New rubber?

[Boz Mon]

So the Prelude is going to be needing new tires pretty soon and I was wondering what is a good brand, or what brand does everyone prefer? I live in Illinois so they will need to be winter and summer tires. Any info would be greatly appriciated.

 

[skip0110]

I got Potenza G009's for my Impreza, they are a nice looking directional tire.

They aren't really performance tires but they track nice and straight, have plenty of tread, and give a nice good audible warning before they let go, nice and progressive (they don't squeal but they moan/groan before they let go). I got them because they are all weather tires and Tire Rack said they were good in the snow, but I can't say personally because I've only had them since early June.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+G+009&x=12&y=12

 

[Boz Mon]

I got Potenza G009's for my Impreza, they are a nice looking directional tire.

They aren't really performance tires but they track nice and straight, have plenty of tread, and give a nice good audible warning before they let go, nice and progressive (they don't squeal but they moan/groan before they let go). I got them because they are all weather tires and Tire Rack said they were good in the snow, but I can't say personally because I've only had them since early June.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+G+009&x=12&y=12

Yea the ones that are on there now are directional and they look good too. They seem to ride nice but I dont know how they will be in the snow.

 

[YSSMAN]

When I was looking for tires on my Jetta not too long ago I was seriously considering the BF Goodrich Traction T/A H. The ratings are pretty good both in the wet and the dry, and offer a good balance between summer and winter driving (given that Michigan is "worse" than Illiois). For about $60 a tire, you can't complain a whole lot, as they are a pretty good deal.

Outside of that, my other brand preference is indeed Goodyear, and their Eagle GT-HR is a pretty good deal as well. Again, for about $60 a tire you are getting the same all-weather performance as the Traction T/A H, compromises are few, but they are geared a bit more towards dry/wet performance than snow and ice.

---

What it comes down to is if you want to spend big bucks, or just a little bit I suppose. Here in Michigan a lot of folks just have summer rubber and winter rubber and run them that way, but of course that isn't everyone. I'd probably go with the BFGoodrich tires myself, as they seem like a pretty well-rounded tire overall.

---

And to wrap up the story on the Jetta's tires, lets just say I was screwed by Discount Tire. When I walked in I knew exactly what I was looking for (T/A H), but they managed to sell me a tire that "offered the same performance for a few dollars less per tire."

So I thought, "Great, what brand are they?"

...They didn't tell me a brand, only the name of the tire, and I went a long with it. Turns out that instead of selling me 195/60 HR-14s like I had origionally intended, I'm stuck with 195/60 R-14s. Crap...

The ride quality has gone down a bit, snow performance is "so-so," the only good thing being that on the highway the tires seem to be a bit more quiet than the old Kumhos that used to be on there...

 

[Pupik]

Never buy the off-brand, or the one promising you 80,000 miles, no matter how poor you are. The compromise in handling, noise, and vibration isn't worth it.

 

[///M-Spec]

Your Prelude is a great handling car. It would be a shame to hobble it with medicore all season tires.

I would suggest you find a cheap set of winter wheels and put a dedicated set of snow tires on them. Put summer tires on the original wheels. This way, you get the best of both worlds. I bought a set of winter wheels/tires off a guy on ebay for $400. The wheels are in perfect condition and the tires have less than 2000 miles on them. I can keep my summer rubber on the car for as long as I like. Hard to beat that.

Which tire I recommend all depends on your budget. I've been very partial to Bridgestone RE040s / RE050s and Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s lately. But a Kumho MX offers up almost as much performance for half the price.

As for snow tires, you can't go wrong with a set of WS-50s.


M

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I am assuming this is just a daily driver Prelude right? Nothing built for drag or road track events?
Just get some BFG tires. Nothing special like winter or summer. Simple cheap BFG and they will last you many years. Should be around $50-$60 each max.

 

[Max_DC]

I would suggest reading some trie reviews in magazines. There can be really a huge difference between tires with the same name and from the same company, depending on how wide it is ( 205/215/225 - 35/40/45/50 etc ).

In general I would also use different tires in sumemr and winter. In summer I always have Bridgestone Potenza tires ( again, there are different versions of it RE040/050 etc ranging from allaround tires to sport tires ) and I am very happy with them, great grip and they really last. Great rain performance aswell.
In winter I use Dunlop SP Wintersport, also no complaints !

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

You dont need 2 differnent sets of tires for a daily driver. I have driven in Michigan winters for over 13 years, owned well over 30 vehicles, and I have NEVER had two sets of tires for any of my vehicles not even my trucks. Especially not a daily driver. Buy one set of tires like I said above and spend your extra money on something for your girlfriend or yourself. Buy yourself a 360 with the money you would have spent on an extra set of tires.

 

[skip0110]

Yes, I agree, there is no need for two sets of tires. Good all seasons should be fine for normal, even spirited, street driving.

 

[Race Idiot]

In general I would also use different tires in sumemr and winter. In summer I always have Bridgestone Potenza tires ( again, there are different versions of it RE040/050 etc ranging from allaround tires to sport tires ) and I am very happy with them, great grip and they really last. Great rain performance aswell.
In winter I use Dunlop SP Wintersport, also no complaints !

Does the weather realy get that bad in germany that you need to get winter tyres?

When I got my car in February it had Bridgestone Potenza S02's on the front and S03's on the rears that were pretty worn and had no problems with them. Although I ended up buying Toyo T1R's to replace the rears recently which I probably won't get again, it's just very difficult for me to source tyres for my rear wheels because apparently not many manufacturers make 225/50R15 size tyres anymore. Bridgestone don't make the S03 in that size and Yokohama stopped making the oem A022's as well.

 

[///M-Spec]

I must respectfully disagree with the other opinions offered on the use of winter/summer tires.

The choice of tire will have a profound impact on a car's cornering, braking and even acceleration performance. The handling difference between a top drawer summer tire like an RE050 PP (or Pilot Sport PS2 or ADVAN Neova) vs. a decent all season performance tire like an RE950 (or Pilot Exalto) is pretty signifigant. And the difference between an RE050 vs. a generic el-cheap-o $30 tire is like night and day.

You know those skidpad numbers they like to print in magazines? You can turn a .87g BMW M3 into a .79g slug that would get out handled by a Honda Pilot just by changing the tires.

Whether the handling is worth the price difference is entirely up to you to decide. If your car was a Camry, I wouldn't have bothered even suggesting something performance oriented.

But since you have a Prelude, one of the best handling FWD cars made in recent memory, it's worth considering. Why buy a sporty, good handling car, if you're just going to cheap out and hobble it with a set of crappy tires? It's like buying a top of the line PC for gaming and then throwing a $30 PCI video card in it.

That said, if you decide to put a summer tire on the car, you will need a set of winter tires if it snows very much where you live. Anything more than a light dusting of snow makes a summer tire dangerous to drive on.

If you're just looking for a compromise between the two extremes, I would suggest something out of the "Ultra High Performance All Season" catagory.


M

 

[Race Idiot]

That said, if you decide to put a summer tire on the car, you will need a set of winter tires if it snows very much where you live. Anything more than a light dusting of snow makes a summer tire dangerous to drive on.

So is it a tyre designed for winter weather, or a tyre designed for snow? Because it will probably snow like 2 days out of the entire year over here.

 

[Keef]

Bridgestone and Dunlop suck excessively, that's why only Ferrari still uses Bridgestone in F1 (nothing against Ferrari) and why, well, nobody uses Dunlop anywhere. They are usually more expensive, they don't last long, and they don't perform as well as conparible Goodyears, BFGs, Michelins, or Kuhmos.
You should get a set of summer rims and winter rims. What you're talking about right now is "normal people" tires, of which I don't really care. I could recommend a killer snow tire, or a kickass summer tire, but not a "regular" tire.

Now, what size do you want?

 

[Dave A]

And a kickass summer tyre could prove useless in the winter, and a kickass wnter tyre the same in the summer. Why pay so much when he's not likely going to need them to be so tailor made for thoes conditions when he can get a more than good enough set of tyre's that will handle both with ease under normal day to day driving.

 

[///M-Spec]

So is it a tyre designed for winter weather, or a tyre designed for snow? Because it will probably snow like 2 days out of the entire year over here.

Winter tires are designed to provide maximum traction under snow, ice and extreme low temperature conditions. The rubber compound on a winter tire is formulated to stay soft in sub zero conditions, while a high performance summer tire becomes very hard in low temp conditions. In addition, a winter tire's tread pattern is better optimized to deal with snow and ice, while a summer tire's tread blocks are optimized to offer dry grip and stability under extreme cornering loads.

More info here: http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=120

If it only snows 2 days in a year where you live, I wouldn't bother with winter tires. In fact, I wouldn't even bother with all season tires.

But if you get 4-6+ good storms a year with real accum.(8-12+ inches) I would definately not expect to drive on a set of summer tires.


EDIT: I also have to add that I'm downright baffled why a tire thread has so many people making sweeping generalizations about a particular brand of tire without even mentioning which MODEL they're talking about. Not to mention sizes.

Tire models are as different as car models. A Yokohama AVS Sport is an excellent tire while a Yokohama AVS ES100 is junk. About the only generalization I can make about the tire industry is with only one or two exceptions, you pretty much get exactly what you pay for.

EDIT2:

Bridgestone and Dunlop suck excessively, that's why only Ferrari still uses Bridgestone in F1 (nothing against Ferrari)

The OE tire on my BMW was the Bridgestone RE040A. 225/40x18 F and 255/35x18 R. They were the second best set of street tires I've ever owned. Massive grip, crisp turn-in, wonderfully progressive. The were good dry or wet. They were even pretty quiet and rode very well for a 35-40 series tire. I got over 20k miles on the set which wore quite evenly, and I don't drive like a grandpa. My only issue with the tire was that it tramlined pretty bad, but on smooth roads, it was a gem.


M

 

[Max_DC]

Does the weather realy get that bad in germany that you need to get winter tyres?

When I got my car in February it had Bridgestone Potenza S02's on the front and S03's on the rears that were pretty worn and had no problems with them. Although I ended up buying Toyo T1R's to replace the rears recently which I probably won't get again, it's just very difficult for me to source tyres for my rear wheels because apparently not many manufacturers make 225/50R15 size tyres anymore. Bridgestone don't make the S03 in that size and Yokohama stopped making the oem A022's as well.

Well, at least in South Germany. Summer tires only provide grip until 6-7 degrees Celsius. From November to March we have those temperatures here. We also have a few weeks of snow every year.

Bridgestone and Dunlop suck excessively, that's why only Ferrari still uses Bridgestone in F1 (nothing against Ferrari) and why, well, nobody uses Dunlop anywhere. They are usually more expensive, they don't last long, and they don't perform as well as conparible Goodyears, BFGs, Michelins, or Kuhmos.
You should get a set of summer rims and winter rims. What you're talking about right now is "normal people" tires, of which I don't really care. I could recommend a killer snow tire, or a kickass summer tire, but not a "regular" tire.

Now, what size do you want?

As I said before, it depends on the specific car you own and what dimension of tire you have. Also every maker offers a ton of different tires from all season to high performance sports tires.

What you say is simply wrong, those two companies win prices here in Germany, and since we are in the country of the Autobahn, we have to know it right ?
Bridgestone and Pirelli always win in the 225/45 class, the Pirelli is slightly better on dry tarmac, but since the Bridgestone is a lot better in rain, it usually wins in the end. Michelin, Kumho, BFG were always behind in the last years ( note, I'm talking specifically about 225/45 sporty tires, not sports tires or all season or whatever...)
The reviews I talk about are for example from Sport Auto magazine, they review their cars on the Nordschleife, they know what they talk about.
I didn't say that the makers you named make bad tires, they might even have better tires in certain dimensions and specifications, but you know....
My tires last, again depends on your driving style aswell as on the type of tire you use from a certain maker.





In general I have to say, that the extra costs of snow/summer tires compared to all season tires is not that bug. Remember, that they will last twice as long, since you only drive them half a year each. Also if you should end up paying a little more, the difference between good sumemr tires and all season tires is huge, worth every extra dollar.

 

[skip0110]

Boz Mon clearly said in the original post that he wants all season tires.

Not everyone wants to swap tires twice a year, or wants to have an extra set sitting in their garage.

Also I think while outright grip is a good indicator of the sport performance of a tire, the way in which it breaks away is far more important in day to day street driving. Slip angles are your friend if you plan to push the limits on the street.

EDIT: as an additional suggestion, stay away from tires made specificaly for an install shop. Michelin makes some tires specifically for Sears Auto Center. I had a set of these (Weatherhandler, maybe?, it was a few years ago), and they were pretty poor. Okay grip when they were just the right temperature, but they got greasy quick. And they would grip, grip, grip, then let go with no warning at all.

 

[Keef]

Originally Posted by ///M-Spec
The OE tire on my BMW was the Bridgestone RE040A. 225/40x18 F and 255/35x18 R. They were the second best set of street tires I've ever owned. Massive grip, crisp turn-in, wonderfully progressive. The were good dry or wet. They were even pretty quiet and rode very well for a 35-40 series tire. I got over 20k miles on the set which wore quite evenly, and I don't drive like a grandpa. My only issue with the tire was that it tramlined pretty bad, but on smooth roads, it was a gem.

I agree somewhat. The RE040 does have excellent and foolproof grip whether dry or wet. I also agree that you can get over 20,000 miles on a set while driving hard. I have a close friend who scored 4 free 225/45-18 RE040s from 350Zs at his Honda/Mazda/Nissan dealership. I can't argue the noise you qoute because these tires that were on 18" 350Zs were very problematic, excessively loud, and wore a feathery pattern. Bridgestone has since solved the problem. Anyway, my buddy put those tires on his Maz 3--he has some 18" wheels--and now has just over 20,000 miles and is in need of a new set.
THe funny thing is that the treadwear on those tires is 140. That's pitiful. The tire is an Ultra High Performance Summer, two classes below the Kuhmo MX tires I drove on, which had a treadwear of 220, and that's supported by quite a few reviews on tirerack with hard driving styles and 10,000+ miles on them. They offer more grip in the dry and wet and are generally much more inexpensive than the Bridgestones. A 215/45-17 MX is $99, whereas the RE040 is $152. A 235/40-18 MX is $133, and the Bridgestone is $230.

Anyway, I'd like to knwo the size Boz is looking for so we can recommend particular all-seasons in that size.

 

[///M-Spec]

Boz Mon clearly said in the original post that he wants all season tires.

I'm aware of what he said in his original post. I wanted him to be aware of an alternative approach. It's up to him whether or not it a) makes sense or b) suits his budget.

Not everyone wants to swap tires twice a year, or wants to have an extra set sitting in their garage.

I swap 'em twice a weekend if it's an autocross weekend. It takes me 7-8 minutes a wheel/tire and my car has those infernal lug bolts that you have to line up rather than the easy stud/nut system most cars use.

It's not for everyone, I agree. But since MOST high performance cars (Porsches, Corvettes, BMWs, etc.) these days are delivered to the customer with OE summer tires, it is NOT at all uncommon for owners living in the snow belt to have a winter set in the garage. Some of you guys are acting like it's an abberation or something... LOTS of people do this.

Also I think while outright grip is a good indicator of the sport performance of a tire, the way in which it breaks away is far more important in day to day street driving. Slip angles are your friend if you plan to push the limits on the street.

I agree that breakaway or "11/10ths" performance is crucial in a performance tire. In this aspect, I would still say summer tires are usually superior to all season tires.

Let me put that a different way: If I compare all the 'Max' or 'Ultra High' summer tires I've driven against All Season 'Ultra High' or 'High' performance tires, the summer tires generally deliver not only better performance, but more predicatable, easier to use behavior as well.

I agree somewhat. The RE040 does have excellent and foolproof grip whether dry or wet. I also agree that you can get over 20,000 miles on a set while driving hard. I have a close friend who scored 4 free 225/45-18 RE040s from 350Zs at his Honda/Mazda/Nissan dealership. I can't argue the noise you qoute because these tires that were on 18" 350Zs were very problematic, excessively loud, and wore a feathery pattern. Bridgestone has since solved the problem. Anyway, my buddy put those tires on his Maz 3--he has some 18" wheels--and now has just over 20,000 miles and is in need of a new set.

I'm no 350Z guru, but it was my understanding that the feathering issue on the Z was a front suspension geometry issue, not a Bridgestone problem.

:

Q: Has the tire feathering been fixed?

A: There is no definite answer. Tire feathering can occur on any vehicle with improper toe settings. It is more likely to occur on sports cars. Early 350z years (2003, 2004) had more cases of tire feathering, possibly due to bad alignment specs, slight changes in suspension. In general one should not expect the same long tire life as on normal cars, and one needs to keep an eye on tire wear and possibly re-align or rotate tires when signs of irregular wear can be observed. When lowering the vehicle a lot, one may need to purchase adjustable control arms to be able to bring alignment back within spec. This however is not needed or useful on the stock 350z suspension or the NISMO S Tune suspension.

Given that Nissan hasn't said anything about geometry changes to the Z suspension, maybe Bridgestone "patched" Nissan's "bug" by updating their tire?

THe funny thing is that the treadwear on those tires is 140. That's pitiful. The tire is an Ultra High Performance Summer, two classes below the Kuhmo MX tires I drove on, which had a treadwear of 220, and that's supported by quite a few reviews on tirerack with hard driving styles and 10,000+ miles on them. They offer more grip in the dry and wet and are generally much more inexpensive than the Bridgestones. A 215/45-17 MX is $99, whereas the RE040 is $152. A 235/40-18 MX is $133, and the Bridgestone is $230.

Treadwear ratings only have comparative value when comparing tires made by the same manufactuer. In other words, a Bridgestone 140 is different from a Michelin 140 which is different from a Kumho 140.

Tire size is the same way. Manufactuers measure width in different ways. I have a set of Kumho V700 Victorracers in 225 that are quite a bit wider than my Pilot Sport PS2 225 width street tires. In fact, the Kumhos may even be wider than my PS2 *255*s.

Anyways, I had a set of Kumho MXs on my E36 M3 and they lasted me the same 20,000 as my RE040As. So if anything, Kumho is somewhat optimistic with it's 220 rating. However, the MX is a ludicrously good deal for a performance tire and the #1 exception to the rule I stated earlier.

Which tire I recommend all depends on your budget. I've been very partial to Bridgestone RE040s / RE050s and Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s lately. But a Kumho MX offers up almost as much performance for half the price.

They also make some pretty good bang for the buck R comps.


M

 

[Race Idiot]

Winter tires are designed to provide maximum traction under snow, ice and extreme low temperature conditions. The rubber compound on a winter tire is formulated to stay soft in sub zero conditions, while a high performance summer tire becomes very hard in low temp conditions. In addition, a winter tire's tread pattern is better optimized to deal with snow and ice, while a summer tire's tread blocks are optimized to offer dry grip and stability under extreme cornering loads.

More info here: http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=120

If it only snows 2 days in a year where you live, I wouldn't bother with winter tires. In fact, I wouldn't even bother with all season tires.

But if you get 4-6+ good storms a year with real accum.(8-12+ inches) I would definately not expect to drive on a set of summer tires.


EDIT: I also have to add that I'm downright baffled why a tire thread has so many people making sweeping generalizations about a particular brand of tire without even mentioning which MODEL they're talking about. Not to mention sizes.

Tire models are as different as car models. A Yokohama AVS Sport is an excellent tire while a Yokohama AVS ES100 is junk. About the only generalization I can make about the tire industry is with only one or two exceptions, you pretty much get exactly what you pay for.

EDIT2:



The OE tire on my BMW was the Bridgestone RE040A. 225/40x18 F and 255/35x18 R. They were the second best set of street tires I've ever owned. Massive grip, crisp turn-in, wonderfully progressive. The were good dry or wet. They were even pretty quiet and rode very well for a 35-40 series tire. I got over 20k miles on the set which wore quite evenly, and I don't drive like a grandpa. My only issue with the tire was that it tramlined pretty bad, but on smooth roads, it was a gem.


M

Well it rarely snows enough here in London to accumulate like you said, pretty much as soon as the roads get icy the roads get gritted and my car gets covered in grit. Oh god just bringing that up fills me with dread

road grit!

Also i've got no idea why people are badmouthing entire tyre companies, seriously unless you've had like every possible different model of tyre on your car which is pretty unlikely.

Also my car was awesome when it had both Bridgestone Potenza S02 and S03's on it, the grip even with the almost bald rears in the dry was awesome. Although I was a bit stupid because by the time I got around to changing them there wasn't much tread left on them, luckily it was the middle of summer and it had hardly rained. I would have bought them again, even though they were expensive and I only didn't because they bloody stopped making them in the correct size.

After wearing the T1R's in they do seem to grip pretty well, but not as well as the S03's did. I've already had a couple of times where one wheel has lost grip in the dry and the lsd has kicked in which only had realy happen to me when I was driving in the wet before.

Edit: The only bridgestone tyre i've heard people complain about is the RE92 which I think was oem on wrx's?

 

[///M-Spec]

Also i've got no idea why people are badmouthing entire tyre companies, seriously unless you've had like every possible different model of tyre on your car which is pretty unlikely.

+rep 👍


M

 

[Boz Mon]

We get a lot of snow here in Illinois but I am not going to buy an extra set of wheels and tires just for that. I managed to drive a Lexus SC300 in a foot of snow with all season tires on it so I am definately going with the all season route. I also dont have the budget to get a whole other set of whees. I didnt expect to get this much turnout with my question keep the good replys comming:tup:

 

[Keef]

Donovan--the alignment guy--tells me the feathering problem was a combination of too much toe-out on the front tires and bad design of teh inside and outside edge treadblocks. Something about the sipes allowing the blocks to flex too much and cause abnormal wear. This would cause a horrendous racket at speed on the inner edge of the tire, amplified by the negative camber. The fix was a set of new tires with redesigned edge treadblocks and new alignment specs with less toe-out.

I didn't realize companies didn't use the same standards for tire wear and size. I'm surprised the DOT hasn't standardized the wear rating. I could understand the width being different because of certain designs, but a tire salesman also told me that Kuhmo does its own thing regarding ratings and sizes and such. I think they are the most bizzare while most companies are very similar. Weird.

Anyway, that was a nice exchange of information. Pretty satisfying. It's also cool to know that you autocross every now and then. That's definitely something I want to do in my Sol in the future.

 

[Ghost C]

Fuzion HRi

Insane levels of grip in the wet/snow. I've driven through the monsoon rainstorms we have year-round here in NC, along with snow, sleet, and ice. Short of winter-specifics or chains/studs, I've never seen another tire that handled adverse conditions like these. They're also great for spirited driving in the dry, they've got so much straightline grip that it's not even funny, and a smooth predictable breakaway point.

And you can probably pick them up for less than $60 a tire.