Posted by David on May 12, 1999 at 07:29:55:
In Reply to: 18 inch tires on a Lexus SC400 posted by Soarer on May 11, 1999 at 10:19:14:
Having been a visitor/participant of this BBS for several years I am embarrasses ans anoyed at some of the Bull Shit answers given by people. Oggy (what kind of name is that) or should we just call you jerk, your comments are worthless and irrelavant. We all know by now that you are partial to Cadilac ( and so you say, drive one) thats great, we're happy for you. But if you hadn't noticed your in the minority. So unless you have something meaningful to say or can directly answer a question that is asked or have comments that relate to the question....... DON"T
Soarer - I'm sure you 18" set up makes for a great looking package. From expirience - One of the tires that will best meet your critiria currently on the market is probably the Dunlop SP9000. Quiet ride is fairly easy to satisfy but your other two critiria are a bit tougher, long mileage in a 18" tire at this time is a bit harder to obtain. One thing to keep in mind is that in any performance tire, one of the biggest factors in milage is driving style. One of the biggest mis conceptions in the performance tire subject is that a high performance tire has a softer compound which causes the tire to get poorer mileage - wrong, for a large %age contribution, the tire usually gets less mileage because it handles better and people tend to drive it harder. Not necessarily faster - just harder, every time you move the steering wheel so does the tire, every time the tire move from "straight" you are "scrubbing" off rubber, literaly. This happens more with a performance tire because it responds to steering imput much more quickly than a lower rated tire.
Price - More affordable 18" rubber is entering the market everyday. But at this point the less expensive rubber is found mostly in shorter diameter product for smaller cars. Because you require a 265/35 on the rear you don't have that option.
You may also want to check out Toyo, may match your price critiria but can't say much for noise or wear. I don't remember size offering but BFG Comp TA ZR (several versions) are price competitive as well but again, wear may fall below the SP9000. Check out the tirerack.com site, will have the widest offering of 18" rubber with competitive pricing as well.
Hope it helps.