Ok, so to drudge up an old topic, my check engine light has been on since about 40k miles. It is the infamous P0410 code. I took the valve off that some have mentioned and it seemed to be fine, I was able to blow in it one way only. The weird thing with mine is, I can clear it, and it will stay off for a few days then it comes back on. But, it doesn’t come on at start up, it comes on after you've been driving it for a while. So, what I have noticed is after I've been driving it I will hear the air pump kick on for just a minute and that seems to be when the cel is thrown. Now, to my understanding that pump should only kick on when the car is started cold, and run for about 1 minute. So, why is it kicking on long after the car is warmed up? And I assume that is what the car is thinking and why it throws the light. Could it be the relay? Or God forbid the computer? All thoughts and suggestions are welcome...
Moving on to the tires. I purchased a set up Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season four months ago. I have put 12 thousand miles on them and my car now sounds like some old piece of sh*t pickup truck with bad knobby tires. It has become unbearable. Obviously this is not a toy for me, it is my daily driver. Around 30k or more a year. Before these I had the factory all season Continentals and they never sounded like this. AND they had well over 35k miles on them. So I went to Discount Tire today to have them repair a leak in one and asked them about the noise. I was told they were a mess and they've never seen any cup so badly so quickly. Yes, the car was aligned when I had them put on. So, they have offered to refund me fair amount of the cost so I can purchase a new set. I need to know what you guys have found to be a decent tire for daily driving. Preferably one that isn't going to sound like a freight train in 10k miles. People seem to be happy with the General Exclaim, but what about noise? And yes, I know now this was not the best choice in vehicles for a daily driver, especially as much as I drive. And I simply refuse to drop $1000 on tires twice a year. I will be putting it up for sale this spring, but in the meantime opinions are welcome.

 

My front tire had tread seperation after 37K miles. That was on the original Continentals (I believe sport contact 2). I had about 10 K miles left on my rear so I switched all 4 tires at Discount tire. They discontinued the sport contact 2 so I bought the Touring. They are guaranteed for 60K miles. They charged me about 800 for all four tires after all the fees. Had them on over a year with 14K miles and they are still beautiful! Plenty of miles left on them. Smooth ride and I don't feel at thing at 130MPH. Only problem I had was a side wall pop on one of my rears about 5 months ago. It was a slow leak. Not sure how that could happen but Discount Tire gave me a brand new replacement for free. The only problem is it took a week for them to get it in.

I suggest sticking with the Continentals. So many people that drive Porsche kept telling me to go with Michellins. I am not paying 350 a tire! I stuck with the same brand the car came with. I figure, why mess with switching something when you are happy with the old way! Besides, no offense to anyone but Goodyear and all those other cheaper American brands will never go on my car again. I bought all new four Goodyears for my 2000 Camaro and it never road the same way again! I was greatly dissapointed in that set!

 

Thanks for the great reply, I was thinking about going back to the Continentals as well. I drove the last set until they were bald, and never had a bit of trouble. BUT the guy at Discount said they would likely cup and be as noisy as the Goodyears. He also suggested the Michelins, but I also refuse to pay that for tires. Hmmmm.......

 

I am sorry I can't help you with the check engine light problem. This advice may not help you.... but I suggest replacing the gas cap. Sometimes the seal drys out and leaks fumes. My G/F's jeep had the same problem. She kept complaining about her check engine light coming on. I spent 8 dollars on a new cap a year and a half ago and gave the light one week to go away. I haven't seen the light since. The important thing to remember, as long as it is not flashing then it is a minor problem. If it was flashing at you the problem is more serious.

As for tires, I love the Continentals. You will hear more and more road noise in the cabin as they wear down. But I have 14K miles on my new tires and drive the car everyday... if they are a little louder than the day I put them on, I can't tell. It is not loud enough to bother me. Look for the Touring. I had a friend at a tire place that was shocked at the warranty rating on it. Said it was 60K miles and thought that was real high for a Z rated low profile tire. I just assumed it was high quality. You can never go wrong with keeping European tires on a European car. Forget the Michellins... they are great tires but you are better off not spending the money.

 

I put a set of UHP 275/30/19s on the rear about 700 miles ago....so far - so good....not noisy.

 

I agree on the check engine light not being a big deal, the car drives perfect, and I know that code is a known issue. A piece of black electrical tape keeps it "out of sight, out of mind"! But, since I plan to put it up for sale soon, it's always a negative to have on so it would be nice to have fixed for that reason alone.

 

Something interesting... the Continental ContiTouringContact CW95 have a note under the "additional information" tab in the warranty information that says "Tires purchased before 05/01/06 carry 60,000 Mile Treadlife Warranty". It says PRIOR to 2006 which would have been the set I orininally had. DT wasn't postive, but they thought they were the orininal tires, but couldn't believe I had 65k on them. Again, they were bald as can be, but still. Too bad they don't STILL make one with that warranty, WTF?!

 

I was thinking about getting the Eagle F1's, but I've heard so many bad things about noise and cupping with them. I hate to say it, but I may go for another set of the stock Continentals. I have 30k on my stock Conti's and the back tires are down to the wear bars on the inside, but they still roll as smooth as ever and make absolutely no noise. I can't afford to spend all that money on new tires and have them turn to crap that quickly.

 

Everyone--- do yourself a favor and stick with the Continentals. They aren't as expensive and will do the job fine. Besides, the car came with them. I now have 51K mile and my tires are the least of my worry!

 

I have the OEM Continental Touring Contact all seasons tires on my car and I have no complaints they have only done 12,000 miles but are wearing evenly. They are quiet and grip well in normal weather, they are not driven in cold weather.
Tires that last for 60,000 miles will suffer in grip, especially in cold weather, thats the trade off.

 

I bought the Maxxis V series tires for $99 ea plus tax and they are great. Very quiet and don't follow ruts in the road at all and very "sticky". The OEM Contis were the worse tires I've ever driven.

 

I guess you have not had too many cars then?

 

Ok, the nylon Bridgestones I bought years ago were pretty bad too.

 

Paul,

What size tire did you put on the rear? I've looked into a couple inexpensive tire options that come in 225/40R18 but are not available in 255/35R19.

 

Hi,
I don't need tires for the rear yet, still on the standard Conti's. I normally wouldn't mix and match tread design but the Maxxis tire deal was too good to pass up.

 

I haven't used a set of Goodyears I liked yet! The Contis that were on the car when I got it absolutely howled above 50MPH. I have Kumhos on now and love them after about 5K miles. Great tire for the price. With American tires you're buying the tire plus the pensions of a few thousand retired employees. I don't know WHAT Michelin's excuse for their prices is... Euro/dollar exchange rate?

 

Were you aware that the Maxxis V1 is not made in a 19" size? Maxxis does have some other models of tires that come in 19" but not in the 255/35R19 size.

I have an 04 with 17K miles and the original Michelin PS2s which still have plenty of tread. The PS2 is an excellent, if not the best, maximum performance summer tire that fits the Crossfire. It's cornering capability is beyond what most drivers will feel comfortable experiencing. But it is quite expensive as others have already noted. However, I'm a little on the frugal side and don't want to spend $1200+ on tires before they're even installed. I've been considering the possibility of getting a set of Fuzion (a division of Bridgestone) ZRis, except that the closest size they make for the rear is a 245/35R19 (should fit the wheels but would experience a 1% speedo error - i don't know if that presents any potential problems with ABS, traction control, etc.) I could get a complete set including shipping for $500 today (the rear tires being 2/3 of the total cost), but the PS2s should last a couple more years.