Worst? Usually what ever tires come on a new car or truck.
Best? Deep snow 'n ice are my critical applications. Goodyear Workhorse was the predecessor to the Duratrac, studded, they were my go-to tyre for several years running.
In non-studded, Toyo M55s. Last fall I bought Hankook RW-11s studded in 275/65/20. OK on ice, but not awesome in deep snow.
Best and Worst SET of tires you've ever put on
- Thread starter Speak2Mountain
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Originally Posted By: edyvw
Continental Sport Contact 3
Neat thread.
Best:
Michelin Pilot Super Sport
Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3
Hakka R2
Hakka5 studded
Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec
Anything that says Hoosier on it
Toyo RR
Worst:
Yoko S-Drive, terrible, just terrible
Dunlop Direzza DZ101, about the same as the S-Drive
Toyo Garit KX, how can they even call it a winter tire?
Michelin X-Ice, again, this should seriously be an all-season tire, terrible in snow
Toyo R888, hope you don't use in the rain
Buy cheap tires, get cheap results.
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Best:
Kumho ECSTA Platinum LX
Green Diamond MDT (remolds for winter)
Worst
Pirelli P6 All-season (I didn't put them on, it came with the car, it could have been worse, it could have came with Goodyear LS-II)
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Worst:
Kumho Ecsta. Every time I had to brake I prayed, and I am not religious.
Hankook W300 (winter tire). They go on snow as pair of very good skis.
Buy cheap tires, get cheap results.
Exactly.
I never, never, never cheap out on tires. Especially on my wife's, and kid's rides. I'll buy OK tires for my ride but their cars get the very best.
Hi,
For my 2009 GMC Yukon, I got 70K miles from the OEM tires, Bridgestone Alenza, and I could have gotten another 20K out of them, but was going on a cross country trip and didn't want to take chances having a tire issue on the trip. I have had Suburbans, pickups, and Tahoes, and I have never gotten anywhere the mileage of these tires, usually cupping and going bald by 40K miles.
I replaced the Bridgestone Alenzas with their newest version of the same.
Things are so much better than what I faced in the 1970s, where I was a poor student and couldn't afford radials, and had to buy tires every 10K miles, flats, etc.
Seth Anderson
Moon, VA
I would if all the posts were in the same format as the OP. 
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Worst:
Kumho Ecsta. Every time I had to brake I prayed, and I am not religious.
Hankook W300 (winter tire). They go on snow as pair of very good skis.
I can't tell you which particular line I've had, because I've probably run over 1,000 sets of tires over the years, but these are my general impressions based on manufacturer.
Worst Ever: Anything with the word "General" on it, or that can trace its lineage back to Continental Tires. My brand new Caprice came with a set of Generals from the factory- they were all flat within 12,000 miles. Another time I purchased a set of Sears tires that all dry rotted within two years- manufactured unbeknownst to me by General. Also a set of Vikings that suffered sidewall blowouts in two tires.
Bad: Nitto and Kumho.
Average: Anything Goodyear related: Kelly-Springfield, Douglas, Dunlop. Also, I don't know what the big deal is with Perelli, as they've always just been a modest performer for me.
Best for the price: Cooper Tires (including Starfire, Mickey Thompson, Roadmasters, Futura, Avon).
Best of the Best: Michelin (including BF Goodrich and Uniroyal)
Very fond memories: best tires I ran in the 1970s were Armstrong Radials. Superior in all aspects and a value priced tire to boot.
No experience with: Bridgestone/Firestone. The older folks in my family always warned me away from that brand due to numerous issues that happened in the past. Apparently during the Depression, Bridgestone was selling recaps as brand new tires and my elders never forgot about it, well into the 1990s. Considering that they mainly drove Fords, that may have been a wise decision in the long run.
Best looking tires: Vogue and Coker.
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Originally Posted By: BironDanmum
Best for the price: Cooper Tires (including Starfire, Mickey Thompson, Roadmasters, Futura, Avon).
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Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Worst:
Kumho Ecsta. Every time I had to brake I prayed, and I am not religious.
Hankook W300 (winter tire). They go on snow as pair of very good skis.
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Continental Sport Contact 3
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: BironDanmum
Best for the price: Cooper Tires (including Starfire, Mickey Thompson, Roadmasters, Futura, Avon).
Worst for me is easy: the OE GY Assurances (225/60R18, not the ComforTread) on my 2007 Magnum R/T. They did nothing well except wear like iron-grip was fair, noise levels were unacceptable (they were as loud as my Winterforce snows), and performance in snow was zero. The police Eagle RSAs (235/55R17) on my Vic (came with it when bought) were nothing special...good dry grip, OK in rain, poor treadlife (as expected, with a 260 wear rating), and loud.
Best...car, the 235/70VR15 CHP Eagles on my Caddy. Good grip, surprisingly quiet, good in rain. Sadly, they're gone (as expected, they were not a long-wearing tire), and long discontinued. 
Best, winter: the Mastercraft Glacier Grip IIs (215/75R15) on my Dakota...they got me through the worst winter in 60+ years, in a short-wheelbase, high-torque 2WD pickup! Not nearly as loud as I expected, decent wear, good in the rain, spectacular in snow.
Best, truck: I am quite impressed with Treadwright's Kedge Grip studless ice tires, especially on my 92 F-350. (235/85R16E) They saw hard use, running 80psi and loaded to their full weight capacity in back (both axles at maximum capacity, truck ~1200lbs over GVWR) when plowing, lots of tight maneuvering while heavily loaded...no funky wear, no chunking, superb traction. They were a bit loud, not surprising for an all-terrain tire.
Honorable mention: while still new (~1000 miles), I am pretty impressed with the Riken Raptor ZRs I just put on the Vic. They track well, they are very quiet, and they seem very good in the rain. (I'm sure snow performance would be awful, but I expected that.)
Best, winter: the Mastercraft Glacier Grip IIs (215/75R15) on my Dakota...they got me through the worst winter in 60+ years, in a short-wheelbase, high-torque 2WD pickup! Not nearly as loud as I expected, decent wear, good in the rain, spectacular in snow.
Best, truck: I am quite impressed with Treadwright's Kedge Grip studless ice tires, especially on my 92 F-350. (235/85R16E) They saw hard use, running 80psi and loaded to their full weight capacity in back (both axles at maximum capacity, truck ~1200lbs over GVWR) when plowing, lots of tight maneuvering while heavily loaded...no funky wear, no chunking, superb traction. They were a bit loud, not surprising for an all-terrain tire.
Honorable mention: while still new (~1000 miles), I am pretty impressed with the Riken Raptor ZRs I just put on the Vic. They track well, they are very quiet, and they seem very good in the rain. (I'm sure snow performance would be awful, but I expected that.)Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: BironDanmum
Best for the price: Cooper Tires (including Starfire, Mickey Thompson, Roadmasters, Futura, Avon).
Worst were Dayton 510, a Bridgestone cheapo-avoid at all cost.
Best, well plenty of good tyres out there. Never problems with top three- the Pirelli, Michelin and Continental. Even Dunlop's Sportmaxx rt I'm using now are very capable and safe.
I've stayed out of this thread because I haven't hated tires that, I, myself, bought new and installed. They're all pretty good. Perhaps the worst were some gently used (?) Mich MXV4+ Energy, a very expensive list price tire that was greasy feeling (floppy sidewall?) and got lumpy and unbalanced. Bought used with 9/32 tread; the former owners might have known something.
Firestone Winterforce came with my camry and they are a thumping, low tech, nasty tire that doesn't "do" snow well either, so its reason for being is not even its excuse.
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