Recommendations - New Tires in 2015

[dmayer]

My Outback had Continental ContiPro Contacts on it when it was new. They were very nice tires. When I had to replace them, I bought the Pirelli P7 Cinturatos . I think the Continentals were maybe a hair better in the snow, but I think the Pirellis hug corners better in the nice weather. Not too worried about the winter - the Subaru does well with either as long as I don't do anything stupid.
I just bought some Good Year Eagle F1's for my Monte Carlo and they are great in the summer! I don't plan to drive it in the winter but you never know.

 

[geekdout]

Whavens do you still have those tires ? If so I would check the DOT numbers on the tires, the last four numbers is the production date. For instance 5208 would be the 52nd week of 2008. Most manufactures recommend taking tires out of service after five or six years from their production date.

I normally stick with Michelins depending on the price of the tire size I am looking for. At your stated budget of around a 100 bucks a tire I would give the Kumho Ecsta Lx Platinum a look. Tire rack has them right around 83 bucks a tire and with a 60k mileage warranty they look like a really good value. The reviews seem pretty good too.

Spending money on a good set of tires is always money well spent.

 

[BDoggPrelude]

Take it from somebody who sells tires for a living, you will not get much tire in that size for $100/tire. The Continental PureContact, Pirelli P7 A/S Plus and Michelin Premier A/S are probably going to be the BEST tires that will give you the attributes that you are looking for but will cost $30-$70/tire more than the budget you're trying to stay in. The extra money you spend will be well worth it though. Don't forget they are the thing that keeps your car on the road and probably the absolute worst thing to take the cheap route on.

 

[whavens]

Whavens do you still have those tires ? If so I would check the DOT numbers on the tires, the last four numbers is the production date. For instance 5208 would be the 52nd week of 2008. Most manufactures recommend taking tires out of service after five or six years from their production date.

I normally stick with Michelins depending on the price of the tire size I am looking for. At your stated budget of around a 100 bucks a tire I would give the Kumho Ecsta Lx Platinum a look. Tire rack has them right around 83 bucks a tire and with a 60k mileage warranty they look like a really good value. The reviews seem pretty good too.

Spending money on a good set of tires is always money well spent.

They had the cracks when I bought the car one and a half years ago. I should have either negotiated new tires, or not bought the car. My son used to sell tires and said they are 3 1/2 years old.



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[CDot]

Thanks for all the feedback/recommendations all!

So...I ended up unintentionally purchasing the Michelin Premier A/S...and from the Toyota dealer no-less.

Take it from somebody who sells tires for a living, you will not get much tire in that size for $100/tire. The Continental PureContact, Pirelli P7 A/S Plus and Michelin Premier A/S are probably going to be the BEST tires....

^^This turned out to be true--I guess my last vehicle had me spoiled. Turns out all three of the above were within $10 of each other locally (with the Contis being the most expensive surprisingly). I did a lot of quoting/calling/researching and the deal I got was the best one I could have. I live about 10 minutes from the Concord Mills area, where there are a number of dealerships/tires stores in close proximity--so competition for auto service is fierce. I called the Toyota dealership on a whim and they were adamant about matching any tire price/installation package I could find. In the end, the service rep (predictably) recommended the Michelins based off his experience; and, after doing his own research and me bringing my own to the table I'll be hit with $709 OTD for all 4 tires. They matched Discount Tire's price, beat TireRack's price, beat Griffin Brother's total package/install costs, and matched Sams Club's premium installation package + $70 rebate for Michelin tires.

Although the Contis/Pirellis from TireRack would have been a little cheaper, the Michelin's wet traction test results made me relent. The Michelin Pilot Exaltos I had back in the day were the best tires I've ever had so hopefully these will be on the same level. Will be getting them installed tomorrow morning, so we'll see how they do.

 

[Desertnate]

Glad to hear the purchase worked out for you and you're happy with the results.

I'm surprised to hear the dealership was competitive. In my area, there are a number of chain and independent tire shops, but the car dealers are not even close to competitive and have no desire to even try. I recently had a sidewall puncture and the dealership not only didn't stock the OEM matching tire, but they wanted $100 more for just the tire...a single tire...than anyone else in the area.

I love Tire Rack, but I've found once shipping and mounting charges at a local shop are included, the prices on common car/SUV tires work out to be about the same. However, when it comes to performance tires they are a life saver. I live in truck/SUV land so most shops don't even bother selling/stocking those types of tires. If they do order them for you, they charge insane prices and the selection is very limited.

 

[CDot]

Glad to hear the purchase worked out for you and you're happy with the results.

I'm surprised to hear the dealership was competitive.

Thanks!

Yeah, normally I wouldn't use a dealership to purchase tires due to pricing inflation. The Firestone, Discount Tire, and Goodyear are all within 200 yards of each other and the dealerships are about a half mile down from them. I had Discount Tire fix a flat/nail in a tire I had a purchased from another source some years ago for free. The guy sent me on my way with a, "It's on the house; next time you need tires please remember us." The Firestone across the street rotates tires for free no matter where they are purchased--said they gotta stay competitive with their neighbors. It works out quite nicely

 

[DaveT435]

Take it from somebody who sells tires for a living, you will not get much tire in that size for $100/tire. The Continental PureContact, Pirelli P7 A/S Plus and Michelin Premier A/S are probably going to be the BEST tires that will give you the attributes that you are looking for but will cost $30-$70/tire more than the budget you're trying to stay in. The extra money you spend will be well worth it though. Don't forget they are the thing that keeps your car on the road and probably the absolute worst thing to take the cheap route on.

Who do you work for?

 

[BDoggPrelude]

Thanks for all the feedback/recommendations all!

So...I ended up unintentionally purchasing the Michelin Premier A/S...and from the Toyota dealer no-less.



^^This turned out to be true--I guess my last vehicle had me spoiled. Turns out all three of the above were within $10 of each other locally (with the Contis being the most expensive surprisingly). I did a lot of quoting/calling/researching and the deal I got was the best one I could have. I live about 10 minutes from the Concord Mills area, where there are a number of dealerships/tires stores in close proximity--so competition for auto service is fierce. I called the Toyota dealership on a whim and they were adamant about matching any tire price/installation package I could find. In the end, the service rep (predictably) recommended the Michelins based off his experience; and, after doing his own research and me bringing my own to the table I'll be hit with $709 OTD for all 4 tires. They matched Discount Tire's price, beat TireRack's price, beat Griffin Brother's total package/install costs, and matched Sams Club's premium installation package + $70 rebate for Michelin tires.

Although the Contis/Pirellis from TireRack would have been a little cheaper, the Michelin's wet traction test results made me relent. The Michelin Pilot Exaltos I had back in the day were the best tires I've ever had so hopefully these will be on the same level. Will be getting them installed tomorrow morning, so we'll see how they do.

Great choice. I don't know how much the dealership told you about those tires since, in my experience, they really don't know much about tires in general. Those tires actually have some pretty cool features. If you look down the circumferential grooves in the tread, you will see they are actually molded at an angle. As the tires wear down, the grooves expand. This widens the grooves as they become shallower maintaining the same amount of water volume they can pump out from under the tire. Theoretically, they should have the same wet traction down to 2/32nds that they did when they were new. Of course, the trade off is that you will be losing dry as well as ice traction since the overall tread surface contacting the ground is shrinking to make room for wider grooves. You may also notice the tires are molded at 8/32nds of an inch compared to a typical tire which is molded at 10/32nds. They do this for better fuel economy. Using less materials in the tread reduces their weight increasing fuel economy. It also reduces the initial rolling resistance since a deeper tread creates more rolling resistance.

Who do you work for?

I've worked for Discount Tire since 2007. Best job I've ever had.

 

[BDoggPrelude]

BTW, I hope you were comparing apples to apples when you did your price shopping. Discount Tire's price includes free rotations, balancing and flat repairs for the life of the tires, a free road hazard warranty and you would've received a $100 rebate on the tires.

 

[CDot]

BTW, I hope you were comparing apples to apples when you did your price shopping. Discount Tire's price includes free rotations, balancing and flat repairs for the life of the tires, a free road hazard warranty and you would've received a $100 rebate on the tires.

When I did my compare to Discount Tire, I added the Cert for Repair, Refund, or Replacement for 360 coverage (that the dealer matched--Sams includes this in their Premium Install package as well). For the $100 Pre-Labor Day special rebate, they said I had to use a Discount Tire Credit Card in order to be eligible for it. That would have brought me to $773.67 after the $100 rebate w/Cert.

If I removed the Cert, it would have come to $670.71 with rebate and "prorated" road hazard. In the end that makes it a $39 difference for total "scott-free" replacement vs. prorated replacement. Not a huge deal I guess, but I took it over DT only because I've had very bad luck with nails in my last vehicle's tires over the years: 7 sets/pairs in 12.5 years. And my current vehicle (I got used) had a plug in one tire from a former nail. Sheesh.

My wife has had no such encounters with nails; so when my her tires are at their end, I plan to go straight to Discount Tire

 

[CDot]

Great choice....You may also notice the tires are molded at 8/32nds of an inch compared to a typical tire which is molded at 10/32nds. They do this for better fuel economy. Using less materials in the tread reduces their weight increasing fuel economy. It also reduces the initial rolling resistance since a deeper tread creates more rolling resistance.

I've seen reviewers note concerns about that tread depth, but I have high hopes. The last Michelins I owned (Pilot Exalto A/S some 5 yrs ago) were awesome all the way down to 2/32nds.

 

[ScottB]

I like Toyo's personally... very much Michelin quality from Japan. I've had them on multiple cars and used several of their different lines.

I always consider Discount Tire Direct first (they don't offer Toyo however) as they offer the best service. Recently we ordered some replacement Pilot A/S 3's and they were backordered way to long. They called and offered several options at no additional cost to fill the void. In a past warranty claim, they were very efficient and really helped also.

 

[CDot]

I like Toyo's personally... very much Michelin quality from Japan. I've had them on multiple cars and used several of their different lines.

I heard one of the Honda guys say that when I took my wife's Pilot in for maintenance one time. Maybe I'll give them another try some day--they were the worst tires I had about 10 years ago.

 

[Desertnate]

I like Toyo's personally... very much Michelin quality from Japan. I've had them on multiple cars and used several of their different lines.

Interesting you mention Toyo.

When I owned a BMW back in the late 90's to mid-2000's Toyo R1's were all the rage with the E46 crowd for their summer tires. These days, I don't hear anyone talking about them for any type of vehicle, and I never see them on the streets anymore.

I don't even know where I would purchase a set if I wanted to. Of all the tire shops in my area there was only one selling Toyo's and then went out of business about six months ago.