4 tires $400-450 out the door 205-55/16 - NYC region, which ones?

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All last week, I have been searching for comments on various tires that are on the middle range tires. This car is primarily for local errands, the highway runs are rare (just for making 60 miles run once in a couple of months at speeds not more than 60mph). We have small hills in the neighborhood so better than average winter performance is preferred.

The car (2006 Sentra, ~120K with aftermarket shocks) makes ~4000 miles per year so I do not want to spend a lot on tires that will probably end up dry rotting. I am NOT looking for long tread life, either way, they will be replaced in 4-5 years. The last 2 sets I replaced due to dry rotting in 4 years (and less than 20K on them). The current contender is General Exclaim HPX at Walmart but it is out of stock at the moment and store people don't know when it will be in stock. The obvious next jump is RT43s.

Came across TireRack Survey https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surv...;width=205/&ratio=55&diameter=16

BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Sport (H- or V-Speed Rated) seems to be better than RT43 on the paper. It is $364 out the door at Costco until the month-end. On the board, some are happy and some absolutely despise them.

I found Nokian entyre 2.0 for $67/each (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nokian-eNTYRE-2-0-205-55R16-94-H-Tire/50295883). Most of the comments on the board are positive but CR dings them in their rating for wet and ice braking.

Others on the mind are
- Cooper Evolution Tour
- Kumho Solus HA31
- Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring is a mixed bag for comments (and TireRack Survey).

Which other tires would you suggest me to look into that you have personally used, esp. sub-brand tires made by major brands that are usually not on the radar? Not interested in Goodyear viva or Douglas, Chinese tires or the used ones. I don't have any chain tire store nearby other than Mavi's discount tire. I am not looking to cheap out on the rubber but looking for the best bang for my buck, and I want to stay below $450 OTD.

Thank in advance.
 
I have a set of Cooper Grand Touring on my SUV right now. Might be the best tires I've ever had. The Cooper Ultra Touring are more performance oriented and a bit stickier with lower tread rating.

I'd give the Coopers the nod if they make your vehicle's size.
 
You can take the Consumer Reports ratings with a grain of salt. Personally, I don't buy anything that they give high marks. Been there and done that.
The Cooper Evolution is the updated CS3 Touring and it will serve you well. I had a set of CS3s on a 2006 Hyundai Tucson. They were a good all around tire.
I haven't owned the CS5s so, I can't comment.
Have you looked at Hankook tires?
 
I read Tire Rack's reviews and customer ratings before purchase, along with the paper "specs". For the money, I've bought 3 sets of Continental True Contacts and will be buying a 4th soon, all in different sizes for different vehicles. The ride is just a hair stiff when new, but smooths out nicely. Tread noise is low, fuel mileage went up a hair, and when I was at 66k on the set on my Fusion, all 4 tires still had 5/32 of tread depth left. The rest of the sets don't have as much mileage but are wearing similarly. Handling is great with them.
 
General Altimax RT43 is a great tire. I just got a set last week and am really impressed for the price and are noted to have decent snow capabilities.
 
The CR reports have been spot on for me. Very happy with the RT43's we purchased as a result. They are very good in snow and rain.
 
I just returned a set of bf Goodrich tires, the same ones your thinking of. They made my altima ride way to rough and the noise was more than I was used to. I got Michelins at Costco for $450 out the door. Mine are 215/60r16
 
I've used the Douglas tires, and they are definitely not bad for a cheap tire, and they are US-made
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I also have experience with the CS5 Ultra, and I have nothing bad to say about them.

The Dunlop Signature HP is also a good choice. I had their predecessor the SP Sport Signature, but they stopped making them in my size when they replaced them with the Sig HP, but if the HP was made in my size, that is what I'd be running.

Falken Ziex ZE950 isn't bad, and it was the only W-rated tire in my size, but they didn't last very long. Most high-performance tires don't last that long.

I was interested in the Kumho HA31, and was strongly considering using them, but I got rid of the car. Had I kept that car, it would have HA31's on it now.

Out of the three choices you listed, the HA31 would be my choice since it does have the 3-peak sign. It was by far the cheapest name-brand 3-peak all-season in my size. So although I haven't personally used it, I came *this* close to doing so. Unfortunately, they are not available in the size my new car takes
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IMHO, the General AltiMAX RT43 are the best CHEAP(key word) tire. They punch above their price point.

Are the RT43 the best tire? NO! They're just a good inexpensive tire that will make you feel as if you $pent more money. And the RT43 still scores high in the ratings and have good OVERALL(key word), customer reviews.

The RT43 may be slipping in some ratings(depending on what you're reading) but, they're still a good tire and other new(er) tires are eclipsing them in the ratings. This happens all the time with new(er) products of any type.

I personally like the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season PLUS. And I have spent the extra money/cost on them if they're available in my size. Otherwise, I'd choose the RT43.
 
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Sis bought the Centurato P7 for her Mazda3. I didn't do the research, she did.

I KNOW she wouldn't've bought a tire which didn't do "all things OK or better". The thoughtful kid who bought her car was pleased the car had 'em.

When my 205-55-16 set wears out I'm buying Cooper CS5 because of good experiences with their CS4.

Other than that, I'd buy General Altimax RT43 because I've heard about them here for so long.
 
I don't know if you have priced Altimax RT43 lately. For another $7 a tire you can get the AVID Ascend GT by Yokohama that is rated excellent in Tire Rack. The General is rated ‘good'.
 
Prices coming off tire rack and take into consideration 95% of my driving is highway:

The Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 is a pretty good contender. Despite it being a budget brand, it does really well on dry, wet, and snow (when new). The biggest cons of them are that they're loud; at 32 they were louder than my HVAC on 3/4 blast. They lasted about 35K before wet performance became unsafe and swapped them out around 45-50K miles. Mine also wore down a lot more in the middle than the outside.

I currently have the General RT43s. They're good in dry and decent in the wet. I didn't get to use them in the snow until they were down to 8/32s but I don't have confidence in them in the snow right now. They seem better in the slush than any snow. Super soft sidewalls though and you will definitely notice the steering delay if you have to swerve in an emergency at highway speeds. So car I have about 40K miles on them and they look like they'll be my longest lasting tires.

Cooper Zeon RS-3A came OEM on my car and I really liked them. They were my first coopers and they handled great in all conditions, including snow but only lasted ~35K before I swapped them. I think this model is discontinued but TR still sells these in some sizes. The new models is the RS-3A G1 whicih may be my next tire choice.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
Sis bought the Centurato P7 for her Mazda3. I didn't do the research, she did.

I KNOW she wouldn't've bought a tire which didn't do "all things OK or better". The thoughtful kid who bought her car was pleased the car had 'em.

When my 205-55-16 set wears out I'm buying Cooper CS5 because of good experiences with their CS4.

Other than that, I'd buy General Altimax RT43 because I've heard about them here for so long.


Interesting that you mention this. My daughter(at my recommendation) put on Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S + on her '06 Mazda3 w/205-55-16 and loved'em.

Also, I currently have a set of Cooper CS4s that I am running(winters only) on my Altima...only because I had them on wheels from a past Altima. I still have the OE Michelin Primacy MXV4 for the other seasons. The CS4s do quite well in our winters along the Great Lakes. No, the CS4s are not winter tires but do very well. Not sure what I will replace them with.
 
I'm from NYC and I have the BF Goodrich Advantage T/A Tires on my DTS. I would say they are somewhat noisy but not like a jet engine as some reviews say. They handle fine in the snow and rain.

For reference, driving on the LIE at 55mph, They don't make too much noise. I do hear noise at 70+ MPH.

I bought them for nostalgic purposes as my old car had the same brand of tires.
 
Thank you, everyone, for the comments. I really appreciate the input. I have 2015 Forester coming up for a tire change as well. These suggestions will help me with that one too.

Originally Posted by D1dad
I just returned a set of bf Goodrich tires, the same ones your thinking of. They made my altima ride way to rough and the noise was more than I was used to. I got Michelins at Costco for $450 out the door. Mine are 215/60r16

I just want to confirm that you had H-rated tires. Which Michelins did you get? Defender T+H?

Originally Posted by A_User55555
I'm from NYC and I have the BF Goodrich Advantage T/A Tires on my DTS. I would say they are somewhat noisy but not like a jet engine as some reviews say. They handle fine in the snow and rain.

For reference, driving on the LIE at 55mph, They don't make too much noise. I do hear noise at 70+ MPH.

I bought them for nostalgic purposes as my old car had the same brand of tires.


Thank you for the comment. I can relate to LIE. Do you have experience with black ice? I am assuming you have H-rated ones.
 
The Hankook Kinergy PT H737 is available from Walmart in your size, and exactly matches your price range. Made in USA and maybe the best rain tire of all mentioned here.
 
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