Tires...mine eyes have been opened!!

[dkn1997]

I'm 40.  been owning and driving my own cars since I was 16. 22 years of that time I was such a cheap bastard when it came to tires.  I always shopped on price.  As I get older and wiser, or budweiser as some might say, I have ridden in enough cars and seen and read enough that a couple of years ago It dawned on me that I was spinning my wheels with cheap tires.   I had always heard that michelins were excellent tires and from all my years of tire shopping, the price seemed to reflect that.  well..2 years ago, I bought a set for my 99 grand prix GTP. These things have barely worn at all, grip excellent in wet weather and ride very well.  

Yesterday confirmed this for me.  My 02 tahoe needed tires and 17" SUV tires are not cheap.  the truck has 85K on it and of course the goodyears it came with were shot when I got it at 40K.  I then put a set of cheapie Kumho's on it.  I got almost 45K out of them, but they ride like poop.  This time I ponied up for the Michelins.  I'm almost ashamed to have spent 200 bucks a tire, but the ride home told me all I needed to know.  Rides so much better (truck is a Z71 so it has the stiffer shocks) and every review I read says that I will get a lot of life out of them.  I know I spent a boatload of money for them but nothing feels better to me than getting what I pay for.  

btw, goodyears are the crappiest tires on earth IMHO.  I have had them as the OE tires on both of these vehicles and all I can say is junk, junk, junk, overpriced junk.  someone at goodyear is clearly bribing someone at GM to get them to used this garbage on their new cars. maybe they make a great supercar tire but for the average joe who needs something that lasts, what a ripoff.

[Tilar]

Michelin does make a great tire, but you have to realise that all tire manufacturers make their "China-mart" quality line of tires. Back in the early 80's I bought a 78 Lincoln that had 50k miles on it that had a fairly new set of cheap tires on it. I bought a good set of Michelins for it and put the tires that was on the car on my truck. I tend to rotate and balance my tires every 6 to 8k miles and managed to get almost 70k miles out of the Michelins... and you can't beat their ride.

[dodgecharger-fan]

Most OE tire are junk - no matter what the brand stamped on them says.

That's why you can get them used at the tire shop as "take-offs"
People will pick up a brand new car and drive right over to the tire shop to upgrade the tires.

Goodyear has some good tires. Michelin, too. I put Goodyear Fortera Triple-Tred tires on my wife's Explorer. Great tires.
I've had Michelins on my cars in the past. Great tires.

I think the brand matters less than selecting the right tire for the application and making sure that you're buying quality in the first place.

Store brand tires (like Canadian Tire's Motorcraft) are made in the same factory as the brand name tires, but to different specs. Not to say that they are bad, but I think they only go so far in specs, quality and performance. To get better, you need to go to the name brands.

Spending some time on a site like tire rack will give you some good info about different ratings on road noise, grip in different conditions etc.

[HPP]

For all the wiz bang, hyped up, latest and greatest suspension controls and electronics put into a vehciels, everything still comes down to four tiny patches of road where the tires touch the earth. Compromise on that contact point and everything else becomes compromised.

[Tilar]

Never really thought about it quite like that, but that's right on the money.

[dkn1997]

I spent a lot of time on tirerack.  I looked at the tires, brands...but also looked at the load rating and wear rating and read the reviews

I got the LTX MS/2.  I can't believe how much better the truck rides. 

[Cooter]

I've always been told that in an older car(1969 Charger, or other), that at 100 Mph, there's only about 10 LBS on each tire at that speed...I know this to be partially true as when My brother and I were in High School, he bought a '69 Charger R/T, 440/727, 8 3/4-3.23 sure Grip..

He got me in that thing one time with a friend that kept talkin' sh*t about runnin' 150 MPH in his 302 powered Mercury Cougar. My brother told him to get in and he'd show him 150 MPH.....

Well, we made it up to around 105 on the primaries, he then dumped that double pumper and off we went...Now, I've never been much for road racing and high speeds...We approached around 135 and he said "Watch this".....He began to turn the steering wheel back and forth from the 10AM to 1 PM position and the car kept going straight...
By this time I was yelling "Set this thing back down on the ground and lemme outta here!"
Something to be said about good tires.....

[NYCMille]

Your tires are EVERYTHING... like the Pirelli ad says "Power is Nothing Without Control"... (not advocating Pirelli's BTW it's just a good slogan)

[Ghoste]

As someone who does high speed, long distance driving in a "street" vehicle, what do you endorse?

[HPP]

I spent a lot of time on tirerack.  I looked at the tires, brands...but also looked at the load rating and wear rating and read the reviews

I got the LTX MS/2.  I can't believe how much better the truck rides. 

Your also going to love how long they last. I've been putting LTX series tires under my SUVS since the mid 90s. I've worn out all the vehicles before I had to replace tires.

[dkn1997]

as I used to say in the 80's....   these things rule all!

[NYCMille]

As someone who does high speed, long distance driving in a "street" vehicle, what do you endorse?

Really depends - for street use I generally run Nitto NT555's - they are a relative inexpensive tire with great grip, good wet weather performance and decent track manners, plus you'll some decent mileage out of them. If running on the race track through they'll get greasy after a few hard laps so be aware. Otherwise a great street tire is the Michelin PS2 or standard Pilot Sports - good tires but crappy mileage manners.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

All my Honda's came with Michelin's

[RD]

i work with a guy who retired from goodyear after 32 years.  he states that the manufacturers get the best of the lot to put on the cars when they come from the factory.  the less desireable tires are then ponied out to the tire shops.

is this the truth? hell i dont know, but he did say it.

[twodko]

Michelin tires are worth every dime IMO. HPP's comment - enough said.

Tom

[Rolling_Thunder]

I went the cheap route on the tires for my Tacoma...   originally came with BFG's - I had replaced them shortly after I bought the truck...    I See people getting about 40K out of the BFGs...     I went with Big-O tire's MESA tires (Cheapest tires in that size) and are considered an "off brand" by all means...    Well - I have 20K on them (about) and am DAMN IMPRESSED. I do not baby my truck at all but these tires are amazing for the price  -  great wet traction, dirt / mud traction, and very nice cruising around. 

This has nothing to do with muscle car tires but I felt the need to share. I plan on running Nitto 555's on my Charger   

[Todd Wilson]

I've always been told that in an older car(1969 Charger, or other), that at 100 Mph, there's only about 10 LBS on each tire at that speed...I know this to be partially true as when My brother and I were in High School, he bought a '69 Charger R/T, 440/727, 8 3/4-3.23 sure Grip..

He got me in that thing one time with a friend that kept talkin' sh*t about runnin' 150 MPH in his 302 powered Mercury Cougar. My brother told him to get in and he'd show him 150 MPH.....

Well, we made it up to around 105 on the primaries, he then dumped that double pumper and off we went...Now, I've never been much for road racing and high speeds...We approached around 135 and he said "Watch this".....He began to turn the steering wheel back and forth from the 10AM to 1 PM position and the car kept going straight...
By this time I was yelling "Set this thing back down on the ground and lemme outta here!"
Something to be said about good tires.....

HAHAHAHA!  Thats why they had to put a nose and a wing on them pigs!    You should ride in a 71 Charger sometime!   they squat and sit down the faster you go!


Todd

[Todd Wilson]

btw, goodyears are the crappiest tires on earth IMHO.  I have had them as the OE tires on both of these vehicles and all I can say is junk, junk, junk, overpriced junk.  someone at goodyear is clearly bribing someone at GM to get them to used this garbage on their new cars. maybe they make a great supercar tire but for the average joe who needs something that lasts, what a ripoff.

I agree! Have had 2 sets og GY on my Ram.   3rd set is MIchs   and they have been a great tire!


Todd

[Mike DC]

              
What always gets me is how people let their tires get so damn bald.  


Motorists are eager to spend thousands of bucks extra on airbags, electronic driving controls, crumple zones, safety cages . . . but good luck convincing people to replace a set of tires when there's still 1/32nd of an inch of rubber left above the treadwear's minimal safety recommendation.    

 
   

[stripedelete]

I've found a good set of tires and maybe new carpet, ( or  maybe a recovered seat) will keep you happy in a car for another 100,000 miles after your tired of it.  Saves $$$ in the long run. 

Watch the used car lots that turn their inventory pretty regularly with a good gross, they stick a new set of tires on almost everything.

Another observation. Over the last 25 years cheap tires have changed.  It used to be that a cheap tire rode like crap but wore like iron.  Now they just ride like crap.

[68charger383]

I don't know, I was always a big Michelin fan. Usually got 80K off my LTX M&S tires.

Lately, the tires are not living up to the hype. I recently had an LTX sidewall blow out. On another set for my SUV, I only got 35K on a set of Michelin Pilots that turned into slicks.

I'm currently trying a set of Faulken on the SUV, we'll see how these work out.

[dkn1997]

we have now been driving this thing for 2 more days and even the wife notices.  I have never had a set of tires improve ride like this before. 

[HPP]

On another set for my SUV, I only got 35K on a set of Michelin Pilots that turned into slicks.

Well, Pilots are a more enthusiast oriented tire with considerably lower UTQC rating for treadwear than traditional LTX tires.

[Silver R/T]

Bridgestone are my personal favorite.

[SeattleCharger]

the michelins are impressive for wet roads, rains a lot here.

   and at Costco top michelins are less than the big tire store's store brand cheapies   

[Silver R/T]

I know on my truck Michelins didn't last long. Same deal with my boss's truck. His are all worn out, they didn't last long. They might be good tire for passenger car but they just don't last on a full-sized truck.

[1970Moparmann]

When I bought my truck I almost rear ended someone about 10 miles from the lot because the tires sucked so badly.... When a vehicle is new, you can call up Goodyear, Firestone, NTB, and such and ask them how much you would get for trading up  your tires.  I wound up getting a $400 credit for my crappy ones and got a little better set.  After I wore the Duehlers out, I wound up seeing great reviews on the Nitto Terra Grapplers, and bought a set.  LOVE THEM..... I will probably stay with Nitto's moving forward.  I'm planning on putting of Nitto's on my 68 Charger when I buy my wheels..........

I research the crap out of everything, but it pays off!