The deal is I want 245/45/16's and that's a rare size or I'd go with the SZ50's based on what I've read. I need 20k or so out of the tires so race tires are out of the question.

Thoughts on 730's? I see the Falken FK-451 is available in that size too but a bit cheap? Kinda scared of it...

Any other ideas better than the 730 in a 245/45/16?

 

I've heard good about the RE730 but I've never seen them cheap like some other tires, the Sumitomo HTR Z are nice but they are a 160 treadwear and probably will be 10-15k tires.

 

I have 730s as street tires and would NOT get them again . They grip quite well ( much better than the stock goodyears) are quite good in the wet but after 5 K on them they are becoming very noisy at any speed over 60 MPH . I have tried balancing them ,rotating them etc to no success. Probably would get the Firestones SZ50 in retrospect.

 

Well I'm not really concerned with the noise. My BFG KDW's are louder than my truck's mud tires (literally) and they don't bother me.

Is that the only reason you don't like them? Is it a steady whine?

 

No it sounds as if they are out of balance (even though they don't FEEL out of balance and rebalancing them makes no difference). They produce a rapid "wawawawawawa" type sound ( said rapidly ) that is not audible below 60 but significiantly more above . It does not increase with increased speed over 70 mph but stays constant. I assume it is due to some resonance between the tire blocks.

 

Hmm my tires did that when I first got them. Turns out one of my wheels is slightly out of round. This was my guess: the tire on that wheel wore to conform to the wheel's skewed shape and that's why it finally stopped making that slapping sound.

I'm gonna type some stuff because I feel for anyone with tire problems like yours. I've had my share of bad tires!

If you kept having the bead broken on that one wheel that isn't round, then the tire on that wheel has never had time to conform to the wheel.

Also an out of round tire will balance perfectly on a machine and still ride like crap because... well... it's not round. You can balance a brick on a machine for that matter. After a lenghty trip in your car, get the wheels up off the ground immediately after parking it so they won't flat spot like most all Z any Y rated tires do in just a few minutes. Turn the wheels and make sure all your tires are round.

Sorry if I've given unwanted info. My reasoning is I've had many out of round tires before and I know it is not pleasant at all. It sucks and the LAST thing a tire dealer will do is check for it because it's a straight up replacement problem if they find it. You can't fix it. No way, no how.

 

Which RE730's did you have? (i.e the Gen I or the Gen II version). Bridgestone supposedly redesigned the tire and re-released it as the Gen II to fix the noise problem everyone was complaining about.

I had a set of the Gen I's and my experience was about the same as yours. Only mine started around 45mph and steadily got louder till about 65.

Silver: Have you looked in to the Yokohama AVS ES100? Its available in a 245/45/16 and they should be right under $100ea. I bought a set to replace my RE730's and so far I like them alot better for everyday driving. MUCH quieter and they seem to have just as much grip. They don't seem to have the steering response of RE730's (although they do ride better) but maybe thats because they are at full tread where my Bridgestones were nearly bald.

 

3 of my 4 Gen I RE730s have fallen apart in the 15k miles I've had them over the past two years. Each tire had a maximum of 10 straight line passes and zero AutoX or road coarse time. Essentially, the part of the tire that seals against the wheel dissentigrated. They were 275/40/17 btw...

Regardless of whether the problem was fixed, I will never buy another set again.

Decent gripping tire for the advertised treadwear, but durability gets a huuuuge thumbs down

 

Weird, all 4 of mine lasted great, I put about 45K on them over 2yrs and I could have squeezed a few more miles out of them if I had to. They were 245/50/16's and I had ~50 dragstrip passes and 6 or 7 auto-x events on them too.

Did you try contacting Bridgestone about some replacements? I would think their warranty covers such things.

 

Nope, I was under the assumption there was no warranty

The first 3 tires are long gone, but perhaps I should check into that if the final contestant decides to take a dump...

 

I got 30K+ on my 1st Gen RE730s, including about a dozen track passes, and at least a dozen autocross events. The tires were still in decent shape, but they were no longer soft at all. Traction was disappearing fast...
I'd still give them a giant :thumbsup: for longevity...

That being said though, I decided to sacrifice longevity & wet performance on the replacements and go with Nittos...

Shane

 

my 245/50/16 RE-730s have about 15K on them (mostly city driving), no noise, and i think they will last to 20-22K (seem to have enough tread left for that)

i had the 220 treadwear SZ50s before that, and those were better, but lasted only 15K. That is, the entire shoulders were bald and the middle tread was like 1/16"

the RE730s at 15K have like 1/4" tread depth all around.

the 300 treadwear SZ50s probably have better wear, but have not tried yet.

 

Here is the warranty info from Tirerack:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Warran...a+RE730+Gen.+2

It couldnt hurt to contact Bridgestone to see if they can do anything.

 

Thanks Jason!

I saw that warranty page yesterday, but hadn't had a chance to post it. Unfortunately, the three tires that fell apart are long gone, but this is good info to have should the 4th go the same route. I would hope to assume the same warranty applies to the Gen I tires

 

Id get the firestone sz50

I run the new re730's right now. They are great in the rain. Handle the corners great. Alittle noisier but nothing compared to my exhaust or radio. They dont hook up well at all where as my brother hooked hard enough at the drag strip with sz50's to break his rear end.
SZ50's seem to get a higher review then the re730's too on tire rack.

Im still happy with my re730's and they wear well.