Soft sidewall tires in 2020

Z

zorobabel

Joined
Jan 27, 2011
Messages
1,231
Location
Roseville, CA
Thinking of buying new tires for the Maxima to prepare for the upcoming damp season. The Falken Sincera SN211 on there now have become too hard, and lose traction braking harder in the dry, and easily in the wet. I had some scares, don't want to crash the car. They still have thread after about 70k miles and I'm sure they could go 40k more, you get the idea of how hard they are. Of course, I also drive less with covid...
As I do most of my driving in the pothole/state capital now, I'm looking for some comfy tires. Also want to increase the size from 205/65-R15 to 215/65-R15 or 205/70-R15 for the same reason.
Doesn't look like there will be sales for Labor Day to force my hand, so might as well pick the tire.
I have heard about the Yokohama Avid Touring S being comfy, but it seems like it's been around forever, no silica.
Also heard about the goodyear comforthread, seems hard to find though.
These 2 tires above are based on older threads. Looking for more current information.
 
Like you, I enjoy a better riding tire(and car) for those terrible roads that I encounter in my everyday-ness of life & driving situations.

Although I wouldn't call any of these tires "Soft Riding"(soft sidewall) however, they all score well(TIRE RACK) in terms of their quiet & ride scores as well as in many other areas of "IMPORTANT" tire performance. Not in any particular order in my list(you'd need to check their scores) but, I'll list them in alphabetical order and are the ones that quickly come to mind:

Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack
Continental TrueContact TOUR
*General AltiMAX RT43
*Good/Year Comfortread TOUR
*Pirelli P7 Cinturato All Season PLUS II

*I've owned multiple sets of each of these tires on several vehicles(sedans & SUVs) and recommend them highly in any order of your price budget. Not only are all 5 tires listed really good all season tires in their category, they'll do well if you run into any foul weather or snow. So yes, all are good in the wet.
 
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Oh indeed, I forgot!
The Cooper CS5 Touring & Grand Touring are a highly recommended tire by those here on BITOG and other sites.
I only mentioned the tires above because they were the first that came to mind immediately for this thread.
I have still an older set of CS4(not CS5) and I like'em very much.
The CS5 are supposed to be even better...again, size dependent.
 
The Corolla in my sig has the CS5 GT. They've been good. If I were to nitpick, it would be that they developed some superficial cracks at the edges after 4 years of service. I see they have a $50 rebate at DT. Might go for them. They don't come in 215/65-R15. That's what's nice about the altimax, it comes in most sizes.
 
How are your shocks? 217k is a lot of miles for a set of shocks. Consider Monroe quick struts. I used to have an I30 with even more miles than you have!

205/65-15 has a good amount of sidewall and also has a wider selection of tires available than the alternate sizes you're considering.

Do you need all-season tires? Is cold/snow performance a consideration? If not, you'd be better off with grand touring summer tires like the Goodyear Efficient Grip

Any tire that's been on the car awhile will become hard, and any tire designed to last an insanely long time will probably be too hard too.
 
slacktide_bitog said:
How are your shocks? 217k is a lot of miles for a set of shocks. Consider Monroe quick struts. I used to have an I30 with even more miles than you have!

205/65-15 has a good amount of sidewall and also has a wider selection of tires available than the alternate sizes you're considering.

Do you need all-season tires? Is cold/snow performance a consideration? If not, you'd be better off with grand touring summer tires like the Goodyear Efficient Grip

Any tire that's been on the car awhile will become hard, and any tire designed to last an insanely long time will probably be too hard too.
Click to expand...
I put Sachs on the front about 20 months ago. The rear has Gabriel, about 100k on them now, starting to be useless. Might upgrade to SE springs on the rear when I change them.
Indeed, the selection for 205/65-R15 is by far the best.
How's the ride on those GY Efficient grip? I typically don't need snow traction, until I do ... once in a while. But I've been good at packing chains/cables on my trips.
 
zorobabel said:
I put Sachs on the front about 20 months ago. The rear has Gabriel, about 100k on them now, starting to be useless. Might upgrade to SE springs on the rear when I change them.
Indeed, the selection for 205/65-R15 is by far the best.
How's the ride on those GY Efficient grip? I typically don't need snow traction, until I do ... once in a while. But I've been good at packing chains/cables on my trips.
Click to expand...

The SE springs won't be softer than what you have now! I had Gabriel on the rear for 20k miles before I got rid of the car. 100k is definitely time for new ones. Monroe quick struts are probably better than Gabriel. How many miles did you put on in the 20 months that you had the front ones?

When I had to replace the rear struts, the mount was completely rusted!

I haven't used summer tires because I can't do two sets of tires and don't get enough snow to justify two sets of tires (northeast, cold winters but roads are plowed and salted), but I was considering trying to 2-tire thing. If I lived in Florida or California, I'd use summer tires.

My new car takes 205/70-15!
 
I want the SE springs because they should be firmer (+2mm wire diam) and therefore better at supporting a loaded trunk/car to my mind. May have to reconsider. I don't expect rust to be an issue.
The Sachs have 23k miles on them.
Did you get a Buick or minivan?
I saw a post by Capriracer at some point to the tune of - generally summer tires and high speed rated tires would have stiffer sidewalls.
 
zorobabel said:
I want the SE springs because they should be firmer (+2mm wire diam) and therefore better at supporting a loaded trunk/car to my mind. May have to reconsider. I don't expect rust to be an issue.
The Sachs have 23k miles on them.
Did you get a Buick or minivan?
I saw a post by Capriracer at some point to the tune of - generally summer tires and high speed rated tires would have stiffer sidewalls.
Click to expand...

I got a Subaru!

The minimum tire speed rating for your Maxima is H. New springs will be better at supporting a loaded trunk/car than springs with 100k or 200k on them. Quick struts come with new springs :)

Falken actually makes W-rated tires in your tire size, and I used them on my I30. No problem with ride quality

I used to have an ES300 that used the same tire size as your Maxima 205/65-15 but required V-rated tires! Ride quality was fine.

What tire pressure do you use? I think the OE spec is 29 psi, but I don't remember. Some people like to grossly over-inflate their tires, and this compromises ride quality, too.

How did your Falkens feel when new?
 
slacktide_bitog said:
I got a Subaru!

The minimum tire speed rating for your Maxima is H. New springs will be better at supporting a loaded trunk/car than springs with 100k or 200k on them. Quick struts come with new springs :)

Falken actually makes W-rated tires in your tire size, and I used them on my I30. No problem with ride quality

I used to have an ES300 that used the same tire size as your Maxima 205/65-15 but required V-rated tires! Ride quality was fine.

What tire pressure do you use? I think the OE spec is 29 psi, but I don't remember. Some people like to grossly over-inflate their tires, and this compromises ride quality, too.

How did your Falkens feel when new?
Click to expand...
Actually on my GXE the sticker says 92S, it's probably one of the speed limited ones. OE tire pressure is indeed 29 psi, I stay within 2-3 psi above or bellow depending on circumstances. The Falkens were a bit softer when new, but still had a stiffer sidewall.
The General Altimax RT43 seems to be a low weight tire - fits the soft sidewall reports.
 
Any of the tires mentioned thus far seem to be a good compromise for your Maxima since this is the vehicle that you;re asking about in this thread. The RT43 are a great go-to tire.

We previously had the RT43 on our Lexus RX300 AWD V6 for about 18 months prior to selling it.
And we currently have the RT43 on the Civic in my signature.
My SIL also currently has the RT43 on her GMC Terrain 2.4L 4cyl AWD.

They're a great tire at a great "everyday" price. And if they're on sale(and/or) w/rebate, it just adds to the splendor.
And the RT43 have been great on every one of our vehicles. They just go about their business without calling attention to themselves.
 
the softest sidewall tyres I've ever installed on a customers car are Micheling energy saver. Not sure they are available in the US though and of course they are summer tyres, but You location in california could have an eternal summer anyway?
 
The Honda dealer put 4 new BF Goodrich Advantage T/A Sport with the three mountain peak snowflake rating on my 2016 Honda CR-V EX that I bought last February. They ride great, have plenty of traction on dry or wet roads and though I have not yet driven them in snow or ice there are very good reviews about them performing in winter conditions on YouTube and also the Tire-Rack reviews give them an 8.9 for winter performance, which is very good considering they are an all season, and that Tire-Rack gives the dedicated winter only, latest version of Blizzak a winter rating of 9.3

As for the question of "are they comfy?" I have a bad back, and am very happy with the way these tires combined with the 2016 Honda CR-V EX absorbs the bumps in the roads.

The sales person said that there are less expensive tires that fit the vehicle, but because it is a Honda certified pre-owne vehicle they had to put on tires that had a speed rating high enough to handle the maximum speed the vehicle can go. I think the Honda dealer chose them because they probably are one of the lowest cost tires that meet all the requirements.

The Sport in the name of the tire means they perform very well in sport type handling in summer conditions.

They are not the quietest tire, but I have driven the vehicle almost every day since I bought it in February and there have only been a couple of times when I noticed the noise from the tires and even then those times were only for a brief amount of time. Though I always drive with the windows up. Music is one of my hobbies, and I look forward to listening to music on a flash-drive in my CR-V with the original sound system almost every day, and I do not turn it all the way up. I am not into that high power high bass boom boom stuff. So these tires are quiet enough for me.

Also, one of my brothers has them on one of his vehicles, but he said his do not have the three mountain peak snowflake rating, though his set is older. I do not know if versions of them with-out the T.M.P.S. rating still available, but if winter performance is something you require form an all season, then be sure to check that the set you buy has that rating.

I am going to trust the YouTube winter performance reviews of this tire, and the Tire-Rack winter rating of these tires, and NOT run a set of Blizzaks on there own rims for next winter, though with everything slowed down now most days that is snows I will just stay home. This will be the first winter in many decades that I do not have Blizzaks on all 4 for the vehicle I drive.

It has been months since I read the reviews on Tire-Rack but I if I remember right, there were many positive reviews, and one bad one where the person said they did not like the tracking of there vehicle at highway speeds with these tires on it. You might read the Tire-Rack reviews.
 
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