Tire cracks!

[RoGuE]

My current OEM tires are about finished I think. They are roughly 5 years old with 23,000 miles. The outside shoulders on the fronts are worn to the wear bars, and they are riddle with cracks. In the photo below, that isn't even the worst crack. Anyway, I've been doing some tire research, and I've been looking at the Kumho Ecsta ASX. It has decent ratings, V speed rating, and the price is great at $62 each on Tirerack, and Discount Tire said they would pricematch it except for some kind of $12 shipping charge, but whatever. The reason I mention the V speed rating, is that I HATE the look of soft sidewalls, and since I've been told on here this is a fairly high profile tire, a higher speed rating would be the solution for a stiffer sidewall. Now a few questions: Does anyone have any opinions on this tire? Anything better at a similar price? My only worry is the wet traction seems bad according to reviews, on the other hand it hardly seems to rain much here anymore... My current tire size is 205/65-15. Would changing to a different tire size help any as far as handling or traction? (As long as it only changes my speedometer reading by a minimal amount) My current crack-riddled and dangerous looking tires.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I had it on my E430 5-6 years ago, it was okay then but not as good as newer tires now. Instead of Kumho Ecsta ASX, I would go with Yokohama AVID ENVigor H-rated with UTQG of 560 A A, for $25 more per tire.

 

[Charlie1935]

From the looks of that tire it has been run at low pressure.

 

[RoGuE]

Originally Posted By: Charlie1935

From the looks of that tire it has been run at low pressure.

I got the car with 7500 miles on it. Since then I am absolutely meticulous about tire pressure. I usually keep it right at 33-35 when cold.

 

[Spartanfool]

I've run the ASX on two different vehicles (Olds Alero & Saab 9-2x). Price point was even less than you are currently being quoted. For the price I couldn't pass them up. Initial opinion was a very good tire for the price. Good grip dry, good wet traction, fair snow traction. Tread wear started to be a concern. Olds tires were replaced with Conti DWS after 20,000 miles with a "goodwill" adjustment from DT. The other set is still currently on summer rims on the Saab. Plan on replacing them next summer. Probably will get 30k out of them. (Hard driving). Bottom line...good tire if the price is right. Good performance for 3 seasons. Don't expect too much winter grip, but if that is not a concern, go for it.

 

[tenderloin]

According to Yokohama's web site, the new YK 580 (sold at Americas/Discount Tire for a few dollars more than Envigor) appears to be their top rated all season tire according to their tests. They cant match the Kuhmos price but I am sure they will come down to the Envigors. Yokohama YK 580

 

[tenderloin]

More YK 580 onfo

 

[ethangsmith]

Kumho is discontinuing the ASX, which is why they are so cheap. Avoid them because you won't be able to get a replacement if you have an issue within a few months. We've quit using them already at work for this reason.

 

[johnachak]

In my experience and from many discussions with tire dealers, Original tires are different than the same name replacement tires. The OEM tires usually are made to accentuate certain characteristics of the car to entice you to buy on a test drive. I usually only get ~20,000+ on OEMs. I have purchased the same make and model tires as replacements and have gotten much better life and handling with the replacements. Never the same gas mileage though. If you compare the specs, especially treadware, the replacements have a much higher number tham OEMs. As a rule of thumb I usually stick with Michelin or Bridgestone-Firestone on American cars and have not been disappointed. I experimented with Yokahamas and Hankooks and didn't get the service life I expected. I never tried Kumhos. Good Luck.

 

[johnachak]

You might want to check if your wheels can handle 215-60 15's, they should be a little stiffer and a slightly lower profile without messing up speedo calibration. This will be governed by wheel width. My brothers car has 6 1/2 " wide wheels (15") and he can go with 55 or 60's. You might be lucky and be able to use 60's. You have to make sure you go up one size 205 to 215, to handle the weight.

 

[rjacket]

The actual cost of tires over the life of usage is very minor, so I always try to go for better tires than cheaper tires. With the tire life getting longer and longer, you have to realize that you're going to live with them a long time. In your case, maybe 10 years if you keep on doing 23k every 5 years! I would read tire rack reviews very carefully. The latest tires have been improving significantly against tires of a few years ago, but in some cases you don't know how they will fare after 10,000 miles. So my decision has always been to get pretty much the best tire in the category so long as it had enough reviews to attest to it's longevity. I wouldn't buy a tire on price alone unless it came near the performance characteristics of the top performing tires. It's just not worth it to have sub par performance in something I'm going to be using for the next 5 years. From a price and buying perspective, there are other online sites whom Discount Tire will match. The benefit of having Discount Tire match the best online price you find (at the cost of sales tax and a slightly higher install price) is it's one throat to choke if something goes wrong. However, Discount Tire Direct are a sister company that seem to have the best prices and can ship tax free to Discount Tire so they may effectively be an easier proposition if something goes wrong for the absolute best price out there. Lastly, there are many rebates out there. Costco had $30 off install and $70 - $100 off Bridgestone and Michelin. They have great road hazard thrown in on Michelin's so I understand.

 

[rjacket]

Btw, I had to purchase tires in that category a few years ago and went with the Bridgestone RE960AS which I believe have been superseded by RE970AS. All other tires in that category just didn't have enough of the performance characteristics I was after. One of the ways I determined what my minimum was was by looking up my current tires and seeing how highly rated they were. I didn't want to lose too much handling performance but needed better ride and noise performance. I suggest you look up the ratings of your current tires to give yourself an idea of what you need out of the new tires. You'll have an idea of what things you want better and comparing the scores of new tires vs your current one will guide you on that.

 

[45ACP]

Originally Posted By: RoGuE

My current OEM tires are about finished I think. They are roughly 5 years old with 23,000 miles. The outside shoulders on the fronts are worn to the wear bars, and they are riddle with cracks. In the photo below, that isn't even the worst crack. Anyway, I've been doing some tire research, and I've been looking at the Kumho Ecsta ASX. It has decent ratings, V speed rating, and the price is great at $62 each on Tirerack, and Discount Tire said they would pricematch it except for some kind of $12 shipping charge, but whatever. The reason I mention the V speed rating, is that I HATE the look of soft sidewalls, and since I've been told on here this is a fairly high profile tire, a higher speed rating would be the solution for a stiffer sidewall. Now a few questions: Does anyone have any opinions on this tire? Anything better at a similar price? My only worry is the wet traction seems bad according to reviews, on the other hand it hardly seems to rain much here anymore... My current tire size is 205/65-15. Would changing to a different tire size help any as far as handling or traction? (As long as it only changes my speedometer reading by a minimal amount) My current crack-riddled and dangerous looking tires.

OP, i once bought a car with 4 tires that looked just about like yours do. I inflated them to proper pressure. 6 weeks later the tread started to separate and i had a tire blowout at 60MPH. I went into a fishtail. Me knowing how to drive i controlled it, but it blew out during a lane change and it looked like the set of a hollywood movie. Car swung to passenger side, i correcte the wheel full lock back to driver, gunned the engine. Then it swung wiiiiideee back to driver side, full okck back to passenger side, full throttle again (rear tires spinning.) I then evened out and drove a mile on the shoulder to safety, tire coming through my sunroof.. Please, please get your tires replaced. And if you go used, thats somewhat risky.. i had one tire out of a dozen i bought from a place like that go flat and be no good. I didnt think of that either until something like that happened.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: RoGuE

My current OEM tires are about finished I think. They are roughly 5 years old with 23,000 miles. The outside shoulders on the fronts are worn to the wear bars, and they are riddle with cracks. In the photo below, that isn't even the worst crack. Anyway, I've been doing some tire research, and I've been looking at the Kumho Ecsta ASX. It has decent ratings, V speed rating, and the price is great at $62 each on Tirerack, and Discount Tire said they would pricematch it except for some kind of $12 shipping charge, but whatever. The reason I mention the V speed rating, is that I HATE the look of soft sidewalls, and since I've been told on here this is a fairly high profile tire, a higher speed rating would be the solution for a stiffer sidewall. Now a few questions: Does anyone have any opinions on this tire? Anything better at a similar price? My only worry is the wet traction seems bad according to reviews, on the other hand it hardly seems to rain much here anymore... My current tire size is 205/65-15. Would changing to a different tire size help any as far as handling or traction? (As long as it only changes my speedometer reading by a minimal amount) My current crack-riddled and dangerous looking tires.

You should see the cracks on my boat trailer tires. They use a tire size numbering system that is so old, almost no one knows what it means. I would look at the reviews on TireRack. You will probably get a larger sample of people who have used the tires than here. (But we know much more about tires and everything else here!)

 

[RoGuE]

Originally Posted By: ethangsmith

Kumho is discontinuing the ASX, which is why they are so cheap. Avoid them because you won't be able to get a replacement if you have an issue within a few months. We've quit using them already at work for this reason.

Can anyone else confirm this? What would happen if one tire was bad? Would they just prorate the rest of them?

Originally Posted By: johnachak

You might want to check if your wheels can handle 215-60 15's, they should be a little stiffer and a slightly lower profile without messing up speedo calibration. This will be governed by wheel width. My brothers car has 6 1/2 " wide wheels (15") and he can go with 55 or 60's. You might be lucky and be able to use 60's. You have to make sure you go up one size 205 to 215, to handle the weight.

If anything I would want a higher profile. The current tires never seemed to quite look right and don't seem to fill up the wheel well enough...

Originally Posted By: rjacket

The actual cost of tires over the life of usage is very minor, so I always try to go for better tires than cheaper tires. With the tire life getting longer and longer, you have to realize that you're going to live with them a long time. In your case, maybe 10 years if you keep on doing 23k every 5 years!

Cost is actually a big factor...I make less than $600 a month while going to school. That's why the Kumho Ecsta was so appealing at $62 a piece.

Originally Posted By: 45ACP

Please, please get your tires replaced. And if you go used, thats somewhat risky.. i had one tire out of a dozen i bought from a place like that go flat and be no good.

The tires have looked pretty sketchy for a while, but now they have giant cracks, slight sidewall bulges in two of them, and the sidewall looks softer than ever where it meets the ground. I was planning on replacing them before the end of the week.

 

[HTSS_TR]

How aggressive a driver are you ? Do you drive near limit of the car on ramp ? Do you drive more than 100-120 MPH when the highway traffic is light ? If you drive your car faster than normal then V or W speed rate is needed. If you drive easy like the rest of traffic then S or T speed rate may be better. Yokohama AVID TOURING-S at $66 and Kumho Solus KR21 at $75 may be a better choice, either tire has longer tread life, better ride and quiet.

 

[RoGuE]

Heh, no, my car can barely accelerate up a hill without being in first gear. I do like taking corners a little faster than usual when conditions permit. I just preferred the idea of a high speed rated tire for better handling and stiffer sidewalls.

 

[HTSS_TR]

If you like high performance tires, then tread life will be short, worse gas mileage, firmer ride and usually at higher cost. For your size, Yokohama AVID ENVigor is probably the best match at $88/ea, about $100 more for a set of 4.

 

[RoGuE]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

If you like high performance tires, then tread life will be short, worse gas mileage, firmer ride and usually at higher cost. For your size, Yokohama AVID ENVigor is probably the best match at $88/ea, about $100 more for a set of 4.

Tread life is unimportant, as they will dry rot long before the tread is gone, My gas mileage sucks anyway from 4 and 8 mile trips, the roads are really good around here so firmness isn't too much of an issue. higher cost is the only thing I need to avoid. I was hoping to stay below $70 a tire, and to be able to get it where it is stocked locally, such as Discount Tire since they are supposedly known for their great customer service and price matching. Also, I figured a 225/60 will be only 0.32 mph faster at 60 . What advantages or disadvantages will that wider tire give me (if any)?

 

[RoGuE]

Anyone else have an opinion? I was hoping to go tomorrow and get this done. Otherwise I'm at the mercy of the salesman persuasion (though I'm still leaning towards the Ecsta based on cost alone even with the risk of it being discontinued)