djellenz Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Well after 3 long months of waiting, (Built on Aug 3rd) my EL finally got put on a train car out of MI. I had ordered the vehicle with the 18" wheels, then saw the 20's and had to have them. My dealer ordered me the Chrometec 20" wheels, but he's wanting to know what tires I would like to have put on them. Does everyone think the Pirelli's (factory tire I beleive) are the way to go or should I be putting something else on? I know nobody probably has an idea on wear characteristics yet, but are they a quiet tire? Good cornering traction? I'm wide open for suggestions. What should I do? Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELlover Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Well after 3 long months of waiting, (Built on Aug 3rd) my EL finally got put on a train car out of MI. I had ordered the vehicle with the 18" wheels, then saw the 20's and had to have them. My dealer ordered me the Chrometec 20" wheels, but he's wanting to know what tires I would like to have put on them. Does everyone think the Pirelli's (factory tire I beleive) are the way to go or should I be putting something else on? I know nobody probably has an idea on wear characteristics yet, but are they a quiet tire? Good cornering traction? I'm wide open for suggestions. What should I do? Dan From what I have been told Pirelli's are very very good tires. More on the expensive side but they arent soft and dont wear as fast. Mine are smooth and handle the turns very well. I would recommend those or michelins they have long thread life. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Michelins are mostly great tires - but they're expensive. The Jag Stype used to have Pirellis but they had lots of complaints and finally switched over to Michelins. Obviously not the same exact tire so YMMV. I'd go to Tirerack.com and check the user surveys. If they have enough reports it's usually very accurate. If it were me I'd take the Michelins based on past experience (I just replaced the Pilot LTXs on my Aviator and they're great). Again the only downside is replacement price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radcad Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 The Pirellis are good tires. Although when test driving the Expy, I wasn't able to compare the ride between the smaller wheels and the 20's (my local dealer had 20's on all their models), the Pirellis handle well and ride very smooth, with very little road noise. Cornering is also very good in my opinion. As Akirby said, check on TireRack.com for the user reviews. There are only a few reviews there, but they're good reviews. -Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpyBob Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Two of 4 of my Pirellis could not be road forced balanced and have to be replaced. Not very good odds "2 of 4" defective? I had vibration issues at high speeds. They're the 18 inch scorpians. New ones due in any day now. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron W. Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 Just my opinion but i'd stay away from Continental, General AND Pirellis, go Michelin if you've got the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 Yeah - it is my understanding nobody has a good time with Continental tires, and General is iffy too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 Two of 4 of my Pirellis could not be road forced balanced and have to be replaced. Not very good odds "2 of 4" defective? I had vibration issues at high speeds. They're the 18 inch scorpians. New ones due in any day now. Bob I think those were the same problems Jag was having with the Pirellis on the S type which caused them to switch to Michelin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djellenz Posted November 11, 2006 Author Share Posted November 11, 2006 Thanks for all of the feedback, I went with the Pirelli's. They were $230 cheaper for the set (2 Yr Lease). Now I've run into another situation. My dealer got my 20" wheels in but the vehicle is still a week out. His parts guy told me that the spare tire is an 18" tire for vehicles with factory installed 20" wheels. I can't imagine this is the case, but I don't know. Can anyone with factory 20's check the spare and let me know so I can make sure he orders the correct spare? The order guide says it should have a 20" spare. Is the spare a steel wheel or an aluminum wheel like the 4 on the ground? Thanks, Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELlover Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Thanks for all of the feedback, I went with the Pirelli's. They were $230 cheaper for the set (2 Yr Lease). Now I've run into another situation. My dealer got my 20" wheels in but the vehicle is still a week out. His parts guy told me that the spare tire is an 18" tire for vehicles with factory installed 20" wheels. I can't imagine this is the case, but I don't know. Can anyone with factory 20's check the spare and let me know so I can make sure he orders the correct spare? The order guide says it should have a 20" spare. Is the spare a steel wheel or an aluminum wheel like the 4 on the ground? Thanks, Dan Hi Dan, good choice since its a 2 year lease, thats what I got. Want to get through the quirts then buy the diesel. Anyway, I have a 20" spare with a steel wheel. Almost 100% positive. Hubby just took it out so I cant go check. When he gets back I will crawl under and check. I know its a 20" inch though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radcad Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Just crawled under my Expy and looked. It's a 20" steel wheel, with the same Pirelli tire. Your parts guy needs a whack in the head with a shovel. FYI, I took my Expy for a morning drive up into the twisties near Ojai. I'm not a race car driver by any stretch of the imagination, but I tried my damndest to get the stability control system to engage (I couldn't). But there was not one squeal out of those tires. They grip very well, and are quiet. I hope you like them. We'll have to wait and see how they wear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djellenz Posted November 11, 2006 Author Share Posted November 11, 2006 Just crawled under my Expy and looked. It's a 20" steel wheel, with the same Pirelli tire. Your parts guy needs a whack in the head with a shovel. Thanks Radcad, I will make sure he gets the correct one coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Thanks Radcad, I will make sure he gets the correct one coming. That is quite common to use a smaller spare if the overall tire diameter is the same - saves money. But it sounds like that's not the case here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELlover Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 FYI, I took my Expy for a morning drive up into the twisties near Ojai. I'm not a race car driver by any stretch of the imagination, but I tried my damndest to get the stability control system to engage (I couldn't). But there was not one squeal out of those tires. They grip very well, and are quiet. I hope you like them. We'll have to wait and see how they wear. Did you get anyone sick? I love how well this SUV handles!! In my 03 it would squeal around all tight corners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radcad Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 :P No! I was alone (how pathetic). My wife hates it when I zip around corners. I tell her it's for her own good, that I'm helping to expand her comfort zone. That goes over really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radcad Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Dan - You might already know this, so I apologize in advance for my redundancy. While cleaning the brake dust from my wheels today (the 20" chromed), I noticed that the wheels appear to be chromed plastic, over the aluminum (or steel?) wheel. Not a big deal to me considering the chromed plastic grille on both my Expy and my T-Bird (the grille still looks immaculate). But thought you should know this, considering you added them after your initial purchase. - Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djellenz Posted November 14, 2006 Author Share Posted November 14, 2006 Dan - You might already know this, so I apologize in advance for my redundancy. While cleaning the brake dust from my wheels today (the 20" chromed), I noticed that the wheels appear to be chromed plastic, over the aluminum (or steel?) wheel. Not a big deal to me considering the chromed plastic grille on both my Expy and my T-Bird (the grille still looks immaculate). But thought you should know this, considering you added them after your initial purchase. - Ray Thanks Ray, I have looked at the wheels right out of the box. They do appear to be chrome plated aluminum wheels. The chrome plating is a smooth transition around the bead of the rim, I hope we don't see a flaking problem in the future between salt corrsion and high pressure washing. I'll probably wash them with a little more care knowing what I know now. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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