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’ve always hated Michelin tires prior to my CrossClimate2s on my Honda Clarity. Now they’re my default first choice, waiting to be knocked from their throne.
I don’t accelerate too hard regularly, but I do corner like a maniac. So I usually buy the sportiest of all-season tires for my cars. My experience with Michelins in the past has always been very disappointing. Bad grip and poor tread life was my experience, and excessive wear on the outer edges. That and random tread separations.
I’m glad I read the reviews about the CC2s and decided to try them. They’ve been fantastic, and the outer edges of the tires are not any more worn than the rest of them. We’ll see how long they ultimately last, but they’ve been very impressive during the first year and barely show any wear. They’re almost as grippy as anything I’ve tried when dry, and in wet or snowy weather, better than any other tire I’ve had, ever, other than dedicated snow tires.
Vredesteins on my Miata – very good in all aspects. General Altimax RT43s are great as well for wet and dry traction, an excellent all-around tire, and not too pricey. They didn’t have my size of RT43s for my Miata… And the Continentals are wonderful – very grippy, and make a sedan or wagon handle noticeably better.
Really happy with Falken Wildpeak A/Ts on my Subaru Outback. Apart from better traction and puncture resistance (fingers crossed, but so far so good) I think they look good on the stock wheels (which I never liked until these tires). Their look is A/T without promising things that don’t make any sense for my outback.
I’ve got the goddamn Ecopia EP500’s in 175/55/R20 and 155/60R20 variety. Just installed 6 hours ago. Do I like them? Not sure it matters! I have no choice but to like them – ask David Tracy, he knows what’s up.
Also, even if I didn’t like them I can’t possibly develop any attachment to them because they’ll be replaced in like a year.
Now, pop quiz everyone, what car am I driving? đŸ˜‰
We all know what you’re driving.
If possible, I think I’d be shopping for fender flares and any other necessary “s” model parts before the next set becomes due.
I’ve got a set of Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s on my BRZ and I love them. They were cheap have lasted quite a long time on my current car and my old Legacy GT, and better yet they handle very well. In the winter I switch to a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS80s that do very well in the hard packed or wet snow that I get around here.
Pirelli’s Cinturato P7 All Season Plus II and dedicated winters Michelin X-Ice Xi3. I drive a 2016 Subaru Impreza Sport and row your own 5. Both tires stick like glue in all the right places every time. The ride and drive quality of the Pirelli’s are fantastic and, I think, a perfect fit for my li’l red Subie. While they’re quite good in most winter conditions, I live in New England and regularly visit my folks in far Western NY, where the average snowfall hovers around 157 inches, and my wife’s family in Sherbrooke, Quebec. So, I definitely prefer the advantages of dedicated snows. I splurged on the Michelin’s and haven’t looked back. They love the cold, wet, slush, and snow. The tipping point in deciding on these versus a set of Blizzaks or Hakkapeliittas was the 40,000-mile tread warranty on them.
I run General ATx on my ‘19 Jeep Wrangler – loads better in wet/mild snow vs the BFG KO2 that I experienced on my tragically lemon-lawed ‘23 Rubicon 4xe. And they even have raised white lettering as well!
They’re heavy E-load tires and not that big (285/70r17) which killed a few MPG though… so I’m thinking of just going all in with the pizza cutters I really want: Mickey Thompson’s Baja Boss 255/85r17!
I’m too much of a tire nerd so I’m gonna keep this brief lest I comments orphan my spawn, plus it would cut into my time haunting Tire Rack, haha. I’m not brand loyal so I try as much reading/watching/ content consuming of independent (or at least independent ish) reviews as possible. The best tire is going to vary wildly based on your size and use case of course. If I had to narrow it down to a brand I’d say Continental because they seem to always be near the top in testing but also seem to consistently offer a slight price advantage over the other big name brands but I just look for the best for what the use case/price is. Currently I have cars on Vredestiens, Conti’s, and Pirellis, and bikes on Dunlops and Pirellis (some of these are other family members that just ask me to pick their tires). And my BRZ on the stock Mich Primacy’s I can’t wait to finish burning off, haha.
Bridgestone Ecopia ep422. I drive a prius so it just makes sense. I have been very impressed with the dry and wet grip of these tires. I don’t live anywhere that it snows. only 15k miles on them but they look like they have plenty of life left. I doubt the 70k mile claim by bridgestone. I suspect that bridgestone is just expecting to give you a discount on your second set of tires to entice you to buy another set of tires from them.
I have Pilot sport 4s on my BRZ, the second set since I killed the factory Primacys. I’m quite happy with them, but they are pretty spendy given the rate that I go through them (the car has less than 50k miles on it).
Whatever the factory dunlops are on my 4runner. They’re fine so far, but I’ll go to something a little wider/taller when it’s time. I want them to last a while, it would be nice to get clear of the payments before having to drop the coin on a new set, but they look really tiny and out of proportion on the car so I kind of what them gone asap. I had T/A KO2s on my last 4runner and was so-so on them. Wore like iron, but also rode like iron.
My ’65 C10 has whatever janky crap some previous owner put on the chrome 17″ wheels they installed. It has yet to drive well enough in the time I’ve owned it for me to know if they’re worth a crap or not, but I’m guessing not. Coilover conversion is sorta getting kinda close to done, once I’ve recovered from that emotionally and financially the rolling stock goes in the bin and something sexier will take it’s place… I’m not sure what though, probably stay 17″ and lean toward something sticky.
I’ll give a hearty recommendation for the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500.
Really grippy, yet predictable UHP summer tire. Fantastic wet weather performance, even down to near-freezing. They feel fantastic at speed- the faster you go the better they feel.
Firestone obviously isn’t a top tier brand, but they are owned and manufactured by Bridgestone. When I had the tires installed on some vintage BBS RS, the mechanic was shocked because one of the tires balanced without any weights, and the others barely anything.
They look great too. Aggressive sipe design, and a nice smooth sidewall. It’s subtle, but if you’ve never had a vehicle on nice looking tires you’re missing out.
Oh and did I mention they’re cheaper than most mediocre all seasons?
For winters- Michelin X-Ice.
I absolutely loved the Goodyear Duratrac tires on my 2002 Silverado Z-71. They handled the Florida sugar sand and the standard summer floods with aplomb. I also over tired by getting the E load rated tires instead of the standard C load. Damn good tires!
For my Ranger I ended up with Cooper Discoverer RTX. The tread is aggressive enough for a 2WD truck that goes on mild two track trails occasionally and holds up well for the stated payload ratings and gross vehicle weight ratings without being uncomfortable.
I check tests to see what is best, but it is normally Michelin Pilot Sports of some description.
End of the day, my insurance excess is about $500-1000 depending on the car. The extra on the tyres is about $400ish normally in the same ‘range’ of performance tyres. However a test showed that one of the so called premium performance tyres had an 18m LONGER stopping distance in the wet from 100kmh than the winner. Best to 2nd best was 4m… 4m is an inconvenience and an insurance claim, 18m is a write off and a trip to hospital. I’m happy spending to get the best.
I’ve been really impressed with every set of Coopers I’ve purchased. The high tread truck tires especially, shockingly quiet for the aggressive tread they have. Seem long-wearing too.
We have Douglas and General tires from Wal-Mart on 3 of our 6 vehicles. We pay the $10 per tire charge for the lifetime roadhazard warranty and get free rotation as well.
Say what you will about Wal-Mart, but with all the crap people have fall off their uncovered trailers that ends up on the road, we end up bringing our daily drivers in to get slow leaks and screws/nails/staples/wrenches(!) removed from tires 3 or 4 times every year. The same people usually end up working on the vehicles and they seem to do a decent job there. Plus, the roadhazard warranty is good nationwide at any Wal-Mart so if a tires goes low while we’re travelling, all we have to do is find a Wal-Mart and we can get it fixed for free.
We’ve been going there for tires for the past 10 years or so. Most likely we’ll continue.
Bridgestone RE-71RS is my go to summer tire. It’s noisier than most DOT tires and very heavy rain can be problematic, but the tradeoff is laser precision handling, best in braking performance, and one of the fastest options for light track work. In my opinion it’s the most performance you can get with rain grooves.
When the temp gets below 40 it’s time to switch to the winter set. Pirelli Sotozero 3, three peak mountain certified for heavy snow. For heavy tread blocks and deep grooves the tread-squirm really isn’t too bad. A solid performance winter tire that can comfortably be run to May/June.
Kia: Motomaster SE3 that came with it. Probably were on sale at the Canadian Tire across the street from the Kia dealer when it was traded in. They are fine. No issues, would buy them (or their nearest replacement) on a daily driver. Especially if they were on sale which they often are.
Mustang: Falken FK510 I think. Grippy, seem to be holding up fine. Decently quiet. Were on sale at the tire place near my work.
My process is see what is on sale, read a review or two and go for it. You can drive yourself crazy comparing tire reviews so I tend to just go whatever combination of price/name/local supply I’m comfortable with that day.
Currently running Conti ExtremeContact Sport, and I too am hugely impressed by the grip and comfort.
I had the Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires on the GTI when it was my only car. All weather tire was the perfect choice for me back then, when I needed a good enough daily tire in LA (60-80deg even in winter) that also had snow grip for ski trips.
I just replaced the tires on my 2020 GTI with Michelin Pilot Sport 4s. Before I chose those, I was all over the GTI forums to see what people with Mk 7 GTIs thought worked well for what I need — a tire that is more summer oriented but can also handle some rain. I’ve had them for two weeks now, and I can really tell the difference from the OEM Pirellis. Much better grip on the road. My tire guy was impressed with my choice.
I’ve ran BF Goodrich g-Force Comp 2 A/S tires on my 2013 Focus ST and previously on my 2008 Mazdaspeed 3. They are the best-wearing ZR-rated tires I’ve had, do well on curvy roads and in rain/snow.
Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus (265-65/17) on the Amarok – great on road and off, and got them for a steal in Black Friday sales!
Galaxy things on the old Falcon, because 14″ tyres are vary rare these days… (225&245/60-14)
Wow, people really seem to care about tires. Mine came on the cars. The ones on the sedan are Continental something or others and the ones on the trucklet are round and black – I’d have to go look.
I try to be a functioning adult and replace my tires when the tread gets low or if I can feel a decrease in performance, but I’m not brand loyal and I don’t have special purpose vehicles, so I buy whatever seems like a good value at the time.
I use Michelin summers and seasonally swap to winters on the Honda. The Subaru gets Bridgestone summers and winters. Like both brands. I find the Michelin noisier than the Bridgestones. Wear and traction is about equal.
Michelin PS4S: excellent
General grabber atx (wrangler and Cherokee): solid meh, good off-road but balances for shit. Will go back to bfg at after these wear out
Blizzak something: excellent
What are these “new tires” that you speak of?
I only buy my tires at a junk yard. Doesn’t everybody do that? (your friend DT)