Tire Opinions

I soon have to drop a few bucks on some tires. The Firestone Destination LE tires that are on now did OK but Iwould like to put on Michelin LTX M/S. The problem is no one lists them as available, all on line sites list as back order with no availability date listed. Maybe it’s just my size, 235/70 R15, that is out of stock, I don’t know.

Consumer Reports likes the General Grabber HTS and the Continental CrossContact LX, numbers 1 & 2 respectively. CR’s #3 choice is the Kumho Road Venture APT KL51. Cooper and Michelin place 4 & 5 but cost 50% more than the first three.

My questions are; does anyone have anything good or bad to say about the General, Continental, or Kumho tires? Does anyone know what’s up with Michelin and availability?

We had Destination LE on our Liberty CRD - not bad - quiet (must rotate them tho!), great wet traction, but pretty lousy tread life. Nevertheless, they were still light-years better than the gallactically craptastic Goodyears it came with.

The current tires on it are Destination A/T which so far have been excellent also. Still quiet, a little bit more harsh riding (stiffer sidewalls), excellent wet traction, and great for snow and limited off-roading.

I've heard a lot of good things about the General Grabber HTS tires, and I have General Altimax HP on my VW Jetta TDI which I really like so far, except they have very soft sidewalls and make for some pretty queasy handling. They replaced a set of Bridgestone Turanza LS-H that were really spectacular handling (for a 65 series tire) but got very harsh towards the end of the tread life (stiff sidewalls) and didn't wear that well - only 40K miles of easy driving.

Firestone, Bridgestone (same company) and General are my go-to brands. Michelin is overpriced, IMNSHO, and Goodyear is absolute junk.

I`ve always had good service out of cooper discoverers on the wifes suv & my dodge pick-up. I have some kind of Jap tire on my newtome ford van, might be kumhos so far low miles on them but they seem to wear well & handle good I guess time will tell.

Hell, I'm impressed--out here were happy if they hold air

gaw wrote:I soon have to drop a few bucks on some tires.
My questions are; does anyone have anything good or bad to say about the General, Continental, or Kumho tires? Does anyone know what’s up with Michelin and availability?

We just got a set of Kumho tires, on the recommendation of our local fire chief. They use these tires on all the emergency vehicles. I was doubtfull, but I did a little homework, and discovered they are pretty good. The rating of the tire we got is the Ecstalx Platinum (KU27) 225/60 R16 98W, rated 600/A/A with a W speed rating. They were ordered from Tirerack.com, and cost $385 including the S&H. This was 1/2 the price that Sears sold them for. Of course we had to get them mounted and balanced, but our local Fire Chief did that for me, for $5 a tire.

I can tell you the Continentals rode very nice but disappeared rather quickly on my wife's 300C, they went about 18,000. The Goodyears and Coopers wear well but the car always had a shudder with them. Can't even get Michelins for it, something to do with a special rim design.

Tirerack lists the LTX for $118 and there currently is a rebate which brings it down to about $100/tire, says back ordered but I would call.
* Special Offer:
* Buy a set of four and get $70 value back.
* Size: 235/70R15
Sidewall Style: Outlined White Letters
Serv. Desc: 102SLoad Index 102 = 1874lbs (850kg) per tire
Speed Rating "S" = 112mph (180kph)
UTQG: Treadwear: 500
Traction: A
Temperature: B
500 A B
* Price: $119.00 (each)
$118.00 (each) Special
I had 225/70/15 LTX on my Ford Ranger, they lasted over 5 years and a true 60,000 miles, just had the vehicle inspected and the guy said they were at the state minimum. I knew that, but time to get a set of new tires. I paid about $100 each way back then. They wear great, I only rotate front to back maybe once a year. Only downside is they ride rough, its a truck tire. I also put a set of LTX 225/70/16 on my Suzuki Grand Vitara, which are still there, over 5 years ago and at least 50,000 miles. Yes you do pay for these tires but I would not hesitate to buy another set.
Also, the tire wear ratings are for the manufacturer tires only, you can not compare a 500 of one brand to a 500 of another. Most people don't know that. I have a set of Kumho kr21 with a wear rating of 640 on the Ford Focus and they are wearing already after 1 year. I only buy tires from Tirerack anymore, have the guy down the road at the garage mount and balance them for $10 each.
One more thing, I will never buy Firestone tires, my friend out of high school used to work there, there were so many blowout sidewalls tires in the dumpster you would not believe, he said they always came in with blowouts. 20,000 miles on factory Firestones on my ranger, I was hydroplaning, easily over half thread, they got sold for $20 for all 4 and the guy was so happy to buy them. Firestones on my Ford Explorer, hydroplaning, off they came next day. I'll buy Hankooks, Coopers or Kuhmos or whatever is cheapest before I will run a Firestone tire. Maybe not PEP-BOYS Futura's.

I have Kumo's on an old truck, they seem OK, not that I'm saying they are great . They were one of a fiew that are made in the bass**rd size 16 1/2 without going to swamp tires(those days are over). Tires are NOT as good as they were years ago !!!!!

europachris wrote:.........they were still light-years better than the gallactically craptastic Goodyears it came with. .........

Best description of anything EVER!!!

freetown fred wrote:Hell, I'm impressed--out here were happy if they hold air..

Another great quote!! So true out here too .... unless it's MA inspection time ...

I have a different outlook on tires than most. Even though I am a certified cheapskate, tires are one thing I never skimp on. Took me years to listen to my grandpa & dad .... had to learn the hard way ..

What I do is get 2 sets of wheels -- one summer, one winter. For the winter months, I run dedicated snow tires -- the ones with the snowflake symbol on the sidewall. None of this all-season crap. I'll tell you this: I can think of 2 instances where those snowtires saved me 5 times what I paid for an extra set of rims/tires, while driving in winter slop.

For summer I run something that is completely useless, even in just a dusting ... but the best you can find for hydroplaning resistance, wear, & dry grip. Temperature is not too much of a concern where I live ... and with the funds available, I don't see many trips to Phoenix in the near future ..

My wife's Blazer has Firestone Winterforce's, as it's a dedicated winter beater. The Marquis, which is a summer only ride, got Michelin Hydroedge's ... with the GREEN X TOO!! See? I'm not just a black-hearted Republican!

My truck for winter has Bridgestone Blizzack's, DM-V1. For summer I run some fancy 20" GM mags with Bridgestone Dueller H/L Alenza's.

The added benefit of running dual sets, is that you double the life of the tires. While the initial payout is high, it saves in the long run. And if those winter snows shave 15 feet off your stopping distance JUST ONCE, then it's all paid for right there. I don't like to slow down when it snows ...

Glen,
I just bought this tire for my service van
LT245/75R-16 MICHELIN LTX M/S2 E

I like it lots. This is my first set of replacement tires at 62,xxx on the clock. The OE tires were Bridgestone R265 5-Rib. I really liked the Bridgestone too. I wouldn't be afraid to recommend either tire. I could of put another 10k on the OE's but winter was just round the corner when the new Michelin's were installed. Didn't want to run at 6/32" in Dec.

Gaw
all those tires you listed I would pass on. Go with the michelin. It has been our experience at the shop that those other tires are not the best. People come in with vibration problems from the tires going out of round. Or they become noisy. You typically do not have this with michelin. The problem with those reports on tires is that people rate the tires when they have 1200 miles on, lets see what most think of them at 30-40 or 60K, and how many would but that tire again. I've tried all the brands listed and yes michelin is pricey but they will give you the best service.

Have a happy new year, Eric

P.S. something I noticed that I think is wierd is new hyndai's are comming with michelins, and new fords are coming with Kumhos. High quality tires on a cheap korean car, and cheap quality korean tires on a ford

SMITTY wrote:I have a different outlook on tires than most. Even though I am a certified cheapskate, tires are one thing I never skimp on. Took me years to listen to my grandpa & dad .... had to learn the hard way ..

What I do is get 2 sets of wheels -- one summer, one winter. For the winter months, I run dedicated snow tires -- the ones with the snowflake symbol on the sidewall. None of this all-season crap. I'll tell you this: I can think of 2 instances where those snowtires saved me 5 times what I paid for an extra set of rims/tires, while driving in winter slop.

For summer I run something that is completely useless, even in just a dusting ... but the best you can find for hydroplaning resistance, wear, & dry grip. Temperature is not too much of a concern where I live ... and with the funds available, I don't see many trips to Phoenix in the near future ..

My wife's Blazer has Firestone Winterforce's, as it's a dedicated winter beater. The Marquis, which is a summer only ride, got Michelin Hydroedge's ... with the GREEN X TOO!! See? I'm not just a black-hearted Republican!

My truck for winter has Bridgestone Blizzack's, DM-V1. For summer I run some fancy 20" GM mags with Bridgestone Dueller H/L Alenza's.

The added benefit of running dual sets, is that you double the life of the tires. While the initial payout is high, it saves in the long run. And if those winter snows shave 15 feet off your stopping distance JUST ONCE, then it's all paid for right there. I don't like to slow down when it snows ...

Spot on, Smitty! I run Winterforce on my Jetta TDI, and have been running dedicated winter tires for close to 15 years now after I moved to Wisconsin and spent a winter going nowhere in my old '93 Saturn. I put on the previous generation Firestone Winterfire and was absolutely blown away at the difference.

If I still have the TDI when the current set of Altimax wear out, I'll think about trying the latest Michelin low rolling resistance tires. The car came OEM with Michelin Energy MXV4+ and I easily averaged 50mpg and would see 55+mpg on the highway. As soon as I would install the winter tires, I'd take a 10% hit on mileage. Once the Michelin's wore out I installed Bridgestone Turanza LS-H tires which had wet traction like a velcro condom compared to the Michelin's (I could spin the tires in the rain in 3rd gear without fanning the clutch - with a 90hp diesel!). But, the Bridgestone also had the 10% hit on mileage. It was worth it for the traction increase they provided. The Altimax are decent in the wet, good in the dry, but with the soft sidewalls I thought they would be better on the mileage which has proven to be un-true.

It's hard to believe a tire can make such a difference - 10% - in fuel mileage. But every time I'd switch from the Michelin's to the winter tires, I'd have to readjust all my coasting points for stop signs and highway exits, otherwise I'd have to speed back up to make it to the actual stopping point! But while they had the rolling resistance of a steel train wheel, they had about the same traction, too. Fuel mileage or safety? I'll take safety.

I run two sets of tires also. No all season tire will perform in snow/ice the way a dedicated snow tire will, and you get what you pay for with tires.
I typically travel 50-60,000 miles per year. My recommendation for all season tires is any Michelin, snow/ice tires- Bridgestone Blizzac.

I sell many many tires every year at the shop. We very rarely sell Michelins or Goodyears. They are severly overpriced in our opionion. Michelins can be very hard and have trouble stopping in wet weather.
I sell mostly cooper,hankook and Kumho and have had no complaints of vibrations or other problems.
Some of the tires are priced right that you can get just about 2 sets of tires to the cost of 1 set of Michelins or Goodyears.
Check the rating for the tires. Cooper CS4 is a 780 AA and that is an 80,000 mile tire. The Hanook H727 is a 100,000 mile tire with free road hazard on the first 25% of the tire life.
Kumho has many 60,000 - 80,000 mile tires.
with all of these ratings, the owner plays a huge role in getting this to happen. Air pressure, alignment, rotationa and sensible driving greatly help.

Remember this, Costco, Walmart, Sears etc all sell tires, but the tires they sell are not made to the spec of the manufacturer. They are made to their own specs, thus you don't get the same tire there at those stores as you do with non nationalized tire retailers.

Mitch

mof1964 wrote:Remember this, Costco, Walmart, Sears etc all sell tires, but the tires they sell are not made to the spec of the manufacturer. They are made to their own specs, thus you don't get the same tire there at those stores as you do with non nationalized tire retailers.

They would have to have a different model # to be able to sell them at different places with a totally different compound or thread. Tires get gov. safety tested and if you change the compound or thread they have to get retested again. Sort of like UL listing on electronic products. Those companies may have tires made for them by big tires manufactures but they will be different models. Some cars do come from the factory with Michelin's but they are junk and wear out very fast, they hurt themselves by doing this. You can also buy 2 brand new cheap cars for the price you would pay for a Mercedes, but which works out better in the long run?