SteveO Posted December 12, 2004 Posted December 12, 2004 After drooling on everyone else's SC430s for several years, this week I bought a flawless used one. The ORIGINAL Bridgestone run-flats had 27,000 miles (must be a record), although they were literally down to the steel cords on all four. I spent many late nights researching tires, and knew I didn't want run-flats as replacements. The Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 was my "dream" tire, but at $226 apiece at Tirerack, I started reading about the Fuzions, manufactured under a separate name by Bridgestone. The Fuzion tech and owners' reviews sounded too good to be true... wet and dry adhesion, noise/comfort, tread life... all got heaps of praise. This tire seemed to have it all. The cost at Tirerack... $125 apiece. It is actually one of the most technologically advanced tires on the market, depsite its bargain price. I bought a set, and inflated them to 38 psi all around. They are truly a fantastic tire, and a major find. You can read 56 reviews of the Fuzions by people who purchased them, at 1010tire.com. Most of those review were by performance-oriented drivers. As happy as I am with the tires, the installation through my local Firestone dealer was a nightmare. The @#$% tech threw away all the sensors, costing Firestone $130 apiece to replace them, and another $100 Lexus charge to initialize the new sensors. In the end, it was worth it, and I'll reaffirm what has been said many times: YOU'LL NEVER BE AS HAPPY AS THE DAY YOU GET RID OF YOUR RUN-FLATS. Check out the amazing Fuzion tires. P.S. One nice advantage of the Fuzions is their rim guard... the rubber protrudes farther than on typical tires, by design, to protect expensive rims from curb damage.
Lexusfreak Posted December 12, 2004 Posted December 12, 2004 SteveO, Those Fuzion's all season or summer rubber?
SteveO Posted December 12, 2004 Author Posted December 12, 2004 The Fuzion ZRi is a summer tire in the "ultra high performance" category. It has a "W" speed rating (168 mph), and a treadwear rating of 320 (original Bridgestone run-flats are rated 140; higher number is better). I doubt you would have much fun with this tire in the snow, to say the least, but wet traction is supposed to be phenomenal. By the way, in my original post, I indicated that owner surveys for the Fuzions were available at 1010tire.com... however, their site is 1010tires.com (note added "s"). Noticed you are from Canada, and this is a Canadian company, their prices are not good for US customers compared to Tirerack, due to added duties and shipping.
Lexusfreak Posted December 12, 2004 Posted December 12, 2004 The Fuzion ZRi is a summer tire in the "ultra high performance" category. It has a "W" speed rating (168 mph), and a treadwear rating of 320 (original Bridgestone run-flats are rated 140; higher number is better). I doubt you would have much fun with this tire in the snow, to say the least, but wet traction is supposed to be phenomenal.By the way, in my original post, I indicated that owner surveys for the Fuzions were available at 1010tire.com... however, their site is 1010tires.com (note added "s"). Noticed you are from Canada, and this is a Canadian company, their prices are not good for US customers compared to Tirerack, due to added duties and shipping. ← Thanks for the info! :) I wonder how many 'all season' high performance run-flat tires are available as opposed to just the summer rubber. I'm sure they are getting more popular as time goes along. Rumour has it that the all new BMW 3 series are going to have run flats as standard equipment to reduce weight. B)
SteveO Posted December 12, 2004 Author Posted December 12, 2004 It wouldn't surprise me if BMW made run-flats standard on all their cars. They are already standard equipment on the 6 series and Z4. A standard tire weighs less than a run-flat... I'll go with my standard tire, plus Lexus care or AAA for roadside assistance. The best of all worlds! By the way, run-flats are still prone to blowouts, and they can rarely be repaired if damaged.
Lexusfreak Posted December 13, 2004 Posted December 13, 2004 It wouldn't surprise me if BMW made run-flats standard on all their cars. They are already standard equipment on the 6 series and Z4.A standard tire weighs less than a run-flat... I'll go with my standard tire, plus Lexus care or AAA for roadside assistance. The best of all worlds! By the way, run-flats are still prone to blowouts, and they can rarely be repaired if damaged. ← Agreed! They haven't perfected the run flat yet.....so I'll stick with a 'standard tire' also! B)
LexusRXLover Posted December 13, 2004 Posted December 13, 2004 ------------ As happy as I am with the tires, the installation through my local Firestone dealer was a nightmare. The @#$% tech threw away all the sensors, costing Firestone $130 apiece to replace them, and another $100 Lexus charge to initialize the new sensors. ------------- In the original post, you mentioned the sensors. When are they located? and looks like? Is it inside of or part of the sterm valve? Thanks
SteveO Posted December 13, 2004 Author Posted December 13, 2004 The sensor units are color-coded, one for each wheel. They are flat, thin (about 1/4", I believe), and oblong (about 3") units, with a valve stem attached. It is also necessary to retain the stock valve stem cap, so make sure that NOTHING gets discarded! You can ask your parts department to show you one, or to print you a schematic drawing from their computerized parts inventory.
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