Is your vehicle ready for spring cleaning?
The line of interior and exterior detailing and wheel products from
Griot's Garage will keep your wheels and tires looking great. Here are a few of the the products that will give your vehicle that shine for the warmer driving months:
View all Griot's Garage products
here.
Two popular Max Performance Summer tires are being replaced this year, the
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 and the
Bridgestone RE050A Pole Position. Listed below are the two tires and their replacements:
Benefits & Features of the Pilot Super Sport:
- Better handling inspired by the same engineering that has powered 13 consecutive victories at 24 Hours of Le Mans
- Pilot Super Sport tires are comparatively light, with weight savings of up to 10% when compared to tires of similar dimensions.
- Superior performance at very high speeds and in wet conditions
Benefits & Features of the S-04 Pole Position:
- Improved wet and dry handling
- Tuned to minimize block deformation during braking
- Contact footprint has been optimized for even contact pressure across entire tread surface
- Advanced pattern design helps to minimize noise
Testing of each new tire will begin this spring!
Shop by vehicle to see which tires work best for your vehicle.
Are you looking to improve the suspension on your vehicle? With options available from companies such as
H&R,
Eibach and
Koni, Tire Rack has the products to improve your vehicle's appearance and handling.
An entry-level introduction to improving your vehicle's appearance and handling is to purchase a set of
lowering springs and
performance dampers.
If you are looking for more control over adjustability then consider a
coil-over or
cup kit.
Anti-roll bars are also a great addition to improve handling and help remove body roll around corners.
Lowering will change the ride characteristics of the vehicle, therefore give some thought to the balance you want to maintain between handling, looks and ride comfort. If you have upgraded your wheels and tires to a larger-than-original size, you will also want to check clearance before you decide on the kit you want.
With spring right around the corner, it is a perfect time to get new wheels for your vehicle. Below are are a few of the newest wheel options and brands available at Tire Rack:
Shop by vehicle or contact one of our
sales specialists for fitment options and pricing.
Building on the characteristics of the
Pilot Sport PS2, Michelin is preparing to release their newest product in the Max Performance Summer tire category. The
Pilot Super Sport is designed to enhance your vehicle's performance and safety, while delivering durability, handling and traction with increased tread life.
The tire highlights Michelin's Bi-Compound tread rubber featuring the dry compound outboard side-by-side with their latest generation of wet compound inboard. The low-void outboard shoulder features a track-type compound to withstand the stresses of high performance cornering while the center ribs and inboard shoulder feature a compound designed for superior performance at very high speeds and in wet conditions.
The internal improvements feature twin steel belts reinforced by spirally wound polyamide cords that offer a lightweight, high-strength reinforcement above the steel belts to enhance high-speed handling, wear and durability.
The
Pilot Super Sport offers weight savings of up to 10% compared to tires of similar dimensions. This reduces unsprung weight to improve your vehicle's handling.
Contact one of our
sales specialists for more information on the Michelin Pilot Super Sport.
With cold temperatures dominating our forecasts, it is important to monitor your tire's air pressure. Tire Rack offers a variety of air gauges to meet your needs.
Accutire Digital Set Point - Allows you to store your vehicle's pressure information and incorporates a small flashlight at the top of the gauge.
If you are looking for something smaller, consider: Accutire Digital Pencil Air Gauge 
and the
Accutire ABS Coated Air Gauge 
Remember, monitoring your tire's air pressure will help ensure the best fuel efficiency and tire wear for your vehicle.
Now is a good time to have your pads and rotors inspected.
Tire Rack carries a large assortment of pads and rotors for almost every vehicle on the market.
If you are looking for Original Equipment brake products consider:
If you want to improve your braking performance beyond original stock levels take a look at:
View our website for the brake equipment that best fits your vehicle.
This winter had been pretty harsh for many people. If you are thinking of installing winter / snow tires we still have excellent options in stock and ready to ship.
Switching to winter / snow tires will make a huge difference. Most vehicles come with all-season tires that are a "jack of all trades, master of none." Even all-wheel drive vehicles will benefit greatly from changing to winter / snow tires since all-wheel drive still relies on the traction provided by your tires.
Some of the best options we have are:
Keep in mind that winter / snow tires should always be used in a matching set of four.
A couple of months ago I purchased some
Hankook Optimo H727 tires for my girlfriend's car. She had some generic, no-name tires on her vehicle and was complaining of vibration at highway speeds as well as poor wet traction.
I thought it would be best to replace them before winter. I picked the Hankook based on price and the
consumer reviews we have on our website. I have to say I am impressed with them. The vibration at high speeds is gone. They are quiet, ride well and their wet and dry traction is very good. My main concern was snow and ice traction and they have met my expectations. My driveway is on an incline and she has had no issues reaching the top and has not expressed concern with their stopping ability.
I will continue to recommend this tire to my customers.
I purchased a set of the
Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 for my Blazer this year. Previously I used the
Firestone Winterforce. The Firestones were good in the snow, but lacked in ice traction and were on the noisy side.
I have been very impressed with the Blizzaks. They have superior snow and ice traction. So much so that I don't feel the need to engage 4-wheel drive as often as I normally would. They ride very nice and don't feel soft and spongy.
I would have switched to these tires last year had I known they were going to perform so well!
Michelin has just come out with a new winter tire called the LTX Winter.
The LTX Winter is a Light Truck/SUV Studless Ice & Snow tire combining snow and ice traction with commercial light truck load carrying capacity. Designed for the drivers of most medium-duty, heavy-duty and commercial vans, pickups and sport utility vehicles, Michelin's LTX Winter is available in Load Range E (10-ply rated) sizes.
The tread features MaxTouch Construction to produce a contact patch that promotes reliable traction and long wear by evenly distributing acceleration, braking and cornering forces. The design promotes water evacuation in order to enhance wet driving capabilities.
It is branded with the snowflake-on-the-mountain symbol as well.
Read more.
While it is always best to match all four tires on a vehicle, sometimes the need to mix models occurs.
The manufacturers have advised us that the following winter tires
ARE mixable when installed in axle pairs and should always be installed on the rear axle:
Bridgestone
Dunlop
Pirelli
- Winter 240 and 270 Sottozero are mixable with the Winter 240 and 270 Sottozero Serie II version of those models.
The following tires are NOT mixable in axle pairs.
Michelin
- Primacy Alpin PA2 and PA3
Winter tires can be divided up into two basic levels, Performance Winter / Snow and Studless Ice and Snow or Studdable Winter / Snow.
Performance Winter / Snow
- Best if you live in an area that does not receive much snow and ice or where the roads are usually plowed
- Will allow you to preserve a lot of the handling you had with your performance tires
- Will not perform as well as Studless Ice and Snow or Studdable Winter / Snow tires in harsh conditions
- Provide the best snow and ice traction
- Handling won't be as responsive as a performance or all-season tire
- Can sometimes be louder than other tires
Some good examples are the
Bridgestone Blizzak WS70,
Michelin X-Ice Xi2 and
Continental ExtremeWinterContact.
The option you choose will depend on what qualities you think are best suited to your area and driving style. Any of them will be much better than an all-season tire.
One of the main attributes that makes a winter / snow tire effective is its
tread depth. Tires are considered worn when they reach the wear bars at 2/32" as seen on the
Bridgestone Blizzak tire below.
We recommend that winter / snow tires be replaced when they reach approximately 6/32" of remaining tread depth. Tires need more tread depth in wintry conditions to compress snow in their grooves and release it as they roll. If there isn't sufficient tread depth, the "bites" of snow that can be processed on each tire revolution will be reduced to "nibbles," and the vehicle's traction and mobility in snow will be reduced.
6/32" vs Full Tread Depth
Many snow tires feature Winter Wear Indicators (also called Snow Platforms) to identify that a tire's tread depth remains suitable for beneficial snow performance. While Winter Wear Indicators are not intended to be a sign the tire is legally worn out, experience shows that the available snow traction has passed the point of diminishing returns when the tread has worn down to approximately 6/32" of remaining tread depth and the Winter Wear Indicators are seen connecting adjacent tread blocks.
If you are at this point, it would be a good time to start looking for your next set.
It may not be winter yet, but it isn't too soon to start looking at Winter / Snow Tire aheel packages.
You can start
here and enter your vehicle information. From there, pick a size.
Keep in mind that narrower tires will provide better snow and ice traction than wider tires. Also, smaller diameter wheels with higher profile tires will help bring the overall cost down and using a higher profile tire will make it less likely that your wheels will be dented from potholes.
After you select a tire you can then proceed to wheels. We will include the necessary hardware, scratchless mounting and
Hunter Road Force balancing at no additional charge. After that, just have everything shipped directly to you or to one of our independent
Recommended Installers.
I recently tested the following
Max Performance Summer tires on our test track and on the street:
Official results will be online soon but here is
more information on our testing program.
