195/70/14 tires?

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I am needing some 195/70/14 tires for my camry, and am wondering what tires are good in this size. Bad weather traction is my number 1 priority, and I am not willing to use a separate set of snow tires for the winter. Good weather performance and handling would be my 2nd priority but it pales in comparison to the bad weather performance. I don't have alot of experience when it comes to passenger tires.
 
This is the exact size I have on my Grand Am. I bought the Goodyear Viva Touring tires at Wal-mart. They have pretty good snow traction, great wet traction and good dry handling. My wifes car(205/75r14) has Viva 2 tires which are available at Wal-mart in the 195/70r14 size also. They don't have as good of handling(softer sidewall), but they have great snow traction and they are holding up well with about 50,000 on them.

-T
 
sbc, do take a look at tirerack.com as they have comprehensive information on any type of tires. My 1992 Camry rides on the same size and I like the Dunlop Sport A2 tire. Bad weather meaning winter driving, the Dunlops are ok for the first year then it is a must for winter tires.
 
quote:

Originally posted by sbc350gearhead:
I am needing some 195/70/14 tires for my camry, and am wondering what tires are good in this size. Bad weather traction is my number 1 priority, and I am not willing to use a separate set of snow tires for the winter. Good weather performance and handling would be my 2nd priority but it pales in comparison to the bad weather performance. I don't have alot of experience when it comes to passenger tires.

When I had my Escort wagon (which was close to the size tire you mentioned) I replaced the OE Goodyears with Firestone FT-70 (now sold as Bridgestone BT-70) and they were excellent all season tires. The wet weather grip was especially good and their snow traction was good enough to get me home from my 30 mile commute during some very nasty snowfalls. Not as good as a snow tire but for a reasonably priced all season I couldn't have been happier. If you like to corner hard every now and then the BT-70s will protest a bit so keep that in mind.

These are the tires we put on the wife's Taurus last time around and they were very good handling tires (dry or wet). Also good enough in the snow to get her up the hills where we live.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=Avid+Touring

If I were to say anything bad about the Yoko it would be that the ride was a bit harsher than the OE Generals that were on the Taurus. Not terribly bad but noticeable.

Lastly...you may want to check Nokian Tires. Even their all season tire carries a severe weather rating and according to my local dealer will match Blizzaks in snow/ice traction. Hard to believe an all season could match Blizzaks in the nasty stuff but I've never had a reason to doubt this guy (he sells both).
 
My recommendations...good price fair and all are A/S Touring:

Everyday low price:

A) Goodyear Weatherhandler LS (Sears Brand) , Equivalents are = Regatta 2, Wal-Mart Viva

B)Bridgestone Weatherforce, very good A/S compound!

C)Sumitomo HTR

D) Sears Roadhandler Voyager...these are a STEAL right now since Sears has discontinued them and there on nationwide liquadation at ~50%-70% off. I say take them now while they last.

E) BF Goodrich Revelation Touring, Michelin owns BFG so expect there line quality.

A little higher:

A) Michelin Weatherwise Sport(Sears Brand), also known as Michelin Rainforce

Premium

A) Michelin Hydroedge

B) Michelin Agility/Harmony AS Touring
 
Speed rating on a Camry? T or S is just fine. Besides, it's longer tread life. A Camry isn't exactly a vehicle you're going to go high speeds for extended periods of time anyway.

I just got a set of Michelin X-Ones in that exact size very cheap (X-Ones are not made anymore. The places that still have them in stock are pricing them cheap to get rid of them). Although that tread design I do not believe to be the greatest for severe weather (meaning snow, mostly... for rain it should be just fine). My mom has a set of Michelin Weatherwise (195/60R15) on her 626 and the car performs excellently in the snow.

As a tire technician, I am not a fan of the flex Michelin puts into their sidewalls just because when it's a tight fit on the rim, they are a pain to dismount. But on the other hand, once it's on your vehicle, they are very nice to have. The sidewall is still stiff and provides great structual rigidity, but the flex they put in at the certain part of the sidewall (towards the top... almost where the sidewall meets the tread) makes for a nice ride while maintaining good-handling characteristics. I am a fan of having Michelins on vehicles for this reason. They are very good tires.

HydroEdges are great in the rain, but I am unsure of their snow capabilities. It all depends on what kind of severe weather you're talking about, I guess.
 
Honestly......in that size, all tires are cheap, so price isn't a concern. We don't get as much snow as michigan does, but the car is the family car, and the ol lady drives for crap, so I want the best tire to help compensate for her driving skill......or lack thereof.
rolleyes.gif
 
No matter what do not under any condition get a tire with B or C DOT Traction rating.

At the bare minumum make sure you tire is A/B DOT Traction/Temp rated

Guardsman and Toyo are cheapos and they are known for weasling you into a B rated tire.

B rated tires make me Puke...if i was a federal regulator I would mandate A traction and A temperature rating to be the bare minumum standard.

B Temp. I can live with however.
 
I was looking into some specifications of a few tires today and I've found Goodyear Assurance tires to look particularly attractive. Long tread-life and the tread design is claimed to be superior (don't they all claim that, though?) but the tread to me does look like it could be effective in all weather, including severe.

Something to keep in mind.

EDIT: I was looking at the tires briefly just now online and it appears there are a couple different kinds of Assurances. The TripTred tires were the ones I was looking at today... and I personally like the tread design better than the ComforTred design.

[ June 07, 2004, 10:16 PM: Message edited by: Matt-TDI ]
 
outrun i guess you would be freaked out at my dad. he was running on some cooper tyres with c ratings for a couple years.

if i remember correctly the traction was b or c, i know the tempature was c for sure.

it seems like most of the cooper tyres i see are b/c rated.
 
quote:

Originally posted by hkkc:
sbc, do take a look at tirerack.com as they have comprehensive information on any type of tires. My 1992 Camry rides on the same size and I like the Dunlop Sport A2 tire. Bad weather meaning winter driving, the Dunlops are ok for the first year then it is a must for winter tires.

As good of advice as any here. See what is available reasonable locally and try to find a rating at Tire Rack. As I would expect, the government ratings are almost useless, some pretty crappy tires rated A for wet traction. I think the long term trend is toward tires that wear like iron, but ride and stick to the road the same way. Cooper is an outstanding culprit about that.

For most of us in the United States, speed rating is another bunch of hooey. Who cares if their tires are only good for sustained speeds of 118 MPH? I think there may still be places in Michigan where you can run over 80, but I doubt your mother does. When I lived there 35 years ago, the police seemed to have better things to do than set with radar on rural 2 lanes.
 
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