FAQ: Which tires work best?

ive had good results with michellin's. their snow tires are great. but my friend sez they suck and he will only buy goodyear's. i hate goodyear's

I used to run Falken Ziex ZE-512s. Most definitely perfect traction. Even in pouring down rain. Not to mention that I never got stuck in the snow, and I live in the mountains and backroads of PA. So that is saying something. But seeing as how tire prices have gone up, I decided on Hankooks all seasons. Honestly, Im not too fond of the Hankooks. The performance isnt as good. Taking corners at any amount of speed roll the tires on their sidewalls. Scares me sometimes. But if you aren't into back road racing then Hankooks are alright.

What size are the tires? The reason i ask is you mention they roll in the corners. Low profile tires usually don't have that problem.

right now I am running 215, 65 R15. almost a 4 1/4 sidewall. I have been thinking of getting bigger tires myself and lowering the sidewalls about an inch, but then id have to get wheels and new tires. not so cost effective right now.

i had falkens on my acura. they worked great.

Wolfmaster579 wrote:

right now I am running 215, 65 R15. almost a 4 1/4 sidewall. I have been thinking of getting bigger tires myself and lowering the sidewalls about an inch, but then id have to get wheels and new tires. not so cost effective right now.

Well the size and not necessarily the brand is part of the problem with those tires on your car.

Winter tires have a very soft rubber compound, so they flex and bite in cold and wet weather. However, in warm weather, they just wear down like you are driving on sandpaper or something. You should NOT run winter tires all year round, or they just won't last. Period.

If your winters aren't TOO harsh, you can probably get away with a GOOD all season tire. I prefer to run winter tires in the winter, and summer tires the rest of the year. The handling/performance advantages of summer tires is phenomenal, and the way winter tires handle snow is also phenomenal. None of the 'compromise' tires are superb at either, although they are okay at it all...

Tirerack.com is a great place to read reviews on different tires, even if you don't buy from them.

Well I think I'm gonna go with the Firestone Winterforce tires with studs for the winter and then switch to a summer tire with some rims for the summer. I'll be getting more cash back from the college come spring so I'll be able to afford summer ones then. Now I just gotta find the right summer tire and rim combination. I don't want to look ghetto or too aftermarket, I want it to look stylish and something that would fit a Buick from the factory (I'm all about mods that keep the factory look).

And TireRack is by far the cheapest place even after factoring in shipping for tires that I've found.

My Traction TA's are a pretty decent all season radial for year round use, ran them for 3 yrs? Now I have summer rims too, with Yokohama VS4 performance all season radials. When it's time for new tires, I intend on going with performance summer tires on the KMC rims, and winter tires on the stock rims. I think my TA's will wear out first, with a bit less tread currently.

I've done zero research so far on a winter and a summer tire set, it'll probably be a couple years before I need to buy.

Rickw wrote:

Wolfmaster579 wrote:

right now I am running 215, 65 R15. almost a 4 1/4 sidewall. I have been thinking of getting bigger tires myself and lowering the sidewalls about an inch, but then id have to get wheels and new tires. not so cost effective right now.

Well the size and not necessarily the brand is part of the problem with those tires on your car.

Never said the brand was the problem. I know it is more the size. Although since the Falkens are made with a harder rubber they didnt roll near as much.

And as far as cheaper tires, you could always check out DiscountTiresDirect.com. I think that is the right URL. They advertise in a lot of major magazines like Motor Trend and Tuner. I dont know if they are reliable, I have never bought from them, but they are definitely cheaper then even Tirerack.com. The nice thing about Tirerack.com is that you can your tires to an affiliated garage and have them installed there.

conti's are fantastic. top of the line michelins also.the big meaty dunlops with the super flat tread for summer will blow your mind.some rubber tire compounds are designed to "warm up" and when they do they offer better grip. but that is race car territory. very few tire manufactures offer "transitional" compounds for the commercial market. u can buy them, but they would wear out in a couple thousand miles. expensive tires use stiffer sidewalls to keep the contact patch where it should allways be.it's more than just harder rubber in the sidewall. its a bunch of different weave technologies that you end up paying for. some tires offer so much performance that they can overwhelm the car not set up for them.the grip they offer would torque away at the soft stock bushings,the result would be premature wear of $2000 worth of tire and destruction of the bushings and in the fast sweepers put your car in a wall.

Hey guys, I just realized that my tires, which still look like they did when they were new, haven't been changed since I bought my car in December '07. I figure those will have to be changed soon, so what do you guys recommend as a good, inexpensive, quality model for the stock wheels? I have the 12 spoke alloys, just in case it makes a difference.

Your tires still look new but you are going to replace them?
Apology in advance if I misunderstood your post?

I recently had some Uniroyal Tiger Paws put on the wifes 99 Riv.
I have always had good results from BFG tires also.


Bert

UHP grabbers... 255/55/16's... they are titz..

You've got way too much time on your hands if your worrying about non-worn 2 year old tires.!!!!!!!
Get back to school work and forget about it.!!!!!

I'm just taking everything into consideration before it has to get done. The tires are 2 years old but only have a little more than 10,000 miles on them. I'm not sure if that's a lot or not, but there was no thread here about good replacement tires. So I got curious!

Best place to ask is your local tire shop m8. I used to be a tire guy years ago and I can tell you that Hankook makes a pretty damn good tire. But i have been out of that scene for quite sum time now, so I can only suggest to ask the professionals.

I like the BFG traction T/A's along with a few others on here. Mine normally last me about 1.5yrs or 15k miles for a set. They are suposed to be a 40k mile tire, but track use isnt factored into that.
A good touring tire will last 70k miles if you drive it on the highway and dont jump on the gas or brakes.

If all you want is a tire that will be quiet, last a long time and ride smooth then you want touring tires, which will run about $90-$110ea for the riv.
If you are looking for something with a little more cornering ability and traction is a problem then you should be looking at performance tires which will run about $120-$150ea. These will not last as long an may be more noisy at highway speeds.

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/brakes-suspension-f6/performance-tires-t1385.htm?highlight=tires

i just had a set of BFG Traction T/A's installed today.
H rated.
I'll report back after I have some time to evaluate.

Don't buy Goodyear Eagle LS's. I have heard of other people having issue's with these tires other than me.

BFG's are typically a great tire I have the Mud Terrain T/A's on my Off Roader. However BFG's are usually a pretty soft rubber so if you do alot of heavy foot off the line driving expect to be rotating them soon. But they are an awsome tire for handling I had them on My Camaro and they were nice that way but again durability issues.

I have the KUMHO ECSTA ASX's on my car. Got them from the Tire Rack for 71.00/tire. They are "V" Speed Rated. Had them about 2 years. No complaints.

You should have years to go before those tires have dry rot issues. Heck you aren't driving your car now anyway! Only 10,000 miles? Most tires go for 35K+ before they are bad enough to replace...

It's not so much the miles as it is the time. 6 years is when they say you should replace tires.

Yes, that is a general recommendation. But I have also found that certain tires will dry rot sooner than others.
I guess it depends more on the tire compound and not the manufacturer.
Also, where you live. Down south in the sun, exposed to UV, all the time doesn't help.
That's why I had cover's for my tires/wheels on my Motor home down there. Didn't put enough miles on to justify changing tires often

Rickw wrote:

Yes, that is a general recommendation. But I have also found that certain tires will dry rot sooner than others.
I guess it depends more on the tire compound and not the manufacturer.

Yup, the Michelins on my car when I bought it had fine cracks in the sidewall. They were about 6 years old at the time.