Worst Tires Ever?

[heyheylbj]

Wow

i feel proud to have started such a popular venting thread. I never knew there were so many people with so many crappy tires.

After seeing this thread, I would say that the tire industry is even better than the oil industry at duping uneducated consumers into buying a low quality product.

 

[segfault]

Michelin Pilot MXM4's come standard on the Volvo S80 with 17" wheels. They're on par with the Energy MXV4's and completely unworthy of the Pilot moniker. Pilots (XGT H/V/Z4) are usually great handling tires unless there's snow. These are crap in dry, wet, or snowy conditions, have a low treadwear rating (300) and there are few alternatives. One of the few alternatives is the Pilot Sport AS, which looks to be a nice option except they are $200 each. Anyone who has driven on MXV4's knows how easily they chirp if you try to stop or start quickly, and the same is true of the MXM4's. Pathetic!

Edit: The Conti CT95's on the 2002-04 Altima are also a candidate. I had already replaced the rears and was running the fronts just a little longer when they became unacceptable for wet weather (at about 5-6/32"). I now have a set of four Michelin Hydroedge tires in a plus-zero size (215/60/16 vs. stock 205/65/16). The 2005 Altimas use the 215 size and a different type of Continental tire which appears to be not as notoriously bad as the CT95. I am happy with the Hydroedges so far. I have only had the set of four installed for 2000 miles so far, though.

[ December 01, 2004, 10:35 PM: Message edited by: segfault ]

 

[radtran]

Geez, these rants remind me of the ridiculous (subjective) TireRack.com tire reviews . . . bet some would even knock Nokians if given the chance. My current vote for bad OEM tire is the GY Wrangler HP. Just replaced mine at 17K miles (tread down to 4/32") for Dunlop 228/70R16 Rover A/Ts (UTQG 500 A B) under GY's tire adjustment policy. Dunlop is owned by GY BTW. Seems the OEM Wrangler HP is rated for 45K, so I got my Dunlop set for $195 out-the-door.

OEM tires are engineered primarily to meet fleet MPG goals and nothing else. So they come with supersoft tread rubber (I know that's counter-intuitive, but that's what GY told me). The tire manufacturers are betting that the consumer won't ask for an adjustment.

 

[dagmando]

Bridgestone Potenza RE92 V-rated. The worse tire ever for rain and they wear out FAST (180 AA)

 

[Dominic]

God I hate Goodyear Ealge GAs... however they have a 45,000 mi warranty... I had a 00 Firebird and 02 Camaro that came with them, and both times I wore them to 2/32" in 10K miles.

Awful... but I got $100/tire back in warranty $!!

 

[StanW]

Remington's and General's.

 

[Rob Taggs]

Firestone 721's take the cake for the worst tires I have ever seen. My former boss had a set on his Ford Ranchero. I took the Ranchero to the station up the street as a favor to my boss to have it checked out since my boss was going to take it out of town about 200 miles away. Well about half a block from the house the front passenger tire blew out sending me right into the curb. The Ranchero had cast aluminum wheels - the collision with the curb knocked a fist sized chunk out of the wheel. I made it to the station and had to spare put on. Took it back to the boss, who let me have it! Thought I was driving recklessly, I guess? Truth is I drove the speed limit and drove it very carefully. Boss got back from his trip and turned the Ranchero back over to me. About a week later while driving two more of the wonderful Firestone 721's decided they wanted to blowout! This time the boss knew it was not me, it was the tires. I checked around and found out that several law suits had developed over this same exact model of tire. Some folks had loved ones killed my these killer tires. I'm glad I was not one of them!

 

[k1xv]

Originally posted by Rob Taggs:
[QB] Firestone 721's take the cake for the worst tires I have ever seen.

========
I heard a joke from back then that they were called "721" because the odds were 7 to 1 that they would kill you.

 

[rjundi]

quote:

---

Originally posted by dagmando:
Bridgestone Potenza RE92 V-rated. The worse tire ever for rain and they wear out FAST (180 AA)

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I hope my OEM ones wear out soon on my 2004 WRX, ie before next winter. These tires are miserable on snow/slush too. I cannot believe Bridgestone produces these things.

 

[thegoose]

The general tires that came standard on our Taurus were horrid. On our Escort we had Canadian tire (Motormaster) Predator tires made by Firestone I believe, which were just as bad in wet or dry and especially snow covered roads. Changed both for Nokian WR tires. An excellent all weather tire for the family car.

 

[Brett Miller]

I'll throw in a vote for Liberator II blems. My Dad and I would put these on a 1979 Jeep J-10 pickup. They were never round but they worked well for plowing snow. They didn't last long either but they were cheap.

 

[srivett]

If you guys could find a set of Bridgestone Turanza T tires to try you'd change your minds about the worst tires around. I have a featherweight 1992 Golf Diesel that puts out a whopping 52 HP when new and I can break these tires loose in 5th gear. Add a dash of snow, salt, sand, or slush and hold on tight! You'll never see me running Bridgestones again as I never forget the name of a company that rips me off. I smoke them without regret whenever I get stuck so if I'm lucky they'll be gone soon. There was one time I had them spinning for 3 minutes straight wide open in 2nd gear but they just won't die!

Cheers, Steve

 

[Gerret]

General brand tires that were OEM on a vehicle of mine are the Worst. Tires. Evar.

 

[Pablo]

Michellin (hard as rock, suck in rain) whatevers that came on my 1984 Scirroco. What a slippery joke!

BF Goodrichs aren't too bad, but I don't have the super comp ones. They seem to grip pretty good.

I have some Continentals on the wife's car. I can testify that the sidewalls on these tires are made from used condoms. Spray painted flat black. The grip isn't so bad but I think the sidewalls have been penetrated (no pun intended) 3 or 4 times.

Weird thing is, and overpriced like a maniac, I have had some good luck with Les Schwab tires. In fact they are no bargain, but the 3 sets I have from Les Schwab grip well and wear well. (Truck and two sets of snows - one studded, one with walnut shells)

 

[Whimsey]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pablo:
Michellin (hard as rock, suck in rain) whatevers that came on my 1984 Scirroco. What a slippery joke!

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Sounds like the Michelin XZX's I had on some of my early Rabbits. They'd wear like iron and gripped the road just as well

.

Whimsey

 

[Pablo]

Yeah - Whimsey, those are the tires....I had to sell the car, because I couldn't wear the tires out!

 

[oilcan]

Factory Firestones on both a 90 & 94 Ford Ranger 4x4.
Living in the desert Mastercraft/Cooper A/T are great in dirt & rocks, good mileage but poor at best in snow & mud, OK in rain. I think I will try a set of Bridgestone Revos. Funny Firestone/Bridgestone same company but their tires are not even close.

 

[Fuelrod]

You can go to....

www.tirerack.com and explore their wonderful tire selection and database, test reports, customer surveys, obsess over tires all day!

Then you can go to www.tireaccidents.com/private_tire_brands.htm and find out who made what tires.

Then you can go to
www.unionlabel.org/dobuy/tires.asp and see what sweat shop they were made in.

Those Akuret brand tires are Yokohamas....

 

[lab]

I would say Goodyear Wrangler AP

 

[97tbird]

I feel good reading this thread..so far noone has named the Yoko AVS db S2 (225/60/16) that I have on my T-bird as a bad tire...I'm glad I replaced the Michelin Symmetry's with those.
The Yokos have great dry/wet handling, is wearing pretty good(got 30k on them now), I don't know about snow, though. They're pretty quiet, compared to the Symmetry...and they look great, too
I liked the price, too: $96.00 per tire from Tirerack.

Wifey has the crappy OEM Michelin MXV4+ on her 2003 Elantra...knowing the obvious, I can't wait to get something else.