Is it like other things that have one company that produces items under a number of brand names? I would monitor but not replace.
I know many years (make that decades) ago Michelin made tires for Sears, and I don’t doubt that they “brand” tires for other companies these days, but I don’t know for certain.
The OEM speed rating is V, usually used on sport sedans and coupes. Yours is W and that is the next step up. Assuming the W rating is legitimate, you have tires usually used on exotic cars. If I owned them, would monitor them over time and see how they do. You could look at them every time you check your oil. That should be every week or two until you know if the Maxima uses oil. As time passes, you may become less concerned about tires and oil use, and you can back off on both.
ASE, I would have stayed with the ones I liked if they’d have been able to get some in… but they had none available yesterday and I was stuck with two blown tires, the LF and LR (from road debris). I needed tires on the spot. Four, actually, since my RF was down to about 4/32" anyway… I had planned to replace the fronts in the coming weeks anyway. It’s my only vehicle. So I took a chance and chose from what they had in stock. They’re a “W” speed rating, and, of course, fully D.O.T. compliant, so what the heck. I’ll live with them, and if when they wear out I want to go back to my others, I will at that time.
Oh, I see. Well FWIW, around here Definity tires are sold by Pep Boys and maybe a few other local shops. I think they are made by Cooper. I haven’t had heard any complaints about them, and since they are a “bread and butter” tire for the places that sell them I would imagine they are decent tires, probably a good middle of the road choice. Let us know how they perform and wear.
I’ll let you know. They seem to ride, track, and handle well, and road noise seems very low. It’s the right time of year (any time now) to find out how they do in rain and snow, so I’ll update as I learn.
In the “truth is stranger than fiction” department:
Now that’s gotta make you feel good-to confiscate their booth. Guess they’ll just bring pictures of tires next time.
Thing is that’s kinda their (as in Chinese business) SOP though, stealing designs and ignoring patents.
I ran across a couple web sites I had saved on tire information. The one has all of the plant codes to tell what exact plant a tire was made in. If anyone is interested I could post them. It took a little to find the one with all the plant codes in when I was looking a few years ago.
Edited: Geez can’t believe I of all people wrote “steel” instead of “steal”. Something with these keyboards and English I guess.
@insightful
"In the “truth is stranger than fiction” department: "
Ha, Ha, Ha, It’s not funny, really, (sorry) Ha, Ha, Ha, but I can’t stop laughing after reading your post and especially just reading the URL! Looks like a story from one of those little sensational news magazines sold by check-outs at grocery stores, R-rated, …“rubbernews.com article,” …Ha, Ha, Ha!
It is a strange story, Ha,Ha, Ha, not funny, really Ha, Ha, Ha! Is it just me or am I detecting a bit of arrogance on the part of those tyre folks? He, He, He… 
CSA
…Ha, Ha… He, He… Sorry…
I’ll have to look for Crosswinds when I need tires or maybe I’ll see a story about them while I’m checking out… Ha, Ha, Ha! (Sorry, really).
You think I can trust the “W” rating?
CSA
I don’t see what’s funny about this.
I looked them up on line. They are directional tread tires. Only rotate front to back on the same side; not side to side.
I’ve worked for a small consulting company, see http://www.katzen.com/, and back in the early '80’s we designed and started up the (then) largest motor fuel ethanol plant in the world at South Point, Ohio. I remember vividly a coworker who went to China to sell our technology. He reported that he sat in a room over several days with a dozen of their engineers grilling him on every aspect of our design. It finally became clear they had no intention of buying anything. He said it was the most frustrating thing he’d ever done.
Ironically, that design (using benzene dehydration) quickly became obsolete (replaced by molecular sieve dehydration) so they got little of value. Also, per the web site above, this company finally made their sale.
@justishar:
Here’s another vote for keeping the Linglong tires. You’ll be fine.
There is another aspect(unless you have an ironclad road hazard guarantee)a real expensive tire may be damaged and put out of service about as easily as a cheap one,if you have crappy roads(just ran a tire limb through a sidewall after a windstorm on the Accord)
100W? Sounds like a SUV spec tire. What is the spec on door decal? I would expect a 95V or so.
If the door sticker spec is less than 100 for tire wear and less than W for the speed rating, then 100W is acceptable. Your point about the sticker is useful for the next set of tires, but I’m sure the speed rating is something like H or V as you suggest, and W is higher.
88-100 is load rating. Tire wear would be 250-300-350 range. Some high mile tires are 400+ rated. There are traction, temp, and wear ratings. Plus load and speed rating.
96V is what is called for.
We haven’t had any rain since I posted this thread but it looks like there will be some later this week… I’ll be sure to pay back about the traction for anyone out there wondering about the performance of these tires.
- post back, not pay back