Tires for 2006 Camry

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Trying to decide on tires for my 2006 Camry (205/65/R15). Probably about 70% drove on the interstate. Looking for a decent tire in the lower price range (not bottom). Right now I'm looking strongly at the below tires. No discount tire around here. Usually Walmart or Firestone are best prices locally.

General Altimax RT43 $81 for 94T (75,000 mile) or 94H $77 (65,000 mile) at Walmart
Goodyear Viva 3 $64 (60,000) Walmart
Firestone Affinity $72 (70,000 mile) Firestone complete care
 
I'd get the H-rated RT43. The higher speed rating should give you slightly better stability and steering response on the hwy.
 
It's too bad that you have to go "all-in" on a tire purchase. It would be nice if you could test drive your choice for a couple of hundred miles of the commuting that is your normal driving.

A few years ago I got stung by a bad choice and it was a name brand tire. I would have never picked the tire if I had the chance to do a test drive.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
It's too bad that you have to go "all-in" on a tire purchase. It would be nice if you could test drive your choice for a couple of hundred miles of the commuting that is your normal driving.


Many places around here do a 30 day "ride guarantee" which essentially does this. The down side, is you pay mounting/balancing each time, so you end up paying the labor twice if you want to get out of a crummy tire.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
It's too bad that you have to go "all-in" on a tire purchase. It would be nice if you could test drive your choice for a couple of hundred miles of the commuting that is your normal driving.

A few years ago I got stung by a bad choice and it was a name brand tire. I would have never picked the tire if I had the chance to do a test drive.


Many name-brand tires do offer this.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I'd get the H-rated RT43. The higher speed rating should give you slightly better stability and steering response on the hwy.


I doubt he would notice it. I'd probably just go with the T, I've had H rated tires before that were supposed to be good for 45k, they were toast by 30k, softer compound just wears out quicker.
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
I've had H rated tires before that were supposed to be good for 45k, they were toast by 30k, softer compound just wears out quicker.

Well, they do carry a 65K mile warranty.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
It's too bad that you have to go "all-in" on a tire purchase. It would be nice if you could test drive your choice for a couple of hundred miles of the commuting that is your normal driving.


I can't edit my previous post, but here's some additional info.

General offers a 45-day trial on the RT43

Goodyear offers a 30-Day Pledge on their tires, but I don't know if that applies to the Viva series, which are low-cost tires specifically produced for Walmart and sold only by them.

Firestone offers a 30-Day Buy and Try on most of their tires.

Now, I've never personally read anything on a forum about someone trying to exercise these options, so who knows if it's easy to actually use these grantees.

I think in most cases, tires don't start to show their bad sides until they get some age and miles on them, which would be well beyond these trial periods.
 
What minimum speed rating do you need? Many tire shops will not install tires lower than the factory's rating.

My suggestion would be the Kumho Solus TA71. They replaced the Ecsta LX Platinum. There is a $100 rebate on a set of four, and even the before-rebate price isn't too bad. 60k warranty. V-rated.

Another good tire is the Falken Ziex ZE950. $75 each at Walmart. 45k warranty.

Out of the three you listed, I'd take the H-rated RT43.

The Cooper CS5 Ultra might also be good for you.
 
Originally Posted By: tvaughn0712
Trying to decide on tires for my 2006 Camry (205/65/R15). Probably about 70% drove on the interstate. Looking for a decent tire in the lower price range (not bottom). Right now I'm looking strongly at the below tires. No discount tire around here. Usually Walmart or Firestone are best prices locally.

General Altimax RT43 $81 for 94T (75,000 mile) or 94H $77 (65,000 mile) at Walmart
Goodyear Viva 3 $64 (60,000) Walmart
Firestone Affinity $72 (70,000 mile) Firestone complete care



What are the total installed prices for all three of these tires?

My personal experiences have been bad buying tires at Walmart, and almost all good when working with my local Firestone Complete Auto Care locations.

But, Firestone has kind of high prices unless they're having a big sale and their tire selection isn't great.

Having said all that, the General is probably a better tire than the Firestone. The Affinity seems to not be a real standout. If your local Walmart can actually offer you good service, that's probably the best choice.

As far as speed ratings, what was the car's original speed rating? I'd probably go with the T-rated version for your driving conditions. There may not really be much of a handling difference between the T and H, especially on that car. I suspect the RT43 should have cap plies for both T and H rated.
 
If General Altimax RT43 H-rated is much more expensive then T-rated is a better buy, but H-rated is a few dollars less so it is is a better choice, even it has 10k miles less tread life warranty.
 
Tirebuyer.com .....$71.99 each for the General Altimax RT43 in your tire size, shipped free to a local installer listed on their page....add $60 to $90 for installation depending upon who you choose via the tirebuyer site.
 
Make sure you read the warranty info carefully if you are on the fence. The 45 day General warranty is only valid if you exchange the tires for another General tire, and in passenger tires they really have no other options worth considering.

So far I have been happy with the RT43's on the Accord. A bit noisy at lower speeds (hum, thrum, from the aggressive tread), but fine at highway speeds.

If you have not done so already check out the promotions page on the General website. I received a $50 Amex card after mail-in rebate. General offers this promotion every other month, or thereabouts.

As others have mentioned, the Cooper CS5 Ultra seems to be well regarded.

FYI I found a local shop through TireRack that sold me the tires from their stock for only $4 more per than "the Rack", which more than made up for shipping costs. Look for independant shops in your area. Many are as good or better than the big chains.
 
Out of the 3 I think GY is just the same Integrity rebrand for Walmart and the traction is not as good as General. I had the General RT (older RT, not the RT43) and the traction is pretty good. Between the 2 I'd pick the General.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Affinity+Touring&s_kwcid=AL!3756!3!72455070373!e!!g!!firestone%20affinity&ef_id=U@kbzgAAAQP20hT4:20150728194749:s

If it is this Firestone I think it is probably equal if not worse than GY's traction. I'd pay extra not to use this tire for my own safety's sake.
 
I'd probably go with the Generals, but the Affinity Touring available at Firestone Complete Auto Care is actually NOT the same tire as the Affinity Touring at Tire Rack. The FCAC Affinity Touring is the same as the Tire Rack Firestone Precision Touring, which is a much better tire, in my experience:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?...#RatingsReviews

http://www.firestonecompleteautocare.com/tirecatalog/Firestone/AffinityTouring/

I've never used the RT43s, but I have driven on the FCAC Affinity Tourings and was very impressed at the good ride and very good snow traction. A very good value, in my opinion.
 
Another vote for the Generals, but someplace other than Walmart. Also had good luck with Yokohama Avid Ascend, Cooper CS4, and Kumho Solus on similar vehicles. Had issues with the Ziex with balancing on 2 sets but wouldn't rule them out either.
 
I'm interested in tires. Whenever someone at work is in need of tires I'm always excited to go on the website of my favorite local Discount Tire, tell them what to get, and sent them there and tell them to tell Chris I sent them.

I never recommend cheap tires. Not that I wouldn't get them for a car I was temporarily driving, occasionally driving, or selling, but I wouldn't want to be responsible for a blowout. I know I wouldn't be, but some of those $50 tires are really flimsy if you feel them not pumped up.

The first question is tire size. 14-15s? Might as well bite the bullet and grab Michelins. For your 2006 Camry, the Michelin Defenders at Discount Tire are $112. I have these in 14s on my Camry. 90,000 mile warranty and I'd say best all around. $550 installed is not bad. They have Michelins which cost up to $150, but you're not racing and plus they wear faster. Other high end tires might be good too, but I've learned to not waste time trying other brands: Michelin and forget it.

Next are some of my favorites to recommend for larger wheels: Falken. You can feel the build quality is not like Michelin or some of the other higher end tires, but they are a good medium build and not flimsy. They're very attractive and have intersting patterns. Pricing is fair. For your car, you can get the same tires my boss bought TODAY: Falken Pro G4 A/S for $88 each. Asymmetrical and look pretty mean. I'd personally prefer the Falken Sincera SN-828, however, because they're only $74 each, have been around a bit longer (in my area at least), and are known to work well. As a note, I don't mind asymmetrical tires and would consider getting them, but I'd never get directional tires. Better wet traction maybe, but fewer rotation options.

Let us know what you get...and pics!
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