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Time to go tire shopping....

mcvickj

mcvickj

Diamond Member
I've been putting it off for a while but now with winter getting ready to set in I would like to make sure I have some good rubber. This will be the first time purchasing tires for my 2003 Chevy Impala. I would say that I do a mix of 70 (city) / 30 (highway) driving.

I've been looking at tirerack.com just to get an idea on the different tires but it looks like there are so many options. I have no loyalty to any one brand.

Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
Let us know that type of tire you are looking for (All Season, Summer Tire, Snow Tire, Just a Cheap-O Tire) so we can recommend something to fit your needs. Also where you live since weather plays a huge role in the type of tire you should get.
 
I also will be purchasing some new tires over the next couple of weeks before the snow starts.

My Protege originally came with Dunlops, they were ok but the wet traction was pretty bad. When I replaced them I got some Kumhos off Tire Rack, they were the cheapest tire for my size (the Protege has an odd size - 195/50/16). They have been ok, a tad noisy, and the tread wear has been pretty bad, I've only had them for about 18-20 months and 20,000 miles and the tread is real low. But again, they were pretty cheap at the time.

On past cars I have had Yokohama and have loved them. A lot of my friends have had great luck with Yokohama as well. I wish they made something that fit my Protege, I'll have to check if they have something close, like a 195/55 or 205/55.
 
Generally you can't go wrong with Bridgestone or Michelin. Good idea shopping tirerack. As long as you aren't raped by the local installer you can save some money. Check the ratings and reviews at tirerack for your size...make sure you order the right size. That kind of car should have all season, not summer or performance for sure.
 
zerocool84 - Sorry about that. All season tires - 225/60-16. I'm located just north of Grand Rapids, MI. Based on the prices at tirerack.com it looks like I'm going to be spending anywhere from $80 - $100 per tire.
 
At Tire Rack, you can have them shipped to one of the recommend installers and just bring your car in to get the new ones put on. I'd just check the prices the installer is charging for mounting/balancing. Some of them have their prices listed on Tire Rack, I'd call and confirm those are the actual prices. Usually will run $15-$30/tire.
 
Tire Rack is cheapest by far but getting 18" tires w/ tire pressure monitors mounted and balanced runs about $40/tire.

I called the local Tire Discounters (local tire chain) and their OTD price with free alignment/balance is pretty competitive.
 
Originally posted by: street carp
Generally you can't go wrong with Bridgestone or Michelin. Good idea shopping tirerack. As long as you aren't raped by the local installer you can save some money. Check the ratings and reviews at tirerack for your size...make sure you order the right size. That kind of car should have all season, not summer or performance for sure.
Click to expand...

If you're in an area that never snows, there's no reason to get all-season.

In Michigan, however...😉
 
I've never been a fan of Continental tires in the past, but, after researching to death tires for my brothers '95 T-bird, we settled on Continental ContiExtremeContact's. My brother isn't really into cars, and even he noticed a difference.

If you can get Walmart to give you a price quote (and make sure they look up the ContiExtremeContact's and not some other Continental's), you can take that price quote to a real tire shop and they'll usually match it.

We got 4 great tires for just a little less than $400 out the door, including lifetime road hazard - the price before bringing in the Walmart quote was $600 out the door.

Chuck
 
I've been looking for some all season tires too.

My G35 tires are summer and nearly bald and with winter coming, I figure its about time.

I was going to go with the Continental ContiExtremeContacts but I can't find them anywhere. Plus, they don't have the exact size for my rims so I had to get a size up. I ordered Yokohama Avid W4S. There aren't enough reviews out there but I'm hoping they can handle snow with a RWD car.

 
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
I've been looking for some all season tires too.

My G35 tires are summer and nearly bald and with winter coming, I figure its about time.

I was going to go with the Continental ContiExtremeContacts but I can't find them anywhere. Plus, they don't have the exact size for my rims so I had to get a size up. I ordered Yokohama Avid W4S. There aren't enough reviews out there but I'm hoping they can handle snow with a RWD car.
Click to expand...

Here they are. I tried to link them in the OP's size, but tirerack links are kind of strange. This is what I'm running on my '92 Cougar. I really like them. They're not the best tires out there, but I think they're the best tires for the money ($78 each for 225/60R16). I got mine shipped to my house so that I could take them wherever I wanted. I got all 4 mounted and balanced with new valve stems for $50. The total after shipping and mounting was $345.

If you sign up with fatwallet.com and use their cash-back link here, then you'll get an additional 3.3% cash back in a few months, which would be around $11.
 
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
I've been looking for some all season tires too.

My G35 tires are summer and nearly bald and with winter coming, I figure its about time.

I was going to go with the Continental ContiExtremeContacts but I can't find them anywhere. Plus, they don't have the exact size for my rims so I had to get a size up. I ordered Yokohama Avid W4S. There aren't enough reviews out there but I'm hoping they can handle snow with a RWD car.
Click to expand...

Use Continental's dealer locator here: http://www.conti-online.com/ge.../dealerlocator_en.html

Before you start calling around, call your local Walmart up that has a tire center and have them get you a price quote on them...they' were significantly cheaper than the dedicated tire dealers. Then you can get that printed quote from Walmart and take it to the dedicated tire dealer and get it done at a good shop, for a good price.

Chuck
 
Originally posted by: kalrith
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
I've been looking for some all season tires too.

My G35 tires are summer and nearly bald and with winter coming, I figure its about time.

I was going to go with the Continental ContiExtremeContacts but I can't find them anywhere. Plus, they don't have the exact size for my rims so I had to get a size up. I ordered Yokohama Avid W4S. There aren't enough reviews out there but I'm hoping they can handle snow with a RWD car.
Click to expand...

Here they are. I tried to link them in the OP's size, but tirerack links are kind of strange. This is what I'm running on my '92 Cougar. I really like them. They're not the best tires out there, but I think they're the best tires for the money ($78 each for 225/60R16). I got mine shipped to my house so that I could take them wherever I wanted. I got all 4 mounted and balanced with new valve stems for $50. The total after shipping and mounting was $345.

If you sign up with fatwallet.com and use their cash-back link here, then you'll get an additional 3.3% cash back in a few months, which would be around $11.
Click to expand...

Actually, what I meant was that I can't find them in stock in my size anywhere. They seem to be pretty popular.
 
Just a follow up on an old thread.

I ended up getting the Yokohama Avid W4Ss and ran them through some snow a few times.

I thought they would be able to handle some significant snow but I was a bit optimistic. In anything more than about 3" of snow, I would definitely not want to drive. Even under 3" of snow the tires were kind of dodgy. On slight inclines from full stops, I was not able to move and even while driving, I felt like I would lose grip. I actually did once and slid with my nose pointed slightly diagonally at the other lane for a couple seconds but fortunately there were no cars next to me.

I should have gone with the Continentals.
 
No. You should have used winter tires in Winter! All-Season tires starts to lose their grip (tires harden) when temps are around or below 4C. If you used Winter tires, the tires wouldn't harden, providing better traction. Plus, Winter tires have a different type of tread that will never be seen on All-Seasons. THIS IS WHAT WINTER TIRES ARE MADE FOR!

I saw this before in my Road&Track mag. It said something like Summer tires are not to be used in Snow (obviously) and All-Season tires can handle only LIGHT snow.

As a reference, our Volvo S70 uses Dunlop SP Sport A2 All-Seaons. We also have a set of Kumho Winter tires that we got for free from a friend. The Kumho's are I think 6 to 7 years old with a bit of tread life left. This summer, in Toronto it snowed a lot, to the point where a new record would be set for the amount of snowfall. Before we changed the tires to the Kumho's, the Dunlop's weren't good at handling anything over 5cm of snow. The car felt like it was constantly sliding. Once we put on the Kumho's, the car felt more stable and safer, despite the tires being old with minimal tread life left in them.
 
Unfortunately, I have no place to put an extra set of tires so I there was a trade off. I heard the Continentals are some of the best in poor weather. I should have gone with those instead.
 
You can rent a place to put your extra set of tires, such as a garage. They charge a couple of dollars, but you get the benefit of superior winter traction.
 
Originally posted by: RKS
Tire Rack is cheapest by far but getting 18" tires w/ tire pressure monitors mounted and balanced runs about $40/tire.

I called the local Tire Discounters (local tire chain) and their OTD price with free alignment/balance is pretty competitive.
Click to expand...

You also have to consider the 'free' warranty that a local tire chain can get you if they sell you the tires instead. You save money with tirerack short-term only, for the most part.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
Originally posted by: RKS
Tire Rack is cheapest by far but getting 18" tires w/ tire pressure monitors mounted and balanced runs about $40/tire.

I called the local Tire Discounters (local tire chain) and their OTD price with free alignment/balance is pretty competitive.
Click to expand...

You also have to consider the 'free' warranty that a local tire chain can get you if they sell you the tires instead. You save money with tirerack short-term only, for the most part.
Click to expand...

Don't underrate this warranty! Two tires on my truck (Yokohoma Geolander HT-S) got damaged (nails) in the shoulder, which means they can't be repaired. They replaced them both for free. They also fixed my dad's Camry's tire (nail in the middle of the tire) for free since he had the warranty on my Tundra, lol. The warranty lasts for the life of the tire (until there is legal tread left). Obviously, vandalism isn't covered, or else people would slash all of their tires when they start losing tread and ask for them to be replaced. 😛
 
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