L300 Tire Question!

Right now I have a Saturn L300 with factory tires on it. I think they
are Firestone Firehawks. They seem a little stiff and I can feel every
little bump in the road. Do you think these tires will break in and give
me a smother ride after a few thousand more miles? Right now I am at
about 2200 miles on the L300. Or do you think that I should go with
another brand of tire, that would give me a Smoother Ride? Thanks in
advance fo any advice, on this.

 

First assure thet the tires are at thier proper air volume and not over
filled, as this can cause a harder ride. There are other brands of tires
that you can try that will give a softer ride, but give the firestones a
chance to break in if they are brand new. Typically, the L300 already has a
pretty smooth ride, but maybe you have some bumpy roads?

marx404
www.saturnofstuart.com

 

Tires dont break in, they wear out. If anything they get harder with age
as they bake in the sun.

I'm guessing the max pressure on these tires are rated at 44psi. If so
(while they are cold) try running them at 37psi. Do not go below 35psi.
Tires are not to be run lower than 80% of their max cold pressure.

 

I keep them at the recommended tire pressure of 30psi. The placard on
the door says 30psi for all 4 tires. When I got the L300 all the tires
only had 25psi in them! Was all this due to the car sitting on the lot
for awhile, or what? I get the worst ride on some of our Freeways that
have the serations cut into them to drain rain water. The only problem
there, is I travel that freeway every day!! I was just wondering if
there is a tire out there that woudl give me a smoother ride on Freeways
with these serations cut in them?
Thanks!

 

....using the sign on the door is how I understand to set tire pressures. I
run mine proportionately a little higher (a couple of pounds) to support
occasional spirited driving...

 

Then you probably have 35psi max tires, go ahead and go by the sticker.
The sidewalls give max psi as well but people tend to buy the wrong
tires after the first set. (50 psi tires for a LS1???) Tires loose air
pressure through permeation. Also if you filled them on a hot day and
check them on a cold night you would have less pressure.

 

Not sure what you mean by spirited driving. If you're running 37psi in a
35psi tire you will wear the center tread out as it would be making the
most contact to the ground. Opposite goes if you run to little. Good way
of wearing out a tire and making things dangerous. You want to make as
nice and even contact with the ground as you can.

Btw Cooper makes some good tires.

 

Not sure what you mean by spirited driving. If you're running 37psi in a

For your average driving to and from work, yes. You should definitly
follow mfg specs. However, for example, you are supposed to
intentionally over-inflate your street tires (10-15psi) when
autocrossing ("spirited driving"?). The reason is that you don't want
to roll your sidewalls under when cornering hard.

-rj
98SL2

 

Keep in mind that the larger the wheel (16" vs. 15"), the lower profile the
tire needs to be to maintain the same overall height. The shorter the
sidewall gets, the less they "absorb" bumps and road noise. If you are
comparing a 50 or 55 series 16" tire to an equivalent diameter 65 or 70
series 15", you are likely to notice more harshness with the 16", the price
you pay for better handling. The reason for larger wheel diameter is to
allow short, stiffer sidewalls that flex very little during cornering,
keeping the tires flat on the road.

Dana

 

....door sticker on my 97SL2 for 185/65-15's is 30 psi fronts and 26 psi
rears. I'm usually running 32/28 on 205/55-15's (Z rated) and my use of the
word spirited simply means a little faster in the turns or higher freeway
speeds than I would drive if my Mom were in the car. However, an
occasionally redline shift and hearing/smelling an inside, drive wheel go up
in smoke pulling out of a tight, 2nd gear turn might happen too with a heavy
foot - it's those damn Eibach springs and that torquey 1.9L motor - I'm sure
it's not me! (grin)

 

My Contis on my 94 SL2 are rated at 44 psi, the door sticker suggests 34/32
(front/back). I fouind a comfortable medium, 36 fromt, 34 back and have had
no bad wear so far after 2 yrs. I tried the recommended tire pressure and
the tires looked and felt almost flat! On my wife's 93 SL1, she keeps oem
recommended tires on it and abides by the door sticker suggested air
pressure.

Yes, WGRG, do abide by the door sticker with the oem tires. In some cases,
the car may have sat on the lot and your particular dealer didnt properly
inflate them, ergo your troubles.

There are many many other tires that ppl swear by that will give you a
smooth ride on bumpy roads. However, I drive many new L300s and havent had a
bumpy ride yet.
I like Dunlops, heard good things about Coopers and BF Goodrich tires to
name a few.

marx404

 

So it probably is not my tires after all. On a pure asphalt road I get a
smooth ride, it is only on a Freeway with those serated groves that I
get a rough ride. By rough I mean a very anoying vibration, that really
shakes you up.The funny thing is that under 60mph I do not get a rough
ride it is only when I am doing over 60mph!? On side streets, and most
paved roads it is pretty smooth, maybe because the speed is low? So if I
was going to switch tires which tire would be the best one suited for
this type of road? Would I need a High-Speed tire? I guess what I really
want is a Smooth ride on any type of road. Like I said this vibration
can get very anoying, and I am driving on it every day! Thanks!

 

When we bought my wife's 01 LW300 and my 01 Honda Accord EX-V6 3 years
ago, I noticed immediately the Firestones on the LW300 felt much stiffer
than the Michelins on the Accord. The are of the same size, 205/65-15,
and the tire pressures are set according to the factory recommendation
sticker on the door jam. About a month ago with about 33K miles on the
LW300, we replaced the Firestones with Continentals. We noticed right
away that the Conti's are softer than the Firestones as well. I think
the Firestones are just stiff and I don't recall they ever gotten softer
even to the wear bars. Make sure the tire pressure is set correctly and
hopefully you'll get used to them.

 

Thanks for the input on this. I do not think I will be abe to get used
to these Firestones, but at least I know what to switch to when I get a
new set of tires. And that would not be another set of Firestones!!