help me pick a cheap tire

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Nokian do make good winter tyres, but I would not use their summer or all weather tyres.

I never base opinions on butt dino or other owners comments, just cold hard German certified braking distance figures published by the ADAC and German car mags.

High performance tyres tend to wear out faster than El-cheapo budget ones, in particular good winter tyres don't last as long as crash stop specials. Stricktion is very important on a cold roads in particular, although there is no approved test for ice at present. The most common test used by the Germans for stopping distance on an ice covered road is based on what they call black ice that has a very thin layer of water on it.
 
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What's wrong with the Nokian WR series?

I have run the WR G3 (which in my size, based on WR A3) and cannot really complain about its performance compromise.

Didn't the Nokian Line tire do well in the 2015 ADAC summer tire test?

Black ice, is just a term for ice on asphalt surfaces, where you cannot tell the difference between the road and the ice, usually it's during low visibility situations. Many tests simulate slippery ice using an ice skating rink. After the Zamboni goes around, that is when the ice surface is has the lowest friction.
 
Black ice is nasty. I'm not sure what can be done for it--sure, buy a tire that is "good" on ice. But usually one finds black ice at the worst time (with too much speed). I wouldn't want to buy a tire with poor ice traction, but I always wonder just how much can be had. And how easy it will be to blow past that at the worst time.

I had WRG2's, after owning Hakka 2's, as I wanted to skip the summer/winter tire thing. Found the G2's wore quickly and got loud. If I was ok with replacing every year / every 30kmiles, it may have been worthwhile. Buy a set every fall. But in the end, I thought they just were too much of a compromise in snow, which is weird, as I've driven all seasons in snow, and G2's should have been better (they were, but snows just do it better).

I forgot about the enTyres, I recall liking those, but don't remember why I stopped buying Nokian tires now.
 
Unfortunately- tire threads on BITOG are just about useless. The OP just had a baby-money is tight and the Michelin tires are STILL MENTIONED.

Why anybody would recommend used tires with (possibly) questionable history is beyond my realm of comprehension when he has a new child he will be transporting. The OP will get a satisfactory tire with a NEW TIRE warranty on any of the brands he mentioned.
 
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Yes the "tire police" become extremely upset!
smile.gif
And some call the OP irresponsible. This topic (tires) is becoming more of a joke with each new topic/post.
 
I posted this in an earlier thread...

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Great deal? Find out who has or can get some China tires...Sailun, Crosswind, Maxxis, etc. They are the cheapest and honestly aren't bad. I send back Goodyears, Michelins, Continentals, etc under warranty all the time on brand new vehicles, most often for vibration/won't balance. No problems ever from the China tires. I put a set on one of my own trucks and they have been great. They are the only thing we use on the delivery trucks at work.


China tires rock. Goofy logos and funny names are fine with me.
 
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Seriously though...

The Nokian eNTYRE in 225/50R17 is $68/ea on Amazon with free Prime shipping.

Reputable company, solid tire.


Reputable company, so so tire.

Krzys
 
+1

Belt failures in transport vans:

Kumho: 118K

Michelin: 85K

These were both the OEM tires on these two Ford E350s.

Guess which tire I'll be buying for these vehicles?
 
What size tires do you have?
Is it 225/50-17?

Can you wait until black friday? Because lots of places will have good sales, which will allow you to afford real tires for the price of what you're looking at.

For a little more than the PA31, you can get the TA31 which will almost certainly last longer and be better in snow. The Dunlop Signature II would also be a good choice.

Out of the ones you listed, either Douglas or Mastercraft. You should also consider Kelly, one of the better budget brands, being mostly US-made.

Both Starfire and Mastercraft are made by Cooper.
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
... Can you wait until black friday? Because lots of places will have good sales, which will allow you to afford real tires for the price of what you're looking at...

Is he buying/considering artificial ones?
 
wow most are so quick to judge here. for those of you calling me irresponsible for not buying "real" tires i laugh. you act like i've never owned a michelin or another comparable tire. i've owned michelins. i've owned yokohamas. i've owned toyo, continental, etc.. i've owned plenty of these brands in the past and have never been impressed. were they a great tire? sure. for the price? not really, at least in my opinion. i've become partial to cooper with the price and performance being where i want. yes money is tight, my wife wont be working until after christmas. i never said i was completely narrowed down to either of those brands. if i was irresponsible i'd go to a discount tire store and ask for the cheapest tires i can find, or do what some people actually suggested... GO BUY A USED TIRE.... seriously? some of you call me irresponsible because i wont go buy some tires some tweaker has for sale on craigslist without knowing the history of them?

for those of you positively responding, thank you, and your input is appreciated. yes i will be putting cheaper tires on. i have star fires on my work car as well and they seem pretty good, and have held up very well for about 15k miles already. i try to put better tires on my truck or her car but last time with her car and right now with the new one it just ain't going to happen. so i come here asking peoples recommendation because maybe you guys know something about these tires that i don't (maybe some have a history with blowouts, tread separation, bulging, etc..) ideally i'm trying to find something cheap enough yet decent quality and reliability to where i can afford a complete set of 4 and match all of them, and keep the yoko as a spare. so far i'm considering the douglas (never been a fan of goodyear though), mastercraft, the starfires or Kumho
 
i also came across a milestar ms932.. any imput on those? i'll have to see if i can find some more overtime at work, believe me i would like to put a better tire on but right now it's not in the budget. fyi the ones i'm replacing are michelins... granted they're getting low on tread but not impressed at all with them. cracked sidewalls and terrible ride considering what's left of the tread. i like the general rt43 i think it is, and she's had a set of cooper zeon rs3-a that performed pretty well
 
I'm surprised General Altimax RT43 hasn't come up yet. the BITOG gods won't look down on you as much for considering them, as they are a solid tire, and on the more affordable side as well.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
+1

Belt failures in transport vans:

Kumho: 118K

Michelin: 85K

These were both the OEM tires on these two Ford E350s.

Guess which tire I'll be buying for these vehicles?


Kumho as OE on a Ford van?
 
Originally Posted By: sh40674
wife's 2012 fusion needs 3 tires (has a yokohama avid ascend the dealer put on when we bought it because 1 tire was bad). We just had our 2nd child so as you could imagine money is tight. her last car we put a set of Starfire RS-C 2.0 on and we didn't have issues for the 18 months before we got rid of it (including iowa snow)

so that being said, on a tight budget without buying something i've never heard of before... help me pick some tires that are cheap. i hate using the 2 words in the same sentence but i had luck with the star fire's, so lets see. here's some i looked at:

1. the star fire rsc 2.0 again
2. Mastercraft mc 440
3. Kumho Ecsta PA31
4. primewell
5. we have a discount tire near us that tells me the Ohtsu FP0612 are good tires.
6. Douglas from walmart

now please leave the bashing aside.. can anyone recommend any of these?


Can't recommend any of those.

However, the General Altimax RT-43 is an excellent tire for the money. Good ride, excellent grip, decent all season performance and a very reasonable price. 30,000 miles with them on my wife's Volvo XC, which eats tires. The Generals have outlasted Michelin, Yokohama, Continental and Nokian tires on that car.

Cost/mile on the RT-43 simply can't be beat.

Cheap? Yep, though not as cheap as some.

But you'll spend the least, because they will perform well, and last a long time.
 
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