Need new tires - Any recommendations ??

[Van]

Im not sure how far out Bell Tire has expanded but when I worked for them they had went as far east as Cleveland and since the late 90's have about tripled the amount of stores they have. They dont charge for mounting, or balancing of new tires and will do balance and rotations free for existing customers. If you were in the Ann Arbor Michigan area then I would have recommended you to the shop on Carpenter road for the fastest service you will ever find, from the time your car is pulled in till its taken out we could put four new tires on your car including balanced in four minutes, balance and a rotate at a minute 50, its a store that set sales records that no other store of the same size and service has beaten.

 

[bhelms]

Bogy - I agree with the Sears part. Over the years I have bought several sets for 3 or 4 different vehicles from them. I like their no-cost flat repair (includes the balance if you insist on it - remember - "Satisfaction Guaranteed" !!) and for about $10 more per tire IIRC you can get their "no fault" any hazard free replacement guarantee. That paid-off for me twice!

To all - Thanks, Best Regards, and keep the rubber side down...!

 

[Bogy]

Bogy - I agree with the Sears part. Over the years I have bought several sets for 3 or 4 different vehicles from them. I like their no-cost flat repair (includes the balance if you insist on it - remember - "Satisfaction Guaranteed" !!) and for about $10 more per tire IIRC you can get their "no fault" any hazard free replacement guarantee. That paid-off for me twice!

To all - Thanks, Best Regards, and keep the rubber side down...!

Yep, I've had a couple of tires replaced that they took some big chunks of metal out of.

 

[Foxbat]

I use the Tire Rack exclusively for all my tire and wheel needs, but then, I'm spoiled by living in the same city as their main warehouse. Turns out my son's kindergarten teacher was the Tire Rack owner's granddaughter-in-law (is there such a thing?)

If you live in an area that experiences winter and lots of snow, I wholeheartedly recommend a set of Blizzaks for the winter driving. I have been using winter tires and steel wheels on my cars for the last 25 years (ever since my Audi Coupe and its Goodyear NCTs experienced 1" of snow and I slid off in my girlfriend's driveway, slicing a tire on the galvenized tube under the driveway). People may way great things about all season tires, but when you need snow tires, they are the no-compromise solution. The difference between stopping in 150' versus 200' is the difference between avoiding an accident and being the cause of one.

Likewise, in the warmer months, I like an aggressive tread that is designed to evacuate water when it's encountered. I had been buying Firestone Firehawk SP50s recently (the only one here, I guess!) but they were discountinued the last time I went shopping for tires. I've got Firehawk Wide Ovals now, and I feel they are not as good a tire as the SP50s were before. I'll probably get a new car before I need tires again, so I'll not be shopping tires for a few more years.

Having typed all that above, one of my friends swears by his Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds. He has had his for at least a year now, driving in show, rain, and dry, and he likes the way they handle.

 

[navychop]

"...The difference between stopping in 150' versus 200' is the difference between avoiding an accident and being the cause of one...."

In that situation, don't you wonder about the brakes and tires- of they guy behind you?

 

[Foxbat]

"...The difference between stopping in 150' versus 200' is the difference between avoiding an accident and being the cause of one...."

In that situation, don't you wonder about the brakes and tires- of they guy behind you?

In my state, it's their fault for not stopping in time, not my fault for being able to stop shorter...

Besides, if you ever saw my driveway, you'd know why I need all the help I can get to drive up it in the winter

 

[navychop]

I think that's universal. I just wonder about them hitting me. I've been rear ended twice since moving near DC.

 

[bhelms]

...If you live in an area that experiences winter and lots of snow, I wholeheartedly recommend a set of Blizzaks for the winter driving. ....

Tks, Foxbat. Per the link I checked Blizzaks have NO treadlife warranty. What was your experience? Given my 2/2 bad Bridgestone OEM tire experiences with short life I'd be very leary about running into that again unless there is some experience-based evidence to the contrary. (I didn't have time to read all the personal reviews. The ones I did read were at 25K or less and no one commented on the life.)

If it weren't for the first and last 0.3 mi. I drive every day I wouldn't own 4WD/AWD vehicles, but that gives you some idea of the hassles I have in the winters. I need all the help I can get during those months. Perhaps I should consider two different sets of wheels/tires and swap them seasonally. I used to do that with a couple of my RWD cars many years ago, before "all season" tires became common.

Tks again and BRgds to all...

 

[Foxbat]

bhelms,, I usually get at least three-four winters out of the Blizzaks before I buy a new set. There is a used tire dealer in my area who buys my old set for $50-60 which offsets the cost of the new Blizzaks. The multicel makeup of the Blizzaks means the really grippy tread material wears out in 10-15K miles which is one of the reasons Bridgestone doesn't do tread-life warranties.

If I had a lift in my garage, I'd be swapping between my summer tires and my Blizzaks as weather & road conditions changed since I feel like I'm wearing them out on dry pavement.

 

[truckracer]

Put nitto 555R extreme drag radials on it-LOL , that's what I run on the back.

No really, on my daily drivers, I usually just runs some less than name brand tires that have a treadwear rating of 400 or better.

Tires that wear longer generally get worse traction.

Tires that wear less usually grip better because of the softer rubber compound

My drag radials will probably be shot by 15000 miles due to their softness.

It's always a trade off with tires.

On your subaru, you may want something middle of the road with traction A, temperature B, treadwear 400 around there somewhere.

 

[bhelms]

Tks, truckracer. I do understand the traction/tread life tradeoff. The sad thing about the Protenzas is that altho' I don't know the actual ratings, they sucked in both categories per my experience. (I suppose I can get the numbers off the tires, maybe when it warms-up a bit. Colder than a "sonny beach" here right now !!) I remember reading articles/reviews on the '05 Outback turbo and the major shortcoming reported by the reviewers was the stock tires! 250hp / 250 lbs-ft of torque tended to shred them...!

 

[Bogy]

When I used to have rwd cars, I ran 4 snow tires on each vehicle. In fact, back when I lived in South Dakota, where they don't put any salt or chemicals on the highways, I used to run studded tires on all 4 corners. It was always a gamble, when to put them on, and when to take them off. Running tires that are good in snow/ice on dry pavement is a great way to wear them out quick.

Now that I drive fwd cars, I don't bother any more. When I lived in St. Louis we lived on top of the second highest piece of ground in the County. In about .3 miles our elevation rose about 300 feet. The only time I had trouble getting up the hill with my fwd Taurus with all season tires was when a storm came up quickly. I had picked up the 3 kids from school, with their backpacks of course, and then ran by the supermarket to stock up on the way home. I could not get up the hill, at least not until I sent the kids up on foot, and then shifted everything I could from the trunk to the passenger seat. Shifting the weight from the back of the car to the middle/front did the trick. Went right up.

 

[truckracer]

That happened to me one time when my mom's daily driver ford tempo would not climb and had to put the rear passengers out.

Funny thing was, I remember mom's tempo had an open differential in the front and would only spin one front tire at a time. It was not "posi-trac".

Really surprised me. I wonder if the new FWD cars are posi trac or they still just pull on one front tire or the other.

 

[Foxbat]

Truckracer, are you waiting for the new G8, or are you still happy with your GTO? My thread with the Chicago Auto Show has a few pictures of the G8 concept and the Pub members can download the full resolution pictures if you like.

 

[Bogy]

That happened to me one time when my mom's daily driver ford tempo would not climb and had to put the rear passengers out.

Funny thing was, I remember mom's tempo had an open differential in the front and would only spin one front tire at a time. It was not "posi-trac".

Really surprised me. I wonder if the new FWD cars are posi trac or they still just pull on one front tire or the other.

FWD is not "posi-trac" by default. My 2006 Fusion has "traction-control", which is just another name for it. I can turn it off if I want. The problem with too much weight in the back end of a front wheel drive vehicle is that it takes weight off the front end.

 

[bhelms]

Finally got the new tires !!

It has been a while (much longer than I intended!) since this thread and my ultimate purchase this week. I thought I would put some closure on it from my perspective, but comments are invited! I also wanted to see those short-lived Protenzas at least give me 40K, and I finally reached that in mid July.

I continued to look around and did some web shopping since my last post, based largely on the comments in this thread. I never bought tires on line before, but I was ready to try it since so many others here seemed to have such good luck.

When I was finally ready to bite I had decided on the Michelin HydroEdge. I was placing my order at Tire Rack (would have been about $618 tot. including the shipping and road hazard protection) and the guy stopped me. "That's a lower speed rating and whoever installs them for you might refuse to install a lower rating! Better ask first."

So I called my Subie dealer (I was planning to use them because I had coupons that would cover most of the installation cost there) and he said "No problem with the lower speed rating, but have you considered the lower light snow traction rating of the Michelins vs. the Goodyear ComforTreds?" which was the other brand I was seriously considering earlier. I looked at the ratings again and he was onto something! The Michs were rated at 7.8 and the GY CTs at 7.6, but the top-rated GY TripleTreds were 8.8 in that category. Overall the HEs and the TTs were about the same, but the TTs were superior in all the winter categories and also in the ride comfort. The TTs were top rated and the HEs second. (The CTs were in at 4th.) It also seemed that the consumer feedback letters were more positive about the TTs. Some of the HE comments were only luke-warm. The HEs had a 90K warranty, and the TTs 80K.

At Tire Rack the price difference was only $6 more per tire for the TTs, so I called them right back. Guess what? Out of stock until mid Sept. earliest and I needed them for my annual inspection that was up in 2 weeks. Sorry - no sale at TR. I called my local GY dealer and he said he could have them overnight but they were $186 ea. and that did not include the road hazard protection or tax.

So I ended-up with Discount Tires. One 5-minute call and the deal was done! That was Mon. Now on Thur. they are here and mounted! I paid DT a total of $659 but they have a $40 rebate through them only, so I will end up paying only $1 more than through TR. The dealer could take me today for the tires and inspection (whoo-haahhh!) and that cost me another $284 (but $200 paid by coupons). His service included mounting, balancing, and 4-wheel alignment all for about $175 of that total.

I drove just 2.5 miles from my dealer back to work, but boy are those tires QUIET compared to the Bridgestones I just junked. I felt a bit of "harshness" (as was expected from the ratings and customer feedback letters) but that could be due to the pressure, which I will check tomorrow AM.

So far, so good! I think I am going to like the Goodyear TripleTreds...!

 

[Bogy]

I have had extremely good luck with the Triple Treads. I had a set on the car I drove, and when I traded it in I switched them to the car my daughter drives (both 98 Taurus's). Not sure how many miles total are on them now, but probably 60,000, and they still look good. While my daughter was driving her mother's car she drove over something that put a big hole in one tire, so we had a set put on the '01 Taurus. She is very happy with how much quieter they are than the previous set, which I believe was another set of Goodyears, but I don't remember which ones. The TT handles great on dry roads, but they are also great when it is wet, and very good in the snow.

I needed a new set of tires for my '06 Fusion. Soon after I wrote my first post in this thread I realized the Michelin OE tires mounted on the rear were shot at about 24,000 miles. Edges were gone. My dealer checked out the suspension etc., and could find no reason why this should have happened. Michelin wouldn't do anything for me, they say that is acceptable mileage for this tire. My dealer talked Ford into giving me a break on replacements, because of all the Fords I have bought over the years. The car now has 32,000, and the remaining originals need to be replaced. I have bought a number of Michelins over the years, but I now have a set of Goodyear F1 All Season tires sitting at my dealer scheduled to be mounted on Monday. These are brand new tires, that the Goodyear dealers don't even have in stock yet. I got them though Tire Rack. With handling and hazard warranty they were still cheaper than having a Goodyear dealer order them. I would have put a set of Triple Treads on the Fusion, but my SEL takes a 205/50-17, which is a size Goodyear does not make the TT in. There are actually very few tires I have to choose from. The F1 AS has a tread very similar to the TT. The treadwear is 420, instead of 780, and they don't warranty the treadlife because they are an ultra performance tire. I'm looking forward to next week.

 

[fhsucade07]

This might not be a popular suggestion, but I have had more luck with Cooper tires than anything else. My '01 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab has literally eat up everything else -- even with a rotation every 5,000 miles. These Cooper tires still look "good as new" and they have about 35,000 miles on them.

Cade

 

[Bob Haller]

Just a few thoughts. I avoid the long life 80K warranty tires, the trade off for long life has been less traction. burned once, not again. besides if the vehicle gets out of alinement no warranty will help.

I avoid with a skull and cross bones anything bridgestone firestone. they screwed their customers to save some money and knew people would die. such companies deserve to die themselves for such behavior as a lesson to others.

hey we get caught covering up this bad news get caught were all out of work...... and jail time?

lets take the profit hit its way better than the alternative........

these days I buy tires at wall mart, mid priced and smile at the savings.

 

[Bogy]

Bob, the obvious conclusion to draw is that an 80,000 mile tire must be making a tradeoff on handling. All I can say is that in my experience, with up to five vehicles on the road over the past 37 years, racking up to and over 100,000 miles a year some years, I have never experienced an all season tire that was any better than the Goodyear Triple Treads. That includes in snow and on ice. I said earlier, I have in the past run dedicated snow tires, sometimes studded. Those were better. But not much.