GaryDoug

First of all, I know these cars are not for luxury but I do have an issue:

In 1998, when I bought my new Trans Am, I immediately noticed that the ride quality (softness) compared to my old 86 Trans am was far superior. The handling was far better also, but that's not the issue.
In 2002, after being laid off from work, I was in need of new tires and i bought the cheapest ones I could find in the 245/50R16 size that is standard on my car. They were Dayton Daytonas and rode extremely hard, like a truck. I kept telling myself to just put up with it, and next time I will buy better tires. Fast forward to 2010 when those finally wore out. This time i chose Fusion brand tires (don't have the model), with no improvement in ride quality. Due to a mistake on my part (Freud says there are no such things), I inadvertently left the pressure too low for a month and wore them out prematurely. The pressure was supposed to be down just for one day, mea culpa. I did some research and found that Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500's had good reviews on Tire Rack for ride quality, so bought those in March 2014. No change in the ride quality, still rides like a truck, bouncing over the smallest bumps and dips. I would buy some Eagle GT's like the original tires, but they are no longer made in my size. And they might be a harder material today anyway.

The front suspension has been recently overhauled by a local GM dealer with new control arms, bushings, ball joints, wheel bearings/hub, shock mounts, and shocks, (front and rear).

My son-in-law who runs an auto repair shop recommends Michelins and so does the guy I talk to at Autozone (not a great reference I know). I have found a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S in my size (hard to find and out of production), and am prepared to buy them if I decide it's the way to go.

Remember, this all started in 2002 with the first tire change. I am out of ideas and just want it to ride like it did in 98. I am not especially interested in sport/performance, only safety.

Any ideas will be appreciated!

Injuneer

Can't help with thoughts on smooth ride. My Formula is on the harsh side, the result of a lot of aftermarket upgrades that favor handling/traction at the expense of everything else.

All I have to compare it with is some 235/55-18 Michelin Lattitude Tours on the 2012 Equinox my employer provides. Rides smooth, handles well, good braking. Tires get an 8.6 for ride comfort on Tire Rack. But the Equinox replaced a Ford F150 Crew Cab 4WD, so anything rides better than that.

What I would be concerned with on a set of discontinued tires would be the age - how long have they been sitting in a dusty warehouse, possibly hardening the rubber? Tire Rack has a guide to determining the age of the tires:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11

What inflation pressure are you running?

GaryDoug

Current tires had 32 psi after installation. Reduced that to 30 psi like in the manual the next day. 28 psi the next week. Now for the last month, 25 psi.

GaryDoug

Seems like the car is lower these days than originally. Is it possible that sagging springs can result in a harder ride? 98K miles.

GaryDoug

Got the Michelins install and it rides much smoother now.

Stage 2 of this project: Vibration throughout the car from about 40-50 mph in any gear. Wheel balance and runout is ok. Inspection of the driveshaft shows a badly worn rear u-joint. Slip yoke also shows bad rubber in the harmonic balancer. Repair guy can't find an exact replacement for the slip joint, so he says I should get a new driveshaft without the balancer and have the whole d/s balanced at the same time. Seems reasonable to me and not too expensive. Does that make sense?

Almost there ;-)

parkers Z28

A little late here but .... Michelins are some of the best tires on the market
I have a set on the ford that I drive to work been on their for years
a little pricey but worth it

GaryDoug

New Michelins + new balanced driveshaft = New ride.