Need all season performance tires.

[Hallmark]

The OEM Goodyear RS-A tires offer a decent ride with low noise on my Fusion Sport, but the very soft rim guards offer only minimal protection against curb rash. Since ride quality, low noise, and improved rim protection is a high priority to me, I seem to be on the horns of a dilemma in my search for an all season tire with performance characteristics. Most tire reviews indicate that a soft ride with low road noise, good handling, and rim protection in an all season tire is an oxymoron.

Any suggestions based on your experiences will be appreciated.

 

[HTSS_TR]

High performance tire with a soft ride and low road noise is hard to find.

 

[Nick R]

Supposedly the continental extremecontact dws fits the bill. I'll know for sure later this week.

 

[greenjp]

I went through 4 sets of the Kumho Ecsta ASXs on my Saab 9-5 Aero. It now has a set of the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. Performance wise I cannot tell a difference so far. Dry and wet performance on both is very good. The Kumhos were passable in the snow but not "good". They wore evenly and seemed good from a noise standopoint. Didn't have to drive in the snow much this past year so can't comment on the Continentals snow-wise.

I got about 35k miles out of the Kuhmos. The Continentals have a longer treadlife warranty and higher rating, so I figured I'd give them a shot to see if the $125 or so extra for the set would be worth it, a wash, or not.

At this point I'd recommend both.

jeff

 

[Quattro Pete]

I like Bridgestone RE960 A/S (I think RE970 is out now) when it comes to high performance all-season tires. They're comfy and quiet, at least compared to summer tires.

Just keep in mind that their snow performance is fairly poor. If you do significant amount of snow driving, look elsewhere. Then again, for significant amount of snow, you should get dedicated winter tires.

 

[jjjxlr8]

Forget about the "rim guards." The majority of rim protection features on tires are worthless at actually preventing scrapes on your wheels, anyway.

Check out the V-rated Cooper CS4 Touring tires. These should satisfy your needs - minus the rim protector.

 

[kkreit01]

The choices are somewhat limited in this small(er) size: 225/45/18. I wish Ford would have gone with 225/50/18 -- same size as Malibu & others. I'd prefer more rubber between my wheels and the road. Unfortunately, the CS4s do not come in your size. The Zeon RS3-A and Zeon Sport A/S do, but reviews and far and in between. Conti Extreme Contact DWS is probably the best bet if you have snow. Kuhmo LX Platinum probably has the best ride, noise, and treadwear, but just "OK/good" in snow.

It's also unfortunate that ford used the oldest, and cheapest tire they could fine from Goodyear -- on their highest level/model. I can't wait until mine wear out.

 

[MCompact]

I have Pirelli PZero Nero All Seasons on my wife's X3(year round) and on my Mazdaspeed 3(as a winter tire). I have been very impressed with the tire in both applications. They last for over 48,000 miles on the X3 and 29,000 miles on the Mazdaspeed. Tire Rack ranked them first in one 2009 test and second(behind the Yoko Avid H4s) in the other. The Pirelli also grabbed first in Tire Rack's 2010 test. They are relatively inexpensive as well; $153 for the X3 and only $136 for the Mazdaspeed.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Aarrgh, OEM RS-a's, a tire that does NOTHING well except wear like rocks.

I never experienced body roll in my car until the factory RS-A's wore out and I drove another tire!

Almost anything will be an improvement, trust me.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Car is Fusion Sport, but which year ? Or the current tire size, standard size or optional size ?

 

[UG_Passat]

All-season tire? Nokian WR G2 or Vredestein Quadtrac

 

[97tbird]

I'd go with Conti DWS.

 

[Nick R]

I'm having the Conti DWS installed as I type, I'll come back later with an initial review.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
I'm having the Conti DWS installed as I type, I'll come back later with an initial review.

Give them a few hundred miles to break in (taking it easy) before making any judgments.

 

[Rand]

Put the conti dws on my stepmom's pontiac g6.. she hates driving in the snow and said they were very good.
I drove it a couple times and they are above average in the snow.. esp for a high performance tire

 

[PandaBear]

Pretty much anything will be better than the OEM RSA. One thing I really like about the DWS is that they are non directional. I have friends who said good thing about them and they are decently priced.

 

[Spazdog]

You do not know how BAD those RS-As are.

Absolutely horrible tires. We replaced the OE RS-As on the Eclipse with cheap Kumho 711s. Totally changed everything about the car for the better.

Same with the PT-GT. The car was infinitely better when we switched to cheap Riken Raptors (because there was only two choices in 205/50R17 at that time...cheap Rikens or RS-As)

I would rather drive on cheap Chinese tires like "SUNNY" or LingLong, Qingdong or Rotalla before I drove on another set of RS-As

One car from one manufacturer might be a bad batch of tires. 2 different cars from two different manufacturers built 3 years apart is a [shoddy] tire.

 

[subiedriver]

I like my Yokohama Avid Envigor's on my subie. They do good enough in the snow, are awesome in the wet, dry cornering is great, noise is low, and after 12,000 miles, I can barely percieve any wear on them.