Early Tire Search

[RoGuE]

Hey, I have a 2007 Malibu. I figure the awful Bridgestones it came with have less than a year left. They have 16,000 miles on them now and I only drive 4500 miles a year now. I am starting to search for a new tire with certain specifications. This car only has a 4 cylinder so high speed ratings aren't required. My priorities are I want excellent wet traction, excellent dry traction, and something that has good sidewall strength. I can't stand it when tires appear to look flat when they are good because of weak sidewalls.

The tire size is 205-65-R15. Thanks for any help.

 

[RoGuE]

I forgot to mention that since I only drive 4500 miles a year, a long tire wear rating is not necessary.

 

[lewdwig]

Check out tirerack, many tire ratings.

 

[bretfraz]

I was going to recommend Michelin Pilot Exalto but their sidewall looks "soft" and that's not what you want.

I'd check out tires on cars around you to see if there is something you like. Since a huge number of tires will work in your application, deciding on one will be a big challenge.

It always seemed to me that Goodyears had a rather "square" sidewall. It always looked like it was full of air, if you know what I mean. Maybe have a look at some of their tires on cars and see what you think.

 

[HTSS_TR]

If you like tires with excellent wet and dry traction, they usually come with higher speed rating and non-all-season only. If your wheel width is 7" then you can use 225/60-15, it would improve handling substantial, specially the dry traction.

Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position is reasonable priced and has good reviews.

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: lewdwig
Check out tirerack, many tire ratings.
+1. Since you live in Atlanta, after you do that also check out Treadepot for pricing. Their parent company is Kauffman tires with lots of places around Atlanta. You can also check Kauffman's site too.

And, there's lots of Discount Tire places too, and they will generally do a price match. My son lives in Atlanta and they did that for him. Pretty good (professional) folks to do business with. They did a price match on a Treadepot price with a WallyMart install this summer for me, on a set of General Altimax HP's.

Hope that helps.
J

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: RoGuE
This car only has a 4 cylinder so high speed ratings aren't required. My priorities are I want excellent wet traction, excellent dry traction, and something that has good sidewall strength.

Well, you've listed some mutually exclusive requirements here. Strong sidewalls typically require higher speed ratings.

Quote:
I can't stand it when tires appear to look flat when they are good because of weak sidewalls.

The tire size is 205-65-R15. Thanks for any help.

Is this what your current tires look like? I'm afraid this has little to do with a particular tire model. It has to do with sidewall height, and the relation between tire width and rim width. Since you're not going to change either of these factors, the bulged out tire look will remain. 205/65 is actually a pretty high profile - it will always look somewhat "flat". In addition, your OEM rims are probably somewhat on the narrow side (6-6.5"?), which means they are not stretching the tire enough, again, causing that "flat" look.

 

[soldierman]

Give the Falken 912 a look. They are H speed rated but still affordable. They seem to have really good wet/dry traction and are reasonably quiet too. They also have a quite stiff side wall. I put 5 on my wifes car. I bought a matching steel wheel from a salvage yard and put the donut in storage. I have worked in a tire shop and these were among some of the truest (by sight) I didn't have access to a roadforce machine. But I doubt it would have made much differnce. They ride nice at any speed I or my wife will be driving. I will say treadlife isn't going to make the 60K they are warrentied for. But I will likely pay the prorated ammount for another set of 5. I forget what was on the car when we got them. But I replaced them with some walmart goodyear viva 2's NEVER again! One had a directional pull and they were so loud at interstate speeds that a long drive would eventually give me a headache from the droning roar. They only lasted about 30K of the 40K rating and I doubt I would have taken another set for free! If I did though I'd have quickly taken them home and dismounted them to sell.

Though they are supposed to be all season I've read reviews that they aren't the best in snow. We get very little here in Middle TN and suspect you get even less.

 

[STSinNYC]

We just bought tires for our Accord. Looked at the options and came down to Michelin Primacy or Bridgestone Turanza Serenity. Got the Turanzas.

 

[NHHEMI]

BF Goodrich Traction T/A H speed rating.