And the Tires? (Part 2)

"Ryanator122" (hawkeye122)
07/13/2014 at 23:09 • Filed to: None

"It's easy! You just go to Les Schwab and buy the cheapest tires with more than 50k miles worth of coverage!" Yeah, I don't think so. Tire buying is something I know nothing about, and by the end of this, I want to have written a "How-to" guide on tire buying.

When I discovered some rather alarming blocking, blistering, and shoulder wear on the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus' which came on my used Mazda 6s, I decided to begin snooping about for some tires.

I feel that my parents "adequately" prepared me for "The real world" in most cases. However, as evidenced by the Nankang's (Nankang is Korean for "Poor in every condition, especially Autocross) my old Camry had been blessed with, they clearly knew or cared very little about tires. So, armed with knowledge from you guys and some cursory reading of other blogs and forums, I'm setting out to make a well-informed tire purchase.

I figured the most important part of my journey would be determining what TYPE of tire I needed/wanted. Grand Touring? Off-Road? Summer? All-season? Snow? Seeing as my city is 2nd in the country for "Number of days over 100 degrees" and it only snows once every 2 or 3 years, I think I can get away with Summer or All-Season tires year-round.

Right, that's settled, now I'm looking at BRAND. We've always had off-brand tires on our family cars, but I could really feel the difference in running these Michelins. Universally, I've heard that the off-brand or Korean tires are a joke, so I've made a bit of a short-list of what I'm looking at-

-Michelin

-Bridgestone/Firestone

-Dunlop/GoodYear

-Contenintal

-Pirelli

And some others I'd like input on

-Toyo

-BF Goodrich

-Falken

-Cooper

-Hankook

Being a racing fan, I'm exposed to a fair bit of PR, which I'm trying to keep out of my head.

I can get a Continental ContiProContact for $133.96 each from Sears, where I get a 10% employee discount, which would put the price closer to $120 per tire. Any experience with these? According to TireRack, they dont wear very well, and have garnered a 4.9/10 in "Would buy again"

Sears also carries the Falken Azenis PT-722; their All-season performance option, for $132.96. Sadly, TireRack doesn't carry Falken, so I can't see any meaningful reviews for the tire.

Big O Tires offers a Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 for $163.88, but I would get some sort of "Fleet Rate", an untold discount between 5-20%. This tire has a 45,000 mile warranty, and has much better scores across the board when compared to the Continental.

Also from Big O I can purchase a Michelin Primacy MXM4 for $154.98. IT has a 55,000 mile warranty, and probably carries the benefits that a Grand Touring tire would carry over the more performance-oriented tire; presumably better MPGs and quieter ride at the expense of lower dry grip, but better grip in the rain and snow. These would likely carry a higher fleet discount as well.

The remaining tires listed on Tire Rack weren't available in my size (215 45/50 17) or rated rather poorly (Bridgestone, BF Goodrich)

Ideas? Suggestions? Thanks!

DISCUSSION (14)

JGrabowMSt > Ryanator122
07/13/2014 at 23:22

Firestone Firehawk Wideoval AS. I just got a set for my wagon. I was talking to other people who have the same tire, and they're only just beginning to see noticeable treadwear at 40k miles. I saw someone who had a set on his trans am with what I think was a 305 swapped in. He beats the shit out of his car, and the tires honestly don't show it. I thought he recently got them, but they've been the victim of many a 'one-wheel-peel."

They come in your size too.

Ryanator122 > JGrabowMSt
07/13/2014 at 23:26

They're only $106 on Tire Rack as well. Good call man, thanks! I'll see if I can find them in town. Tire Rack stops being competitive when you factor in the shipping cost..

Decay buys too many beaters > Ryanator122
07/13/2014 at 23:27

You say you autocross? Most of them will not last long. I only have experience with the Primacy tires and they lasted 3 track days and 4 autocrosses before I hit wear bars. Best choice from your list imho is the pilot or falken. Given your climate, you might consider running a summer year round I've had great luck with both the pilot super sport and Yokohama Advan AD08s (my current favorite track tire). All season is generally referred to as "no season" by people who value tire performance.

Agrajag > Ryanator122
07/13/2014 at 23:30

I had the Conti's on two different cars and they sucked ass both times. Right now I have Goodyear Eagle F1's(all-season) on my GTI, which replaced Eagle GT's. The GT's were a marked improvement over the Conti's and the F1's are a noticeable improvement over the GT's.

Ryanator122 > Decay buys too many beaters
07/13/2014 at 23:32

I don't autocross my Mazda. The rear engine mount really needs replacing, and I have doubts about the slushbox holding up at nearly 150k miles. The Camry was a manual and literally would not die, so I drove the crap out of it at autocross just for kicks.

Next time I consider doing so, I'll have a dedicated set of tires for it. I wore through those Nankangs in about 15 thousand miles... The tire shop was none too pleased when I put in the warranty claim.

Would the summer tires wear more or less than the All-Seasons? It does rain a fair bit in the winter (Enough that a friend with R888's on his "Street Legal Spec Mustang" begged us to go change his wheels back during lunch in High School before the rain came) but I'm sure a FWD car could handle it? It does eat front tires pretty quickly though.

Ryanator122 > Agrajag
07/13/2014 at 23:33

How are they doing, wear-wise?

JGrabowMSt > Ryanator122
07/13/2014 at 23:35

I picked mine up and I think I got free shipping. I paid $470, and have a $70 MIR that goes with it.

I was almost going to get some Bridgestone tire that my dad's favorite tire place recommended, but the firehawks were the same price, and will last me a lot longer, and have a really deep tread.

I haven't driven it in the rain yet, but I've been told they're really good in super wet weather.

Decay buys too many beaters > Ryanator122
07/13/2014 at 23:39

Make sure you are looking at the treadwear rating. Tires with similar treadwear ratings will wear at similar rates. Summer tires are just as good if not better at handling water than all season, and you only need to take off summers when the temperature drops below about 45. As for the FWD thing, just make sure you religiously rotate your tires.

80CobraKid > Ryanator122
07/13/2014 at 23:42

You're missing an important enthusiast brand:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Nitto Invo is one of THE best summer DD tires I've ever felt. NT555s are cheaper and do fairly well. NT05s are a heavy performance tire, just barely drawing a street-legal line. NT01s are full-blown AX/road course tires.

For sure look into them if you can afford them. They really aren't that expensive for what you get. Tire Rack doesn't sell them, but Discount Tire does, and can be ordered online at discounttiredirect.com

Agrajag > Ryanator122
07/13/2014 at 23:47

I don't think I have 3k miles on them yet, so I couldn't give you a good answer. Add the fact my cars been at the dealer over a month waiting for a new engine....

I will say the GT's wore very evenly and were holding up quite well until I destroyed one on a pothole. They were superseded by the F1's so I went with them as a replacement. They do however have a low mileage warranty being a high performance all-season and a higher price tag. Expect to pay between $180-$200 each.

Mike > Ryanator122
07/13/2014 at 23:57

I'd throw Yokohama into the mix as well. I don't know exactly what they'd have for your Camry, but I've always had good luck with them.

Ryanator122 > Mike
07/14/2014 at 00:33

The Camry is dead, I'm looking for tires on my Mazda. Will do though

03mach1 - Now has a Fiesta ST > Ryanator122
07/14/2014 at 01:18

I have A/S 3's. So far I've been very happy, but haven't had them long enough to tell you how they wear. I definitely would recommend then though. Like someone said, throw in Yokohama. My friend raved about the S4's on his Cobra.

Mike > Ryanator122
07/14/2014 at 09:26

I don't remember exactly what tyre of I have on my Civic, but my Yokohama all-seasons do rather well with Michigan roads. Which says a lot really, because it means they'll handle the wet, snow, dirt, and our infamously bad potholes all with relative ease.

I don't know much about tyres outside of my rather anecdotal personal experience, but I hope this can be of some help, at least.