Compendium of Tire Reviews: Please sticky

I plowed through 2 feet of snow a couple years ago in a front wheel drive vehicle with a set of Yokohama all-season Envigor tires. Now that I own an awd vehicle, I see an even lesser need of 2 sets of tires. A good set of all-season tires that are properly taken care of, will take care of you in a time of need. I have owned 4 sets of Yokohama tires and will buy some for the legacy when the time comes.

Winter tires does nor mean snow tires. I ran a/s on the LGT, then went with my usual (for all my cars) summer tires & then winter tires. Made the car perform as it should.

All-Season tires are "no season tires" IMO.

If you are happy running crap tires year-round, fine. You don't know how good it can be with running PROPER tires for the season.

Even living in Delaware, which doesn't see bad weather, winter tires work FAR better in temps below 40F.

If you look at places like Tire Rack, most Summer tires are not recommended for use below 40F. In fact, some of the softer, stickier summer tires have recommendations to not even be stored at temps below freezing.

Winter tires have a compound that performs well in cold temps, with better traction in the dry, wet, slushy, or icy conditions.

Some handle large amounts of snow better than others. It can be a confusing set of choices, but there are tires that work better in heavier snow. Others work better on ice. Others are just better-performing overall in cold, wet conditions.

We don't get heavy snow on the roads here. At worse, I drive two blocks in snow (if it hasn't been plowed in the subdivision), then I hit a state highway, which is always one of the first ones plowed. Winter tires then work well in the wet & slush.

I had Hankook Icebears on the LGT. More of a high-performance winter tire, but handled reasonable amounts of snow just fine (being lowered on coilovers was more of an issue in snow over 4-5"!!).

I now have Blizzaks for my Focus SVT. Got them from the PO, who was very happy with them. I bought the car in March, but we never had any more snow after February this year.

Anybody know how to tell if a tire is "directional" at the TireRack website ? I can't even seem to figure it out at the manufacturer's site. I'm mainly interested in Yoko AVID Envigor, Conti Max Contact DWS, Bridgestone Turanza Serenity, and the several Kumho Ecsta.

And of course I'd appreciate any advice on these. I'd like to get at least 40K miles, but want good handling too. Snow/ice not much of an issue.

Anybody know how to tell if a tire is "directional" at the TireRack website ? I can't even seem to figure it out at the manufacturer's site. I'm mainly interested in Yoko AVID Envigor, Conti Max Contact DWS, Bridgestone Turanza Serenity, and the several Kumho Ecsta.

 

And of course I'd appreciate any advice on these. I'd like to get at least 40K miles, but want good handling too. Snow/ice not much of an issue.

Personally, I think you want to have your cake and eat it, too.

I've never had a good tire, that handled well and did everything I wanted from it, that had much more than a year's worth of wear... certainly never 40k miles.

One would have to drive like a pussy to get that kind of mileage from a good handling tire... IMO.

As for "directional," a tire with a specific directional orientation is marked on the side of the tire.

Personally, I think you want to have your cake and eat it, too.

You're probably right, but this is America.

I've never had a good tire, that handled well and did everything I wanted from it ...

Last pair I had on this car, Yokohama's, handled pretty well and now have 50K and aren't in desperate need of replacing.

One would have to drive like a pussy to get that kind of mileage from a good handling tire... IMO.

Oh yeah, now I see. I figured somebody like you would reply, LOL.

As for "directional," a tire with a specific directional orientation is marked on the side of the tire.

Ok, I'll just order 'em all and look at the sidewalls.

You're probably right, but this is America.

 

Last pair I had on this car, Yokohama's, handled pretty well and now have 50K and aren't in desperate need of replacing.

 

Oh yeah, now I see. I figured somebody like you would reply, LOL.

 

Ok, I'll just order 'em all and look at the sidewalls.

My bad. When I heard the words "good handling" I should have looked at the car. Your definition and mine, like our cars, are far apart. So, I responded inappropriately. Performance tires for me only last twelve to fourteen months.

Then I researched "directional" for a while, and learned a few things. For one, I had assumed (!) the Dunlop SP Sport 600s that came on my STi were directional. But when I read their description on Tire Rack it said the tread was asymetrical... Then I looked at the tires on my car and it says "Outside" on the sidewall... so, not directional, but must be mounted with the "Outside" to the outside. A tire's description will contain words that reveal this, like "compound is molded into an asymmetric tread design that features stable outside shoulder blocks." Tires without this qualifier and just say asymetrical tread can be mounted how you like.

Personally, I have not rotated tires in many years... always wearing them out in a manner that rotation would not have helped, with equal wear across the treads. Further, while larger degrees of negative camber tend to wear the inside of, say, my STi's rear tires, it has been reported numerous places that rotation has its side effects... namely increased noise. This is common, and the reason I don't find value in rotating performance tires.

In your case, with your vehicle and your use, I can see where choice of tire would be important. When tires can go longer mileages rotating them is necessary for maximum life. In this case, reading the tire description will enable your correct choice of a fully asymetrical tread without orientation qualifiers.

Obviously, a website such as tirerack.com is a valuable resource for this information.

Want ahead and got the Kumho Ecsta 4X. Glowing reviews at tirerack from folks claiming to be "spirited" drivers, but also a 40K tread warranty (yeah, I know the tread warranties are virtually worthless).

I'm looking at a set of them as well....just wish there was more info on how long people are getting them to last. I know they have a 40,000 tread warranty but who knows if they'll last that long.

I'm looking at a set of them as well....just wish there was more info on how long people are getting them to last. I know they have a 40,000 tread warranty but who knows if they'll last that long.

Want ahead and got the Kumho Ecsta 4X. Glowing reviews at tirerack from folks claiming to be "spirited" drivers, but also a 40K tread warranty (yeah, I know the tread warranties are virtually worthless).

Took these on a road-trip this weekend and was extremely impressed with their performance, in particular the wet-road traction. Was going around hairpin turns on wet mountain roads and could not get them to break loose.

As sticky as the rubber seems to be, I'm doubting I'll be getting 40K miles though.

Now that I've had my firehawk 500s for a few months now I guess I'll post up.

Got them for about 500$ OTD and was a quick decision since a tire gave out when I hit a pothole.

Taken them for a few drives up and down a mountain pass which takes about 10-15 minutes one way depending on your pace but these definitely hold their heat well and are very predictable. I came from a set of starspecs to Conti DW to these, definitely not the highest performance but, for the price and rating of these tires, they do their job really well. Really easy to tell limitations very quiet and are fitting for DDing and some spirited runs which is all I do these days.

Just got these G-MAX AS-03(Ultra High Performance All-Season) installed http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....AS03&tab=Sizes

235/40/18

Bought them due to the great reviews. Seems very comparable to the DWS. Had them for about a day, so far the tires have been extremely quiet and smooth. Hope to drive more on them and report back

Just got a set of Pirelli P Zero Nero (UHPAS) 225/40-18s.

For 92 bucks each after rebate and free shipping, can't beat the price for them! Reviews on Tire Rack aren't bad, so far they are quiet and smooth

#1) What tire are you offering for review (size, model, type (summer, A/s, winter, race, etc), price paid, miles driven on tires, etc):

225/45/17 Summer

Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110 \ $110 each(and 80 dollar rebate) \ 10k miles

#2) What is your geographic location: Upstate Ny (Albany)

#3) What types of driving events if any (Track, AutoX, Commute , etc): Commute/Spirited Driving

#4) Percent of highway vs. city driving: 40/50

#5) Tires used previously: Re92, Kumho Asx, Bridgestone re050a, dunlop wintersport m3, continental DWS, general exclaim UHP's, toyo proxies 4, hankook ventus v4

#6) Your review and personal comments (Dry, wet, and snow, if applicable. Also, please compare to other tires used):

Bought these in the beginning of the summer. The first thing I noticed is that they are not as sticky as the re050a's. They are noticeably softer on the side walls so they allow flexing. Once you get the feel for these tires is when they really shine.

They give up grip predictably(if that makes sense). What I mean by this is while taking long sweeping turns you can literally drift the car around the corner. This is not a tire that makes you feel like you are riding on rails. So if your looking for one of those look else where.

On heavy downpours which we have had a few of were handled very well. No hydroplaning(60-70mph) which is very good in my book.

Would I buy these again? Maybe, if I just wanted a fun/economic tire to roll around in. If I wanted a true performance tire I would prob look else where(re070's or ventus r-s3's). I gotta say though I might just get the continental dws for all season use again since I also feel their grip was on par to these summers and still were able to handle snow.

1.) GT Radial Champiro UHP1 ($86 ea. @ Discount Tire)

2.) Tucson, AZ but moving to Ft. Lauderdale, FL

3.) Spirited driving/Commuting

4.) In Tucson 99% local/ FL 50/50 local and highway

5.) Previous tires were Falken Ziex ZE512

6.) Just put them on, but initially they are very sticky. In fact they have a 280 tread rating by GT and an increased silica compound by the manufacturer, but since it is a proprietary rating I don't know if its short, and it has no treadwear warranty. I am sort of breaking them in, so sound wise they are relatively quiet, but Tucson roads are the worst I have ever seen so its hard to say how quiet they really are. I will let you know down the road how they are in wet traction in Florida. They are pushing their marketing on youtube, and sort of try to show off some auto x and skid pad quasi tests, not too impressive though.

Finally, a site that has a review of these tires and it sounds very promising.

http://www.tirereviewsandmore.com/gt-radial-champiro-uhp1-reviews,-specs-and-information.php

It also has reviews of many of the tires that are popular on this site.

What does everyone think of Goodyear Eagle GT's 225/45/17's? Mostly dry and about a 70%/30% Highway/City for me. It'll sleet here every so often, and snow, but nothing I'm too concerned now with a AWD car. When it rains, it freaking rains though. Anybody else try these tires in similar conditions?

On other forums, the new GTs don't seem to be liked much....

Being in Texas, why not go for summer tires? On a non-LGT, I've had Hankook evo V12s for well over a year now. EXCELLENT wet traction!, as well as decent for track days without the wear issues (which was fine at the time) of the Nakook RS3s and Azenis 615s (had both on the LGT that was mostly a track car).

Other folks on my other Forums have tried evo V12s, and have found the same great wet traction, including one guy in FL.

Summer tire makes more sense. I was recommended these today at Discount Tire.

BFGoodrich G-Force Sport Comp 2.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm245/summerslost/bfgoodrich-g-force-sport-comp-2.jpg

Summer tire makes more sense. I was recommended these today at Discount Tire.

 

BFGoodrich G-Force Sport Comp 2.

 

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm245/summerslost/bfgoodrich-g-force-sport-comp-2.jpg

Check out the Reviews & Tests on Tire Rack's site, but they seem to be pretty good.

1. P215/50/R17/90V

2. SW Washington / Pacific NW / The wet side

3. No Events

4. 70% Hwy / Wife's commuter / 40 mi

5. Original / Purchased car May, 2010

6. On 25k rotation, both rear tires showed wear on

inside edges (2" wide) PSI @ 32 checked often.

61k on tires now with about 1/32" to wear bars.

Tires starting to hydroplane. Researching going to

a P225/60/R16 like used on the Outback to fill the

wheelwells a little better.