Budget tire comparo

"Desu-San-Desu" (Desu-San-Desu)
11/03/2013 at 19:21 • Filed to: None

Hey guys, currently shopping for some tires for Herr Quattro and I've narrowed it down to 3 choices, listed below. My criteria were for a performance all-season (I can only afford one set of tires for the foreseeable future) with good wet and dry performance and the ability to not be completely awful if S.C. somehow sees some winter weather this year. The tires on the Audi are pretty much worn worthless at this point so I'll be getting these tires in the next week or so. Tire size is 205/50/15.

Oh, and due to budgetary reasons, they need to be less than $80 apiece, hence the following candidates:

1) !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $72

2) !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $78

3) !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $77

So, which tire does Oppo recommend?

(Note: Not gonna lie, the Kumho has quite possibly the coolest tread pattern I've ever seen, but not enough to be a factor in my decision.)

DISCUSSION (17)

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 19:23

I've heard good things about all of them, but I might go the Hankook way.

POD > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 19:31

I've had good luck with Kumho in the past on my previous car and my wifes current car. That said, looking at the tread pattern of the three, I'd take the Hankook.

Desu-San-Desu > POD
11/03/2013 at 19:34

Judging by the tread patterns, I see the Hankook having the best wet weather performance, the Falken having the best braking, and the Kumho kind of being somewhere in between. Considering S.C. gets insane amounts of rain, I'm kind of leaning toward the Hankook too...

POD > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 19:40

The Kuhmo could surprise you though. No "aquatrack" channel, but a nice inner and outer sidewall pattern and and good V tread. Still, I'd take the Hankook.

Desu-San-Desu > POD
11/03/2013 at 19:42

Yeah, the Hankook's full-width horizontal siping makes me feel a bit more comfortable at the concept of us getting a day or two a snow this year.

Tom McParland > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 19:44

I run the Khumo ASXs on my Mazda and have been very surprised by their performance.

Greenmobile Supremo Commando, BRZ Extrordinare > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 19:52

+1 for the Hankooks here.

POD > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 19:54

True. I don't think any of the three will do much good in snow, but the hankook may do a margin better than the others.

hike > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 19:59

I don't know about the other two, but I have Hankook Ventus tires on my G35 and they have performed very well. I have about 35000 miles on them and they have probably 5000 miles left on them, though i was admittedly lazy with tire rotations. They're only the second set of tires on the car and I didn't get a ton of time with the car when it had Bridgestones, but the tires wore well, the are pretty good in rain and dry, are pretty quiet, and are plenty durable. No punctures or bubbles or anything.

Justino6969 > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 21:01

Whatever you do, don't get the Falkens. They are very soft with not much grip to compensate the absurdly short life.

MooseKnuckles > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 21:04

Price out Conti DWS tires. If you haven't already and excluded them for price reasons, that is.

Desu-San-Desu > MooseKnuckles
11/03/2013 at 21:08

Not available in my tire size.

MooseKnuckles > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 21:12

Aw dang. I love those tires for all seasons

MooseKnuckles > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 21:13

Kinja'd!!!

I see what they've done

Kinja'd!!!

DocWalt > Justino6969
11/03/2013 at 21:47

Hmm. I've noticed the exact opposite. My ZE-512s were garbage in every aspect, but the ZE-912s are fantastic. More grip than stock FR-S/BRZ tires in a narrower width (not saying much, to be fair) and they're now over 7k miles (maybe closer to 8k actually) with 5 autocross events on them and I'm just hitting halfway through the tread wear now. I'm very happy with them.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Desu-San-Desu
11/03/2013 at 21:56

I used to have the Falkens on my car. Road noise was a bit loud but the steering feel was good, as was the grip. They were good in the wet, but not the snow. I don't know how many miles they had when I replaced them, as they came with the car, but when I got the car the tread was at least half gone and I still I put just over 10k on e'm

ColoradoTaco > Tom McParland
11/04/2013 at 09:23

I've been running these on my S4 for Spring/Summer/Fall not bad for the price at all