Granturismo Stradale - tyre choices and fitment

woody1144

Member
Messages
108
Hi all. In essence I had a puncture in one of my P-zeros. Was a straight nail in the middle so thought I'd try and get it repaired for the remaining winter months until the spring when I am going to swap them all to PS4. Anyway, trotted on down to National Tyres (really good service by them) but alas when they got the wheel off they realised they are lightweight alloys and apparently they couldn't get the machine configured in a way that would get the tyre on/off without squashing the rim. I think they had bad experience previously so would obviously rightly cautious. Fair enough and appreciated the advice but they also let me know that some of my tyres are from 2009!! I was obviously blown away and so therefore am just going to change them all now.

Predicament is I'm now questioning that will most tyre shops have the same issue with their machine? They recommended me a place but they didn't do any tyre fitting unfortunately. I've dug around google but can't really find anything specific.

Sorry for the newbie question, first time changing any rubber on my Maser. Any advice is much appreciated!
 

StuartW

Member
Messages
9,306
I can't say that I've heard of that before.

As you are changing all 4, I would suggest it's a good time to get your alignment & geo done too. Depending on where you are located, I'm sure some folk on here can recommend a reputable place for you to visit
 

woody1144

Member
Messages
108
Good shout, suspect that hasn't been done for a while if the tires are 10 years old! I'm in Manchester so was thinking of Autoshield as they seem to be a forum sponsor, looks like they do alignment...might be rude to not get a x-pipe fitted whilst I'm there as well :).

Certainly open to suggestions though.
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
I am sure Autoshield would be happy to do your alignment. As for tyre fitting, it might be that they have the older style tyre machine which doesn’t have a roller for compressing the tyre to get it over the rim. Without this the they would have to use a tyre iron on the bead guide which could, if done without care, damage the wheel. The majority of tyre places should have the right kit and be able to fit these tyres.
 

jasst

Member
Messages
2,313
My local National tires has one of the machines that does it all, no tire levers used, very impressive, don't know if this sort of machine would do the job.
 

Ewan

Member
Messages
6,756
Interesting that the tyres are a few years older than the car itself! You would have thought that Maserati would have had access to brand new tyres from Pirelli. Or has a previous owner fitted old (cheap) tyres at some point I wonder. Either way, at least you can now start from scratch.

As has been said many times, if you are using it year round in the UK, go for the Michelin. But if it’s a summer only car (like mine) you can stick with the factory fit Pirelli.
 

woody1144

Member
Messages
108
Interesting that the tyres are a few years older than the car itself! You would have thought that Maserati would have had access to brand new tyres from Pirelli. Or has a previous owner fitted old (cheap) tyres at some point I wonder. Either way, at least you can now start from scratch.

As has been said many times, if you are using it year round in the UK, go for the Michelin. But if it’s a summer only car (like mine) you can stick with the factory fit Pirelli.

I wondered the same. One rear is early 2010 and the other is 2009. I can understand the '10 as it's a 2011 car but the '09...very strange. Anyway, I've just ordered a full set of PS4. The Pirelli tyres have been awful for me although I suspect that is just down to the fact they are older than the car lol as I haven't had issues with the brand on prior cars. May as well have a change anyway and BlackCircles had a 10% off on Michelin which helps!

Will get in touch with Autoshield and hopefully they can sort me out.
 

outrun

Member
Messages
5,017
I get my tyres usually from Costco, they’ve been great. I bung the fitter £20 to be careful. Just don’t go into costco while you wait or you can kiss any discounts goodbye as you buy a lifetime supply of cashew nuts and a 6 man tent.
 

Vampyrebat

Member
Messages
3,117
I get my tyres usually from Costco, they’ve been great. I bung the fitter £20 to be careful. Just don’t go into costco while you wait or you can kiss any discounts goodbye as you buy a lifetime supply of cashew nuts and a 6 man tent.
Don't forget the cooked Chicken that looks/smells great but you can never finish it..............Seemed like a good idea at the time!!
 

woody1144

Member
Messages
108
Just to report back on this. I finally managed to get the tyres on thanks to Autoshield who were great chaps to deal with. Will certainly be using them again in the future for any work. So far the tyres seem to be an improvement but haven't tested them "thoroughly' yet due to the weather.

They also fitted an x-pipe which I can't make up my mind on. Benefits are the cold start up is hilarious, more burbles and bangs on the overrun, seems generally louder and the cracks on the downshifts are even more pronounced (they didn't really need to be any more on this car but why the **** not!).
Only thing is I think it's improved some areas of the note as it gets higher in the rev range under load but there was a real exotic sound between 2-3k revs which was like a howl/bark and that has been made a bit more aggressive and less exotic in my eyes which is a shame so It must have been the muffler that produced that. Anyway, really happy and have the old muffled X so I can always revert at a later date if needed.