Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
GT Radial Champiro are made in China, you don't know what kind of rubber Chinese use to make these tires, and you don't know what other materials they mixed with. As of now I avoid Chinese made tires.
Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to spend $600 every other year on a set of Michelins that will dry rot in 24 months.
And most companies make tires in China now.
The last Michelin set I had was Harmony about 10-12 years ago for my LS400. This car is hard on tire, most didn't lasted more than 30-35k miles, but Harmony lasted 80-90k miles. So the extra cost of about $30-40/ea paid for itself after 40-50k miles. Since then I didn't have any Michelin set, and most of the time I spent less than $400-450 installed for my cars.
The most expensive set was for MB E430 with size 235/45-17 W-rated Continental DWS were around $450 installed. But lately I paid no more than $300-350 installed after rebate(s), even for my S2000 (215/45-17 Front 245/40-17 Rear).
The latest set for MB E430 was Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring 235/45-17 W-rated for $352 after $195 rebates from America's Tire 2 weeks ago. This set replaced the Kumho 4X with 2/32" tread remaining.
I printed the lowest price I found online to have AT price matches, add tax and installation minus rebates is my final OTC cost.
Yes, I tried to maximize my tire dollars but I still can't bring myself to install Chinese made tires on my cars, especially no name Chinese tires. I had many brands from Yokohama to Continental to Sumitomo to Falken to Hankook to Kumho ... most of them are second tier but they are much safer than Chinese tires.
By the way, which vehicle did you buy this GT Radial Champiro winter tire for ? Is it for Focus ?
