New Tire Suggestions

LPSISRL · Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:51 pm

OK, I'll need to replace my factory Dunlops soon. 44k miles and still tread left. But I notice that the car is a little squirrelly when in heavy rain. I bought the car with about 33k miles on it so I don't know what new tires feel or sound like. I have nothing to compare except for a test drive on a GTS with about 8k miles on it about a year ago which really doesn't help. I don't really push the car but I would like some tires that are pretty grippy but smooth and quiet. I live in SE Virginia so snow is not an issue. Except for this winter...

So some advice on some tires would be greatly appreciated here.
Thanks!
Tim

Thu Mar 20, 2014 5:34 pm

There are many others who are more knowledgeable about tires than I am (I think twoqttsdad is even in the tire business) but given you live in SE Virginia, I would think that you don't need all season tires. This winter was an exception, but generally, the Mid Atlantic (especially MD, DC, and Northern VA) does not see much snow. The South rarely see snow. For this reason, you may get better performance from a Summer Tire rated at Max Performance.

All Season Tires usually only go to Ultra High Performance while summer tires go to the higher performance ratings of Max and Extreme. These equate to better grip on dry and even wet surfaces, but lower grip on snow, ice, and mud.
All Season Tires are generally considered compromise tires that deliver a balance of performance and winter grip but aren't especially good at either. This is why many who live in snowy/icy regions in the winter have dedicated snow tires for better snow and ice traction. The opposite goes for performance cars and sports cars that run in good weather. They are fitted with summer tires with higher performance ratings.

I plan to move back to Southern California in the near future and will only consider summer tires from now on given I won't live on a mountain like before. Given you live in SE VA, you could probably enjoy the better grip of a higher performance summer tire without worrying about snow traction.

WESHOOT2 · Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:21 pm

Actually call the folks at TireRack.com, and they can knowledgeably discuss what tires might best suit your budget, driving environment, and driving style.

~tc~ · Fri Mar 21, 2014 2:15 am

I went with the Continental DWS and am really happy. They are FAR better in the rain than the Dunlops were, and quieter too.

twoqttsdad · Fri Mar 21, 2014 2:52 am

Actually call the folks at TireRack.com, and they can knowledgeably discuss what tires might best suit your budget, driving environment, and driving style.

+1

I would suggest you seek their advice then look up reviews on the web on their suggestions. Just take notice of the reviewer and what they drive and what tires they are switching out. Some change to a totally different type of tire and complain (summer to an all season) but almost anything would probably be an improvement over the Dunlops!

You can even ask for a plus zero fitment to give you more tire options. Most tire pros recommend not more than a 2-3% variance in overall tire diameter.

I'm just waiting for mine to wear out so I can buy a new set too! Leaning towards a plus zero fitment in either a Potenza RE760 (UHP summer) or a Toyo Proxes 4 Plus (UHP All season) for my driving taste. I personally like the summer performance but want the all season treadwear. Don't want to change out a set every 20,0000 miles tho. The wife would wring my neck!

Good Luck!

LPSISRL · Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:53 pm

Thanks for the replies so far. I will call tirerack.com for advice. When recently buying tires for my wife's Odyssey, reading reviews from people who had mini vans was frustrating. On a given tire, some hated them and said they were the worst tire that they ever had and some loved them saying the best tire they ever had. Very frustrating.

Fri Mar 21, 2014 3:37 pm

I can tell you the General G-Max I have on my car doesn't meet your criteria...they are noisey, about the same as the worn Dunlops were at their end of their life. But grip on the other hand....ye-hah. Price is reasonable. Not great in the snow, but you don't really need to worry about that too much.

Fri Mar 21, 2014 3:59 pm

LPSISRL wrote:Thanks for the replies so far. I will call tirerack.com for advice. When recently buying tires for my wife's Odyssey, reading reviews from people who had mini vans was frustrating. On a given tire, some hated them and said they were the worst tire that they ever had and some loved them saying the best tire they ever had. Very frustrating.

The survey and reviews are extremely subjective so take them with a grain of salt. I usually rely on Tirerack's test results instead. Their comparisons are more objective and standardized.

For UHP all seasons, I prefer Kumho 4X and run them on family members' cars. They tested well by Tirerack and they're a good value. Wet and dry performance are great and they handle snow well enough for Vancouver.

~tc~ · Sat Mar 22, 2014 1:40 am

I would never buy summer only tires for a daily driver. Tires generally last a long time, and you never know when you may have to move. I ended up with "3 season" tires on the Impala in Colorado ... It was worthless in the winter.

Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:07 am

~tc~ wrote:I would never buy summer only tires for a daily driver. Tires generally last a long time, and you never know when you may have to move. I ended up with "3 season" tires on the Impala in Colorado ... It was worthless in the winter.

When it comes to tires, it's all about where you live. In many parts of Colorado, you need snow traction in the winter. In Los Angeles, you definitely don't.
If you know where you're going to be driving most of the time and there is little to no snow, there is no need to compromise dry traction with All Season Tires.

While living on a mountain, I once had the misfortune of having a family member talk my parents into getting snow tires for the winter. The tires were fine in the snow and ice, but were just awful for the dry road when you went off the mountain or when the season changed. This was back when I was in high school before I knew anything about cars. Of course my family did not swap out the tires when the season changed. Those snow tires wore out within a year and provided horrible dry traction all along. All Seasons were so much better overall especially since the car had 4x4 and we carried chains.
For a mountain environment, chains are better than snow tires because you can take them off when you leave the snowy mountain which can be frequently for some people. Chains also pound into ice, a nice characteristic for icy hills often found in mountain regions.
That being said, I can see how snow tires would be better for a place like Minnesota in the winter where ice and snow is everywhere for most of the winter. Hills aren't as much of a concern compared to mountains either.

I'm planning to move back to Southern California and can say with confidence I will not need snow traction for where I plan to be. For this reason, I want to seek summer tires with better traction qualities especially since I've only had All Seasons or Snow tires until now. After all, I deliberately sought out a FWD manual Kizashi over a CVT AWD model with the main reason being that I don't need AWD and would enjoy the benefits of a manual transmission far more. Otherwise, I would have got a Subaru to enjoy both AWD and a manual trans.