[drphoto]

Hey gang,

due to hitting a pothole and damaging a sidewall, I had to get tires. I switched from entry level performance A/S (Goodyear Fierce Instinct) to the top line Eagle F1 asymmetric A/S.

What a difference. The steering is much quicker and more precise. The level of grip (dry) is way up. (I don't trigger the traction control on full throttle starts now) The ride as way better, far less harsh and less road noise. Handling, which I liked is even better despite the more comfortable feel.

Thank you pothole. 

And yes, I wanted UHP summer tires, but it would have been just too much money and hassle. When I decided on A/S my first pick was the highly rated Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ but I got these for $200 less, which I can put toward upgrade brakes. I was afraid I'd have buyers regret, but none so far, in fact I'm really pleased.

So.....no matter you favorite brand....get the best tires you can afford. It makes an enormous difference.

(btw: not tested in wet yet, but a Motor Trend review thought they were even better in wet than than Michelin)

cheers,

[Zero]

Yup!!! 

Agree 100% with this. 

[RDavidson]

Dude, you made the right choice. I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's on my car and they are going to need to be replaced. No big deal, right? WRONG! They are not even half way to their rated 45k mile wear warranty. No, I never ever do burnouts. Yes, I always rotate my tires every 5-6k miles. They've worn evenly, but they must've made my set out of summer rubber compound or something. They're garbage. Michelin should give me quite a bit of replacement credit. My previous Michelins developed cracks along their sidewalls after about 3-4 years. I thought the A/S 3's would last me longer as they're (supposed to be) better tires than the previous. Nope.

[drphoto]

 

[drphoto]

oh RD, don't take that wrong, sorry to hear you had problems w/ the Michelin.

[S Clark]

Full throttle starts??

[Mag]

Replaced my Cooper CS5 with Cooper CS5 Grand Touring All-Season. Very good tire except not that good on ice. The winter tires I had previous to CS5 were not good on ice either.

Years ago when I drove taxi I had purchase 4 cheap all-season tires, they were like skies on the car. I swear I slid an extra 50 ft. when trying to stop. So I took em back an asked the dealer to exchange them for something better. So he sold me two Kleiber tires for the same price. Then I went to another dealer and got two studed winter tires for the rear. What a difference in traction.

So I learned my lesson back then, so now I always get a good tire. The CS5 from my research is the best all-season tire for my van.

[Freo-1]

I'm on board with this advice.  Living in the Northeast portion of the USA, the winters can really be challenging.  I bought my current vehicle in 2014.  The first winter was a real eye opener, as driving back from CT in a snowstorm had the car feel like it was floating over the road.  The car has all wheel drive, and good software to keep the car on the road when it starts to skid.  Still, it was pretty unnerving. 


So, after research, bought a set of Nokian WR-G3 tires.  What a difference!  Have not had any issues with handling in bad weather since putting on the Nokians.  They are long lasting, showing little wear to date.  I can't rotate the tires, as they are different size between the front and rears. 


If you have to deal with Ice/Snow, Nokian tires are highly recommended.

[DaveC113]

Yup, I have 2 sets of wheels/tires.

Ryan, too bad about your Michelin experience, I've always had great luck with them, their summer performance tire, Pilot Super Sport, lasted me longer on my WRX than your A/s tires and I drive fast on a lot of twisty mountain roads.

My other set of wheels have Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 and these are spectacular tires... excellent both in snow and on cold, dry pavement. The grip on pavement is amazing for what they are. I was shocked how good the stock size tire worked out for snow, 245/40/18... I was temped to go with narrower 17s but I'm glad I didn't.

[drphoto]

Yeah, if you live in the snow belt, get winter tires. Even A/S tires just don't cut it. Sorry.

I live in an area that doesn't really get much snow, but it does get too cold for 3 months to run a summer tire. (below 40F. they can crack, not just have crappy traction, according to my research) So as far as I can tell, A/S means 3 seasons, and they won't die in the winter. But good luck on snow.

The ideal situation is too run summer's when you can, and winters when you need. For those of us who live in an 'intermediate' climate "all seasons" work.

But for the snow bunnies out there who don't care about performance in the warmer months, an A/S will have a longer tread life than 'summer' tires.

[RDavidson]

Yup, I have 2 sets of wheels/tires.

Ryan, too bad about your Michelin experience, I've always had great luck with them, their summer performance tire, Pilot Super Sport, lasted me longer on my WRX than your A/s tires and I drive fast on a lot of twisty mountain roads.

My other set of wheels have Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 and these are spectacular tires... excellent both in snow and on cold, dry pavement. The grip on pavement is amazing for what they are. I was shocked how good the stock size tire worked out for snow, 245/40/18... I was temped to go with narrower 17s but I'm glad I didn't.

I still believe Michelin probably makes a really good product. My personal experience with them has been garbage. Probably just bad luck. The first time I replaced my Michelins under warranty, the company was very helpful and made things easy and pain free. Hopefully they'll come through again, because I'll be getting another set. I mean, with the warranty replacement, I only paid about $300 for the A/S 3's out of pocket. Despite how little I paid, I'm still disappointed. I thought I had the whole tire problem taken care of for about the next 45k miles. Know what I mean? But they seem to stand behind their products, which definitely means a lot.

[HsvHeelFan]

TireRack has almost every performance tire that is available for your ride.   In the past, they had really good customer reviews (and some of their own) on a bunch of different performance categories for each tire.

I look at all the parameters, but give highest consideration to wet braking and wet handling performance.

I don't drive hard on the street.  I used to Autocross and Road race and if I want to drive at 10/10th's, i'll get  the old race car up and running and go do that.

HsvHeelFan

[JLM]

+1 for TireRack.

I learned the lesson for quality tires decades ago when I took advantage of a one day sale.  My Saab 99 came with European Goodyear tires and bought top of the line Dunlops which transformed the car from a nice sedan to almost a boy racer.

I've used TireRack to research tires for years and finally ordered from them when I needed tires for both cars.  Got the local mounting arranged - no problem and saved hundreds.

I buy the best tires I can find.  My priorities are winter handling, long wear, and all around traction.  Have settled on Goodyear Comfortreds for the last several purchases and currently have Tripletreds on both cars (Camry and Outback).  Good tires pay for themselves (fewer worries in bad weather, less cost/hassle of shopping again, and of course better handling).  Have been very satisfied with Assurance Comfortreds and Tripletreds.  Have 60,000 miles on the Camry and the tires still have lots of tread remaining.

Last winter broke down and bought winter tires for the all wheel drive Outback as wifey drives 60+ each way to work in southern Michigan.  Bought Nokian Hakkapeliitta over Bridgestone Blizzacks because they use crystal bits versus air bubbles.  Thankful they were barely put to the test so I can't really tell you how well they work.

[Elizabeth]

"Get the best tires you can afford" Hell Yes! agree 100%

I also like 'Tire Rack' for finding out about tires. And I have bought all the tires I have acquired in the past 20 years from Tire Rack.

I also use a Summer set (OEM Goodyear Eagle F1 235/40/18) on my ride
And I bought a set of wheels same OEM style/size for a set of Winter high performance tires, Bridgestone Blizzak LM32 235/40/18 (sadly this size in no longer available)

My Winter tires get an average of an extra 1/2 mile per gallon.. So I have discovered that tire rolling resistance matters.
And I may pay some attention to this factor in addition to the usual other factors when I need new tires.

My one big comment about tires is the air pressure used..
I drive a sporty car. Particularly around corners..
I like to keep my tires are pretty high PSI. My current car, offered with a 35psi tire pressure on the placard, 2014 Ford Focus ST I have the 235/40/18 OEM Summer tires at 44psi front, 40 psi rear Ditto the Winter tires.
When the average temps get over 80F all the time, I drop the Summer tires to 43psi front, and 39 psi rear.

I really like hard tires. They handle better, and though plenty of folks think not,  the tires wear perfectly evenly across the tread. So my worn down tires are ruler flat across the tread. This is with 130,000 miles on ultra high performance tires which generally last 20K miles.
I also like tires with ultra stiff sidewalls a lot better than soft sidewalls.

In a previous ride, a Contour SVT, the OEM tires would feel like on a rail around a sweeping freeway curve at 90mph plus.. (the old Plainfield curve in Milwaukee, the rebuilt curve is a lot safer, no longer being a deathtrap for unwary semi drivers.. The old curve used to tighten up in the last hundred feet. catching unwary speeding truckers and flipping them on a weekly basis) A soft side tire (Perelli P Zero) just would wobble at the same curve and speed. (as it's sidewalls would flex too much)

The Contour SVT which I (with way too much time on my hands) did my own contact patch test vs tire pressure, and is where I 'discovered' running a higher PSI front vs rear made for a more even ride at the edge.. meaning all four tires would start to break away cornering at the same time and rate with the front at a 6 psi differential.. (I lower the differential on the ST to 4psi, as the engine is lighter)

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Living here in Minnesota, I need a performance tire that is good in the snow.  I use the V Rated Continental Pure Contact's.   Excellent handling, good ride, quiet and good in light to moderate snow.  They last long as well.  Much better than my Michelin Pilots.  They are one of the top rated performance all season tires by Consumer Reports and Tire Rack.  I now have them on 2 of my cars.

[S Clark]

Full throttle starts??

I'm seriously asking about this.  Is Dr.P talking about racing? 

[Elizabeth]

Full throttle starts??

For myself anything approaching 1/3 throttle gives me way too much wasted wheelspin from a stop. Even with ultra high performance tires for grip
My car has a 2.0 liter turbo with 252hp. Manual transmission.

My nanny traction electronics really does not get into play much.. anymore. Seems it has decided I actually CAN drive the car myself.?? So if do goose the go pedal enough to spin the wheels, it does not have a hissy fit.
Though I can spin the wheels at just about any legal speed even without boost unless I am in 5th or 6th

[drphoto]

Uh, I meant just mashing the throttle. I'm not using launch control (doesn't have) or revving engine and letting out clutch. (std type 6 sp auto)

Elizabeth, interesting observation on tire pressue. I know a lot of autocross folks run much higher pressures on track days.

[2gumby2]

I've learned through experience to buy the best tires for the application whether it's a motorcycle, bicycle, car, or truck. And I have separate tires and wheels for summer versus winter. Winter gets Nokian studded snow tires on the four wheel vehicles. I use Avon tires for my street motorcycle and IRC for my off-road motorcycle. Good tires really do make a big difference.

[Johnny2Bad]

"Saving" buy buying cheap or inappropriate tires will bite you, sooner or later it will cause you to have a collision that you could have avoided, and the price you will pay will be higher in pure dollar terms and possibly incalculable in personal health. You can literally end up in jail because of bad tires. It's not trivial.

Tires wear by literally leaving compound on the road. A higher performance tire leaves more rubber on the road surface and therefore wears faster. Make your choice, but there is no free lunch.