Cheap tires v.s. Expensive Tires

[steppinthrax]

The tires on my Camry are worn bare and need to be replaced pretty much now. I'm interested in tire life v.s. "high performace tire". I remember I bought some douglas tires (walmart brand $55.00 tire) for my saturn and they last a while. However, I bought some nice Yokahama Avids for my Altima (100 tire) and they did well to. So I'm at a lost in the tire difference?

I heard from people the really expensive tires don't actually last long because they grip the road too much and wear out faster. Does Tire Warranty tell the lifespan. I.E the Uniroyal TigerPaws have a 70K mile treadwear warranty and it seems like a good name???

I'm considering these options.

Uniroyal Tiger Paw AWP - 58 a piece 70K warranty
Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring - 60 a piece 80K warranty
Runway - Enduro 70 - 55 dollar tire 35K warranty (seems lowend)

 

[thirdeye]

You're comparing apples to oranges really. They're tires and that's about where the similarity stops.

 

[DivideBYZero]

70k miles? Wow.

 

[M2008S]

Originally posted by: thirdeye
You're comparing apples to oranges really. They're tires and that's about where the similarity stops.

more to consider

see my post in his topic

should help decide. go with a high warranty if youre keeping the car for a while.. probably a good brand too. tirerack- cheap tires shipped to you. have a shop put them on

 

[overst33r]

I had the Uniroyal Tiger Paw AWS on my corolla. What a horrible tire. My parents have the same tires on an Impala (OE equipment), the traction is horrible. My mother had one tire blow out at about 55k miles.

 

[Aikouka]

Personally, I love the grip on more expensive tires. Not like I'm using them for racing on the tarmac, but when I switched out the tires on my old car for some nice (and not so cheap) all seasons, the driving experience improved so much. The car had a lot of problems with wind gusts pushing it around, but I never had an issue once I changed tires. Not to mention that these all seasons also cut through snow really well.

 

[nobb]

I guess it depends on your driving. I am not an agressive driver so I never push my car to its limits. When it comes to the actual feel for the handling of the car, I dont feel any difference between a cheap tire and a high quality tire (since I dont drive agressively). This summer I got a set of Kumho Ecsta ASX to replace my crappy stock Potenza RE92s. The difference that I do notice is the improvement in handling in snow/ice as well as decrease in road noise.

 

[Vette73]

I get tires based on treadware (how long they last) and the temp and traction ratings. I also look at tread and what the tire is made for.

I never buy the really high $$$ tires as our corvette came with high tires and they did no better then the cheaper ones we put on it now.

Don;t judge a tire by its name or price, judge it based on what it rates at and what it is made for.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Compare the treadwear rating from the UTQG specification.

The last tires I bought were Bridgestone Potenza G009's, with a UTQG spec of 460 AA and a treadwear warranty of 50,000 miles. Before that were Potenza RE750's for my 951 with a UTQG spec of 340 AAA and no treadwear warranty at all. (Both are "high-performance" tires, with the RE750's being summer-only and very sticky.)

The Enduro 70 that you mention has a UTQG spec of 360 AA. That's pretty soft, and the 35,000 mile warranty seems right on.

The Tiger Paw Touring has a UTQG spec of 540 AB and a treadlife warranty of 70,000 miles according to Tire Rack. That's a rock-hard tire that I wouldn't recommend to anyone unless all they cared about was saving money. The only good thing I can say about it is that it is made of rubber and holds air.

The Tiger Paw AWP has a UTQG spec of 580 AB in 14 inch and 500 BB in 16 inch size with the same 70,000 mile treadwear warranty. Again, this is a rock-hard tire that I wouldn't recommend unless all you cared about was saving money.

Treadwear warranty is not a measure of a tire's quality. It is just a measure of how long it is expected to last, which will vary depending on the type of tire and its goals. Tires that grip better will have lower treadwear warranties than tires that do not grip as well.

ZV

 

[exdeath]

Higher performance tires have a softer compound for grip and thus wear down much faster. Think rubbing a pencil eraser on a file vs. a block of plastic.

I use Nitto 555 315/35s or Falken ZE512 275/40s on my Cobra and I'm lucky to get 10k out of just about any tire. I can get the Falkens for $100 a tire and the Nittos can go up to $350 a pair for the rear.

Goodyear Weather Handlers from Sears on the Camry and they appear almost new with 30k on them and supposed to last to 65k. It's hard to know the road is even wet with these tires. About $100 a tire also.

 

[lurk3r]

Cost dosent have much to do with performance, but performance tires are very important. Good budget choices are Kelly Chargers or Cooper, my favourite would be Yokohmama Avids, Michelins, or BFG's not bad, Hate goodyear, firestone, and OMG, the continentals on my altima as OEM were just the worst crap ever.

 

[DeviousTrap]

I'd just like to add that I'm amazed that the guy posting this is also the same guy that's asking "Why dosen't everybody work on their car?".

 

[steppinthrax]

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap
I'd just like to add that I'm amazed that the guy posting this is also the same guy that's asking "Why dosen't everybody work on their car?".

What's your point?

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: steppinthrax

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap
I'd just like to add that I'm amazed that the guy posting this is also the same guy that's asking "Why dosen't everybody work on their car?".

What's your point?

Do you have an engineering degree?

 

[Nyati13]

Just remember the only part of the entire car that touches the ground is the tires. All of the steering, braking, driving...everything all channels through those tires. Low grip tires will decrease everything including safety.

 

[getbush]

check these out:

Kumho Solus KR21

They get decent reviews and are $46 bucks each at tirerack in 195/70TR14 which fit a CE trim level '99 Camry.

 

[MegaVovaN]

/novice posting

So for a regular driver on a non-sporty car, in no-snow location (Houston), it boils down to balancing tire softness (grip), longevity and price?

 

[lurk3r]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
/novice posting

So for a regular driver on a non-sporty car, in no-snow location (Houston), it boils down to balancing tire softness (grip), longevity and price?

Basically yeah, softer tires stick better, but wear faster. The Avids I had though seemed to break this theory, 60K warrenty iirc, and unreal performance.

Tirerack.com has a great guide for traction on tires they have for your car, and Costco, as usual is amazing for price and service. My BFGoodrich tires were $85 each installed there, and are many times better than the Conntals the car had new

 

[Dunbar]

Go to tirerack.com, enter your vehicle info and read reviews from other Camry owners for the various brands. You can have them shipped directly to one of their preferred installers who have pre-negotiated rates listed on tirerack.com.

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: lurk3r

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
/novice posting

So for a regular driver on a non-sporty car, in no-snow location (Houston), it boils down to balancing tire softness (grip), longevity and price?

Basically yeah, softer tires stick better, but wear faster. The Avids I had though seemed to break this theory, 60K warrenty iirc, and unreal performance.

Tirerack.com has a great guide for traction on tires they have for your car, and Costco, as usual is amazing for price and service. My BFGoodrich tires were $85 each installed there, and are many times better than the Conntals the car had new

Every brand has good and bad models. For example, Bridgestone Potenza RE92a's suck complete ass, whereas the Potenza RE960AS Pole Position rocks.

Continental ContiExtreme Contacts are also very good high performance all-seasons. I also like the Goodyear Eagle F1's.

The OP sounds like he just needs a set of grand touring all-seasons to last him a while and provide adequate grip. Agreed on the costco and tirerack recommendations to research a good set.

He can also likely get pricematches from local tire stores.

 

[thomsbrain]

A decent set of tires is the single best safety feature you can have short of paying attention while you drive. You may not purposely drive quickly, and that's fine, but one day someone is going to pull out in front of you, and you're going to have to push the brake pedal to the floor and pray, and your tires are going to make a big difference in how quickly you are able to stop. I think spending an extra $100 per set is worth it to increase my chances of survival on the road.

 

[RayH]

You also need to take into account how many years you expect to have the tires on the car before the tread wears out. I've found that depending on the tire, the rubber compound can start hardening after 5 years or so and no longer grips as well even if it still has a lot of tread.

If you're looking for really good all season tire I recommend the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S. I got them for my dad's Camry and am also running them on my daily driver.

 

[programmer]

Ignore warranties and mileage estimates, get some good quality, safe, comfortable, well performing tires. Cruise through tirerack.com with your size tire and look at the "Survey Results"... something like the Kumho Solus KR21 is cheap and gets high ratings from folks. But there is another model of Kumho in the same size that isn't nearly as well regarded. -- note that I have no personal experience with any Kumho tire-- its just that of the five that came up for a particular tire size that model had the highest ratings and best feedback from users.

 

[Budmantom]

I worked at a tire shop for a few years and my recommendation is round, black and cheap.

 

[Physics Nerd]

i'm satisfied with my fuzion ZRi's. cheap, good numbers according to tirerack, and the comfort rating is pretty good.