Need some Tire recommendations 09 Malibu

[alkemyst]

On the contrary, this is very possible to do in poor weather or on poor roads.

don't even need poor roads/weather on some.

 

[JCH13]

Disagree, and most tire shops in my experience agree with me when they put the good tires up front.

The reason is that steering and control are more important, oversteering is unlikely in a FWD car, that will also have weight biased heavily up front (60/40 or more).

If you put bald tires in the back and hydroplane back there, it really wouldn't affect things much as long as you can keep your fronts planted and controlled.

In a RWD car, better tires in the back makes much more sense, as you can apply traction to bring your back in control.

Of course, you should ignore all of this if you can't drive at all and would freak out and crash if you start losing traction (front or back). I've been in many a hairy situations where my backs go out of line (in snow) and they were easy to bring back in.

If the rear wheels have less weight, worse traction, and the back end starts to slide out you're not going to be a happy camper, definitely if you're turning, and especially in an emergency situation. Having good rear tires will take those "many hairy situations" and make them "the one time when my car slid a little bit". Frankly the $200-$300 that may prevent a car from hydroplaning on the interstate, clipping a curb and wrecking a wheel, spinning when the brakes are slammed, etc, is worth it every time.

 

[Lotheron]

Disagree, and most tire shops in my experience agree with me when they put the good tires up front.

The reason is that steering and control are more important, oversteering is unlikely in a FWD car, that will also have weight biased heavily up front (60/40 or more).

If you put bald tires in the back and hydroplane back there, it really wouldn't affect things much as long as you can keep your fronts planted and controlled.

In a RWD car, better tires in the back makes much more sense, as you can apply traction to bring your back in control.

Of course, you should ignore all of this if you can't drive at all and would freak out and crash if you start losing traction (front or back). I've been in many a hairy situations where my backs go out of line (in snow) and they were easy to bring back in.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! If you know of a shop that tells you this, they are telling you wrong.

From TireRack (which I will trust more than a shop you know):
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52

Intuition suggests that since the front tires wore out first and because there is still about half of the tread remaining on the rear tires, the new tires should be installed on the front axle. This will provide more wet and wintry traction; and by the time the front tires have worn out for the second time, the rear tires will be worn out, too. However in this case, intuition isn't right...and following it can be downright dangerous.

When tires are replaced in pairs in situations like these, the new tires should always be installed on the rear axle and the partially worn tires moved to the front. The reason is because new tires on the rear axle help the driver more easily maintain control on wet roads since deeper treaded tires are better at resisting hydroplaning.

 

[MJinZ]

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! If you know of a shop that tells you this, they are telling you wrong.

From TireRack (which I will trust more than a shop you know):
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52

You should indeed follow Tirerack's recommendations if you are not proficient at controlling your vehicle and are afraid of oversteer.

 

[MJinZ]

If the rear wheels have less weight, worse traction, and the back end starts to slide out you're not going to be a happy camper, definitely if you're turning, and especially in an emergency situation. Having good rear tires will take those "many hairy situations" and make them "the one time when my car slid a little bit". Frankly the $200-$300 that may prevent a car from hydroplaning on the interstate, clipping a curb and wrecking a wheel, spinning when the brakes are slammed, etc, is worth it every time.

Yea, I don't recommend having bald tires in the rear obviously, but if you had no choice, you want better tires up front in an FWD car.

The times when I started tailing left and right was from driving too fast in the snow. The tires I had on were $225 Michelins with good tread. Haven't gone through snow yet in my Yokos.

 

[MikeMike]

Yea, I don't recommend having bald tires in the rear obviously, but if you had no choice, you want better tires up front in an FWD car.

The times when I started tailing left and right was from driving too fast in the snow. The tires I had on were $225 Michelins with good tread. Haven't gone through snow yet in my Yokos.

honestly, just shut up, and gtfo. you are retarded, and have been proven wrong...

NO YOU DO NOT WANT BETTER TIRES IN THE FRONT. THEY SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN THE BACK

 

[Paratus]

I live in SE TX but with rain we get here I want good wet driving traction.

Since I'm generally driving my kids around I'm not looking for ultimate performance at the limit. So all probably rotate the rears up to the front.

I will be keeping the car for years so I don't miind spending a bit extra for a good handling tire that'll last me several years, ( currently drive 10,000 / yr).

However I'm not sure I want to spend $200 per tire plus installation if there are other decent cheaper alternatives.

 

[Paratus]

In your original size check out the Hankook Optimo H727 @ $124 with a $40 rebate or the Yokohama Avid TRZ @ $94.

Thanks, I'll check them out.

 

[RKS]

Another option is to go to a local tire store and have them match prices with tirerack or other large on-line source.

 

[Lotheron]

I live in SE TX but with rain we get here I want good wet driving traction.

Since I'm generally driving my kids around I'm not looking for ultimate performance at the limit. So all probably rotate the rears up to the front.

I will be keeping the car for years so I don't miind spending a bit extra for a good handling tire that'll last me several years, ( currently drive 10,000 / yr).

However I'm not sure I want to spend $200 per tire plus installation if there are other decent cheaper alternatives.

Summer tires will generally have better Wet traction than all-seasons. The only thing they can't do is snow/ice. If you do not drive in snow/ice, do yourself a favor and get Summer Tires.

For example, look at the Surveys for http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...5WR7ECDW&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes.

I have these: http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tires/barum/size/viewProductDetail.do?pc=12383

They are the best tires I have ever had. They're made by Continental(sub brand) and they are cheaper than many all-seasons. I have about 10K miles on them and they still look brand new. I am pretty hard on my tires too.. 🙂

About Summer Tires:

You want an unsurpassed blend of dry and wet street traction and handling and only the finest will do.

Not intended to be driven in snow or on ice, these technologically advanced ultra low profile, high speed tires combine computer developed designs, and unique materials with precision manufacturing techniques to provide an unsurpassed blend of dry and wet traction and handling.

 

[slag]

Do this.

Do not do this. I'll never buy another continental tire after having 4 on my grand prix, two of them developed bulges that affected balance and one had a separated belt.

No thanks, continentals are crap.

 

[exar333]

Summer tires will generally have better Wet traction than all-seasons. The only thing they can't do is snow/ice. If you do not drive in snow/ice, do yourself a favor and get Summer Tires.

For example, look at the Surveys for http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...5WR7ECDW&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes.

I have these: http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tires/barum/size/viewProductDetail.do?pc=12383

They are the best tires I have ever had. They're made by Continental(sub brand) and they are cheaper than many all-seasons. I have about 10K miles on them and they still look brand new. I am pretty hard on my tires too.. 🙂

About Summer Tires:

Good post, but remember that summer tires are also very temperature sensitive. When temps drop below 40-50 (especially below freezing) the compounds have poor traction on the roads and can become dangerous even without rain/snow/ice.

 

[Lotheron]

Good post, but remember that summer tires are also very temperature sensitive. When temps drop below 40-50 (especially below freezing) the compounds have poor traction on the roads and can become dangerous even without rain/snow/ice.

This is true, but the tires will warm up. Its not that bad, and honestly 40-50 degrees is the lowest it normally gets here. It was 38 this morning (really cold for this time of year) and I had no issues with traction even before the tires warmed up. I bought the tires with the thought that for 350 days out of 365, they'll be better than all seasons, the other 15, they'll be worse and I'll take it easy.

 

[alkemyst]

Goodyear ComforTreds....that's what I'd go with on a cruiser.

I run Goodyear Assymetrics (235/40R17) on my coupe.

 

[MJinZ]

honestly, just shut up, and gtfo. you are retarded, and have been proven wrong...

NO YOU DO NOT WANT BETTER TIRES IN THE FRONT. THEY SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN THE BACK

honestly, just shut up, and gtfo. you are retarded, and have no brain...

NO YOU DO NOT WANT BETTER TIRES IN THE BACK. THEY SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN THE FRONT

Better now asshat?

Control and steering is more important than rear sliding out. ALWAYS. Your FRONTs do all of that.

 

[MJinZ]

Do not do this. I'll never buy another continental tire after having 4 on my grand prix, two of them developed bulges that affected balance and one had a separated belt.

No thanks, continentals are crap.

Yep, stick with Michelins and Yokohamas. You get what you pay for.

 

[pe3046]

Avid Envigor is a nice tire in that size, W speed rated or the new michelin primacy but they are a tad over $200 each.

 

[exar333]

This is true, but the tires will warm up. Its not that bad, and honestly 40-50 degrees is the lowest it normally gets here. It was 38 this morning (really cold for this time of year) and I had no issues with traction even before the tires warmed up. I bought the tires with the thought that for 350 days out of 365, they'll be better than all seasons, the other 15, they'll be worse and I'll take it easy.

LOL, I wish that was as cold as it got around here! We are looking at single-digits next week. My Z's tires get really pokey when driving at that temp, even with no snow/ice/rain around. Back to my winter car!

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

Go ahead. I normaly frequent the AT graphics forum & P&N. 😉

I've got 18,000 miles on the factory tires. I recently realized I hadn't rotated them. When I went to check the tread depth, the rears were fine, the passenger side front was ok, but the drivers side is starting to show metal. It's significantly more worn than the other side. The weird thing is the car doesn't pull or I would have had the alignment checked earlier.

Good point on keeping the same tire size for the electronic nannies.

Michelin Primacy MXM4s look really nice but they're pretty expensive.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Primacy+MXM4

It seems as though MJinZ and MikeMike took my hint rather well, actually. 😀

I was having this issue on my car recently. Cool trick to check what's up:

Jack up the corner of the car with the affected wheel, and shake the wheel side to side and then top to bottom. If there is a lot of wobble side-to-side, you have an issue with your tie rod or idler arm. If it's top-to-bottom, then it's the wheel bearing. If it's the entire tire tread which is abnormally worn, then quit doing stoplight burnouts in your Malibu! It's an open-differential 4-cylinder!

Also, rotate the tires when you do your oil changes or when you notice a significant difference between the front and back tires. You can rotate them front-to-back in your driveway if you want, or go somewhere and pay for them to diagonally rotate them. I know that a friend gets free tire rotations because he bought his tires at a Discount Tire chain store. May want to look into that, especially if the difference in tire price is small. It's typically $15-25 to mount and balance each tire.

Thinking about it, the tire wear could be from the brake dragging on that higher-wear wheel, the tire pressure could be too low, or there's a chance it's a defective tire.

As far as tires, I'm going to echo what people are saying about Michelins, as my experience with them has been great. They take forever to wear, and provide excellent traction and ride comfort to boot, even at the end of usable life. I'm also a fan of BF Goodrich tires, and currently have them on my car and dad's truck.

Seeing as your car is within the Nothing's-Going-To-Happen-That-You'll-Have-To-Pay-For-It time/mileage, go drop off your car at the dealership and tell them to fix it. Do report back, I'm interested what the issue is.

Forgot to mention, this is all assuming the alignment isn't off. If it's not, your warranty may very well cover everything including the tire and alignment. You may want to consider taking it to the dealership for an alignment, as that would simplify things if you have a deeper issue (They can't say the other shop screwed up the alignment check).

 

[Howard]

Forgot to mention: non-directional tires tend to last a little longer since you can rotate them to all corners.