better on tire life).
-Bill
p.s. Annapolis? Nice! Ever get down to scenic Calvert County?

[Tim]

I love my Continental Contiextreme Contacts. I have about 15,000 miles on them and they perform really well in all weather conditions. I came from the Yokohama Avid V4 tires and these are a world of a difference.

[svxcess]

When I talked to Radial Tire about replacing my tires with either another set of Yoko AVS db's or the Continental Extreme Contacts. Paul, the owner, asked me how I managed to pick the worst two tires on the market for the SVX.

He said that he doesn't even carry the Extreme Contacts anymore because of all problems he has had with them. Most of his customers came back after a couple of days and had them removed.

As far as the Yoko's are concerned he said it was an OK tire when new, but got progressively noisier after 20,000 miles. He even said it sounded like you had a bad bearing with these tires during the last half of their life.

He is very familiar with the SVX and what most of their owners want in their tires and told me that the new TOYO PROXES 4 was the best tire for this car, hands down. It is an ultra- high performance, all season tire, which is very quiet and responsive.

Do not confuse this tire with the Toyo Proxes FZ-4, which is a completely different animal.

He has the Proxes4 tire on all three of his personal cars, something he has never done before. He was very impressed by the quality, handling and most important the ride comfort and noise level. (For the record, he has a BMW 850 coupe, a Lotus Espirit and A Cadillac CTS)

Here are a couple of links to more information. Radial Tire is a no-nonsense, high-performance tire shop with a stellar reputation and I trust Paul's advice completely.

http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...model=Proxes+4

http://www.toyo.com/tires/tire_lines.../proxes_4.html


This is my second set of Proxes4 for me and I just put a second set on my son's 92 pearlie. We have gotten through the past 3-4 Maryland winters without any problems whatsoever.

A little less than $99.00/tire.

.

[Crazy_pilot]

When I bought my car it had missmatched tires, Yolo Avid V4's and Toyo Proxes. Obviously, those aren't on the car anymore, but for the short while they were on the car I had no bad experiences. They handled a little bit of winter without any problems.