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Read First: Selecting the Best Tires for YOU

45K views 31 replies 21 participants last post by  sailor 
#1 ·
First, there is no such thing as the best tire for any particular vehicle.

The best tire is based on the driving habits of the DRIVER.

That said, there are a couple of questions you need to ask yourself:

1. How aggresive a driver are you? (BE HONEST)

2. In what sort of application are you driving? (Commuter vehicle, weekend toy, occasional track/AX use)

3. What sort of environmental conditions play a role? (Weather? Lots of snow and ice? Dry conditions? Mix?)

General Information:

When considering the above questions keep these things in mind:

Tire technology has progressed significantly over the last few years. More and more "all season" tires have come into the market. Be careful with your consideration of this class of tire.

1. The higher the speed rating of a tire is NOT indicative of how well a tire handles. It is not necessarily an indicator of superior handling.

The speed rating is a measure of how well a tire dissipates heat throughout the carcass/construction and across the tread surface.

The DOT requires that ALL new cars come equipped from the factory with a tire that meets the advertised capability of the vehicle. Simply stated, if the car is capable of XX speed, then the tire mated to the vehicle must be able to accomodate the speed. This is the reason for high speed ratings on tires for performance cars. It doesn't mean that everyone who owns them will use the car at the limit of the vehicle's capability.

The problem that a lot of us face is that we are restricted to lower aspect ratios (sidewall height- 215/45/ ? R17) which limits selections. Usually the H through Z rated tires. Identical brand/model tires with differing speed ratings handle virtually the same.

So, how often do you do 149 MPH + in a car that is drag or electronically limited to 134 MPH or lower?

The correct answer is NEVER in a street application.

So, opt for the lower speed rating and save some cash.

2. Tread wear ratings.

There is no standard for tread wear ratings or determination. These vary by manufacturer and are internal comparisons to their product offerings. This is NOT an indicator of how long a tire will last.

For example, a Goodyear tire with a tread wear rating of 20 (hypothetical) will not necessarily wear out faster than a Pirelli tire with a rating of 100 (hypothetical). Regardless of what a salesperson may tell you, it is not an accurate comparision if you are basing your selection solely on tread wear rating. Don't be fooled by this during your selection process.

3. Performance vs. longevity trade - offs.

If you are looking for a tire that has durability, then steer clear of the higher speed rated tires or "ultra performance" categories. Because of the higher speed rating, the rubber compound is softer (not stickier) and does not last as long. The grip is better - when compared to an all season, but that has more to do with overall tire design vs. rubber compound.

Conversely, lower speed rated tires are more durable because of harder rubber compounds and typically handle better in inclement weather because they are more resistant to fluctuations in temperature. They do not handle as well in in dry conditions when compared to a performance tire.

Performance and "ultra-performance" tires will leave you in awe of their grip, but leave you frustrated at how quickly they wear out. Add to that the typically underwhelming performance in adverse conditions such as rain or snow. These are, for the most part, dry weather application tires.

4. Budget.

Tires are not something to be considered lightly. Along with brakes, they are your best investment for safety. Buy the best that you can afford.

5. Care and Feeding.

Remember too that the key to getting the most enjoyment and use of your tires is proper care and rotation.

As a general rule, rotations should be done every 6,000 miles. A good way to remember is every other oil change (conventional oil).

Balancing should be done at a minimum of once per year or as needed if vibration presents itself.

_______

When you answer the questions above and balance them against the information above, it will narrow your selection process. Chances are that you will be faced with making a decision between 4 or 5 tire manufacturers that all offer similar tires instead of 20-30.

They key is purchasing the tire that best meets YOUR NEEDS!!! [thumb]
 
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#2 ·
WOW thanks for writing that up, the last comment about YOUR NEEDS is so true, whenever anyone asks "which tire" the first thing i ask is how they drive. its soooooo important in the decision.

I somewhat disagree with the rotation interval. I will now do every 3000 because of what happened to my last set (and therefore my rear shocks). This is personal preference I suppose. 6000 is more of an upper limit.
 
#3 ·
Good write up :).

Some of the things I looked for when I bought mine are definitely up there.

Another one, perhaps more for long distance drivers, is noise. This vaires from tyre to tyre and if you happen to get the wrong set and do a lot of driving it can be annoying as hell. Trust me :).
 
#7 ·
Great post! I learned a lot here! I am off tody to get tires now and I was looking at the U.H.P. types thinking well thats what I need, I do drive Like I am on fire, but I live I the snow belt and the wfe drives this car as well, First and formost I want her and the kids to be safe! Thank you for this info and advice!!
 
#8 ·
one tire that i love and have on both winter and summer rims are the bfgoodrich super sport all season. awsome tread and grip and they come in most sizes check em out. working at bj's tire center ive put them on alot of diff cars ranging from a srt4 to a mercedes slk 550 amg
 
#13 ·
good advise,while speed ratings are very misrepresented, one thing the do is improve handling and braking simply with less tire flex! their construction is so good that it takes higher speeds to cause them to become damaged. when downgrading you will most likely see edge wear,do to lower quality shoulder edges. you will have the alignment checked and find out nothings wrong! theirs not ,wrong application. use the min stock rating or improve upper ratings. ford did on zx3 to svt.
 
#14 ·
Here is a method to find the best ALL SEASON tires for the $ you spend.....

..............................

I basically go to….

http://www.tirerack.com/

I use tirerack.com because there is an extensive number of reviews and some tests on various tires.

No need to purchase the tires here…but they do have good prices.

I usually have decided what size tire I want to buy…usually maybe 2% to 3% over sized for better mpg. I use this page to calculate what size I want to look for and what the % difference will be from the original tires:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/tireinfo4calc.html

How to SEARCH for a good tire:

* Go to tirerack.com using the link above

* I SEARCH for tires by TIRE SIZE…..and I usually am searching for ALL-SEASON tires….so I CHECK those various boxes that pertain to these type tires.

* After the search…I then rank the tires by PRICE...low to high.

* I then CHECK the first so many tires…maybe 4-5 of the lowest priced….then click COMPARE.

* Then on the left in the Customer Survey area I look at SNOW TRACTION….followed by WET TRACTION…and DRY TRACTION…looking for higher numbers.

Then considering price, traction, and tread wear…I carefully go through the REVIEWS, SURVEYS, and any TESTS for any tire that looks good.

Not everyone is going to like a certain tire….but I can usually tell from the majority of the reviews what the tire is probably going to be like to own.

My “THEORY” as far as Low Rolling Resistance tires is that YES…the OEMs put LRR tires on their new cars…but if you read some of the reviews…a lot of people can’t wait to get them off of their cars…usually due to poor traction. Eventually they might come up with good LRR tires though.

The method I use finds good high traction tires that I can then put enough PSI in to have lower rolling resistance along with good traction year around….and I usually get a good deal at the same time.

The PSI in the glove box (or where-ever) is only a start…after market tires are sometimes made in a much different way…I usually test various pressures…going with as high a PSI that I can and still have good cornering and traction.

I usually end up 4-5 lbs under the sidewall max pressure. If one end of the car is lighter in weight…best to keep that axle a couple of lbs below the heavier end?

Bottom line for me is finding the best tire for the price…and the best traction and handling the tires are capable of…cause you never know when you’re going to need it.

You can spend almost 2Xs as much for the same size tire…and get less tire for your efforts in some cases.

Note: You should use your own judgment if applying any of these ideas or methods...as they are only my opinions....not facts.
 
#15 ·
frednumber15, I disagree with one of the sources you rely on...."customer reviews/surveys." While better than nothing I suppose, I rarely rely on these for the following reasons: 1) people are often very (overly) defensive of their purchases, 2) most are comparing the new tire to a worn out old tire so naturally the new one will usually seem head and heals better, and 3) very few people get to do head to head tire comparisons to "fairly" rate a tire. When I look at these surveys I will normally look at the bad reviews rather than the positive ones. Most bad reviews seem to be a little more unbiased.

I do agree that there is a lot of very good info on the Tirerack site and I do rely heavily on "their" testing results when shopping for a tire.
 
#16 ·
Some of the bad reviews are by people who just go by the PSI sticker and don't realize that some non-OEM tires require more air. I generally pay most attention to the people who have run the tires a good many miles.

The tirerack tests don't usually cover all the tires they sell.

I'm mostly interested in all season tires...the same method with modifications could be used for summer performance tires.

But every body does it differently......
 
#20 ·
Hello. I have read your post but have a question. Turns out my 2001 focus with 200500+ miles, which I have had 3 weeks now, has a rear driver side tire with the steel belting shifted. I need tires in an emergency but am on a very tight budget. Should I get 2 expensive tires or should I just buy all 4 cheaper ones? I am seriously considering the set of 4 PRIMEWELL Valera Sport AS tires with 40,000 mileage warranty.
 
#22 ·
Emergency & no $ = 1 used replacement.

Otherwise the first question would be if there are two good ones on the car you can match with a pair of similar tires.

Off brand tires are generally only a bargain if you know the mfr.. A decent Tire shop would know, or likely not carry it.

4 cheap unknown & one has a problem? Then you're right back to the current question when you can't get warranty on the new one. There are many inexpensive tires avail. that are "off brand" from major manufacturers, and less expensive ones that DO carry a known brand name even if it's not one of the largest.

For PRIMEWELL tires, google is your friend.

They're made by Giti in Shanghai China and imported/sold by Firestone. Should be an "OK" set of tires, and you know who's backing them up for any problems.
 
#24 ·
OK I am now looking into buying 2 Continental Extreme Contact DWS for my focus. I will buy 2 now and replace the other 2 in a couple weeks.

Had the front shocks replaced last week and will need to replace the back ones as well in the very near future. But the tire is the most worrisome. I was advised to replace the 2 back ones at the same time by many persons.

The bad tire is a cooper tire so I will definitely not get those. My car has 2 cooper tires, 1 champion tire and 1 kumho tire.

I was advised that Ultra High All Seasons tires are the best to invest in and since I live in Chicago, I want tires that will work in the snow as well as the dry weather. I like the reviews for the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. What does everyone think? I am looking into getting them from discount tires.

Warranty 50,000 Miles
Tread wear 540
Traction A
Temperature A
Load Range SL
Speed Rating W
 
#28 ·
Well to be honest I don't notice the noise much. However, I still have the other two tires to replace so if there is noise, I wouldn't be able to tell if its the new ones or the old ones.

However, I can tell you that Discount Tires is owned by a single owner and they have over 9000 in the country (true story as told by Adrian, the tire guy at Discount Tires). So if you happen to get the road hazard warranty, and you are pretty much anywhere in the country, you can get your tire repaired or replaced for free.
 
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