114 Days: Pt III (3rd time's a charm)

[LPSISRL]

And everyone knows Walmart does not manufacture tires and tire manufactures put many different labels on the same tires. We probably can be pretty sure that those tires also come under a few more labels. A search of tires on tirerack.com would probably turn them up as another, possibly better known brand.

[golftango]

Fair enough Westoot!

ck.com would probably turn them up as another, possibly better known brand.

This is true for the Douglas brand at WalMart (I had them on my Kizashi and they were a great tire!) as they are made by Kelly/Springfiled AKA Good Year in the US.

But Omni is a stand alone company that makes tires under Timberland, Radar, Patriot, American Tourer, Roadlux, Birla and Speedways. I've never heard of any of these brands (except Timberland...really, Timberland tires?!). Appears they are based out of Singapore (not a bad thing really) and have manufacturing facilities in United States, China, India, Indonesia and Thailand. Not sure where Westoot's tires are made.

Edit: I guess Omni makes the Sears Guardsman brand tires too.

[KuroNekko]

And Kizashis eat tires.

Yep, unfortunately, that's no lie. My current (third) set of Kumhos' inner tread is already just about shot while the outters are damn near new. Rotated this set religiously and it just doesn't matter. I want the ride-the-rails handling the car offers and that's the trade off. Alignment is spot on spec (had it checked after second rotation) and I just did the 4th, last, rotation. Next set is going to be cheap and to hell with rotating, waste of energy. I am now in the camp that you've been in all along...buy them cheap, put them on, abuse them, repeat. While I don't traverse the same terrain as you, your testing limits will far exceed my daily criteria. I'll be looking at your continual reports regarding your $50 tires.

I had the same experience with the original alignment settings and the OE Dunlops. By 30,000 miles, they were unevenly worn and lacked traction on wet surfaces. I then got my Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires and got my Kizashi realigned with the updated specs from Suzuki. I also then started rotating the tires at every oil change myself. Since the new tires were installed, I had the car realigned once at a former Suzuki dealer when I got the spider evap system recall service done. The Michilens now have over 45,000 miles on them and they look like they have at least 30% tread remaining. All four tires have the same even wear characteristics. Maybe it's my driving conditions, but I can't say the Kizashi eats tires anymore. Though they aren't cheap, the Michelins certainly seem worth the cost for me given their grip, quality, quiet ride, and longevity. Costco carries the newer version of the tires so I'll probably be going there for my next set when it's time and Michelin has their rebate available.

All that being said, if I romped around off-pavement at high speeds often like Weshoot2 does regularly, I'd probably be on the quest to find the perfect tire that balances cost-performance given how fast any tire would wear out in those conditions.

[LPSISRL]

I'm with Kuro. My factory tires went 45K. Replaced with Continentals and they took me another 50K. I have another set of Continentals on it now. A buddy of mine is an engineer at Continental and can get them for less than $100 each on tirerack.com. I do rotate them when I change the oil. While I don't romp around like "Westoot" (LOL... maybe that's what the wife call's him) I'm not easy on them either when it comes to entrance and exit ramps. My wife involuntarily grabs the door handle.

[LPSISRL]

Fair enough Westoot... Not sure where Westoot's tires are made.

"Westoot", I like it!

[WESHOOT2]

My set says "Thailand".
Working well on wet pavement.



We shoot 2, because my wife appropriated my first Ruger KGP-141 for USPSA competition, so I had to buy another.




55,902

[WESHOOT2]

All that being said, if I romped around off-pavement at high speeds often like Weshoot2 does regularly, I'd probably be on the quest to find the perfect tire that balances cost-performance given how fast any tire would wear out in those conditions.

I do a very careful cost/benefit analysis for new tires

[Ronzuki]

I'm with Kuro. My factory tires went 45K. Replaced with Continentals and they took me another 50K. I have another set of Continentals on it now. A buddy of mine is an engineer at Continental and can get them for less than $100 each on tirerack.com. I do rotate them when I change the oil. While I don't romp around like "Westoot" (LOL... maybe that's what the wife call's him) I'm not easy on them either when it comes to entrance and exit ramps. My wife involuntarily grabs the door handle.

I don't get it. Quality of tires? My original Continentals lasted about 18k before the inner tread area's belts were about ready to show. Original factory alignment specs throughout their life, and, when it handled the absolute best. Ever since that set of tires I've been on the modified alignment specs, save some experimentation on the Generals. As I've indicated, it's literally spot on, dead-nuts center spec right now w/ the Kumhos and they're not going to pass state inspection in December.

I romp the back road twisties hard on dry pavement any chance I get w/ the AWD active and don't really change that much when it's wet even. Curved on/off ramps are a nice controlled bonus and I usually accelerate hard through them, on or off depending. Other than that, the only difference I see is the quality of the tires then. That, or my driving style is harder on the tires than I think it is (probably).

[WESHOOT2]

I've noticed hard cornering chews the inside edges off. I suggest suspension geometry is the 'wear' culprit.

I mean, mixed with 'driving style'

[golftango]

Sorry for the typo Weshoot!