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What information do people use to determine new tire purchases? I use Tire Rack and Discount Tire ratings/reviews, and have had mixed results. I do like how Tire Rack differentiates their analysis (snow, noise, etc). Most brands seem to have both good and bad tires, so brand loyalty is a gamble. Following what was OEM, in most cases, is not a great strategy either. Price, warranty, other?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Tire rack is generally a pretty good indicator of driver satisfaction and their testing, but it depends on the car, how and where you drive it. For example, my 4x4 truck has Firestone Destination ATs, I can crawl on rocks with them but on a road trip they are a bit rough, noisy, and reduce gas mileage. On my Challenger the high performance Michelins are rated to 140 MPH but still have decent traction and a smooth ride. If you get some snow all season m+s rated tires are a must. I won't spend more money for more than a 40-50,000 mile warranty tire, because they will get old before I go that far, with 3 to use. If you have only one car and a long commute, the miles warranted are more important.
Word of mouth, general consensus from forums, what I'm looking for in the tire given that. OEM tires can be excellent or they just stuck some cheap crap on because they got a deal and it's really expensive if you're not an OEM with a huge volume discount. S2000 came with SO2 and later RE050, both very good tires. No reason to run anything but OEM unless you wanted a dot-approved track tire or with the RE050s had sticker shock. Mazda came with RS-A. They were garbage. Infuriatingly, they also had pretty good treadlife. Thankfully I put a huge masonry nail through a sidewall as they just were not wearing out. I had a set of Kumho somethings that cupped and sounded like drums going down the freeway after two years, disposed of with maybe 30% of tread left. Not terrible given how cheap they were. Went with the consensus and S-04. So-so treadlife but only a bit more expensive than the RS-As because in addition to being horrible, the RS-As are quite expensive.
I just pick the tires I want and buy them.. Have been doing this for 44 years so I do not need to do any research.... Besides, I do not always buy the tires that come stock from the manufacturer....
Location: In a perfect world winter does not exist
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Cooper Tires still made in USA and pretty much as low priced as the Korean brands like Kumho and Hankook. I have the grand Touring CS5 tires and its is very comfortable and quiet.
I just pick the tires I want and buy them.. Have been doing this for 44 years so I do not need to do any research.... Besides, I do not always buy the tires that come stock from the manufacturer....
But that is the point of the question, how do you decide which tires you want?
Cooper Tires still made in USA and pretty much as low priced as the Korean brands like Kumho and Hankook. I have the grand Touring CS5 tires and its is very comfortable and quiet.
I cant recall if its the Ultra or the Grand Touring on my wifes car, but those are a very nice and quiet tire. IIRC, 4 were right at $500 and that included mount and balance, and the landfill fees. SHe has right at 15000 on them and they still look new. I was going to put them on my Enclave, but they don't make them in that size.
I generally narrow it down to one or two models and ask people who I see with those tires.
Dont focus on complaint sites they will only provide a very skewed view of the reality unless something has an outrageous number of complaints and isn't a high volume seller.
Type of vehicle, where you live, how you drive, and budget decides what tires you should buy. If you're a light foot driver just commuting to and from work, most all season tires will work well at even a low cost. A heavy foot driver who drives the car hard would be better with summer performance tires for better grip but will need snow tires if they live in snow country. Problem with performance tires is the soft rubber compound means they'll go bald quicker than passenger all season tires.
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