Tire Shopping and need some help...

"Frosted" (frostedbuns)
02/22/2015 at 11:55 • Filed to: None

So I'm looking for tires for my wheels for spring. Nothing special or fancy, just a set of all-seasons/a tire that'd work in the rain. Discount tires has some !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for cheap which have some favorable reviews and some not so good reviews. I drive mostly around town with highway driving about twice a week. Anyone here ever try those GT Radials? Or know of another tire available for a similar price? Normally I get a set of (flame suit ready) lightly used used tires (80-90% tread left) from a local tire shop that hooks me up or cheap, but I'd like to get a set of new tires this time. Would it be worth getting new budget tires like that or would I be better off looking for maybe a higher quality used tire again?

(Need a 205/45/17)

DISCUSSION (24)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:02

Don't do what I do and buy the cheapest tyres available. They are terrible.

Milky > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:05

Holy shit thats cheap. Im about to drop $150 each for the front tires and $200 each for the rears.

Thats all the input I got.

jkm7680 > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:06

Cheap tires are shittastic.

Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:07

If you want a tire that works in the rain DON'T get an all season. Unless you're planning on using them in the snow summertires are superior to all seasons in every way.

Continental SportContact 5 are very good from what I read about them. No idea if you can get them in your area and size tho.

Frosted > Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders
02/22/2015 at 12:12

I've always had just some decent all seasons and never had any issues. Continentals roll into that used tire shop pretty often, there's a chance that they could get a set, dunno about my size though.

Frosted > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
02/22/2015 at 12:13

Are they terrible for just driving around town though?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:15

Don't really notice the difference in town, other than feeling it pushing wide if you corner a little too fast. Given they're only 155 width tyres that might happen either way though...

gas head > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
02/22/2015 at 12:15

Cheap tires do suck. Not worth the $ unless selling the car right away.

Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:16

I don't get why all season tires are so common in the US :o

Over here in Germany the only cars that use all seasons are small eco cars who don't drive enough to justify 2 sets of tires. You can hardly get all seasons in dimensions over 225 around here. Dry and wet handling/stopping on all seasons is horrible compared to decent summer tires. People call them No Season Tires for a reason :D

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > gas head
02/22/2015 at 12:17

Well on an econobox for town and a little motorway driving (like mine) the difference isn't huge. It understeers really badly on back roads though.

Frosted > Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders
02/22/2015 at 12:20

I'm not sure why they're common here either (most people drive bigger cars) but I'm in a Cube which is never going fast enough to warrant summer tires. This winter is the first time I've ever thought a set of snow tires would be handy, though even that wouldn't help much with all the ice on the roads.

Frosted > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
02/22/2015 at 12:24

Yea 95% of my driving is around town. Occasionally I'll go for a late night blast on an empty highway but it's a cube so even then I'm not going uber fast. If I was planning a track day or two, I wouldn't even be asking about cheapo tires haha,

Smoggi - powered by 3 cylinders > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:26

Ice is always a problem but even on that snowtires are vastly superior to AS tires. If you get a seperat set of snow tires anyway having all seasons for the rest of the year would be kinda dumb. I think even the cheap summer tires beat all seasons in the dry and wet.

The extra handling/braking performance summer tires provide compared to all seasons can be the difference between a big crash and a small dent in an emergency situation. Personally I wouldn't safe money on safety.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:27

In that case cheap tyres are probably fine, just buy whatever you're comfortable with spending. I'm broke half the time so I just buy the cheapest stuff.

boxrocket > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:29

Don't skimp when it comes to tires. They're the only thing between the car and the road, and everything is dependent on them.

shop-teacher > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:31

Snow tires are quite benificial on ice, actually. The softer compound grips it much better.

That said, I was quite pleased with the General Altimax RT43 all seasons I put on my '11 Malibu. They were very reasonably priced, and quite competant in dry and wet. I got rid of the car before I could try them in the snow. They were worlds better than the Goodyear Eagle LS2's that the car came with.

JGrabowMSt > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 12:41

Firestone Firehawks, Cooper Lifeliners, theres a decent Bridgestone tire but I forget the name of it. Most importantly, tires are your contact patch with the road, do not cheap out on them. They last 30k to 40k miles before requiring replacement.

Frosted > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
02/22/2015 at 12:52

I'm in the same boat. Ended up buying these because I really didn't want more used tires nor the walmart/pepboys special. No sense in getting amazing summer tires for a 2 mile drive to work.

Axial > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 17:01

Continental ExtremeContact DW.

Basically a summer tire that somehow also works with light snow. Not too expensive, either.

JasonStern911 > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 17:26

if you aren't wanting to go with a summer/winter tire pair, or are willing to spend for Michelins, I had good luck with the Kumho Ecsta ASX all-seasons that the previous owner of my Boxster S winter rims ran. but then I never tracked them or anything like that...

BJ > Frosted
02/22/2015 at 18:53

Get the best tire you can afford. If this is a used touring, performance, or summer tire, that's fine. Just don't cheap out.

EtrnL_Frost > Frosted
02/23/2015 at 01:17

The fact that no one mentioned (or I didn't see it at least) the Continental ExtremeContact DWS's saddens me. They really do change your mind about all-seasons.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.js…

Had them on an e36 m3, and they were not in stock last time I swapped out tires on the e39 m5, otherwise these would be on there. (Now the M5 is on full summer duty, so that will likely not happen). Will be getting these for the MINI Cooper s Coupe.

They're stiffer and more predictable than the Pirelli PZero Neros, and they also last longer and stick better in the summer to boot. They don't stick as well as the Pirelli's in the snow, but the Pirelli's have much squishier sidewalls, and you can tell. Ride comfort is better there.

I don't think they make the Michelin Pilot A/S's in that size any more, but those had hung on for "best all season" for quite a while. I bought them, shod em on the M5, and was thoroughly unimpressed. They're better than the Pirelli's, I think, have a better tread pattern than the DWS's, but the DWS's do better in inclimate weather, and much better in snow.

The Pirelli's have a killer treadpattern, but they do decrease driving enjoyment overall compared to the DWS's, if you like feedback and predictability, and are willing to trade off a little road comfort.

EtrnL_Frost > EtrnL_Frost
02/23/2015 at 01:23

I should mention that, of course, I don't believe that even the most expensive all season set up will be better than the most expensive summer + winter combo, I'm not naive, but at the same time I think most people who shit on all-seasons are probably not looking at the best / more expensive offerings. Times have changed, and all seasons are more than serviceable. It can also be a matter of convenience (not having a place to store the extra set of tires/wheels or not having your own tools to do wheel swaps can really increase the cost of having dedicated sets).

Of course, you get what you pay for, and cheap all seasons are the worst of the worst.

I guess, in the grand scheme of things, while top end dedicated season tires will definitely beat out top end all seasons, I would rather put money on top end all seasons then mid-range dedicated season tires.

Personally, of course, I'd just put as much money as possible on tires anyway, because racecar.

gas head > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
02/23/2015 at 11:10

Ok. Just trying to relay my experience.