I'm looking for an a/s replacement for our 2005 Altima's oem Continental Touring Contact A/S (215-60-16). They only lasted 34k miles in 4 years and my wife is not an aggressive driver. Maybe it has to do with tire age. I own a Mazda6 and am spirited at times. We're looking for an all around good tire for northeast winters (snow/wet traction) with low noise, firm but not too stiff, not too soft and decent wear (~50-60k). I'd be happy with the Conti's if they lasted longer. I'll probably shoot for a Standard Touring tire or a regular A/S if I have to. I'd like to get a little more tread life than a Grand Touring or a Performance would provide, hopefully without much loss in traction.
I think I really have decided on a Yoko:
- Yokohama TouringS: or maybe TRZ if I can get over my directional dislike
- Michelin Harmony/X-Radial: my backup tire choice
Also looked at but off the list(for now):
- General Altimax RT: (HP has lower life rating and a directional tread) but the lack of circumferential grooves in both RT and HP makes me worried it would do poorly in snow and slush
- Goodyear Comfortred: soft sidewall
- Goodyear Tripletred: some reviews reported as noisy
- BFG Traction T/A: noisy
- BFG Advantage T/A: looks good but it is new and I don't want to be a guinea pig
- Pirelli P4: read they are hard/noisy...maybe I should take another look. I think I'd get a Yoko over these anyway.
I'll be checking local prices tomorrow. Many shops here carry Goodyear/Dunlop and Yoko's seem to be scarce. I could always buy online and have installed local if I have to but I'm also concerned about availability. If I get a flat and need to order another tire, I don't want to drive on a donut for 4 days before I can get a replacement.
Finally, I'm leaning toward the TouringS (though the TRZ does get rave reviews) since it is non-directional. I like non-directionals because I can "live with" misalignment by rotating tires. If I hit a pothole or the alignment is a out and I don't want to get an alignment (for whatever reason: too expensive, getting new tires within a year anyway, etc) I can rotate tires. Maybe it is a silly stance. I must admit I haven't really had that happen in the past so maybe I should get on the bus with directional tires.
Thoughts? TouringS, TRZ or something else?
I think I really have decided on a Yoko:
- Yokohama TouringS: or maybe TRZ if I can get over my directional dislike
- Michelin Harmony/X-Radial: my backup tire choice
Also looked at but off the list(for now):
- General Altimax RT: (HP has lower life rating and a directional tread) but the lack of circumferential grooves in both RT and HP makes me worried it would do poorly in snow and slush
- Goodyear Comfortred: soft sidewall
- Goodyear Tripletred: some reviews reported as noisy
- BFG Traction T/A: noisy
- BFG Advantage T/A: looks good but it is new and I don't want to be a guinea pig
- Pirelli P4: read they are hard/noisy...maybe I should take another look. I think I'd get a Yoko over these anyway.
I'll be checking local prices tomorrow. Many shops here carry Goodyear/Dunlop and Yoko's seem to be scarce. I could always buy online and have installed local if I have to but I'm also concerned about availability. If I get a flat and need to order another tire, I don't want to drive on a donut for 4 days before I can get a replacement.
Finally, I'm leaning toward the TouringS (though the TRZ does get rave reviews) since it is non-directional. I like non-directionals because I can "live with" misalignment by rotating tires. If I hit a pothole or the alignment is a out and I don't want to get an alignment (for whatever reason: too expensive, getting new tires within a year anyway, etc) I can rotate tires. Maybe it is a silly stance. I must admit I haven't really had that happen in the past so maybe I should get on the bus with directional tires.
Thoughts? TouringS, TRZ or something else?