Tires

[Dr Tinear]

Running Michelin Defenders on my medium size SUV. They handle well in snow, rain & dry, are quiet and the wear life is excellent.

I'll offer a big +1 on this recommendation. I ran Michelin Defenders on my 2000 Mercury Sable. They performed well in all kinds of weather, rode quietly, and provided excellent wear life. The 2014 Ford Fusion I bought in 2017 to replace the Sable came with Michelin Energy A/S tires, which were decent but not as good as the Defenders in rain or snow. I replaced them with Michelin Defender T&H tires last December and had no trouble getting through a Michigan winter. I also bought a set of the Defender T&H tires for my son's 2015 Ford Escape.

 

[N8Nagel]

The Mustang has a set of Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires but I'm not all that impressed with them. While they do wear evenly, there is a lot of road noise and the compound is pretty hard for a semi-performance tire. They don't hook up very well on dry pavement.

In the past, I've had very good luck with Michelin, General and Cooper. I had a set of Yokohama tires and hated them - the wet traction was terrible.

I'll second that last. My current DD is an XJ Cherokee with Yokohama Geolandar A/Ts... have had a few scary moments where the combination of those tires, rain, and LSD suddenly kicking in have caused some pucker moments. Just the other day I was having trouble pulling away from a stop light on a slight upgrade until the LSD kicked in. Otherwise they're good, but if I did more driving in hard rain I'd be thinking about ditching them. Oddly they get a "good" rating in wet performance on Tire Rack.

Not relevant to the OP's request but I've had bad experiences with Continental tires on two different cars. First was a 2002 GTI that had Conti AS tires on it, they had no traction in any conditions. Replaced them with Michelins well before they were worn out because I got sick of looking like a ricer literally chirping the front tires just backing out of a parking space. Second was a set of Conti DWS a few years ago when the factory run flats wore out on my E92. Those rode great and had good traction but they were so fragile, got flats all the time, cracked sidewalls from hitting potholes. Eventually I ditched them for some 17" rims and I think General all seasons? Which I don't like very much, they're loud and go square when not driven every day.

 

[Condorsat]

Last tires I bought were Yokohama's. Holding up well .. I've bought off brand tires (lower tier) before. If memory serves me well .. they did not hold up as well as the upper/mid tier brands .. needed replaced sooner. I'm picky on tires .. and have them replaced when they start to show significant wear & tear.

I always have my tires rotated and check the air regularly. Whenever I purchase new tires .. I have a front end alignment done.

 

[cratz2]

I also had a negative experience with Continental DWS tires on my Contour SVT though they were fine in terms of performance. The Bridgestone RE730s that they were replaced were absolutely better, lasted longer and were about 30% cheaper but were no longer available at the time.

 

[gadget73]

Alignment and rotation does a lot for tire life. The set I put on the Continental were on there for 2000 miles and I noticed significant wear. Alignment was off. It drove fine, so I didn't expect problems but the toe was considerably off the mark. It drives better now but previously it wasn't pulling or doing anything else that is the usual clue that something is wrong. The tires that came off it were evenly worn too so I honestly thought nothing of it.

I ended up swapping the ball joints sooner than I originally planned to and had it aligned.

 

[KingBubba]

I ended up getting f-ed by Firestone during the whole Firestone 500 debacle. My front left tire blew on the interstate at 70 mph. They refused to replace it, saying it was out of the serial # range. I will never own a Firestone/Bridgestone ever again. Michelin is the way to go. It is worth the extra moolah.

 

[FONSguy]

On my last 2 Jetta's (1995 & 2004 wagon) I used Michelin Pilot Sports. Great traction but as they get older they get louder.
Newest Jetta, 2016 came with Continentals. those are not low profile tires, as DC roads are one continuous pothole, so my ride is smoother.

 

[cratz2]

The wife had a 99 Jetta that came with something like Michelin MXV4s when new. They seemed decent but we replaced them with slightly wider Dunlop SP Sport 5000s and they were a pretty big upgrade, mostly in terms of wet performance and braking.

And they were almost $100 less per tire. They were doing the $60 more for the stock model, stock tire size thing.



As an aside, that can had ridiculous brakes. IIRC, Motor Trend listed it as the third or fourth best braking performance they'd ever measured under about $80,000. And it was noticeably better with the Dunlops!

 

[leesonic]

My daily driver 2010 Ford Focus went down a pothole back in February, details and pics on this thread here. Short story, one rim got bent enough to break the bead seal, the other front tire had a huge bulge in the sidewall. I was running 16" Ford Fiesta SES rims with the correct size Hankook tires for my car. Since I still had the factory 15" rims, I ordered some Firestone Firehawks from Tire Rack, as they were cheaper than buying a new Fiesta rim and two tires. When prompted me to buy the Firestones is they are non-directional, meaning I can rotate them so they spin in the opposite direction. One thing about this Focus is, when the tires start to wear, they get noisy. This has happened on the original tires (Kuhmos I believe), the 1st replacement set which were Sumitomos, and the Hankooks on the Fiesta rims. I've had the alignment checked repeatedly, both at dealers under warranty, and after at Firestone where I have a lifetime alignment deal. They never find anything wrong with the alignment.

The Mustang (2017 GT with Performance Pack) has Pirelli P-Zeros on it. Despite these being "summer tires" only, I've never really had any real problems in the other seasons, in fact I drove it home from the dealers in North Jersey in the snow. One thing is, there is no spare tire since Ford don't make one large enough to cover the big front brakes. There is an aftermarket one, but it's $400.

The Merkur gets whatever tires I can find. It's currently wearing a set of Goodyears that came off a 1973 Capri that had 14" Mustang steel rims. If I ever get around to getting it painted, I will have to get some nice wheels.

Lee.

 

[charles 1973]

My 2012 GMC Terrain came with P235 60R17 Firestone Destination LE tires. Most other Terrains on the lot had Michelin's, So I was naturally disappointed.

But to my surprise these tires still perform WAY better than I had anticipated with 30,000 miles and 7+ years of service. There is still plenty of tread left. On dry pavement the cornering is almost athletic for a Terrain and they are quiet, Wet pavement traction is good too. Since it is the only tire I've had it is hard to compare ride. I think new tires, Even Firestone would do better in that department though since the rubber is approaching the consistency of a hockey puck.

Perhaps keeping my tires properly inflated and aligned helped me get this kind of performance and mileage. I don't know.

The dealer tells me the new Firestone Destination are a good value too. At first I had not even considered going back to Firestone, But after checking some tests and reviews I might buy another pair. They are highly rated by many sites.

 

[Yamaki]

Toyo Proxes on the Chrysler 300 SRT8, Nitto Ridge Grapplers on the Ram Laramie Cummins 2500.

Just switched over to the Nittos on the truck after running BFG KO2 on it, and other trucks, for some time. Wish I had made the switch sooner.

The Toyos have proven to have excellent wet & dry traction and really stick to the road under spirited driving, which I do from time to time with the SRT8.

The Ram sees both on-road and offroad duty out here in the PNW. The Nittos take everything in stride from open road cruising to climing through the hills here to towing large loads.

There are a lot of other brands and models to choose from out there. I'm just saying that I've found what works best for me after trying a lot of different brands over the years. For now, I've got what I need that performs well given the various uses I put them through.

 

[mkane]

truck- Michelin, my car-BFG, wife's car-Yokahama

 

[OvenMaster]

For 14 years my family had a '98 Taurus wagon. The original tires were no-names that were pretty much black and filled with air... quite unremarkable.
When we replaced them with some Michelins, the difference was like night and day. The car suddenly became controllable, flingable, with superb handling and good fuel economy. (Some people might laugh at the concept of a lowly Taurus with handling aspirations, but I will remind the reader that none other than Sir Jackie Stewart was heavily involved in tweaking 3rd gen Taurus roadholding and handling) They lasted 60,000 miles until we junked the car, reluctantly.

Now I have a 2011 Ford Escape with Michelin Latitude touring tires. The OEMs lasted 74,000 so we just got a new set. I'm sure they handle well, but a tippy small SUV does not inspire any driving that might be called spirited. They do, however, inspire confidence in the rain and with braking.

 

[Dr Tinear]

For 14 years my family had a '98 Taurus wagon. The original tires were no-names that were pretty much black and filled with air... quite unremarkable.
When we replaced them with some Michelins, the difference was like night and day. The car suddenly became controllable, flingable, with superb handling and good fuel economy. (Some people might laugh at the concept of a lowly Taurus with handling aspirations, but I will remind the reader that none other than Sir Jackie Stewart was heavily involved in tweaking 3rd gen Taurus roadholding and handling) They lasted 60,000 miles until we junked the car, reluctantly.

Now I have a 2011 Ford Escape with Michelin Latitude touring tires. The OEMs lasted 74,000 so we just got a new set. I'm sure they handle well, but a tippy small SUV does not inspire any driving that might be called spirited. They do, however, inspire confidence in the rain and with braking.

I believe most of the Tauruses and Sables from that era left the plant with General tires -- adequate, but nowhere near as good as what Michelin offered in the aftermarket. I had a '99 Sable for eight years and was amazed at how much better it handled with tires other than the original equipment Generals.

 

[roger2]

....

Personally, I'd do a fair bit of legwork, assessing the different brands by reading up on the unbiased sites out there that try to share the different tires perform in terms of stopping on different road surfaces, the reliability, longevity, speed ability and characteristics of each brand.

....

Places that do actual testing can be useful. Reading the reviews at TireRack are just not. You'll get everything from "5 stars, they hold air!" to "0 stars, I tried a track day in my minivan and I couldn't keep up with my buddy's Porsche", or complaints about how summer-only or 3 season tires get stuck in 6" of snow, or car tires on a heavily loaded 1/2 ton pickup truck don't hold up.

Who does unbiased testing? Where is this information available?

 

[gadget73]

Unbiased I don't know, but TireRack does have some track testing videos and articles. You get skidpad, stop distance dry, stop distance wet, that sort of thing. Its a lot more objective than the typical customer review at least and with a lot more detail than "these suck". of course they don't test every tire made so it only helps so much.

 

[avionic]

https://mickeythompsontires.com/drag-tires/et-street-s-s

 

[sanford12]

18" Goodyear Eagle All Season on my Ford Escape. Quiet, smooth and handle great.

 

[Grenadeslio]

Toyo Proxes on the Chrysler 300 SRT8, Nitto Ridge Grapplers on the Ram Laramie Cummins 2500.

Just switched over to the Nittos on the truck after running BFG KO2 on it, and other trucks, for some time. Wish I had made the switch sooner.

The Toyos have proven to have excellent wet & dry traction and really stick to the road under spirited driving, which I do from time to time with the SRT8.

The Ram sees both on-road and offroad duty out here in the PNW. The Nittos take everything in stride from open road cruising to climing through the hills here to towing large loads.

There are a lot of other brands and models to choose from out there. I'm just saying that I've found what works best for me after trying a lot of different brands over the years. For now, I've got what I need that performs well given the various uses I put them through.

The Proxes is a great tire. In 92 when my wife got her first mini van we left the lot, drove straight to a tire store, put American Racing rims on it with 50 series Z rated Toyo Proxes, completely transformed the vans handling.

 

[Grenadeslio]

The Mustang has a set of Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires but I'm not all that impressed with them. While they do wear evenly, there is a lot of road noise and the compound is pretty hard for a semi-performance tire. They don't hook up very well on dry pavement.

In the past, I've had very good luck with Michelin, General and Cooper. I had a set of Yokohama tires and hated them - the wet traction was terrible.

Just had new tires installed on the back of the new Stang, went with the Nitto NT555G2 275/40 19's. As stated earlier, I agree the Pirellis suck to the point of being dangerous, will be replacing the front ones soon.