Nitto Motivo AS Initial Review

[NoVAGT2]

Testing comes later! It is still coming down.

 

[Waynerm002]

It won't stay like that for long, the rain is next. When I left it was sleeting, the loaner Optima I have has dirty windshield which makes the visibility poor. I should be getting my car back later but will have to wait for the next snow to test.

 

[Waynerm002]

So, I finally took my Stinger on a road trip. Drove up the NY on Monday and I experienced a lot or varying road surfaces along the way and can say i’m happy with how the tires performed at speed. My wife commented on how comfortable and quiet the vehicle was, we were driving without the radio on and the wind noise certainly wasn’t annoying as I was expecting at extra legal speeds. I took the opportunity to switch it to Custom (sport suspension setting) mode after a bit to see the difference, the change made the car feel different. It seemed to change to a tighter feel, sort of like what I experience when the Optima Hybrid hits 80, but of course this happened a bit higher than the hybrid. Felt the change in Custom and Comfort mode.

Today I took a trip, through the Bronx and they had some bad roads in places and I was happy for the comfort mode even though some hits were still jarring. Some of the highway surfaces made the tires sound the loudest i’ve heard them, seemed like a mix of concrete and something else. I didn’t do any hard driving but for the trip it was more long corners so she was fine at that sort of thing. Just loving the car even more, and the tires as well.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I like my Nitto Motivo UHP A/S so well that I put my Michelins up for sale on KSL.com this evening. I'm asking $285 for the set of four; with the fronts being declared by Big O Tires to be "almost like new", and the rears at 80%. That's the price of one Pilot Sport 4 front tire. Of course, this is a daft time to be advertising used summer tires. But that's how I do things.

 

[TwinSnails]

I’d buy the summers for that if I was close. Glad to see the Motivos are doing well.

 

[Waynerm002]

Thanksgiving brought some low temps to to upstate NY and it was still in the low teens when I left Friday morning. Tire pressure registered 35 after some 20+ miles of driving, I checked as the pressure as the car felt a bit strange on the roads. Stopped for gas and a break after a couple of hours and when we got back on the roads, the temp was 37 and so was the tire pressure and the car was doing better. The tire pressure rose to 39 and all felt well with the car, she was well in her element, easily dispatching sedans CUV/SUVs, trucks and minivans that increased their speeds while I was performing an overtaking maneuver. Just to make sure they knew they were no match, I put some distance on them then backed off. The power was intoxicating! It was like, dude i'm trying to pass, why you speeding up! Zoom! Oh crap, need to slow down!

Oh yeah, tires, need to update on the tires. Since there was nothing but rain and wet roads on the way up, all was well. It did let me know the sliding around corners that I experienced when the dealer dropped the pressure to 36 all around when the tires were hot and reduced them to 34 at cold was not a good fit for these tires. Running them at the recommended 36/39 (F/R according to Nitto's website) or +2 psi higher makes the car perform so much better. On this trip at 38 all around they did quite well but in the single digit temps where it dropped it lower, it made for a crappy drive feel on corners while feeling cushy normally. On sections of the trip, the pressure went up to 41 psi and the car was firm and handled better in my opinion but on bumps the rear dance showed up, not too much as there were many sweeping corners however, there were some sections with imperfections that this showed up. Now I am considering going for the GT-F Springs for the car. But that might not happen until next year.

I'm still happy with these tires and as said prior, I think they are a great match for this car for a daily driver looking for tire that provide comfort and lower noise while still being sporty.

 

[UtahStinger]

After your review and Merlins comments, I decided to replace the Michelins with a set of the Motivo's. I only have 1 day on them, and so far I really like them. Like Merlin I am in Utah, so I needed at the very least all seasons. I have always had all seasons and with the Utah winters with no problems. I just couldn't see switching tires every season. Before my Stinger I had an Optima, and before that an awd Passat VR6, so its good to be back in a V6 AWD.

I'l probably wait until spring and then put the Michelins up for sale...

 

[Waynerm002]

I'm gonna put my Michelins back on next year and use them until they wear out. I really like how smooth they are and how comfortable they make the car feel.

 

[MerlintheMad]

After your review and Merlins comments, I decided to replace the Michelins with a set of the Motivo's. I only have 1 day on them, and so far I really like them. Like Merlin I am in Utah, so I needed at the very least all seasons. I have always had all seasons and with the Utah winters with no problems. I just couldn't see switching tires every season. Before my Stinger I had an Optima, and before that an awd Passat VR6, so its good to be back in a V6 AWD.

I'l probably wait until spring and then put the Michelins up for sale...

What part are you from? (You could put that info in your membership information.)

I put my Michelin's on KSL. But I haven't had any calls or emails yet. Probably won't. It's got to be a lousy time to sell summer tires! "The price is right", though.

 

[UtahStinger]

What part are you from? (You could put that info in your membership information.)

I put my Michelin's on KSL. But I haven't had any calls or emails yet. Probably won't. It's got to be a lousy time to sell summer tires! "The price is right", though.

Down in American Fork, but I commute to Riverton daily. Yeah I figured waiting till spring would be a better option. At your price, I am suprised nobody has taken them.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Down in American Fork, but I commute to Riverton daily. Yeah I figured waiting till spring would be a better option. At your price, I am suprised nobody has taken them.

I thought so too. And just before I posted the above, I went back and tacked on a hundred bucks! Can you believe I was only asking $285? I have one person following my ad as a "favorite". Glad s/he didn't call already. This way I will either keep them for summer driving (like Wayne), or get another hundred out of them.

 

[Waynerm002]

My buddy wanted to buy mine off me but I told him I plan on keeping them to put back on when it gets warm. They are a bit firm on most roads in my area but they grip well and I plan to use them well now that I've broke th 6K miles barrier and pushing the Nittos have shown them to be not as grippy as the Michilens.

 

[MerlintheMad]

My buddy wanted to buy mine off me but I told him I plan on keeping them to put back on when it gets warm. They are a bit firm on most roads in my area but they grip well and I plan to use them well now that I've broke th 6K miles barrier and pushing the Nittos have shown them to be not as grippy as the Michilens.

Well, yes of course they are not as planted as the Pilot summers. But the whole reason why I went with A/S was to see if I could have a UHP tire that could be year-round. I don't want to change my tires twice a year; not even with a second set of rims for dedicated bad weather tires. So the Nitto Motivos were my experiment; and a very satisfying one so far. You are probably a more spirited driver than I am. I've experienced a couple of incidents of quick understeer. But I don't mind backing off a tad. I'm not in a race, so I don't need the ultra grip of summer tires. But if I still have them come spring, I will definitely put the Michelins back on and use them up.

Do you plan on replacing your Michelins when you've worn them out? And keep swapping them with the Motivos for winter?

 

[Waynerm002]

Depending on how the do through the winter, I might give the Michelin AS 3+ a shot after both is worn unless something new and better performing comes out at that time.

 

[UtahStinger]

Snowed today, had about 3" on the ground this morning. Was up early so I figured with no cars on the road, it was a good time to give the Stinger and Motivo's a run in the fresh powder. I'm very pleased with these tires and appreciate the heads up on a good AS tire. Had no problems with starting and steering. Stopping was as expected. They aren't winter snow tires but they behaved well I thought. I'm loving being back in an AWD car that's for sure, and the Motivo's behaved as I would expect.

 

[Waynerm002]

Thanks for your winter review, I’m looking forward to seeing how they do when we get some snow.

 

[Waynerm002]

This weekend, I inflated the tires to 45 psi all around dove it for a bit then took it down to 43 front and 41 rear, with the expectation of it dropping when the temps dropped into the 20s. At 45, the car felt like it did with the Michelins on it but not as harsh, at 43/41 it really felt good on smooth roads and accelerating into 90 degree turn got the tires squealing in back with the car just stable. Yes, I have been using sport mode a bit more since my Sunday run. Today it was set to 41/39 and it felt just great, been putting my foot in it more in comfort mode and off the line it just launches well and still felt good on all surfaces. I filled up on Sunday and had to fill up again today, just been driving the car every chance I got over the last couple of days as the car just felt good with the change of the tire pressure. Nitto site states it should be 36 front and 39 rear and I decided to try a variation of the factory recommended 38/36 and so far I like how it feels. Tonight I changed it to 39 front and 37 rear as I do prefer it a bit firmer, to see how it will do over the next day or so.

Anyone else running Nittos using a different setting than stock and want to share how your car feels? I would like to hear from you.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Monday, after I got home, I inflated my Motivos to 40 psi all around. Today it is snowing and I am going to be out and about in it.

Prior to the new psi, the reading was pretty close to 36 psi all around on the hand held gauge; and the TPMS would indicate a cold psi of c. 33; warmed up it wouldn't get above 35 psi (might spike to 36 on one tire). Since I have determined that the hand held gauge is c. 2+ psi higher, and is within c. 1 psi of a second hand held gauge, the TPMS reads a couple of lbs and a tad low.
The 40 psi I have right now is intended to run a couple psi above the recommended factory psi of 38 in front, ergo c. 4 psi above recommended in the rear. I'm going to take the rear down 2 psi after today, if for some reason I think the feel isn't quite "right". But if it is okay, I'll leave it: because having two different psi front to rear is annoying.

So I reckon I'll be posting here later today.

 

[Waynerm002]

LOL! You get used to it, it balances out to get similar levels of comfort. At the higher rating, I did notice the damping felt sportier in comfort mode but not harsh however, on bad roads, it did make more noise. I'm looking forward to hearing more about the snow experience on them. Take photos too.

 

[MerlintheMad]

LOL! You get used to it, it balances out to get similar levels of comfort. At the higher rating, I did notice the damping felt sportier in comfort mode but not harsh however, on bad roads, it did make more noise. I'm looking forward to hearing more about the snow experience on them. Take photos too.

Photos! LOL! I have both hands on the wheel.

This was kind of a bust, because the snow didn't amount to squat. A bit of slush was all. And, for one distraction or another, I totally forgot that I was going to check out my running psi. The tires didn't flag my attention. So they love running at "40 psi" as far as I can tell once out. I did surface and freeway driving, c. 25 miles round trip. If they were noisier at all, you could fool me.