Been keeping an eye on CL lately, want some steel rims for winter tires. I keep seeing Mastercraft tires come up. Not a lot comes up on a search, and reviews seem mixed. For the amount of driving I do I will likely just go new (maybe Blizzaks?) but I'm curious if they are any good.
Mastercraft tires?
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Identical to the Cooper CS4, specs, tread depth and pattern. Which get good reviews. Unless they change up the rubber compounds a bit. Even the prices are similar esp after rebate on the Coopers.
Cooper makes a full line of tires under the Mastercraft label. I spoke with a Cooper engineer one time, and all he'd say is that they're made on the same production lines--he would not say that they are identical to Cooper labeled tires.
http://mastercrafttires.com/
Cooper also makes the Dean and Starfire brands; Starfire might be limited to Australian distribution.
http://www.starfiretires.com.au/home
http://mastercrafttires.com/
Cooper also makes the Dean and Starfire brands; Starfire might be limited to Australian distribution.
http://www.starfiretires.com.au/home
For winter tires, Nokian is the way to go, with Blizzaks a close second.
The MC LSR are the ones comparable to the CS4's. Never knew MC made snow tires. I know Cooper has some decent snow tires esp for the price. Not the best but they are rated pretty well.
Yeah, I'm debating what I want to do. Wife wants snows on her car, as the Michelin Primacy MXV4's are horrible in snow. I've read poor things about the Bridgestone Dueler D684's that my truck has, and I should put snows onto my Jetta while I'm at it (I have three good ones from last year...). We tend not to drive when it snows, but when we have to venture out it tends to be lots of snow on the road.
Our local Towne Fair Tire pushed the low end brands which are way marked up. Selling 70 dollar tires for 110.Just a couple months ago I was forced to buy 4 NEXEN (ne-zhen) for the wifes 11 Forester as they didn't have any of the low end premium brand in stock and the Forester was out of service due to a severe flat. The NEXEN looked respectable sitting in the new tire pile but, on the car, I don't like them at all. They didnt balance well, are slow, wallowy steering and pattery/thumpy over road imperfections. The only low end brand I liked so far was FALKEN ZEIX512 low cost 3 season performance tire when I bought some 50 series for my 05 Suzuki Aerio SX wagon. - they were more like 40 series when I measured them but nice predictable handling and even some usable snow traction. Here they are improperly using consumer reports for advertising:
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Around here mastercraft tires seem to be sold from the small independent tire shops. One here has advertized them for decades.
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Here they are improperly using consumer reports for advertising:
I've always wondered about this: CR seems to declare that "Fair use" copyright law excludes even mentioning their ratings, and they'll sue whomever does so.
Here they are improperly using consumer reports for advertising:
I've always wondered about this: CR seems to declare that "Fair use" copyright law excludes even mentioning their ratings, and they'll sue whomever does so.
Originally Posted By: Ken2
Cooper makes a full line of tires under the Mastercraft label. I spoke with a Cooper engineer one time, and all he'd say is that they're made on the same production lines--he would not say that they are identical to Cooper labeled tires.
http://mastercrafttires.com/
Cooper also makes the Dean and Starfire brands; Starfire might be limited to Australian distribution.
http://www.starfiretires.com.au/home
From my view point they are a cheaper rubber compound than a labeled Cooper. Mastercraft are low end tier 2 tires, competitive with General, Uniroyal, and older Firestones still in production. Cooper in my opinion is a high end tier 2 product, competing with B.F.Goodrich, Dunlop and newer Firestones like the Destination series.
We have Starfire here in Mexico. Absolute garbage. Cooper has over 100 brand names trademarked, 99% of them tier 3 pitiful excuses for tires. Three of the most humorous Cooper brands in Mexico are Blackstone, Rockstone and Pneustone, obvious ripoffs of Bridgestone/Firestone's good Mexican reputation.
Cooper makes a full line of tires under the Mastercraft label. I spoke with a Cooper engineer one time, and all he'd say is that they're made on the same production lines--he would not say that they are identical to Cooper labeled tires.
http://mastercrafttires.com/
Cooper also makes the Dean and Starfire brands; Starfire might be limited to Australian distribution.
http://www.starfiretires.com.au/home
From my view point they are a cheaper rubber compound than a labeled Cooper. Mastercraft are low end tier 2 tires, competitive with General, Uniroyal, and older Firestones still in production. Cooper in my opinion is a high end tier 2 product, competing with B.F.Goodrich, Dunlop and newer Firestones like the Destination series.
We have Starfire here in Mexico. Absolute garbage. Cooper has over 100 brand names trademarked, 99% of them tier 3 pitiful excuses for tires. Three of the most humorous Cooper brands in Mexico are Blackstone, Rockstone and Pneustone, obvious ripoffs of Bridgestone/Firestone's good Mexican reputation.
I've had Mastercrafts and other PL Coopers on my own vehicles and fleet vehicles at work, and have been happy with them. I found them to be a good value for the money. Glacier-grips do great good in the snow around here, even with the hills!
I am not a fan of the MasterCraft Tires that I've had in the past so, this has left a bad taste in my mouth for the brand. I do have a buddy with a FORD F-350 PSD 6.0L Diesel and has been running a slight over size MasterCraft Tire in 285-70-16. I can't remember the model of the MasterCraft Tire but, he loves'em and will keep buying them for the FORD PSD
For a lower-tier tire they are fairly long lasting. We have had the MC LSR's on our Odyssey for almost 60k and they are down to 5/32 and will be coming off soon when we put our snow tires on. When we first got these tires they totally transformed the van, much quieter and smoother than the Toyo's that we had previously as well as the OEM Michelin's.
Also, my father has run the MC A/S IV on his Ford Escape and has gotten a ton of miles on these tires...he greatly exceed the 40k treadwear warranty and opted to get another set!
Also, my father has run the MC A/S IV on his Ford Escape and has gotten a ton of miles on these tires...he greatly exceed the 40k treadwear warranty and opted to get another set!
General Altimax Arctic from many topics (and my own experience) are an excellent snow tire and decently priced. When I bought them for my Sequoia they were literately half the price of the Nokians. I loved all my Nokians and want the new R2 to try but sometimes there are budget and availability constraints that trump. Sequoia on Generals is my ski and decent snow forecasted vehicle. I need the clearance for the poor job they do at entrance/exit ramps and parking lots. Did 2ft last season with no issue and 2 years before that when all the area was shut due to blizzard.
I had MasterCrafts many years back on a Chevy Malibu. They were OK, didn't have any issues, and much better than the wide performance all seasons that I had for summer.
The Generals are a relabeled Gislaved NordFrost3 which always got great reviews in tests. For a daily driver like your cars the Continental ExtremeWinterContact gets the Sonata through 8" unplowed and is probably the smoothest and quietest snow tire I ever used. Asymmetrical pattern lets me cross rotate to even out wear also.
I had MasterCrafts many years back on a Chevy Malibu. They were OK, didn't have any issues, and much better than the wide performance all seasons that I had for summer.
The Generals are a relabeled Gislaved NordFrost3 which always got great reviews in tests. For a daily driver like your cars the Continental ExtremeWinterContact gets the Sonata through 8" unplowed and is probably the smoothest and quietest snow tire I ever used. Asymmetrical pattern lets me cross rotate to even out wear also.
For the people in the upper midwest, Fleet Farms deal with all these brands...and it has been known for years, that Cooper manufactures these tires -- along with Roadrunner
Originally Posted By: Ken2
Cooper makes a full line of tires under the Mastercraft label. I spoke with a Cooper engineer one time, and all he'd say is that they're made on the same production lines--he would not say that they are identical to Cooper labeled tires.
http://mastercrafttires.com/
Cooper also makes the Dean and Starfire brands; Starfire might be limited to Australian distribution.
http://www.starfiretires.com.au/home
Originally Posted By: Ken2
Cooper makes a full line of tires under the Mastercraft label. I spoke with a Cooper engineer one time, and all he'd say is that they're made on the same production lines--he would not say that they are identical to Cooper labeled tires.
http://mastercrafttires.com/
Cooper also makes the Dean and Starfire brands; Starfire might be limited to Australian distribution.
http://www.starfiretires.com.au/home
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