Mastercraft MC 440

[faramir9]

We got a flat on the left front tire of the Boss's 2000 Daewoo Nubira wagon last week. The right front was down to 3- to 4/32 so I told her we had to buy two tires or park it for winter. (Shoulda got new front tires even if the other one didn't blow; maybe it was divine intervention.)

The front tires were Eldorado Golden Fury, while the rears are Mastercraft MC 440. (The PO used a tire shop that specialized in Cooper-owned bargain brands.) The rears have 7/32 tread and look to be in great shape. We don't want to spend real $$$ on this car, as you could guess. The idea is for her to drive it a year or two with as little expense as is safe, while we save up....so after getting a few quotes I bought two more MC 440s for the front, in 185/65R14, for $137 installed at a local shop. Yes, they installed them on the front---but only after a long hard look at the rear tires.

I like the idea of four matching tires with plenty of tread left. Also, it's nice she will not have to deal with rotations for a long time---ahem. The first few days she drove on them all is well, including one brief snow squall that slicked the roads.

Still, these are the entry-level model of a private label brand owned by a mid-tier tire company. 40K-mile warranty. Made in Mexico.

Anyone know much about them or have advice on winter driving on them?

Thanks.

 

[CharBaby]

Well, these MasterCraft nor ElDorado Tires are not typically tested/reviewed by the professional testers. The best you'll be able to fine is probably some online reviews.

http://mastercrafttires.com/Tires/Passenger/MC440-T-Rated.aspx

http://www.tirestest.com/allseason_tires/mastercraft/mc_440/index.html

http://www.townfairtire.com/tire-review-...p;modelnum=2083

Since the MC-440's are brand new so, I am certain that you'll be OK of the nest 2 years. These MC440's look OK for snow but, not ice!

I have never been a fan of Cooper Tires though, they are starting to build some nice tires in the CS series.

And for any of their private label tires such as Master Craft, ElDorado, Definity(Pep Boy's), I have never been a fan of these tires either(with experience).

But, for a year or two, let us know!

 

[krismoriah72]

I am a believer in all mastercraft tires, although i have limited experience with the MC440.

Avenger Touring LSR- I have around 75K miles on these on my 2001 subaru forester. This vehicle has worn out bushings in the rear end and cant be aligned..also the front is a little out of alignment..and the tires look brand new still. I have had them offroad, on road, potholes..winter..mud never gave me an ounce of trouble and they are much quieter than the yokohamas or firestones that were on it before.. I also have these on a family members honda accord..and they love them.

MC440- I bought my mother a 2008 toyota camry and it had firestones on it when we bought it..after 1000 miles i was sure that the wheel bearings in the rear were shot..since that model year had issues with wheel bearings..the roar was unbearable in the rear for my mothers daily commute.. so i changed wheel bearings..no help. Was the tires. So i bought a set of MC440s and put them all the way around and its like driving a lexus now compared to those firestones.. very quiet.

Hercules Tires- Another sub brand of cooper- I have a small fleet of dump trucks and semis, and just started using this brand last year. I am only running them on the steers 425/65/22.5 (floats). They are wearing better than the michelins or goodyears that i had before. I plan on using them for drive tires when the time comes.

Also note that I used to maintain several fleets of gas and oil company trucks.. they need aggressive tires to get to their wells and locations, yet drive on asphalt. The manager that was over 500 units told me that they will run nothing but mastercraft coursers because no other tire lasts as long and does what they need it to do.

I used to shop online for tires and because they arent on tirerack or similar sites the mastercrafts dont get much praise..but personally im sold on them.

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72

Hercules Tires- Another sub brand of cooper- I have a small fleet of dump trucks and semis, and just started using this brand last year. I am only running them on the steers 425/65/22.5 (floats). They are wearing better than the michelins or goodyears that i had before. I plan on using them for drive tires when the time comes..


You're right that Cooper and Hercules are closely related. Cooper has been producing tires for Hercules for decades. It's been more than 50 years, in fact.

But, Cooper doesn't own Hercules. Hercules was a separare tire marketing company and wholesale tire distributor. They were bought by American Tire Distributors earlier this year.

 

[apete2]

I have these tires on a 2005 Ford Focus, which came with new MC440s when we bought it used. The tires fared well in the snow the first year and a half, even with on street parking. Snow performance was pretty good for the size of the car, I was able to get out of on street parking spots in the city and only got stuck once. however, they showed their weakness in ice and were only OK on slush. Turning and acceleration were always fine, but braking on deep slush or ice could be harder, although the light weight of the car didnt help for slush.

The second year, they were OK, but we had several large storms with heavy slush and ice, and I ended up getting a set of Pacemark Snowtrakkers, which greatly improved slush traction.

I would say you would be OK with these tires, they made it through almost 2 rochester winters in a light car. I still run them as 3 season tires but at half worn I won't use them for snow or ice.