By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
The new tires I switched to are Goodrich Gforce TA KDW's in 245/45ZR17 size. They greatly reduced the noise problem compared to the Goodyears (even though the Goodrich's have a MUCH more aggressive tread pattern) and the dry and wet weather handling are both phenomenal. These tires provide more grip on rain slick roads than the LS's did on dry, and I have experienced no tendency to aquaplane at all. The drawback to the Gforce KDW tires is that they are, like the tires on the new Special, not recommended for use on snow. Goodrich also makes a Z rated Gforce called the KDWS which is rated highly for use on snow but, since I live in the Dallas area where snow is a rare occurance, I opted for the slightly better wet and dry handling with the KDW's.
By the way, to switch to 245/45 tires, I was advised by several sources that the 7" wide Razorstars were too narrow, so I sold mine and bought a set of Konig Tantrum 17" x 8" wheels.
I never cared for the styling of the Razorstars personally and I absolutely hated the ones on my car since they were chromed (I've never cared for chrome wheels on any car), so I was happy to have an excuse to buy new wheels.
Lynn Flowers
McKinney, Texas
I finally saw a Blue Special at my Dealer. It's the second of the 3 he pre-ordered. (He's in Toms River, NJ if anyone is interested.) They got it in the other day and it immediately went to their Showroom Floor. The Charcoal Ground Effects doesn't stand out as much as I thought it would. I still like our Silver one better.
When I had to change the tires, I decided to go with Michelin Pilots because I had read so much about them. Also, so many folks were turning away from GoodYears.
Well, I have not found that the Pilot's are any better. The road noise is the same. I don't see any difference in handling. In fact, I think the GoodYears, when brand new, used to grip better in the snow than my brand new pilots.
As for tread life, I don't know yet but how much better can it be than my GoodYears ?
As for the price, the Pilots are a lot more expensive than the GoodYear LS.
As for the goodyears,I still have mine on the 16" wheels.i bought a set of 20"x8"s and i just replaced my 255/35/20" pirelli p-zeros with the 245/40/20" BFG g-force t/a kdw and they ride much better,even better than my GY`s!lots less noise.now I find the do better in the snow too! Im kinda in a toss-up as to if im going to change them back to stock for winter,as I have not done so yet. I`ll probally do so just to protect my rims.
"my two cents also"
Andy
Is it just me, or do any of you find that it takes a feather light touch on the gas pedal to keep the speed down to 65? To me it's just torture and really and uncomfortable position on my foot.
When I bought my 245/45/17 Kumho's Discount Tire said no problem fitting them on the Razorstars. So far no apparent problems after 10K miles.
on1wheel-absolutely agree re: torque. We have a 2001 GMC Denali in our company car pool. It has the big V-8 with 360 ft./lbs. Man, you wouldn't believe how quick that 5,000 lb vehicle is. The M is really pretty decent with 250 ft./lbs.
blonda-I think you missed Illini's point!
Compression, I guess is not the issue in slowing a vehicle down by downshifting -- it must be the car is high geared? Anyway, my experience is that, when downshifting, I find that the 300M does not slow down as much as other (manual) cars I have driven in the past. That is what I meant by ineffective downshifting -- i.e. it would not effectively reduce speed for slowing in winter conditions, imho.
On tires -- I had Goodyears on my 98 Intrepid and had to replace them at around 17,000 miles due to premature wear (yes, they were rotated every 6,000 miles). I bought some BF Goodrich tires on sale to replace them for the remaining year and one-half of my lease. They were OK.
The Goodyears on my 2000 300M were replaced at 9,000 miles. The car drifted left with these tires. I got a cut that couldn't be repaired in one of the better tires and two of the tires were badly worn. I replaced them with the Avid T-4's. I have had them for 3,000 miles and I like them - quieter, no drift and handle well. However, at 3,000 miles, I got a shimmy at 55-60 mph. I had the 2 front tires rebalanced, but I rotated at the same time, so I don't know if the problem was fixed. There is no shimmy after rotating and the car continues to run true (no drifting).
I have been driving my wife's 2001 300M lately and I have noticed that it drifts left now -- it never used to (currently 11,300 miles). These tires were rotated at 6,000 miles -- rotation is due again soon, so I'll see if the problem persists.
In summary, for me the jury is still out on tires, but I can definitely say judgement has been passed on Goodyears. Noisy, don't run true, wear prematurely and don't have a great price. Michelins are too expensive. I would have heartily recommended the Avids before the shimmy.
Since I had no problem with pulling or drifting with the Intrepid, I wonder if it is something in the design of the 300M -- both of ours have had this problem...
Town Hall / Aftermarket & Accessories / Gtech Performance meter
and I think someone here's used the thing. I'm a little interested in it myself...
As far driving 95mph -- uh, almost daily. As a matter of fact I hit 95 this morning just getting on the freeway. I've had the tires since May and the temperatures have ranged from 100 to 40 with no noticeable difference.
The screws didn't come in, so I have to try next weekend to do the repair and report on the details.
I asked about the drive chain and sprockets (i.e. the gears) for both the '02 Special and the 2.7L cars. They have no listing specific to the '02 special. There are too 42LE transmissions in the system. One is for the 3.5/3.8L and one for the 2.7L. Not sure if Prowler is an exception. More specifically one of the sprocket is different and one is the same. Chain is also supposed to be the same between the two types.
Also, the guys were trying to explain to me that if you remove the sprockets, all kinds of clutches etc would also come loose and I would much more parts. This contridicts what I saw with the Prowler Pro gear kit. I would think the sprocket could be removed and another clip or retainer would be required before you could get out clutches and the drive shaft. They were telling me "you don't want to do this". Can anyone confirm of deny this. The Prowler Pro kit is like two gears, a chain, a special tool and some RTV and it says takes 3 hours.
Finally, I asked about the tool used to spread the chain to install the gears. They said, "yeah you got to have that, but we can't sell those".
Can anyone more familiar with this transmission confirm any of this for us?
The parts quoted for the 2.7L sprockets were 4659233 ($59.75) and 4659831 ($50.64). I did not get a chain part number and price. Either way a lot cheaper than $1400 Prowler Pro wants.
***edit***
Nice that we can edit our posts.
http://www.ritchiefamily.com/car/gears.jpg
Not much point in having a good set of sporting Michelins then just plain old all-seasons, is there?
I agree with your opinion of the red...but then again, look at what we drive. lol. When I did the DC customer feedback event ALL of the cars, including all the DC models and all of the competitor cars, were silver with black interior. I have to tell you, they looked great under the bright show lights.
I have an gtech meter what was your question about it?
it also says today is the last day of the 20% off sale, so I hope you get this message.
Speaking of 300M's speed - mine was hard to keep under 85-90mph. 300M simply wants to drive at 90mph or so.
By comparison, my Acura TL-S has no problem reaching 100mph or more, but does not feel natural at such high speeds and is not eager to cruise that fast. If you get a little distracted and take a bit pressure off the gas pedal, you are back down to 75 mph or so.
Also the sale always appears to be on, and if you have problems, phone Mike at Joshua and he will put it through for the advertised price. I also had some of the pieces replaced that got damaged, with some at no cost.
Now for the really interesting part. My kit was shipped from Spectrum Accessories Distributors at 9770 Carroll Centre Rd,
Suite "C" San Diego. Looking on my internet map finder thingy I see that this is only about 5.6 miles from your house!
I'm not sure if they build them for Joshua Tree or visa versa. The following is the url to Spectrums web site. Have fun.
http://www.spectrumdashes.com/
Downshifting a RWD car helps offset some of the nose dive and weight transfer you get under heavy braking. That's because you're creating drag at the rear of the vehicle. This allows better rear tire contact and helps the rear brakes do more of the work.
The opposite is true of FWD, because your're actually creating MORE forward weight transfer. That's unloading the the rear of the vehicle, lessening tire contact at the rear, meaning the front brakes and tires are doing more work and rears less.
That's what's so odd about the fact that carrying weight in the rear of both types is effective in winter. For RWD it increases pressure on the rear for better traction, for FWD it helps reduce the weight transfer and keep the rear wheels planted.
I'll probably put the 2.7 gears on order Monday when I pick up my seat screws. I probably won't install until spring when it warms up a bit.
Jon
I meant to tell you guys this. Last night I raced another '01 M from stop light to stop light. By the time we needed to slow down I had him by a car length or two. It was about 1/2 mile and we were both going hard (hit triple digits). I guess the exhaust, filter and plug mods have made a difference.
Boy do I see a LOT of Ms around here!
I to have not done it yet.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8398159.html
fastdriver