Tires are the only part of your car touching the road, and even then the surface area regularly connecting to the pavement could fit on a piece of printer paper. And, yet, many of us just look for the cheapest tire. For certain cars that’s maybe ok, but even our staff is split between people who don’t care that much about their tires and those who spend way too much time tire-shopping.
Matt Hardigree
The tires are the only part of my Subaru that do not let me down. I have Michelin CrossClimate 2s and I think they’re the best all-around tire for people who drive a non-performance vehicle/live in cold climates and might have to drive in snow irregularly.
Thomas Hundal
When I bought my Boxster, I knew it needed new tires, and there aren’t many choices in this particular fitment. Instead of the Porsche N-Spec Pirelli P Zeros, which I haven’t been impressed with, or the ancient and expensive Porsche N-Spec Michelin PS2s, I went with the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02. It’s a 340-treadwear summer tire competing with the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, except it’s exclusively an aftermarket fitment. While grip and resistance to flat-spotting has been excellent, the big surprise was road manners. These are incredibly quiet tires that are still sticky enough to throw pebbles, they’re hushed over expansion joints, have a great sense of dead-ahead, and I find the steering more linear than on most Michelin tires. So far, I’m extremely happy. After all, a good car requires good tires, right?
Peter Vieira
I am a discerning consumer, which means I wear out the counter guy at my Local Firestone Tire Center with a litany of questions including “What do you have for a 2015 RAV4” and “What is the cheapest tire for a 2015 RAV4,” followed by “can I keep this pen” and exactly no other questions. I’m an unashamed cheap-tire buyer, but I won’t get the cheapest of the cheap – it’s gotta be a legit name brand, it can’t be something like, “Mile King, a Division of Abakumov Rubber & Sausage.” At present, I’m happy with my [goes out to garage to check] Firestone All-Seasons. They’re the perfect combination of “was on sale” and “seems fine” that I require in a tire. And if anyone’s wondering why I get my tires from a Firestone shop, it’s because it’s close enough for me to ride my bicycle back home after I drop off the RAV4. I can’t be hanging out in no tire store all day, I’m busy.
Mercedes Streeter
My only tire loyalty is to Vredestein. Otherwise, cheapest tire from a recognizable brand.
Top image by Pete, via Twitter (sigh … “X.”)
I most recently put a set of Firestone Firehawk all seasons on my Focus and love them – they’re not the regular all seasons, but rather a more aggressive/sport version. Nicely splits the difference between standard all seasons and performance tires.
Bridgestone’s investment upon buying the company has made a HUGE difference in Firestone’s product quality…Firestones are now great bang-for-the-buck tires in a way they often weren’t for a long time.
First set, OEMs when I bought the car. (2 years)
2nd set, Yokohama Geolander A/TS (8 years and still good, but a bolt through sidewall)
3rd set, the least expensive Discount Tire had in stock. (Sentury or something)
First set, OEMs when I bought the car. (2 years)
2nd set, Yokohama Geolander A/TS (8 years and still good, but a bolt through sidewall)
3rd set, the least expensive Discount Tire had in stock. (Sentury or something)
4Runner – BFGoodrich Ko2’s. Had them on my F150 before, and love them on my 4runner. Look good, ride well, not too noisy, and great all around traction for the driving I do. Plus white letters.
MachE – Michelin Primacy A/S. They are the OEM’s, and they’re fine. Likely won’t get them when it needs new tires, but EV tires are a bit of a range vs performance conundrum.
The OE Michelin Primacy that Ford has been putting on is a shallower tread depth. Seeing them come back in 12 months or 20k miles and needing replacement is pretty common on that tire.
The CrossClimate EV is a great upgrade if you can handle the price.
Yeah, it’s frustrating that Ford is putting on shallow depth tires on new cars.
We only have 1100 miles on the car, so we’ve got some time. A lot of people are liking the Hankook iON evo AS’s as well.
4Runner – BFGoodrich Ko2’s. Had them on my F150 before, and love them on my 4runner. Look good, ride well, not too noisy, and great all around traction for the driving I do. Plus white letters.
MachE – Michelin Primacy A/S. They are the OEM’s, and they’re fine. Likely won’t get them when it needs new tires, but EV tires are a bit of a range vs performance conundrum.
The OE Michelin Primacy that Ford has been putting on is a shallower tread depth. Seeing them come back in 12 months or 20k miles and needing replacement is pretty common on that tire.
The CrossClimate EV is a great upgrade if you can handle the price.
Yeah, it’s frustrating that Ford is putting on shallow depth tires on new cars.
We only have 1100 miles on the car, so we’ve got some time. A lot of people are liking the Hankook iON evo AS’s as well.
My Subaru has Michelin CrossClimate2s–really good all-around tires, especially here on the front range of Colorado where it could be 70 degrees and sunny on Monday, snowing on Tuesday, and 80 on Wednesday.
My wife’s Gladiator has the factory alternate Falken Wildpeak MTs, and they’re fun tires, especially off-road. I’ll probably replace them with the Wildpeak AT4s or the new BFGoodrich KO3s for better snowability.
My Kawasaki Concours14 has Michelin Pilot Road 4 GTs; they seem to be awesome tires all-around for a touring bike.
My Subaru has Michelin CrossClimate2s–really good all-around tires, especially here on the front range of Colorado where it could be 70 degrees and sunny on Monday, snowing on Tuesday, and 80 on Wednesday.
My wife’s Gladiator has the factory alternate Falken Wildpeak MTs, and they’re fun tires, especially off-road. I’ll probably replace them with the Wildpeak AT4s or the new BFGoodrich KO3s for better snowability.
My Kawasaki Concours14 has Michelin Pilot Road 4 GTs; they seem to be awesome tires all-around for a touring bike.
I’ve got my third set of Goodyear Eagle F1s. I think they are a really good tire all around. You can push them hard without loosing grip and I can get around 20000 miles out of a set.
I’ve got a second set of General Altimax on my wife’s Edge. I haven’t found a better tire for the price. Good grip in the dry and solid in the rain/snow with a quiet ride on the highway.
I’ve got my third set of Goodyear Eagle F1s. I think they are a really good tire all around. You can push them hard without loosing grip and I can get around 20000 miles out of a set.
I’ve got a second set of General Altimax on my wife’s Edge. I haven’t found a better tire for the price. Good grip in the dry and solid in the rain/snow with a quiet ride on the highway.
Kumho Majesta Solus 9 on my Lexus GS460. I have no complaints. Great wet traction and quiet. Its just a commuter and not built for hard cornering anyways.
Kumho Majesta Solus 9 on my Lexus GS460. I have no complaints. Great wet traction and quiet. Its just a commuter and not built for hard cornering anyways.
I have Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate performance all seasons on my Kona N. I would say that I mostly like them. They offer great traction in the cold and wet and they’ve held up to multiple track days no problem. The only complaints I have are that low speed stopping distances aren’t great and they can’t get anywhere near the limits of mechanical grip that the car offers.
I’ve definitely induced some slides unintentionally that wouldn’t have happened with the P Zeros that came with the car. But what can you do? I can’t run summers year round here in DC and the cold months aren’t snowy enough to warrant a dedicated set of winters. For better and worse performance all seasons are the best solution for me. I’m going to try Continentals next time, because apparently the extreme contact all season performance rubber is the best in the game.
The Extreme Contact DWS06+ are a good all-around tire, but they do age quickly, as Continentals tend to do. Whether it be rapid tread deterioration near the end of life or dry-rot in the sidewalls and/or treads, they definitely are meant more for mileage than time.
I have Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate performance all seasons on my Kona N. I would say that I mostly like them. They offer great traction in the cold and wet and they’ve held up to multiple track days no problem. The only complaints I have are that low speed stopping distances aren’t great and they can’t get anywhere near the limits of mechanical grip that the car offers.
I’ve definitely induced some slides unintentionally that wouldn’t have happened with the P Zeros that came with the car. But what can you do? I can’t run summers year round here in DC and the cold months aren’t snowy enough to warrant a dedicated set of winters. For better and worse performance all seasons are the best solution for me. I’m going to try Continentals next time, because apparently the extreme contact all season performance rubber is the best in the game.
The Extreme Contact DWS06+ are a good all-around tire, but they do age quickly, as Continentals tend to do. Whether it be rapid tread deterioration near the end of life or dry-rot in the sidewalls and/or treads, they definitely are meant more for mileage than time.
I had Hankook Dynapro HT’s on my old van and generally liked them, and now I have their Kinergy PT’s on my Prius. 80,000 mile warranty, all-season. They seem adequate. I don’t think I’m too discerning; I just wanted long warranties.
Oddly, the Kinergy PT’s match the OEM spec size, but they’re not rated for quite as high speeds. I don’t know why the OEM spec is “V” (149 mph) for a vehicle whose max speed is 106. So the Kinergy are H rated (130 mph), and slightly higher load rating than OEM.
I did go to Tire Rack to replace my donut tire since the original was over 10 years old. Had to get one slightly wider (145 instead of 135). That one is Yokohama.
I have the OEM rims (wheels? I still mix up the terminology sometimes…) still…not particularly flashy, but replacing those is apparently an expensive proposition, plus if it compromises fuel economy I’d rather not.
I had Hankook Dynapro HT’s on my old van and generally liked them, and now I have their Kinergy PT’s on my Prius. 80,000 mile warranty, all-season. They seem adequate. I don’t think I’m too discerning; I just wanted long warranties.
Oddly, the Kinergy PT’s match the OEM spec size, but they’re not rated for quite as high speeds. I don’t know why the OEM spec is “V” (149 mph) for a vehicle whose max speed is 106. So the Kinergy are H rated (130 mph), and slightly higher load rating than OEM.
I did go to Tire Rack to replace my donut tire since the original was over 10 years old. Had to get one slightly wider (145 instead of 135). That one is Yokohama.
I have the OEM rims (wheels? I still mix up the terminology sometimes…) still…not particularly flashy, but replacing those is apparently an expensive proposition, plus if it compromises fuel economy I’d rather not.
I put Contintental DWS06+ on both my cars. They have good feel, the wear rating is supposed to be really good, they are really good in the wet, they are (relatively) quiet and it does get cold enough in North Carolina that I was a bit worried about dedicated summers in the winter. I also don’t think I’d be railing on either car hard enough on the street to exceed the grip present with good all seasons (least of all on the Corvette with its 295s all around).
I put Contintental DWS06+ on both my cars. They have good feel, the wear rating is supposed to be really good, they are really good in the wet, they are (relatively) quiet and it does get cold enough in North Carolina that I was a bit worried about dedicated summers in the winter. I also don’t think I’d be railing on either car hard enough on the street to exceed the grip present with good all seasons (least of all on the Corvette with its 295s all around).
Second set of Cooper Discoverer AT3s on my Express camper van. Excellent mileage and they do the job for my dirt road life
Second set of Cooper Discoverer AT3s on my Express camper van. Excellent mileage and they do the job for my dirt road life
Viper – Pirelli Corsas. Factory fitment. You aren’t going to believe this, but there aren’t many options in the factory sizes. Their limits are plenty high for me on street and track, and the ~10,000 mile life is acceptable.
Holden – Bridgestone something. Closeout deal at the Rack. They’re fine, nothing special. If I get 20,000 miles out them it’s probably a good deal.
Truck – Yokohama Geolander. I like these because they came in 285/75/18 (35″) with a snowflake symbol but without a super aggressive tread pattern.
Van – Vredstein. These were inexpensive, also had a snowflake, and well-reviewed but I’m somewhat disappointed in the life. They are mostly gone at less than 40,000 miles. Probably will go with something else next time.
Viper – Pirelli Corsas. Factory fitment. You aren’t going to believe this, but there aren’t many options in the factory sizes. Their limits are plenty high for me on street and track, and the ~10,000 mile life is acceptable.
Holden – Bridgestone something. Closeout deal at the Rack. They’re fine, nothing special. If I get 20,000 miles out them it’s probably a good deal.
Truck – Yokohama Geolander. I like these because they came in 285/75/18 (35″) with a snowflake symbol but without a super aggressive tread pattern.
Van – Vredstein. These were inexpensive, also had a snowflake, and well-reviewed but I’m somewhat disappointed in the life. They are mostly gone at less than 40,000 miles. Probably will go with something else next time.
I have OEM tires on my truck but I love them because they were takeoffs I paid $100 for. They only had 3,000 miles on them at the time. I have over 60,000 miles on my truck at this point yet I have paid a total of $170 (with the mounting cost included) for tires.
I have OEM tires on my truck but I love them because they were takeoffs I paid $100 for. They only had 3,000 miles on them at the time. I have over 60,000 miles on my truck at this point yet I have paid a total of $170 (with the mounting cost included) for tires.
A set of $52 per tire Douglas on my commuter and Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max on my wife’s Buick that does child hauling duty. Couldn’t be happier with both so far and they’re both US made and made by a US held company.
A set of $52 per tire Douglas on my commuter and Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max on my wife’s Buick that does child hauling duty. Couldn’t be happier with both so far and they’re both US made and made by a US held company.