Minivan tires

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I am new here, having just registered a week ago. I have learned a great deal from BITOG. Some of my cherished myths have been debunked. For example, I will probably not buy another Fram oil filter, which I have long used based upon my perception of their quality.
Anyway, can anyone offer their opinions on what they would select in 215/70 14 all season tires? It is about time to replace the Aero's Aquatread 3s, which have been pretty good, but are lacking in snow traction. The oem Michilins were good in the snow, but the XWX4 is no longer available. I would be grateful for some suggestions.
 
Firestone Affinity LH30.

I had those on my station wagon when we lived in Western WA. They were quiet and confident in the rain and light snow that we experienced there.

The price was very competitive as well.
 
I have the LH30 on my Civic and am very happy. At 46,000 miles I am at about 1/2 tread. I intend to replace the tires on my Ford Freestar minivan with LH30's in a few months.
 
I agree with the Firestone Affinity LH30 recommendation. I believe that set of 4 tires will be the best choice combining performance, availability, and price.
 
Is this for an Aerostar van? Isn't the OE size 215/75-14?

Regardless, in the Michelin line the Harmony is available in your size. Another excellent tire is the Bridgestone Turanza LS-T. Both are pretty expensive but the Firestone mentioned here is about $15/tire cheaper and seems like a good value.
 
My mother is using michelin hydroedge, and theyve been really great. theyre p195/70r-14, so Id guess they are available in your size as well.

On my MB, which uses p195/70r-14, my fiancee's acura integra, which uses p195/65r-14, and my father's toyota previa which uses p215/65r15, we use dunlop Sport A2 tires. A bit soft, but H-rated, which was the spec for these vehicles, and AA traction rated. The softness, I suppose causes them to wear a bit faster than one would like, but they are also available at a reasonably low price, so you can get two sets for the price on one set of equivalent michelins... other than the associated waste, this is a good thing, since tires only have so much usable life, just sitting outside. These might be available in your size too...

JMH
 
We went with a set of the Yokahama Avid Tourings on our MPV. Absolutely love these tires on all road conditions! They aren't expensive either.
 
You really need to read the reviews and TESTS on the Tire Rack website. You will also learn a great deal there, and maybe some 'cherished myths' will be debunked there as well.

In that size, the only tire that really ever impressed me was the Bridgestone Turanza LS-T. Pricey, and not too good in the wet. There simply isn't a lot to choose from in that 14" size.

If you study the TireRack site, you'll see that different tires are in different 'classes'. On my 03 Honda Odyssey minivan, I chose hi performance tires. This caused the tire installer to say to me "you gonna be Mario Andretti in that van, or somethin'?"

I said "Of course not. But these hi performance tires will enable my van to make a 50-0 stop in wet weather 15 feet quicker than the 'standard touring' tires you suggested (Michelin Harmony). Also, in a emergency swerve, the couple of tenths of a g of cornering force may be the difference in a rollover or a sweaty brow."

My advice is to not skimp on tires on any vehicle. That one emergency manuver in the tire's 40,000 (or whatever) lifespan may pay for itself. You don't have to be an Andretti to appreciate their advantages of a hi, or ultrahi, performance tire.

My 0.02.
 
Went to TR site, found a surprise great tire/value. There were actually 16 tires available in the relevant size. The Kumho A/S 795 was the third rated tire in the site's survey info. Now, what one fool thinks of a tire is probably not worth noting. However, if a whole bunch of people submit their reviews of a tire's capbilities, I think you have a good evaluation. The Kumho was also about half the price of my default choice Michelin. I will post here in about a year giving my experience with the Kumhos.
 
I have those same tires on my van. I think there awesome. There very quiet and excellent in rain.I Have yet to try them out in snow though, But I feel they will do a very good job.
 
Regarding to Dunlop SPA2, they are great at traction and handling, ride very quiet and comfortable when they are new, but if you have alignment problem or wear them down, then they are noisy and lose lots of traction. My biggest problem with them is out of the 8 tires I got, 3 of them blown out on highway due to sidewall rupture. I haven't got this problem on any other tires before and I think it is due to their sidewall thickness.

Anyhow, I am now using Kumho Solus and IMO there are no better bang for the buck in terms of traction and quietness. They probably won't last very long but that will be a good incentive to get fresh tires on a regular basis to prevent dry rot or sidewall damages.

If you want the absolute cheapest, I am very happy with the Wynstar Phaser 23 on my Corolla, T rated and only $55 including installation and old tire removal. Good traction for T rated, and after 50k there is still 4/10 in left, and traction is still as good.
 
I agree the the Tire Rack is a good source for information and their review section is a great place to start. You can read the reviews of others and even find those who have similar vehicles, climate conditions, likes and dislikes and driving styles. This will help you to dicide which tire is best for you and just what you can live with or without.
 
Another thing I like about TR is the large selection. It is nice to be able to see a large selection out of the universe of tires out there. One can quickly and efficiently select the best price/value ratio. One is not at the mercy of the local tire store counterman, who is not always forthcoming wrt to what is available and cannot provide useful third party information.
 
gedcruise

I have the 795's on my Corolla and my Daughter's Tercel and they are awesome tires. I didn't think about using them on a minivan, but I suppose they'd be just fine for that application as well.
 
Quote:


Went to TR site, found a surprise great tire/value. There were actually 16 tires available in the relevant size. The Kumho A/S 795 was the third rated tire in the site's survey info. Now, what one fool thinks of a tire is probably not worth noting. However, if a whole bunch of people submit their reviews of a tire's capbilities, I think you have a good evaluation. The Kumho was also about half the price of my default choice Michelin. I will post here in about a year giving my experience with the Kumhos.




Exactly - but in my reply post, I added that it is wise to read the TESTS of each tire as well, in addition to the REVIEWS.

The tests are conducted by the Tire Rack staff under as controlled conditions as I've seen - 4 identical cars (usually BMW's) testing 4 different tires in a comparo test on their own private test track. These results are viewable in graph form, and are entirely objective. You do see some significant variances between the staff's test results and the subjective "reviews" submitted by users.

Even Car and Driver Magazine used The Tire Rack staff to help evaluate the best Ultra High Performance summer tires in a recent comparo. I trust their test results completely.
 
There is no objective tire test. Everything depends upon the car and the driver. Car and Driver tells you as much in their test write-ups. I may out-brake you with a given tire, or a given tire may perform better on a RWD BMW (or Aerostar) than on a FWD Honda. I placed greater reliance on the experiences of many drivers in the field. If a large number of drivers report consistently good results with a tire, I think you have to give that great weight.
However, totttalled, I must thank you for reminding me to look at TR as a source. I would likely not have even looked without your helpful advice.
 
Quote:


We went with a set of the Yokahama Avid Tourings on our MPV. Absolutely love these tires on all road conditions! They aren't expensive either.




Yokohamas are the sleeper tire out there. Not terribly well known, but I bought a set of Avid TRZ's for the Taurus based on a good test in CR magazine, quiet and handle very well, rain too, and the treadlife is like 700. And again, not a lot of money.
 
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