Potenza owners beware !!!!!!!

[godwhomismike]

Well Folks, the Suby dealer came through ... he found a tire for me, I bought it, and I'm good to go (for now). Cost me $240 with balancing .. some freakin' deal, huh ??? At leat I'm drivin' again. The dealer seemed to think he was doing me a favor in all this .... I guess I expected a bit more "customer service" since I took a $30,000 car off his lot just 3 weeks ago ... but oh well. Thanks for all the feedback !!!!!! Oh, I still have the blown tire, just in case another one goes .. somehow I don't feel as confident driving down the road anymore

 

 

That sucks. After my second RE92 went, I lost all confidence in the car. Hopefully, the Toyo's I put on reverse my negative feelings from the bad experiences of the Bridgestones.

[Taxdude]

......I decided to cut my losses and went out and bought a set of quality tires (which should have been put on the car in the first place) for my Legacy two weeks ago.

.......

 

Now that is a plan but what did you go with? And why?

[godwhomismike]

Now that is a plan but what did you go with? And why?

 

 

Toyo Proxes 4. See thread: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?p=238676

 

Pros:

- Excellent dry grip - absolutely amazing

- Excellent wet grip - they really stick in the rain

- Much better ride than the RE92's

- People have reported far better snow grip w/ them then the RE92's

- They don't flatspot

- They don't tramline

- Very smooth ride

- Half the price of the RE92's ($118 ea - mounting and balancing included)

 

Cons:

- Slightly louder than the RE92's - just slightly

 

- Mike

[miles]

You should get your dealer to pay for the alignment.

 

 

 

 

During the PDI the dealer must perform a wheel alignment.

 

 

 

 

Tell the dealer to check the "Pre-delivery Inspection" document item # 26 "Wheel alignment".

 

 

 

 

[ShadowImg]

The RE92’s are an absolute pile of shit. If I purchase another Subaru after this one, I will not accept delivery of the car, if it is equipped with a set of those crap tires. I had 5500 miles and two tires failed in that time frame.

 

When you say they "failed", what do you mean? So far what i've heard here in RE92s "failing" doesn't indicate a faulty tire, but a road hazard/impact/damage to the tire. Nail holes spontaneously existing in the tire do not constitute a manufacturing failure.

 

I would definitely like to hear about it if someone has a legitimate complaint of a tire failure on them, however.

[melayout]

I've got to stand behind the RE92s.

 

They are still going strong after 28k hard miles, no failures.

 

[/flame suit off]

 

But now they are teh suck on anything but in the dry.

[godwhomismike]

When you say they "failed", what do you mean? So far what i've heard here in RE92s "failing" doesn't indicate a faulty tire, but a road hazard/impact/damage to the tire. Nail holes spontaneously existing in the tire do not constitute a manufacturing failure.

 

I would definitely like to hear about it if someone has a legitimate complaint of a tire failure on them, however.

 

 

At 300 miles my rear passagner side tire tore apart at the bead. At 5500, another tire developed a small bubble.

[andrew_j]

I love the disdain of these tires. I just purchased four used RE92's with approx 500 miles for my WRX for the mere sum of $100.

 

I have not driven on anything else on our cars however I lived through a few winter storms on them and know my car/driving limits. Drive slow....

[godwhomismike]

lucky you.

[LegGTLT]

I love the disdain of these tires. I just purchased four used RE92's with approx 500 miles for my WRX for the mere sum of $100.

 

Hmmm, I hate to also play the devil's advocate, but maybe my experience is due to using an older RE92 205/55 R16. I have a 2002 GT LT and they lasted 60k no prob. I do alot of highway driving and maybe that's all the difference.

Anyone up in the NW have any for sale? I've seen alot for sale on the east coast and I'm selling my car and may decide to put new ones on before the sale. I'm on my second pair and they have lasted about 25k so far but they were used from a buddy's '99 RS when I got them for free. For a $100, I'd definitely buy some! Better then the 4/32 left on these!

[ShadowImg]

At 300 miles my rear passagner side tire tore apart at the bead. At 5500, another tire developed a small bubble.

 

Both of these sound like they would be attributed to rubbing a curb. What makes you believe this was a defect, and if it was, where/how did you report it?

[godwhomismike]

Both of these sound like they would be attributed to rubbing a curb. What makes you believe this was a defect, and if it was, where/how did you report it?

 

 

Negative, it's only parked in a private driveway. The split was on the bead, which is protected by the tire - the way it's designed.

[dtmenace]

I was a pig in Sh!t - when I finally rode the stock Potenzas into the ground (~56K). I moved to B-Stone G0009's and I love them. Soft (but forgiving) sidewall, great wet and dry traction and awesome in the snow. I drive the tires pretty hard (~10K on them now) and the treadwear is quite good (read: even & not a lot). I picked them up from Tirerack.com and got a free roadhazzard warranty.

[ShadowImg]

Negative, it's only parked in a private driveway. The split was on the bead, which is protected by the tire - the way it's designed.

 

Very interesting. What did Bridgestone say? I'm curious as to what their investigation turned up -- i'd suspect it was mounted incorrectly?

[TSiWRX]

People love to badmouth the RE92, but it's not a bad tire.

 

On NASIOC it has a well known reputation for being the scapegoat for driver errors. "Oh but I didn't hit the pot hole THAT hard." "Oh, I was only doing 75 through the turn in the rain." "Oh, those nails I ran over weren't very sharp!"

 

I use the RE92 as a winter tire here in St. Louis, we get really nasty snow and ice in the winter, and the tire has performed exceptionally for me. Understand the limits of your tire, and the limits of your driving skill. I know plenty of other Subaru owners who drive their RE92s until bald, both aggressively and regularly, and don't have problems. It really is a nice tire.

 

That said, I do have a second set of wheels that I run S-03s on in the Summer, because the RE92 is simply not meant for the level of performance driving these cars are capable of if you push them.

 

Almost all problems with the RE92s can be attributed to the loose nut behind the wheel.

 

I won't go so far as to stand with the last statement, but I will +1 the rest of this thread, especially the second-to-last statement.

 

I honestly don't feel that they're all THAT bad.

 

I, too, am among those who feel that they do track well, straight-line, in the wet. Even through rather torrential downpours on the highway, I have never had any problems with them hydroplaning at speeds <70 mph. On washed-out local roads, with appx. 1-inch of standing water, hydroplaning and pull is minimal even at 45 mph., and I just experienced this yesterday.

 

Certainly, they're not the best tires for going around corners, even at moderately elevated speeds, in the wet, but they get the job done fairly enough for anyone who is NOT driving the car "as an enthusiast."

 

Similarly, in the snow, straight-line tracking and off-line traction is admirable. Through metro-Cleveland's unexpected late-spring snowstorm just this past year, the wife's WRX had no problems at all, given that I again demanded only reasonable levels of performance from them. Certainly, I wasn't about to drive them as a wanna-be snow/ice-Rally driver.

 

Once again, I think that driver expectations as well as driving habits will dictate heavily whether or not one feels that our stock RE92s are "acceptable" tires.

 

The wife's Rex has only about 3K miles so far. Winky's at a bit over 8K on her RE92s. I usually go 39/37 psi f/r.

 

-A

[MarcusDubya77]

I used to believe that until I broke loose into a sideways drift doing 15 making a left turn at a stoplight..only 15..my old Sport Trac with its deathtrap Firestones and 2WD could do that without breaking traction..

[ShadowImg]

I used to believe that until I broke loose into a sideways drift doing 15 making a left turn at a stoplight..only 15..my old Sport Trac with its deathtrap Firestones and 2WD could do that without breaking traction..

 

You aren't this guy: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=606692

 

Are you?

 

What do you mean by broke loose? The soft suspension would probably make it easy to spin the inner front wheel turning hard, but breaking into a full oversteer at 15mph -- I can't imagine that unless you hit some oil or ice?

[MarcusDubya77]

thats not me, and there is no ice in el paso, it was thin runoff water (our drainage sucks) and I was just going on my merry way back from PT, turned at the light and it happened..oddest thing, but enough to change my mind on the RE92s

[ShadowImg]

thats not me, and there is no ice in el paso, it was thin runoff water (our drainage sucjks) and I was just going on my merry way back from PT turned at the light and it happened..odest thing, but enough to change my mind on the RE92s

 

Truly crazy -- I just have a hard time believing you're all driving on the same tires I am. Much as some of the others here, i've put the RE92s through some hell and back, and they haven't let me down. They definitely have a break away point, but it's very consistent and it's very slow coming on. You can always feel it when they're close to the limit.

 

15mph oversteer on a stock suspension setup seems almost like a fairy tale without ice/oil/something in the mix.

[MarcusDubya77]

you haven't driven the roads here..not really up to par with the rest of the US..even worse than the roads back home in Arkansas..so no its not a fairytale, and no its not the suspension, I too have pushed the limit on the stockers and usually had no problems, but it seems wet grip sucks..

[jmcgliss]

Check Tire Rack...the OEM-spec RE92 is way more expensive than the generic RE92. Why should that be?

[ShadowImg]

Check Tire Rack...the OEM-spec RE92 is way more expensive than the generic RE92. Why should that be?

 

Check the speed rating on them. There are 2 different types of RE92.

[DKB_SATX]

I used to believe that until I broke loose into a sideways drift doing 15 making a left turn at a stoplight..only 15..my old Sport Trac with its deathtrap Firestones and 2WD could do that without breaking traction..

 

I have noticed this car/tire combo to be VERY sensitive to air pressure in the tires. When the car was delivered to me, all 4 tires had different pressures ranging from 17 to 25 PSI. (And yes, I did rip them on their poor PDI of the car.)

 

To describe the car with these tire pressures as "tail happy" would be charitable... it was unpredictable and occasionally scary. I'm not trying to say the RE92s are wonderful when inflated properly (though they're vastly better), nor that they're worth anywhere near the awful prices tire places want for them (I've had to buy one) but they're not scary or dangerous in temperate weather, wet or dry. Central TX street drainage leaves lots to be desired too... and visible water on the road doesn't make it scary.

 

DKB

[TSiWRX]

MarcusDubya77 -

 

In your latter posts, you're emphasizing wet adhesion...am I to take it that your tires broke loose at 15 mph in the wet? Or was that in the dry? please clarify.

 

At my current inflation pressures (which I failed to state were "hot" - I'm of the mind to actually bump my front pressure up another "hot" psi), provided that I provoke the behavior, I -can- indeed put the car in to a 4-wheel drift at 15 mph, but only if the road-surface is compromised with low-friction, i.e. rain, sand/runoff, etc.

 

I have truly never been able to break the tires loose at those speeds in the dry.

 

-A

[MarcusDubya77]

it was in the wet, but at 15?? and it was not even standing water..more like wet pavement