Quality Tire in 205/55r15

[deevergote]

Stay far far away from no-name off brand tires. Car and Driver did a test a few years ago of a number of different tires... and they had a set of Chinese Ling Long tires (I'm not being racist... Ling Long is the brand name...) They looked good, but the performance was downright laughable. They became the baseline for crap tire performance for many reviews to follow!
Magazine comparisons are a very good place to look when shopping for tires. Also, browse other forums. For performance tires, browse more performance-oriented forums (Nasioc, a Subaru Impreza site, has some VERY good performance tire info... because the STi guys get pretty damn serious.) For economy tires, look on sites that cater to efficient cars... the Fit (though I haven't seen a good tire thread on FitFreak), the Prius, etc...

With tires, you USUALLY get what you pay for. There are some brands that are overpriced for the level of performance offered, but that is often just among the higher performance tiers.
Basic all-season tires will be decent from just about any well-known company.

I'm partial to Dunlop and General. I've ripped through a number of sets of both brands on my Fit (283,000 miles in 4 years... I go though my fair share of tires!)
For the first time ever, I bought a second set of the exact same tire with my last batch. They were General Altimax HP all seasons. General's cheapie line, but they've proven to be quite reliable, offing good fuel economy, good tread life, decent grip, and decent response.
I HATE Kumho. Falken is decent.
I had a set of Yokohama S.Drive tires a while back. Undersized, thanks to DiscountTireDirect's moronic representative (who pushed them on me due to the Dunlops I wanted being "special order" tires.) Those tires are supposed to be good, and they were definitely the priceiest tires I've ever owned... but they were garbage. I complained to Discount Tire about it, and they actually offered to replace them for free with my chosen tire... I ignored the offer and just used then. Discount Tire lost a customer that day.

[dysfunk]

If you've never heard of the tire brand, stay away from it.. My best friend bought some 'Visa' brand tires once... HA! Yeah, no. Didn't last him 15k miles. Also, I don't do walmart tires either.. I mean, they have some decent ones, but I stay away from some of their brands, like Douglass.

While we're on the subject of tire brands.. I've been looking at a set of Pirrelli Four Seasons, I believe that's the name... Anyone have any experience with those? The other set that I'm considering is a set that Deev mentioned. General Altimax.

[deevergote]

Most Pirelli reviews I read say that they're not worth the money. Good tires, but overpriced for performance you can get for less from other brands.

IMO, the best performance for a reasonable price is Dunlop. They have a wide variety, and their tires are good from the low end all the way to the high end.
BFG and Continental make amazing tires... quite possibly among the best, from what my close friends have said (I've never owned either.)
I've only used the General Altimax HP, their budget all season, but as I mentioned... I was very pleased. I'll probably buy a third set. I'm curious to see what their better tires are like.


For high-end tires, I'd choose among: Dunlop, Continental, BFG, or Michelin.

[alan lx]

Most all the tires everyone mentioned above are good. I have heard good things about Continental. I have read some good reviews on tire rack.com. Also, i did have some Hankooks once that rode well, handled eh, not sure on endurance becaus i traded the vehicle. Just my two cents.

[deevergote]

From what I gather from my STi-driving friend, Continental and BFG tend to flip-flop from year to year. One year Conti is best, the next it's BFG. Those are the high performance summer tires, though. NOT cheap tires! (I was looking for a set for my CTS-V... and I was about to drop $1000 on tires alone. Thankfully, the seller gave me some Firestone Firehawk tires with 3000 miles on them, and I'm satisfied... I have no complaints about those tires, honestly.)

[dysfunk]

The Pirrellis that I found were $59 a piece at discount tire. which is the same price as the generals that I found. I will not run a continental though. My mom bought her dodge charger with a brand new set and only got 28k miles out of them, they were rated for 60k. She ended up getting a set of Michelin from the dealership she bought her car from, and they paid for half of the tire price because of the fact that she only got 28k miles out of the continentals.

[deevergote]

Weird. My friend swears by his Continentals. I guess it depends on the model. Perhaps that means Kumho might have a model worth owning, too...

$59 Pirellis sounds like a good deal. I think I paid more than that for my Generals. Then again, my Fit has a stupid odd size that seems to command a premium price

[dysfunk]

Well, the Pirellis had a 85k mile warranty as well. The good thing about discount tire is they do free rotations and tire maintenance. Also if your tires don't last as long as the warranty, such as, say, you have a 60k mile tire and it lasts 40k miles, they'll replace them, so they claim.

I thought $59 was a good deal. Sometimes they will run a sale, buy three get one free. Or get 100 dollars off. I'll be looking for that sale when it comes time to replace my Tiger Paws. I'm not really familiar with tiger paw but, they were on the car when I got it and have held up really well. Even wear patterns and no dry rot, even after sitting for a year and a half. My uncle put them on the car right before he parked it and kept it parked on concrete.

I like hankook but they just don't last long. I'm guessing its a softer compound.

[92smokeaccord]

so wait.you stated that these were gonna be winter tires.in snow season you want a skinny tire due to the fact that a wider tire will pack more snow and is less likely to grip it. just my .02

as for good brands. dunlop,bf goodrich and continental.

[deevergote]

Well, the Pirellis had a 85k mile warranty as well. The good thing about discount tire is they do free rotations and tire maintenance. Also if your tires don't last as long as the warranty, such as, say, you have a 60k mile tire and it lasts 40k miles, they'll replace them, so they claim.

I thought $59 was a good deal. Sometimes they will run a sale, buy three get one free. Or get 100 dollars off. I'll be looking for that sale when it comes time to replace my Tiger Paws. I'm not really familiar with tiger paw but, they were on the car when I got it and have held up really well. Even wear patterns and no dry rot, even after sitting for a year and a half. My uncle put them on the car right before he parked it and kept it parked on concrete.

I like hankook but they just don't last long. I'm guessing its a softer compound.

Hankook makes pretty good stuff, actually. It depends on what you get. Cheaper models are a harder compound, normally... better for gas mileage, and longer wear... More expensive performance models are grippy... at the expense of gas mileage and longevity.

85k from the Pirellis? Wow. I've never known a tire to really go beyond 60k... and that's with my cheap ass driving! Then again, I do kinda corner hard... My tire guys think my alignment is off due to my tire wear, but it's really just because I dive into damn near every corner. (I really hope the future buyer of my Fit doesn't read my posts here...)

[marcusv8thunder]

This site is fairly well know in the UK. Helps me with whats out there and how good current tyres are for what size. And real world reviews. I assume there's a US equivalent but I recommend looking through this as a good start point to research.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/

[deevergote]

Most of our tire retailers have reviews and such on their websites, but that site is laid out really well! Definitely a good resource.

[Straight Success]

Most Pirelli reviews I read say that they're not worth the money. Good tires, but overpriced for performance you can get for less from other brands.

IMO, the best performance for a reasonable price is Dunlop. They have a wide variety, and their tires are good from the low end all the way to the high end.
BFG and Continental make amazing tires... quite possibly among the best, from what my close friends have said (I've never owned either.)
I've only used the General Altimax HP, their budget all season, but as I mentioned... I was very pleased. I'll probably buy a third set. I'm curious to see what their better tires are like.


For high-end tires, I'd choose among: Dunlop, Continental, BFG, or Michelin.

...and Bridgestone!

[Accord problems]

(I really hope the future buyer of my Fit doesn't read my posts here...)

car fax please . seller says one owner deevergote . buyer no thanks. lol


so your saying the cheaper tires get better gas mileage do to less grip ?

[dysfunk]

Better gas mileage due to a harder compound, meaning not as sticky. The harder the compound the less rolling friction you will be creating.