New rubber "up" and "down"

[Monkeyman]

Just had new tires put on my 2002 I4. Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S
These tires work DAMN well on dry roads, and living in Massachusetts, they have grabbed the road like claws in ice and snow. They do produce a little more noise than I like, but for the fantastic performance I am willing to suffer a little noise. I had Pilot MXV4 before this, and the Exalto blows them clean out of the water! Speaking of water these things clear water right out of your way with little effect on speed and direction.
http://www.michelinman.com/catalog/tire ... e=3&tire=8

Now for the "UP" rubber: I just added PIAA's Super Sporza wipers and they work as well in my Solara as the Super Silicone blades did in my Volvo. I tried a 110 MPH jaunt back from the store where I bought them and the "spoilers" on them kept the blades pinned to the windsheild. If you drive like a nut job as I do, and hate the way most wipers lift up at high speed, then give these a go, you won't be disapointed. Best of all, they are silicone blades, so they don't stick to your windshield, won't chatter even if run dry, and actually put a film of silicone (NOT liquid, so don't worry, their not gonna' rust away your body!) on your glass which prevents water from adhearing to the windshield.
http://www.piaa.com/WiperBlades/sporza.html

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

Nice!

[StockSolara]

Nice sounds like your really enjoying your tires and your wiper blades. . . hahaha

[Russian Mafia]

I have those wipers and I like them too. They are MUCH better than stock. They are silent and very smooth. As said before, they work very well at high speeds. However, I think they are overrated. I wish I could compare them to Bosch or something like that (especially when using rain-x). Also at low speeds like 20-30mph they leave something that looks like a fog on the windshield, i was wondering if monkeyman has the same problem. And how come you did not get a set of snow tires and set of summer tires?

[Sentinel]

I don't get any lifting problems (Too old to be going more than ~75 in the rain) but I have chattering problems. And I DON'T like that haze that Rain-X and the like puts on my windshield. Do these Silicone ones do this? What other options are there?

[Russian Mafia]

they actually come with a wipe that does pretty much the same thing as rain-x.

Do you wipe the rain-x off ofter you put it on? You are supposed to use it just like wax (try news paper to wipe it off, and do it for a while untill you can see nothing but clean windshield)

I'm not really sure what coat of silicon PIAAs put and what difference it makes. It's hard to tell without comparing to other wipers.

They dont chatter at all. However, they are not even a year old so time will show.

[Somedude]

those michelins are expensive. The tires I would be choosing after the OEM tires of my Solara wear out would be either

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... es&place=5

or

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... es&place=0

almost any tire would be better than my OEM tires.

[QuickSEV6]

those michelins are expensive.

You get what you pay for. There is a reason for the price... performance.

[geminiz]

How much did the michelins cost per tire?

Are these Goodyear Assurance TripleTred better?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Assurance+TripleTred

[TadS]

I see and install a lot of tires at work. Goodyear tires are overpriced eggs. I have personally seen a new Goodyear tire take a whole pound of wheel weights on a good wheel. It seems that Goodyear has a very serious QA problem. Some sets seem to be pretty good, others horrible. Michelins on the whole are unbelievably better quality tires from my experiences.

[Monkeyman]

I paid less than $500 for all four tires, mounted, balanced, with a front end alignment. "Town Fair Tire" in Northampton MA.

In terms of the PIAA wiper blades the blades are made of silicone, and that silicon wipes onto the windshield over time. The packet that comes with them are only alcohol, which makes sure there is nothing on your windshield. The "Silicone Film" comes from the blade themself. A tiny bit of silicone wipes out of the blade, and on to the windshield. This is why after putting them on the car you have to run them over a dry windsheild for 5-10 minutes. I had them on my Volvo for over a year and they still worked just fine, so dont worry about to much material coming off of the blades. The rain now runs right off the windshield of my Solara at 35 mph after only a few weeks of use. They are worth every cent.

[01SolaraV6]

Hey guys i was wondering if anyone would be interested in a group buy for those blades? I am in canada, and found a supplier that can give some decent discounts if a bunch of ppl want them.

PM me if u want in.