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.”)Â
I gambled on a set of Bridgestone Weatherpeaks for my Odyssey right around when those came out. I loved them and they were great in the snow but they wore out in 27k miles so I replaced them with a set of Michelin Defenders since Michelin seems to be the only brand of tire I’m consistently happy with.
For my other less important car I’ve been hunting for the best cheap tire for years now. I have a set of Road Huggers from Discount Tire, supposedly made by Kumho, and they’re fine for the price. Really loud though.
I had a set of Ohtsu tires on my Civic and those were the most garbage-ass tires I’ve ever had the misfortune of paying US currency for. I got maybe 20k miles out of them before they started shaking so bad I thought I broke something, and 3 of them had a slow leak.
2017 Honda Accord V-6: Conti Control Contact A/S (Discount Tire custom build)
2001 Jetta TDI: General Altimax RT43
I was pleased with both of the above tires. Both cars arrived with Goodyear OEM Eagle LS tires, which I absolutely despised. They were loud on coarse pavement and more prone to hydroplaning than any other tire I’ve driven on. Dry grip was nothing exceptional either.
Mach-E GT: stock Continental CrossContact RX tires. These have become one of my favorite tires ever with lots of life in them after 19k miles despite EVs supposedly burning through tires quickly and the GT putting down 600 lb-ft from a standstill. They’re all-seasons, which I typically don’t like, but they have excellent traction for twisty roads while sticking like glue on wet surfaces. In the ice storm we had last winter, the Mach-E clawed its way up our steep driveway with no slip or wheelspin when our Leaf with dedicated snow tires couldn’t make it halfway up the hill, even with me turning off traction control, carefully modulating the throttle, and getting a good run up.
To be clear, there’s a lot of variables in that highly unscientific test (the Mach-E is AWD, heavier, and has a much larger tire contact patch), but I usually mock all-seasons for being useless in snow and ice and I’ve been genuinely surprised how surefooted the Mach-E is with these Continentals in snow.
Jeep YJ: BFG KO2s. I built a Jurassic Park Jeep replica and the KO2 is the closest modern equivalent to the BFG Radial ATs in the actual film (long since discontinued and old ones are far too old to safely drive with). Everyone likes the KO2 though, and I’ve been impressed with its very quiet and pleasant road manners (all highly relative in a YJ with no sound deadening and a suspension design from the 1840s) in addition to its grip on the dirt trails in my area. Despite the three peak snow rating, they aren’t very confidence-inspiring in snow though, and the Continentals actually seem to grip better, though the Jeep hasn’t ever been stranded in snow.
Pirelli P Zero run flats on my Jaguar F Type. They are the correct brand but not correct compound (Jaguar has a specific OEM P Zero) for the car. They were fitted by the dealer when I brought the car and make the ride too stiff. I’ll change them out possibly for Michelins Pilot Sport 4S’ when they are worn down enough to justify changing them.
I love tires, I spend way too much time watching review videos and looking at specs.
General Grabber ATX all terrains on my 4Runner. I’m very happy with them, they’ve handled everything I’ve thrown at them. They’re relatively quiet, I can still get over 20mpg on the highway, great in rain and 3Peak rated for snow (and they’re great in that) and they’ve been long wearing, I have about 63k on them and they still have useable tread, they’re not even close to the wear bars. And I’m super lazy about rotating them, the only time I do it is when I have the wheels off for something else.
I would totally buy them again if they came in the size I want to upgrade to.
I’ve been poring over tire specs looking at replacements, right now the Mickey Thompson BAJA Boss AT is top of the list, though the Toyo RT trail is a close 2nd.
The hard part of the popular Toyota 4×4 sizes that a lot of them only come in load range E, which is way overkill on a mostly street driven 4R.
General Altimax RT43 on the Volvo XC70, they’re a great all season that is quiet, smooth, and long lasting. Much better winter performance than the Conti’s that came on the car.
NITTO NT555 on the Firebird Formula. I love them, they’re quiet, smooth, and the hook much better than the Michelin Pilot AS that I previously ran. Not surprised, since the NITTO is a summer tire. Treadwear is good too, there’s plenty of tread left, but at about 12 years old they’re dangerously dry rotted.
I’ve had so many tires from different brands (all name brands) and most of them were pretty good. For a while, I was doing winters/summer HP, but switched to winter and HPAS as they last much longer, are often cheaper, offer pretty close performance (I don’t track the car) in the dry while being better in the wet, and are much more cold temp tolerant (though this varies considerably for HPs. Most are acceptable, but the stock Goodyear Eagle F1s that came on my Focus ST would flat spot if the temp dropped below 50F and the grip turned to damp-autumn-leaves-on-the-roadway while the dry grip in its temp range seemed to always give out to almost sudden understeer instead of the more communicative, lift-off oversteer-on-demand of various tires I replaced them with, and they didn’t last long at all, so those were some of the worst tires, only—handily—beaten to the bottom by the horrendous Michelin Primacys that came on the GR86.) The newer HPASs are generally so good in the unpredictable New England weather that I’m contemplating not having winter tires anymore with the lack of snow we get now (cue next year getting hammered) as they can even handle the small amounts we tend to get just fine. I had a set of Continental DWSs on my Focus ST, but they developed a scalloping problem that made it look like I had blown shocks/struts, which I did not. Got a $100 rebate for a cheaper set of General G-Max (also made by Continental) and tried them out in spite of the Dollar Store-sounding name and they’ve been pretty good. Still using them on the GR86. I also tried their Altimax Arctic winter tires as I got them on sale for something like $80 each after a rebate and, while not as good as Blizzaks on dry pavement, were great in snow and excellent value for dollar (even at normal price) that also lasted longer than the Blizzaks traditionally have for me.
I have both my Voyager and my wife’s Forester on Michelin Cross Climate 2s. I had the original Cross Climates on my Suzuki SX4 towards the end of its time with me. Living in Upstate NY, they just make a lot of sense. Swapping all-seasons and snow tires and everything that’s associated with that (like storage) is a huge PITA. The Cross Climates perform pretty well in just about every condition. Neither car is a blast to drive regardless of tire, so you might as well choose the longest lasting, best performer in bad weather.
The only negative I’ve seen from them is slightly worse fuel efficiency from both cars. Looks like it’s worth 1-2 mpg penalty. Sucks (especially with the van) but worth it to have a single set of tires that works in all conditions.
In all honesty if I still lived in the Toronto area, id be going in that direction as well. Running snow tires is such a hassle for the 2 snowfalls a year that are cleared by the morning. Further north is a different story, but I definitely see the value of a true year-round tire.
Yeah even in the mildest winters (the last 3 in a row) we still get a couple of storms that make driving difficult without snows. Some years, we just get absolutely pounded by storm after storm. You really don’t want to get caught without decent tires during a winter like that.
DD Escape: replaced the OE Conti Contactpros with Bridgestone Turanzas (sale)…much more stable/responsive on the twisty back roads, but dont think will get as good of tire life.
Wifes’ Crosstrek: replaced the OE Geolanders with same from Subaru dealer (good price). They drive and wear well for her.
I tend to get mid-level name brand tire. Past experience with cheap/off-brand tire were not money saving in the end….short life/uneven wear/poor rain traction.
I’ve stuck with the OEM tires on my Mazda, Dunlop SP 5000. They’ll be due for replacement either before this winter or next year. I’ll have to check tread depth before deciding if they have one more season in them or not. If I have to replace them this year they’ll have around 30,000 miles on them. I’m generally willing to compromise on tread life in exchange for better driving, and the car does drive very nicely with them. Only getting 30,000 out of them could push me to look at other options.
We replaced the OEM Michelin gas saver tires on my wife’s Accord hybrid with Bridgestones through Costco. The Michelin’s were unsafe for winter driving at around 28,000 miles, and they were pretty expensive. We decided losing an MPG or two wasn’t a bad trade off for spending a lot less on tires. My wife is happy with how the car drives, and that’s what matters more than anything. Getting them through Costco saved a decent amount over getting them through a dedicated tire shop.
fun truck: BFG M/T’s, love em. A little noisy but all part of the experience.
fun car: Cooper Cobras. Priced well, made well, perform well.
The SE-R has GeneralAltimax RT43s because by the time I had to replace the dry-rotted Bridgestone RE760s it was the best reasonable non-super-sticky tire available in that size. My Fiat has something inexpensive from 2008 with almost no miles on them but they’re 16 years old so when I put the BiTurbo wheels on it they’re getting new tires, either the Altimax again or the Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2, which to my surprise is not only available in 185/60-14 (from Coker) but at the same price as the Altimax. Weird. The 911 has Continental DWS02s, which I’ve been quite happy with. I wish the JSW had those too, but it came to me with new Uniroyal Tiger Paws. The Saab hasBFGoodrich Advantage Somethings, and I think the E12 has the same tire.
I’ve run a few sets of the RT43’s on my XC70, FANTACTIC tire for the money. They were a huge improvement over the Contis that came on the car.
Silverado – Falken Wildpeak AT3W – Yep, they were affordable, and relatively quiet for an all-terrain tire, and the only time they haven’t been able to give me enough traction was on a muddy near-45-degree hill.
Prius – Bridgestone Ecopia 422 – Yep, they were cheap because 2019 date code, and my MPG seem to be the same or better than the last set of tires.
Saabaru – Belle tire brand snow tires from a Buick LeSabre – Yep, they were free, and they’ve been good for traction in winter conditions AND in an unsanctioned rallycross field.
Miata – Nitto NeoGen – Yep, although I haven’t put a lot of miles on them, so I don’t have a lot to say, but they seem to be grippy enough.
500e – No idea actually – Yep, whatever they are, combined with the lower CoG of the battery pack, this car has what seems like impossibly good handling, so whatever they are, they keep it from sliding around.
Smolto – Also no idea, but they’re small – Yep, I’ve done a few twisty road drives and been able to almost keep up with cars with far more power and tires that less resemble something made for a bicycle.
Remember when the Falkens were a cheap alternative to BFG? Then they became part of the Toyota Bro-verlander starter pack and now they’re priced right up there with BFG now.
I was wondering what happened to them. Had a set years ago and they were good for the price, but then the prices went up and I went elsewhere.
Even a couple years after I bought mine, I was recommending them to someone looking for tires for their truck, and they were significantly more than I paid. If this truck wears out before the tires do, I’ll be keeping them and putting them on the next one, assuming they haven’t aged out by then.
Winterforce on the Subaru. Sadly, we haven’t had snow the last couple years, but they’re quite entertaining in the rain. I need to replace the old performance tires on the Roadster as it’s pre-traction control, but they’re so much fun on cool pavement, and they are forcing me to relearn how to drive properly after years of flinging low-powered fwd shitboxes at curves. Once the clutch is properly broken it, I’ll finish them off with some proper circle work đŸ˜‰
How long have Vredestein tires been a thing? I got some all seasons with snow rating for my wifes Outback a couple years ago, but had never heard of the brand before.
Many decades. They’re a very old tire brand, but did not have a lot of exposure in the US market until recently.
Since 1909, so 115 years. Up here in Canada, they’ve been available at least since the 1970s.
I sold tires in the aughts and they were not yet a thing in the US.
I only remember seeing them at Tire Rack in the late teens.
I had a set of Vredestein Quatracs years ago. They were great, but they didn’t last very long – I would definitely buy them again if I could ever find a shop that sells them.
Vredestein is currently owned by Apollo Tyres out of India; purchased in 2009.
On the motorcycle: Michelins.
Starting with the Pilot Sports, and onto the Pilot Power, 2CT, and so-on to whatever the latest-and-greatest Pilot Powers are out there.
Having used other brands, the consistency of the feel and traction have me returning to something I can trust. I’ve spun up the latest that Pirelli, Dunlop, and Metzeler have to compare, but just don’t like the feel next to Michelin.
For the car? Currently Pirelli PZero All-Season. They’re decent, but thinking the one of Continental DWS’ next. I’ve not been enamored with Michelin’s car offerings. I’d go back to Vredestein as I had good experience in the past but sourcing them locally is a PITA
Continental DWS on the all weather Audi, Yokohama A539’s on the 13″ wheels on the Mini.
I just got a set of the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02’s for the RX-8 and have been happy with them so far on the road, but that’s in comparison to some pretty worn General G-Max RS’s. The real test will be for the upcoming HPDEs over the summer.
Speaking of those Generals, they feel nice and sporty on the street, with plenty of on-ramp or winding road grip, but for HPDE work they get hot and greasy pretty quickly, and start wearing and chunking the shoulder at that point.
On the other cars that don’t see track work (Mazda RX-7 convertible, Mazda5 van, 06 Subaru Outback), I’ve been happy with General G-Max AS05 or Continental ExtremeContact DWS06’s for the summer, and some combo of Michelin X-ice, Blizzaks, General Altimax etc. The X-Ices were nice and responsive while the other two felt a bit squishier.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S’s on my Focus RS. They’re only a few months old at this point, but have been quiet and predictable so far.
My Jeep Wrangler had Falken Wildpeak A/T3W’s. Best tires I ever bought for it. They were much quieter than MT/R’s and even the BFG A/T, while safely navigating us through a 12 hour drive in a blizzard with no traction issues.
Attention all Fiat Abarth owners: don’t install the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 PLUS on your car. These tires were absolutely brilliant on my Subaru Legacy wagon, they shrug off rain and wet pavement and are quiet and have great traction on dry roads too.
But.
On the Abarth your car goes from instantly nimble and telegraphic in its handling to distressingly nonlinear. My car now follows grooves like a bloodhound and the odd lag between steering input and what happens will cause you to overcorrect. I wobble around in my lane like a drunk at times. The Tire Rack guy tried to talk me out of them and I didn’t listen despite how insistent he was.
Install Michelin Pilot Sports or a similar summer tire on your Abarth.
205’s aren’t typically know to tramline. That is wild.
Firestone Weather Grips will do this as well. The reason I’ve heard for it is that a tire without a defined center rib will tend to wander on grooved roads. That seems to ring true from what I’ve seen. If you look at the Bridgestone WeatherPeak it has a more defined center rib and doesn’t have the grooved road issues that the Weather Grip does.
I hated the LRR tires that came on my Volt when I got it from Carvana. I think they were stock but I can’t say for sure. First winter I got some Hankook i*Pike on those rims, and the following warm season I got a set of Enkei rims mounted with Kumho Ecsta tires. They work well for me, let me drive with a lot more confidence than I had before, and have had no issues with either set.
2023 Ford Maverick AWD:
Summers: Pirelli Scorpion ATR. They came with it. Don’t love them, don’t hate them. I think they’re a little hard
Winters: Bridgestone Blizzak WS90, my preferred winter tire. Love them.
Michelin Pilot Super Sports and I love them.
Most of my cars (Austin Allegro, Austin Maestro, SAAB 96, Triumph Acclaim, and Volvo 66 GL) have Pirelli Cinturato CA67 tires, which is Pirelli’s continuation of its vintage radial from more or less that era. It seems to work well with their respective suspensions and overall is a good tire, certainly with respect to the performance capabilities of the vehicles. It’s also nice that it’s available in sizes generally considered to be otherwise obsolete, such as 145R13.
My ’70 International pickup has a set of STA Super Traxion bias-ply tires from Specialty Tires of America. It’s a good match to the original specification and, as above, seems to be a good tire for this purpose.
My KV Mini 1 uses a set of reproduction vintage Cushman scooter tires from Coker, mostly because it’s the only option I’ve found for a DOT-rated tire in 4.00×8 that has reasonably squared-off shoulders on the tread, which is necessary for an adequate contact patch for the car’s friction drive rollers. It works more than well enough for the KV’s modest needs and at the very least isn’t constructed along the lines of the other options of a trailer tire or a wheelbarrow tire.
The hordes of KV Mini people out there are thrilled to know they now have a good tire option.
Sarcasm aside, I saw a KV Mini for the 1st time when I saw yours at the inaugural Concours d’Lemons in 2009: thanks for bringing it!
had to look up what a KV Mini was. The best that Wikipedia could come up with was 3 shades of primer gray w/ rust streaks and misaligned panels.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVS_(France)
It’s not readily apparent from the photo but that color is actually what the company offered as green. Gray was available as well but it, in turn, looks white:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53628512640_6a7d0db9f2_b.jpg
You’re quite welcome. As I recall you spoke favorably of its CVT transmission in a comment at the time:
https://jalopnik.com/kv-mini-towed-1-000-miles-behind-mgb-takes-worst-of-s-5343353
Wow you are organized. I poked around on my Synology and turned a few Concours d’Lemons photos up:
https://imgur.com/gallery/cars-youve-not-heard-of-pal-mikes-absurd-1980-kv-mini-XBLb0aC
Well, it’s not like I had to keep track of all that many favorable comments…
I replaced the garbage OE Continental ProContact tire on my B9 Allroad with the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 and the difference was night and day in terms of grip, handling, steering and overall dynamics – at the expense of a bit of fuel economy. My new-to-me old Cayenne has Pirelli Scorpion Verde all season tires on it, which I think is one of the OE fitments but I’m not sure how they will fare during the winter so I may end up with a dedicated winter tire. I get cold temps during the winter and 5-10 big snow events, and I think I could get away with an all weather tire but I don’t want to compromise warm weather performance too much. I watch the Tyre Reviews channel on YouTube and get all my data from Tire Rack, so I feel pretty educated on the subject, but am limited on space and funds to have multiple dedicated sets of tires.
I replaced the OEM Michelins with PSAS4s and have been really happy with them. I have dedicated winter tires but for a spring/summer/fall daily and sometimes autocross tire they’ve been excellent.
Was this on a Cayenne, Audi or something else? I was able to get through winter with the PSAS4s on the Audi when they were new, but as they wore down the grip was bad in the cold. I was about to replace them right before I sold the Audi instead…
CTS wagon RWD
I have a used set of Cross Climates as my winter tires.
I don’t use the PS in the winter but it’s good to have the confidence during the occasional May or October Canadian blizzard
See my comment on Continental tires: the ProContact are great on a Subaru wagon and absolutely terrible on a performance car.
Those Contis came on my Volvo, they were terrible. I replaced them with General RT43’s and was much happier.
KO2’s on the Raptor
Nitto 555’s on a CTS-V
Michelin whatevers on my wife’s MDX