Choosing *another* set of tires in a nearly obsolete size... P215/70R15.

[mrsilv04]

I had to buy a set of tires in May, for a 1986 Mercury Cougar.

NOW, I need to buy a set of tires for a 1990 Mercury Cougar in a size P215/70R-15. Here's a picture of it when I pulled it out of storage a few months back, before I even washed it.

It has a set of vintage 2005 Goodyears on it, and unfortunately they have about 80% tread. As my mechanic just commented to me this morning, the passenger rear tire vibrates like it is square. These tires shake and vibrate the whole car.

As with the last set I bought for the 1986 Cougar, these tire will never wear out. They'll age out. The wear bars will never touch the pavement. I have to do it, becuase the car is pretty much undrivable right now. About 45mph is all the faster I'll dare to go. Any faster than that, and it is downright unpleasant.

So... we're going cheap here. These tires will likely never see winter weather, and rain only if I screw up and get caught out in it. I will likely have my mechanic mount and balance them, so I can buy the tires anywhere.

Here's my top 3, for less than $300 a set:
Douglas All-Season at WalMart. 45,000 mile warranty. $59 each.
Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring A/S at Wal-Mart, 65,000 mile warranty. $66 each.
Yokohama Avid Touring S at Amazon or Wal-Mart 65,000 mile warranty $68 each.

No, there aren't any WestLake, Otani, Solar, Fullway, Doral, Fortune, Vercelli, SuperMax, Leao, Saffiro... tires in that list of 3. There won't be.

Honestly, for the money, I don't think that I can go wrong with any of these. None are Chinese. I know some don't like the Douglas, but I've had multiple sets of them and have found them to perform much better than they should, for the price. The Yokohama tire was always a good performer, but is getting to be a really old model (was kind of surprised that they are still in production).

I think the sweet spot here is right in the middle with the Uniroyal. I just bought a set of Uniroyals for another older car in May, and wasn't disappointed, other than the blue crap that they put on the whitewalls stained them badly. The Uniroyal is a recently redesigned tire that is probably going to be made in Taiwan... but that's still not China. For now.

 

[JustinH]

you can put a wider tire on those. I had a bunch of them. I know guys that would run 245's and I would run 235's.

I had a sport tbird with optional 16 inch wheels. 235/60/16 was perfect for that car.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Try fitting a '65 Oldsmobile 4-4-2. 7.75x14 bias ply from the factory...
I put raised white letter StoneFires on it; hate 'em. Needs a thin white wall...

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Douglas

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

You can choose from 221selections at WM.

Robot or human?

 

[nthach]

Any of them works, I’m gonna lean Yokohama.

That size was a Ford staple too - Costco used to have a Michelin option, now it’s a overpriced Bridgestone that’s marginally better than a Chinese tire.

 

[Tdbo]

Yoko hands down.

 

[Creekside]

Douglas

 

[eljefino]

Douglas, like you said, they're nicer than you'd think.

 

[wdn]

I would to with the Nankang SP-9 Cross Sport tire over any of those tires.

 

[FordFocus]

Of those three Uniroyal

 

[FordFocus]

Not on your list but would be good options in your size
Bfgoodrich Advantage Control
General Altimax RT43

 

[michaelluscher]

https://www.tirebuyer.com/tires/size/215-70-15/?

I'd widen your selection a little bit

If you must stick with your choices, I'd go Yokohama

 

[CharBaby]

Of the 3 tires that you listed I like the Tiger Paws

 

[mrsilv04]

https://www.tirebuyer.com/tires/size/215-70-15/?

I'd widen your selection a little bit

If you must stick with your choices, I'd go Yokohama

Every single one of these tires shown, is more expensive than my three listed choices. We're doing this cheap.

Whatever I buy, they'll dry rot or flat spot before they ever wear out. That's why we're going cheap. Just like the set that is on there now. Tires are 16 years old, and they still have at least 80% of their tread.

But yes, the set that I bought for the last car did come from TireBuyer. I would definitely use them again.

 

[wdn]

The Nankang SP-9 Cross Sport are in your price range and are better than the three tires you listed.

 

[mrsilv04]

Try fitting a '65 Oldsmobile 4-4-2. 7.75x14 bias ply from the factory...
I put raised white letter StoneFires on it; hate 'em. Needs a thin white wall...

Coker Tire. They'll set you right up with an original quality set of reproduction bias-plys... but it'll cost you.

But they'll look really nice.

 

[Jmlo96]

I'd go with the Uniroyals. They are a pretty decent tire for the money and a newer design. If you have any warranty issues it would be a pain to claim them with the Douglas since they are Walmart only. The Yokos are a bit long in the tooth at this point but would likely be a decent tire for your use case.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

In my area 215/75/15 are easier to find and were actually cheaper than 215/70/15, while offering just a hair more sidewall.

 

[hank2]

The Yokohama Avid Touring S has been around almost forever and is a respected lower-mid price tire. I owned only one set, about 10 years ago. They were above average on long wear mileage. Passable but not impressive in the rain. There are better choices in snow although they can handle a bit of light snow.