Steering wheel off-center -- UPDATE

Quote from Bigdog

Consider this recommendation

8/32” take away 4/32” equals ....not much tire for your money.

You do not replace tires at 4/32...Discount tire says that just so they can sell more tires....You replace the tire at 2/32 when you get to the wear bar. Thats why they have wear bars. At 2/32...the tires ability to remove water is diminished and thus the need for replacement. If you notice...dry weather tires (slicks) have no grooves because they don't need to remove water so there is no 32nds to go by...when its worn out there is a indicator that appears under the rubber to let you know time to replace. If you only drive in fry weather you could theoretically take a regular tire all the way down to 0/32 with no problems of tire failure. Get it wet and whoa boy.

SSREAPER

PS
still want to know what tire you have on your van with 16/32 of tread!

Quote from SSREAPER

You do not replace tires at 4/32...Discount tire says that just so they can sell more tires....You replace the tire at 2/32 when you get to the wear bar. Thats why they have wear bars. At 2/32...the tires ability to remove water is diminished and thus the need for replacement. If you notice...dry weather tires (slicks) have no grooves because they don't need to remove water so there is no 32nds to go by...when its worn out there is a indicator that appears under the rubber to let you know time to replace. If you only drive in fry weather you could theoretically take a regular tire all the way down to 0/32 with no problems of tire failure. Get it wet and whoa boy.
SSREAPER

PS
still want to know what tire you have on your van with 16/32 of tread!

Also the tread does not flex as much. You do not notice on anything else, but very noticeable on the rear tire of the Slingshot. Why do you think they shave the tread on treaded race tires?

Quote from SSREAPER

You do not replace tires at 4/32...Discount tire says that just so they can sell more tires....You replace the tire at 2/32 when you get to the wear bar. Thats why they have wear bars. At 2/32...the tires ability to remove water is diminished and thus the need for replacement. If you notice...dry weather tires (slicks) have no grooves because they don't need to remove water so there is no 32nds to go by...when its worn out there is a indicator that appears under the rubber to let you know time to replace. If you only drive in fry weather you could theoretically take a regular tire all the way down to 0/32 with no problems of tire failure. Get it wet and whoa boy.
SSREAPER

PS
still want to know what tire you have on your van with 16/32 of tread!

I run these tires on my vans....most tread for the money...

Are you really comparing SUV/off road tires to sport street tires.... That is just moronic.

That is like bitching about summer tires not performing well in the snow.

You missed the Point completely....there has to be a “sport” tire starting out with more tread on it than 8/32”

I understand the whole preformance tire thing. More grip less wear.. so why not start out with more (in the way of a deeper tread) for your money?

Quote from FunCycle

Also the tread does not flex as much. You do not notice on anything else, but very noticeable on the rear tire of the Slingshot. Why do you think they shave the tread on treaded race tires?

My guess is to make the vehicle lighter

Just Google “why shave tread for racing.”

First paragraph from Tire Rack’s explanation of tread depth and shaving tread:

One of the reasons radial racing slicks are so effective is they feature shallow tread depths, and their contact patch acts as a single unit. However, any tread design that breaks up the contact patch into smaller elements or adds additional tread depth (required to enhance wet traction) will increase tread block squirm and reduce dry performance. This means that tires typically provide their worst wet traction and their best dry performance just before they wear out. It's also important to remember that the heat generated every time a tire is driven activates bonding agents in the rubber. As this process is repeated continually throughout the tire's life, its rubber compounds gradually harden and lose flexibility, reducing the tire's grip. Therefore, a shaved new tire will provide more traction than a tire worn to the exact same tread depth after being driven for thousands of miles on the road.

I have seen that with the T1R that I am about to retire. It is at the wear bars now and the grip is gone. I was/am very satisfied with the performance of the tire through 85% of it's life but the last 15% it has gotten progressively worse in the traction department.

Quote from Ghost

I have seen that with the T1R that I am about to retire. It is at the wear bars now and the grip is gone. I was/am very satisfied with the performance of the tire through 85% of it's life but the last 15% it has gotten progressively worse in the traction department.

I though everyone knew about this stuff! I guess I was wrong. Someone will have to take all of these folks to school. That is like the person that did not like the AS-03 tire because it made too much noise when spinning he liked the Kenda because it did not make as much noise. Soft tire equals more traction/more noise --- Hard tire not as much traction/less noise. You cannot have both

Quote from Bigdog

You missed the Point completely....there has to be a “sport” tire starting out with more tread on it than 8/32”

I understand the whole preformance tire thing. More grip less wear.. so why not start out with more (in the way of a deeper tread) for your money?

I already told you the Nitto nt555 G2 is advertised as having 11/32's - - -

Quote from Ghost

I have seen that with the T1R that I am about to retire. It is at the wear bars now and the grip is gone. I was/am very satisfied with the performance of the tire through 85% of it's life but the last 15% it has gotten progressively worse in the traction department.

As of today I can say the same with my Kenda. Down to the wear bars, going into a turn, shift to 3rd doing bout 30 and started the rear tire sliding. Time for a 555 G2.

Quote from War Hoop

As of today I can say the same with my Kenda. Down to the wear bars, going into a turn, shift to 3rd doing bout 30 and started the rear tire sliding. Time for a 555 G2.

Personally I don't think the Kendas are very good tires - I put a Nitto Motivo on the rear when I replaces my Kenda. the Motivo is an all season ultra high performance tire and in theory it should not have as good of traction as a summer ultra high performance yet to me it seems to grip much better than the Kenda ever did - and I am talking dry traction here

Quote from edwardaneal

Personally I don't think the Kendas are very good tires - I put a Nitto Motivo on the rear when I replaces my Kenda. the Motivo is an all season ultra high performance tire and in theory it should not have as good of traction as a summer ultra high performance yet to me it seems to grip much better than the Kenda ever did - and I am talking dry traction here

Kenda is good on track when the tire is hot (sticky)

Quote from edwardaneal

Personally I don't think the Kendas are very good tires - I put a Nitto Motivo on the rear when I replaces my Kenda. the Motivo is an all season ultra high performance tire and in theory it should not have as good of traction as a summer ultra high performance yet to me it seems to grip much better than the Kenda ever did - and I am talking dry traction here

I'll never know for sure about the Kenda... I got my 2017 SLR with 2580 miles on it and the center was almost to the wear bars when I got it. But that's because all the tires had 40 PSI in them and that will wear the center section out fast on the slingshot. I get caught in rain sometimes quite often so I need a tire with good wet traction as well. The 555 G2 should be a good tire to go with for both wet and dry. I guess I'm gonna find out.

Quote from War Hoop

I'll never know for sure about the Kenda... I got my 2017 SLR with 2580 miles on it and the center was almost to the wear bars when I got it. But that's because all the tires had 40 PSI in them and that will wear the center section out fast on the slingshot. I get caught in rain sometimes quite often so I need a tire with good wet traction as well. The 555 G2 should be a good tire to go with for both wet and dry. I guess I'm gonna find out.

The only potential drawback for the Nitto Motivo vs the 555 G2 is the fact that the Motivo is an asymmetric tire. I've had an asymmetric tire on the rear and never noticed any handling issues, so I may try a Motivo when my 555 G2 needs replacing. Here's Nitto's rating info for both tires -

Quote from BKL

The only potential drawback for the Nitto Motivo vs the 555 G2 is the fatc that the Motivo is an asymmetric tire. I've had an asymmetric tire on the rear and never noticed any handling issues, so I may try a Motivo when my 555 G2 needs replacing.

What kind of grade would you give the 555 G2?

So far, I've been reasonably happy with the 555 G2. I can still spin it, but it looks like I should hopefully get about the same mileage from my 315/35ZR17 555 G2 as I got from the stock Kendas (around 10-11K miles). My only complaint is I'd like a little more life from a tire that costs about 2x what the stock Kendas cost. Miles per tire is the only reason I'd consider trying the Motivo since it has a much higher tread life rating and cost about the same as the 555 G2 in the same size. Of course, with the stresses placed on the Slingshot's rear tire, having almost 2x the tread life rating doesn't translate to 2x the mileage, but any additional life from a $250 tire is nice for my wallet as long as it still performs well. Looking at Nottos ratings above, the Motivo may be slightly more prone to spinning on dry pavement but should do a little better if I get caught on wet roads. Hopefully, @edwardaneal will post more on his experience with the Motivo before I need one.

Quote from Bigdog

You missed the Point completely....there has to be a “sport” tire starting out with more tread on it than 8/32”

I understand the whole preformance tire thing. More grip less wear.. so why not start out with more (in the way of a deeper tread) for your money?

Ok I will give this a try but i don't expect much.

It is a fact that sport(performance) tires accomplish their higher stickiness by having a softer compound that due to its softness shreds easily, so what do you think will happen if you have a big meaty tire made of very soft compound?

Here is a hint, firestone found out back in the early 2000s when they mistakenly tried it on their SUV tires.......

There is also noise and other minor reasons but safety would be the biggest concern

Quote from Neosolidus

Ok I will give this a try but i don't expect much.
It is a fact that sport(performance) tires accomplish their higher stickiness by having a softer compound that due to its softness shreds easily, so what do you think will happen if you have a big meaty tire made of very soft compound?

Here is a hint, firestone found out back in the early 2000s when they tried it on their SUV tires.......

If you're referring to the Explorer roll-over fiasco, I still feel that apart of the problem was with Ford's design of a relatively tall Explorer compared to its width and managed to shift most of the blame onto Firestone. Just my opinion and that's worth exactly what I just got paid to post it!

Quote from BKL

So far, I've been reasonably happy with the 555 G2. I can still spin it, but it looks like I should hopefully get about the same mileage from my 315/35ZR17 555 G2 as I got from the stock Kendas (around 10-11K miles). My only complaint is I'd like a little more life from a tire that costs about 2x what the stock Kendas cost. Miles per tire is the only reason I'd consider trying the Motivo since it has a much higher tread life rating and cost about the same as the 555 G2 in the same size. Of course, with the stresses placed on the Slingshot's rear tire, having almost 2x the tread life rating doesn't translate to 2x the mileage, but any additional life from a $250 tire is nice for my wallet as long as it still performs well. Looking at Nottos ratings above, the Motivo may be slightly more prone to spinning on dry pavement but should do a little better if I get caught on wet roads. Hopefully, @edwardaneal will post more on his experience with the Motivo before I need one.

I decided to try the Motivo for better wet traction we dont get much rain here, but with the sling being my daily driver I will get caught in when it does rain. So far the few times I have been in the wet with the Motivo I have been very happy with it wet traction seems years ahead of the Kenda. I also like that it is a very quiet tire and when the fronts need replacing I will be getting Motivo's for up there. So far I have only put about 2500 on the motivo in the rear and the tread still looks brand new I suspect it is going to give me many more miles than the Kenda did - - -so far I have no regrets going with the Motivo - - I dont know how it would compare to the NT555 G2 but in every way I am finding it better than the Kenda.