help me pick a cheap tire

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: sh40674
i like the general rt43 i think it is, and she's had a set of cooper zeon rs3-a that performed pretty well

OP, i didn't experience any of the tires from your initial list but:
-the generals rt43 are very well regarded here on BITOG: if you search the tire threads, you will even find some long term reviews
- personally experienced with coopers: cs4 on my elantra, rs3-a on mazda5, cs5 on yaris (good in dry/rain/snow. not good on ice. replaced the original OEM's). if you cannot wait until black friday, maybe some cs3 may do you good.

good luck and congrats on the new baby

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted By: sh40674
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


Congrats on your baby!
If you can afford the General RT43s, I think they are a great choice...picked those for my daughter's Impreza after I read some really negative reviews of her OEM tires. She doesn't have to drive during big storms as her school will be cancelled, but they get her through light snow and indifferently plowed/refrozen side roads.
If your budget is tighter than that, you might try asking an independent shop about consigned tires. That's what we did with the tires off the Impreza...granted, those were probably not very good tires despite being brand new, but you might find some decent models that somebody dumped off new cars like we did so they could get exactly what they wanted.

 

[supton]

Pretty sure I mentioned RT43's... if not, I'll toss 'em out again. I found they lasted longer than Michelin Energies and MXV4's on my Camry, and had better snow traction to boot. I'm tire shopping now for my old Camry, and from what I can tell, it's maybe $25/tire to go from the cheapest up to an RT43 (at least in a 14" size). Hard to say if that is a worthwhile cost bump: cheapo tires might last as long, making for a cheaper cost. Then again, the RT43's are known to have a good tread for snow (for an all season), and aren't known for having other issues. For me, I do tons of highway driving, so an extra $100 for a tire that will stay quiet for the distance is a worthwhile investment; but if I were a city driver I might err towards the cheapest option.

Have you taking the tires you are thinking of, and then compared treadlife warranties? I'm not saying that the tire will last to the warranty, but the longer the warranty, the longer the manufacturer thinks it will last (and if you use a tire shop & use them for rotations, the more likely you are to get prorated replacements if they don't last). I know money is tight, but is it worth a bit of stretching now in order to save money in the future? [Then again, money may be way better in the future, and you don't care about replacing cheapo tires--in which case, cheap is better now.]

 

[Errtt]

I like to use DT tires because I have a few within reasonable distance and they have always provided me good service.
Recently my son had a blowout on one of the Michelin tires on the Camry. The Michelin Destiny was no longer available at DT for it. I didn't want to have unmatched tires on the car plus we got good service out of the existing Michelin's.
So I said I wanted new all four tires. We thought we might have the Camry maybe another year and I didn't want to go Michelin again, wanted to try something else, plus on two other vehicles the Michelin's were cracked on one and about worn on the other. So a good budget tire came to mind and DT tech suggested the Arizonian Silver Edition III - no regret still to this day. They did have a real budget priced tire, Barum Brillantis 2 and there was a gal there getting her second set of these for her car - don't know what they have in your size.
They also had the Ohtsu FP0612 but the tech didn't seem thrilled about them and I knew nothing about them at the time - didn't hear about them till then.
After I said lets go with the Arizonian to try, they charged me for three tires because of the Michelin Destiny, and if we were not happy to bring them back in a month and try something else.
Anyway I know someone who has ran the Douglas tires before and no complaints. He now has Mastercraft and seems happy with them to.

 

[mjk]

The Douglas tires get good reviews on the WM site....

 

[Cressida]

Originally Posted By: mjk
The Douglas tires get good reviews on the WM site....


Fwiw, I just had a WM Douglas tire that looked fine but developed a radial pull. I didn't know it but took the car to get an alignment because the car was pulling to the right. The tech swapped the front tires and then the car pulled to the left. We then put that tire on the back where it worked OK for the few months I continued using it until I replaced it. It also was developing small, yet very noticeable, cracks in the tread groves and that is why I replaced it even though the tire was less than 4 years old and still had 50% tread.

This was the discontinued xtra-trac model. These have been replaced with, I believe what they now call Douglas "all season".

I might add that this was a single Douglas tire that came on a used car. It was the "best" (tread remaining) and newest tire on the car when purchased and none of the other tires showed any similar cracks. I will not buy Douglas tires but do have some of the Goodyear Viva 3's from WM at this time.

 

[sh40674]

well i guess i just missed 100 bucks off of 400 on ebay for discount tire direct... would have made the generals a doable price. the michelins on her car now are factory. given they have 68k miles on them but they are terrible shape. cracked everywhere, not impressed. besides the mileage they're only 4 years old. regardless, gonna try to drive her car a little less and see what comes up towards black friday, the generals have stellar reviews

 

[eljefino]

It's a rough time of year to buy tires but BF is just around the corner.

 

[justalubetech]

I have Douglas X-trac's on my Buick, bought them 37k miles ago (they are a 40k rated tire) and they all still have 5-6/32" on them. I do keep them properly inflated though which is a big part of tire wear. Don't remember the price exactly but I know they were under $60 for my size. I saw that others on this thread have said they were discontinued, but I have seen some at my local Wallyworld, so maybe you can still find them.

 

[3for3]

Since I have seen a few "what cheap tires to buy" threads lately, I wanted to add this short article with video. It's a test from Consumer Reports regarding cheap Chinese brand tires. Not very detailed at all, but some info anyways.

After hearing about the Pegasus tire, it makes me wonder how many cheap off brand tires on the roads today are being counterfeited. Name brands could surely be vulnerable, too.

Stick to a known brand and get them from a reputable shop. Coopers or Generals on a Black Friday deal is the way to go IMHO.

http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/consumer-reports/cheaper-tires-dont-measure-up

 

[Sayjac]

Quote:
....Stick to a known brand and get them from a reputable shop. Coopers or Generals on a Black Friday deal is the way to go IMHO....

Since it appears the OP has now moved from his initial options and noted missing the DTD@ebay promo, this is what I would do now too. Should imo, research RT43's, Cooper CS5 Ultra and Grand Touring. Thinking DTD online resource pricing will have more options potentially than local DT store. Check their BF promo pricing, then have local DT store price match and order if not in stock. Wouldn't eliminate some other tires like Yokos if promos/rebates show attractive pricing too.

 

[jarad248]

Douglas from walmart. good in snow. soft tire....

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: 3for3


After hearing about the Pegasus tire, it makes me wonder how many cheap off brand tires on the roads today are being counterfeited. Name brands could surely be vulnerable, too.



http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/consumer-reports/cheaper-tires-dont-measure-up





Bridgestone and Michelin find their tread patterns being copied in China all the time, I saw a set of Ironmans with the same tread as a Michelin LTX M/S.

A friend went to Costco on my advice to get tires for his parent's Accord, he was a little teed off that he got the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus - but I also told him it's a LRR tire made for comfort and efficiency, not a performance tire. I also said for the same $400ish Costco charged you, you'll get Primewells at Firestone, Epic Tours from Big O or Sailun from the corner tire shop.

 

[hemitruck]

i am a fan of mastercraft tires.

 

[ET16]

Anyone try the Korean Laufenn tire? CR rated them well.