Mixing Pilot SX and Sports

[Joe Dozzo]

OK, I'm an idiot for not reading the fine print...

I needed a set of rear tires for my 98 GTs and THOUGHT I'd ordered a set of Pilot SX's. What showed up today are Sports, which, of course, have a different tread pattern than the SX's on the front of the car.

I've always thought it was a generally bad idea to mix tires, but are the SX's and Sports close enough or would I just be better off getting front Sports as well.

Anybody in the Denver / CO area need 2 (actually 4) 275x35/17 SX's, all with 3/4 tread left?

One last question... Anybody know a good 4 wheel alignment shop in Denver? Last shop was so bad, car chewed inside of right rear tire to the cord in less than 5000 miles (i.e. a road trip to N California & Oregon last fall).

Thanks

 

[Marv S]

Joe,

I think Tom Glenn ran a mix of Mxx3 and pilot sport tires in Viper Days 2 years ago without problems. Was it Pemberton on the slow side of those runs against him? Still doesn't sound good to be mixx3ing

The mxx3's are getting tough to find. John B has few sets left for sale. They're a better track tire than sports so there might be a market in Viperdays for your used fronts.

Jerry Scott up there should be able to set you up with the right alignment shop.

best........

 

[JonB]

I have had 4 long talks w/ Michelin, trackside at Laguna, Las Vegas, Portland, and somewhere else.

The transitional response of the MXX3 vs the Sport is NOT the same. The 2 "competition manager" types I spoke with were unequivocal on this point: DONT mix tread patterns, because the tires responds differently to similiar inputs.

JOE, friend. I owe you dinner from ALASKA !

Ill help if I can

 

[SteveBCloud9]

I think you are going to get a lot of o.k's and noway's here. This subject has been brought up before a lot and it looks like there is really no right or wrong answer, just opinions thus far. Do a search and if possible, if you need to, research it and share the wealth......

 

[Marv S]

Jon,

Any word from Michelin on what the follow-up for the Sport is going to be? Be nice if they'd get back to a great dry tire like the mxx3 and keep the new Sport A/S as the all season speed rated alternative

 

[JonB]

Yeah, Joe........and search the UPSIDE DOWN Viper posted here a few months back. Lost it, fatally, on public roads.

Did the mis-matched Sports / MXX3s play a role?

You will NOT get 'a lot of OKs' on this point ! It is wishful thinking at best! Heaven forbid you LOANED or rented a mis-matched-tire Viper to someone. "Litigation City"

My research was face-to-face with Michelin engineeers that I will name (to you, Joe) privately. Their opinions, (and having made the XGTZ-MXX3 mistake) are my facts.

 

[Joe Dozzo]

Thanks Marv, Steve and Jon.

Searching both the Tirerack and Michelin sites seems to confirm what Jon has posted, mixing the SX and Sports is not a good idea.

Jon, I sent you a note about some Sports for the front...

 

[ewave]

There are actually some factual reasons why usually it is not a good idea to mix different types of tires on a vehicle:

You start with a car with the same type of tires on all four corners, and learn how the car handles. You adjust tire pressure, tires sizes and suspension setting until you obtain the optimally balanced car. This will be for a specific set of track conditions. Depending on track conditions (road surface), temperature, driving style, etc., the traction that these four tires get will change. If it's wet all four tires will get far less traction than if it's dry. Now as long as the change in traction is the same for all four tires, the car will will behave the same, or have the same type of balance regardless of changing road condition.

If you put different types of tires on the front and back of a car, the way the traction varies between the front and the back of the car will be different depending on the track condition. On one particular track and set of road conditions you may have a perfectly balanced car with different front and rear tires. Say for instance you use a set of tires that for that particular set of track conditions get more traction in the front which happens to yield a perfect neutral handling car. On that particle track and set of conditions the mixed set of tires may actually be fastest. The problem is that when you go to an other track, or when the temperature or road conditions change the front tires may lose traction differently than the rear tires, and all of a sudden you have a car that has drastically changed its handling characteristics when you actually haven't changed anything on the car.

Because in the real world so many factor are constantly changing that effect the traction of your tires, it is best to have the same tires on all four corners so that the traction changes at each wheel uniformly, yielding a car that doesn't drastically change it's handling characteristics based on out side variables.

The following is just an opinion:

If you are the kind of person that decides on what kind of modifications to do to your Viper based on the probability of litigation you probably shouldn't be driving a Viper-- This is the kind of person that I picture in a Toyota Camery, or perhaps a Volvo Station Wagon. LOL (Where did I put that O-ring!)

 

[JonB]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Marv S:
Jon, Any word from Michelin on what the follow-up for the Sport is going to be? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


YES ! There is a 4-th generation Michelin tire going on the 3rd-Generation Viper. Preliminary tests have Michelin (and Dodge) jumping up and down over the performance stats.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JonB - PartsRack:

YES ! There is a 4-th generation Michelin tire going on the 3rd-Generation Viper. Preliminary tests have Michelin (and Dodge) jumping up and down over the performance stats.


<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ok that is news. Now, do I purchase the secret stash of MXX3 takeoffs that I've found or wait for this new tire?

 

[Marv S]

That would be great. are they "run-flats"?

Isn't the 3rd Generation Viper going to have "run-Flats" since there's no spare.

(Yes, I know the current VGX being shown have Sports, but that's supposed to change in production)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JonB - PartsRack:
YES ! There is a 4-th generation Michelin tire going on the 3rd-Generation Viper. Preliminary tests have Michelin (and Dodge) jumping up and down over the performance stats.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>