Got my Toyos!
 

I got my Toyo Proxes S/T's put on last Friday before I left town. They're 285/24-19's all around. My preliminary observations are that they are immeasurably better than my POS Pirelli Scorpion Zeros. They look narrower than the Pirellis though, even though they are both 285's. I think it is the tread pattern on the Toyos that are playing optical tricks and the fact that the shoulders are more rounded than the Pirellis. I liked the fatter look of the Pirellis and that's about all I liked. No, I liked the little yellow scorpion on the sidewall as it represented the mascot of one our local drug enforcement teams. They got a kick out my tires. The Toyo tread pattern is very similar to their Proxes T-1 and T-1S sports car tires. It kind of looks strange on an X5. I'll post a pic.

It's amazing how much tires can affect braking. The Pirellis felt like they were grinding and the pedal feel was very disconcerting under braking. It almost felt like the pads and rotors were having a very abrasive relationship. The Toyos feel so smooth and the braking is back to what it should feel like; linear, progressive, and sure. The noise is substantially reduced with the Toyos. No more Mickey Thompson mudders buzzing and "whoop whoop whoop" noises even under slow speed. The Toyos actually feel like they turn in better than the Pirellis which had a bit of a ploughing feel.

I know that I haven't had these tires for very long at all but I'm very happy to be rid of those crappy ass Pirellis. Good riddance!

Cool. Those tires are on my "watch" list for next summer. Keep us posted on how you like them. And post some pics!!

http://www.acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/pics.gif

Good news, Kevin. This puppy is also on my radar screen due to its excellent all around performance and its longevity (420 rating)

The tread pattern also reminds me of the Pirelli P7000 Supersport.

I'll post some pics in the next couple of days. Jeesh!

One more thing: I notice less tramlining with these tires too.

A friend of mine has the Toyo Proxes S/T on his 4.8is and I drove his car recently, they are the 275/315 standard 4.8is size. I have to say that I didn't really like them, in the dry at least.

Compared to the Michelin Diamaris the tread blocks of the Proxes extend all the way round the shoulder of the tyre and more noticeably the tyre has a virtually square sidewall compared to the round sidewall of the Diamaris. What this means in practice is that the dynamic camber and toe settings are altered by fitting these tyres. I suspect the X5 needs more toe-in at the front to compensate and perhaps less camber angle. When driving along a straight road the directional stability is poorer than with the Diamaris and bump steer is greater. Initial turn in to a corner is less linear (due to the square sidewalls) and with the tread blocks on the outer edge of the tyre this induces steering kick back at that point of turn-in, which further dilutes steering feel. Overall grip seemed higher than with the Diamaris which induces a feeling of confidence that is undermined somewhat by the corruption in steering feel.

I've suggested that he remove the Proxes for summer driving and put them back on for the winter. The alteration in the X5s handling and steering characteristics is so noticeable that I personally could not live with them all year round. Perhaps experimenting with tyre pressures and geometry settings may help, but I thought it worth warning you guys that althought the Proxes is an excellent cold weather tyre, it may not be the ideal solution to replace the OEM tyre for all year use.

Here are some pictures...

http://www.bm3w.co.uk/ug/data/500/1673DSC05808.JPG
http://www.bm3w.co.uk/ug/data/500/1673DSC05813.JPG
http://www.bm3w.co.uk/ug/data/500/1673DSC05815.JPG

Just yanking your chain, Kev ;)

Good news on the tramlining :thumbup:

Are those performance summer tires?

Performance all-season.

:iagree: