Tires: Infiniti G35 Sedan (rear Wheel drive), 2007 infiniti g35, infiniti g35 sedan

Question
QUESTION: Barry,

I bought a new 2007 Infiniti G35 rear wheel drive sedan.  NOw, some 13,668 miles later I'm getting noises from the front end.  The service technicians at the Infiniti dealership are saying it is feathering due to wear but the front tires are 225's and the rear tires are 245's so you can't rotate the tires.  I'm just now finding out this is a problem with both the rear wheel drive G35 sedan and the coupe model (the G35x or all wheel has the same tires front/back so you can rotate).  My question is this.. because Infiniti is doing absolutely nothing to correct the problem do you have any suggestions on how to a) prolong the life of the tires and b) suggest a good brand taht will give a smoother ride (currently has Bridgestones the car came with...)?

Thanks for your advice

ANSWER: Harrison,

First, feathering is generally caused by misalignment.  So the first thing I would do is get the whole car (4 wheels) aligned.  I've had lots of experience dealing with "feathering" and I've found that vehicles that are within the inner half of the tolerance hardly develop feathering - so the closer you can get the alignment to the target value, the better.  This is not going to correct the feathering, but it is going to prevent it from becoming worse.  Unfortunately, the tires are likely to wear properly - ON TOP OF the wear that is already there.

Your vehicle has low profile tires on it, and W or Y speed rated tires.  They just aren't going to ride softly, no matter what you do.  

And brand doesn't matter when it comes to this sort of thing.  Every tire manufacturer produces a wide variety of tires, and each produces some very good tires - and some not so good.  But you have to remember that the weather in Minnesota is quite different than it is in Phoenix, and a tire that works well in MN is probably going to be a dog in AZ.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the reply Barry.  So aside from having the alignment double checked is there a brand of tire you would recommend assuming I decide to replace all 4?  Moreover do you think it is critical to replace all 4 at the same time vs just replacing the front 2?

Tks again

Answer
Harrison,

I work for a major tire manufacturer and I really shouldn't make brand specific comments.   I'll let you decide what's important to you and what best fits that.

In your case I would replace all 4.  Staggered tire fitments are problematic and unless you replace all 4 with basically identical tires (except for size), you could wind up with a funny hamdling vehicle - not likely, but it's always a possibility.