YACT: Buying tires

[jlee]

Rather than rotating my tires, I decided to replace two at a time..easier for me to handle upgrading two at a time than paying for all four..

I have two worn-out Falkens (Ziex 512, 185/60/14), and two in pretty good shape (10,000 miles on the rear tires..FWD and aggressive driving shot the fronts pretty quick). I was quoted $212 installed for a pair of Potenza RE950s -- is there anything better in the $100 (w/mounting and balancing..so really $80-ish) that I should get instead?

I'll put my 'decent' old tires on the drive wheels and the new ones on the back..and I'll probably put two more new ones on in about 9000 miles.

 

[Heisenberg]

I would go with BFGoodrich Traction T/A's over the Bridgestone's if it were me.

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
I would go with BFGoodrich Traction T/A's over the Bridgestone's if it were me.

Same here.

 

[jlee]

Per TireRack, the BFGoodrich Traction T/A's have better dry traction, better wet traction, better handling, and better wear ratings than the RE950 and G009..heh..

Maybe I'll go for them instead. :thumbsup:

 

[RagingBITCH]

It's a Corolla, not a Supra. Buy economy tires for your economy car and deal with it.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
It's a Corolla, not a Supra. Buy economy tires for your economy car and deal with it.

Why?

 

[mitaiwan82]

bump for fellow Ziex-512 owner...

Have you looked into summer times? I was wondering because the Falkens you have and the RE950 are both all-season tires. If you wanted the tires to last a while, then the all-seasons would be a better choice, as they have better tread wear ratings. The ratings on the RE950 seem okay on TireRack, but I don't think they would be better than the Falkens.

 

[xXped0thugXx]

Falken has a reputation for quick tread wear. Kumho is another performance tire that has slightly better tread wear with pretty close to the same performance. I'd advise against Falken, I didn't have a good experience with them.

 

[jlee]

mitaiwan82: The Falkens are much cheaper, but they don't stick as well as I'd like..

I had Bridgestone Weatherforce tires on before, and they sucked -- I'm not a fan of 'economy' or 'comfort' tires..I'd rather have more road noise and traction than have long life and slipperyness.

 

[isekii]

RE950 is all season performance, but I hear they're pretty shitty.

Why not get the S-03
looks like you're purchasing tiny tires, which usually mean's they'll be pretty cheap.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: CadetLee

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
It's a Corolla, not a Supra. Buy economy tires for your economy car and deal with it.

Why?

B/C you're driving your Corolla like something it's not? Maybe your tires got worn so fast b/c you decided to take pics of you doing burnouts and posting them on the net? Or maybe it's all that NAAAAAAAWS you put in your car and you keep peeling out at every stoplight trying to race god knows what?

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: isekii
RE950 is all season performance, but I hear they're pretty shitty.

Why not get the S-03
looks like you're purchasing tiny tires, which usually mean's they'll be pretty cheap.

i don't think they make S-03 for anything under 17 inches

 

I had re92's on my impreza, worst tires ever.
I don't know if the 950s are any better, but I'm guessing they won't be.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: CadetLee

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
It's a Corolla, not a Supra. Buy economy tires for your economy car and deal with it.

Why?

B/C you're driving your Corolla like something it's not? Maybe your tires got worn so fast b/c you decided to take pics of you doing burnouts and posting them on the net? Or maybe it's all that NAAAAAAAWS you put in your car and you keep peeling out at every stoplight trying to race god knows what?

Maybe those burnout pics were from the *last* set of tires, and taken on the same day that I had new ones put on.

You have no idea how I drive -- and I will have you know that I do have a NHRA track about 12 miles from my house. Not all import owners fit your trashy stereotype -- deal with it.

As far as "NAAAAAWS", I have not seen FNF..and my kit is Nitrous Express, not NOS. The bottle hasn't been in the car for some time..but it will be going to the track eventually.

I'd rather drive a Corolla -- and know how to drive it -- than take a 2004 Mustang GT to the drag strip..and get walked on by said Corolla because I can't drive.

 

[mitaiwan82]

Originally posted by: CadetLee
mitaiwan82: The Falkens are much cheaper, but they don't stick as well as I'd like..

I had Bridgestone Weatherforce tires on before, and they sucked -- I'm not a fan of 'economy' or 'comfort' tires..I'd rather have more road noise and traction than have long life and slipperyness.

they don't make too many performance tires in your size though...I'd suggest going Plus One (195/50/15) to have a lot better selection in performance tires (Potenza SO-3s are $73 a piece and the Goodyear F1 GS-D3s are only $84 a piece at TireRack!!). However if you were already tight on cash, then that would not really be an option.

 

[jlee]

I'm keeping stock size wheels...I'll probably end up with the BF Goodrich tires.

I may have an MR2 shortly..that'll have better tire options.

 

[Actaeon]

Rotate your tires, the set as a whole will last longer. $212 for a 185/60/14? That is expensive! What is the width of your rim? If you don't mind, and assuming they're wide enough (6" and larger), you could probally fit 195s, and have a tad bit more selection to choose from.

The Ziex 512 are "okay", not exactly top of the line, they are Falkens Budget All Season tire with an extremely high 420 treadwear rating. Regardless, I think the thread looks cool.

Why not another set of the 512s? $46 a tire, free shipping. I assume it will be around $100 total for mounting and everything.

More 185/60/14 tires

You can also check TireRack, but they charge for shipping. I doubt you would find a cheaper bundle with the same performance.

If you want even higher performance, I can do a bit more research for you, but remember, it will get expensive quickly.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: SampSon
I had re92's on my impreza, worst tires ever.
I don't know if the 950s are any better, but I'm guessing they won't be.

The 950's are better than the RE92's, just not by much. Have you ever driven RE92's in the rain after the tread's gotten worn down a bit? Scary. I'm not usually a "they oughta pass a law!" kinda person, but in the case of RE92's I might make an exception. They seriously should be outlawed. It'll be a long time before I buy Bridgestone anything again.

Anyway, OP, in that category and price range, get the BFG TA's, as others have recommended.

edit: oh yeah, and rotate your tires more often and you won't have this problem

 

[jlee]

Actaeon: It was $212 for the both of them..about $100/ea installed plus tax. I have a 14x5.5 rim...

I might just end up with more Falkens and save the extra money for the MR2..

 

[Actaeon]

Originally posted by: CadetLee
Actaeon: It was $212 for the both of them..about $100/ea installed plus tax. I have a 14x5.5 rim...

I might just end up with more Falkens and save the extra money for the MR2..

Yeah, sorry, I understood it was 212 for the pair, I guess I wasn't thinking when I was typing that. 5.5 should mount a 195 just fine, I know the 1990-1993 Miatas used 5.5s, and they could be mounted. It wouldn't be a perfect fit, but its alright.

I suggest just getting the Falkens from DiscountTireDirect, have them ship it free to your house, then get them mounted for $20 or whatever. It wouldn't cost you much more than $100 for the pair, mounted. Saves you a bit of money, and at the very least, you have matching tires.