Your opinion on these tires {PICS}

[gregk24]

I am looking into having my tires replaced on my Accord. I am currently rolling on the stock Michelin Pilots with just under 42K miles which honestly visually look like they have some life left, but I am not a tire guru so not really sure. The main reasons I am looking to swap them is the road noise and ride harshness, these Accords are not known to be the quietest rides but these Michelins are not helping the situation any. I have spend hours upon hours on tire rack looking at reviews and settled on Pirelli P7 Centuratos. They have a very high rating on Tire Rack with almost all areas scoring 9+ out of possible 10 points, but I just started reading the individual reviews and see many complaining that the tread is shot by 35,000 - 40,000 miles! The main reason I am wanting these is most people say they are QUIET and SMOOTH RIDING which is exactly what I am looking for, but it is also very important that they last a long time, 50K miles at least would be great.

I spent more time today looking at other options with a couple being Dunlop Signature HP, Yokohama Advan Sport A/S, and Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06. Most of these are rated Ultra High Performance All Season which is odd, since I am looking at tires based on how they rate in the quiet, comfort, and tread life categories (not what one would expect from Ultra High Performance All Seasons). So your thoughts on these would be greatly appreciated. I spoke with a local independent and he can get me into the Pirellis for $800 ODT including balance / rotations etc.

Anyway here are the pics, if this was your car and you were experiencing harsh ride and overall noisiness from the tires would you replace, or put another 5-10K on them and save your $$. I would be fine with putting more miles on them if the BITOG crowd deems them capable of doing such. Honestly I don't have any issues with traction or anything like that, I drive VERY SANE and even old lady like at times so no street racing or anything that would push the limit of the tires.

outer tread...



inner tread...


assuming this is normal "cracking" for 40K miles?



here is one of the wear bars, not quite down to it yet...but I am not sure if you are supposed to wait until you are down to it to replace.



So what say the BITOG crowd...is it time to replace or should I save money and wait a while. Also your recommendations would be much appreciated. Looking for quiet, smooth and long tread life. Definitely trying to keep the price under $140 per tire if possible, these OEM tires are going for over $200 a pop!!! I will add, even with many of these name brand tires, so many reviews are negative! I have yet to find a brand that has great reviews from the majority of consumers. Some seem to get many miles out of them, while others have tires with bulges or worn tread by 20K. I just don't want to end up spending all this money and regretting my purchase.

 

[toneydoc]

You still got some life left in those tires old lady.
The way you drive, at least another 6-8 k miles
And no snow in your part of the world to worry about
Keep researching and driving those tires
Send pictures in another 6k miles

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
The main reason I am wanting these is most people say they are QUIET and SMOOTH RIDING which is exactly what I am looking for, but it is also very important that they last a long time, 50K miles at least would be great.

Most of these are rated Ultra High Performance All Season which is odd, since I am looking at tires based on how they rate in the quiet, comfort, and tread life categories (not what one would expect from Ultra High Performance All Seasons).


I THINK performance tyres tend to have softer, more grippy compounds. These might tend to be less noisy, but also less hard wearing.

That might be why you are coming up with performance tyres based on low noise, but a conflict between your noise and wear criteria is apparent with the Pirelli's.

 

[spasm3]

You have some miles left, especially since you are in florida, and have no
snow to worry with.

p7 looks good or the Pirelli Cinturato Strada which might last a bit longer.

 

[Geauxtiger]

I take a contrary position to many others here who milk every last mile out of a set of tires. I don't do it. When tires get hard, noisy, and/or begin losing significant amounts of wet traction, I will change them out. Check out the below example. Let's say you plan to keep your new car until it reaches 225kmi. Also, let's assume average tire life to the wear bars is 50k mi. Also, let's assume a set of tires is $600 installed. In this example, I decide to change out the tires while they still have ~10k mi of life left (change at 40k mi instead of 50k mi). If you figure out the extra cost over the life of the car, that amounts to only 1 extra set of tires over that period. $600 extra cost spread across many, many years. Negligible. At least in my opinion vs putting up with the loss of comfort and margin of safety when stretching a set of tires to the very end.
YMMV.

 

[gregk24]

Thanks for the response so far guys. The rational side of me wants to save the money and wait another 5 to 10K miles, the other side of me wants to get in the car, drive, and enjoy the drive in a more....or should I say less teeth jarring manner lol.

 

[Astro14]

I have never regretted buying new tires. Rubber hardens with age. Rain performance declines with less than 4/32" tread depth (and while you're still legal, you're below that number). Finally, while you might drive like an old lady, other drivers may force you to use the maximum traction of the tire in order to avoid a collision...wouldn't you rather that the maximum traction be that of a new tire, instead of the reduced performance of the nearly worn out tire?

 

[barkingspider]

I would not replace those tires yet, not for while. U may want to consider tires in the touring category vs ultra high performance. The Pirelli at $800 otd seems like a good deal. I would buy them if there wasn't a better deal on similar tire.

 

[FlyNavyP3]

I also replace tires with usable tread remaining. My 4Runner is a perfect example. It currently has 30,000 miles on the 50,000 mile rated Goodyear tires on it that are 4 years old now. Although the tires (now that the tread is getting hard) will likely make it to 50,000 miles, they're starting to get scary in the rain, not because they hydroplane, but because they're too hard to have adequate traction now. As the tread continues to wear down and they get even harder they will have even less traction and be even more likely to hydroplane. I will likely replace my tires within the next 10k well before they're worn out. My safety isn't worth it. Especially here in Florida where we get heavy rain several times per week running a tire to the minimum doesn't seem prudent to me, once they hydroplane you have absolutely no control. All that aside, why endure a rough ride and tire noise for another 10,000 miles. I vote get new tires and enjoy them now!

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
I have never regretted buying new tires. Rubber hardens with age. Rain performance declines with less than 4/32" tread depth (and while you're still legal, you're below that number). Finally, while you might drive like an old lady, other drivers may force you to use the maximum traction of the tire in order to avoid a collision...wouldn't you rather that the maximum traction be that of a new tire, instead of the reduced performance of the nearly worn out tire?


Yes of course, safety is very important. I just wanted others opinions as I don't have a tread depth gauge and don't know much about tires. I have only replaced 1 set of tires and they were pretty rough, also mis-matched so that replacement was a no brainer. I just don't want to throw money out the door if say, these tires had an easy 10K or more left.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: FlyNavyP3
I also replace tires with usable tread remaining. My 4Runner is a perfect example. It currently has 30,000 miles on the 50,000 mile rated Goodyear tires on it that are 4 years old now. Although the tires (now that the tread is getting hard) will likely make it to 50,000 miles, they're starting to get scary in the rain, not because they hydroplane, but because they're too hard to have adequate traction now. As the tread continues to wear down and they get even harder they will have even less traction and be even more likely to hydroplane. I will likely replace my tires within the next 10k well before they're worn out. My safety isn't worth it. Especially here in Florida where we get heavy rain several times per week running a tire to the minimum doesn't seem prudent to me, once they hydroplane you have absolutely no control. All that aside, why endure a rough ride and tire noise for another 10,000 miles. I vote get new tires and enjoy them now!


Yes, I think I am leaning that way.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: barkingspider
I would not replace those tires yet, not for while. U may want to consider tires in the touring category vs ultra high performance. The Pirelli at $800 otd seems like a good deal. I would buy them if there wasn't a better deal on similar tire.


I was originally looking only in the touring category but the reviews just weren't there (other than Pirelli). When I took those restrictions off other categories popped up and the high / ultra high performance had good reviews, including good ride AND decent treadwear for many. BUT, when I started reading the individual reviews many complained the Pirellis didn't last nearly as long as there claimed 70K miles which concerns me since they are not cheap.

 

[69GTX]

I'd be tempted to push them out to 50K as well. Just don't drive crazy in the rain. I'd be tempted to go with the Continental DW/DWS. Not sure why you'd need the DWS in Florida unless that gives you a harder rubber and longer life.

Other than the Michelin Pilots/Sports, very few of the tires priced above $180 each perform any better than the ones at $135-$165 each. I wish I had picked the Continental DW for my 1999 Camaro as those would have been a softer ride than the BFG Comp2's I ended up with. I got them for $550 delivered/installed/aligned.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
I'd be tempted to push them out to 50K as well. Just don't drive crazy in the rain. I'd be tempted to go with the Continental DW/DWS. Not sure why you'd need the DWS in Florida unless that gives you a harder rubber and longer life.


Again, I am looking at tires based off of 3 main categories...tread life, quietness, and ride comfort. These DWS seemed to have positive reviews in these categories.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

225/50-17, right? My top pick would be the Dunlop Signature HP or Michelin Primacy HP

You might be better served by a grand touring tire. Here are some good ones available in your size, if 225/50-17 is correct:
Kumho Solus TA71
Dunlop Signature II
Sumitomo HTR Enhance LX
Yokohama Avid Ascend

and you can't forget the Official Tires of BITOG, the General Altimax RT43 and Cooper CS5 Ultra

The Sumitomos are probably the lowest price, if that is a concern

Also, the DWS has been replaced by the DWS06

Grand Touring Summer tires will probably give you the quietest ride and ride comfort, along with decent tread life.
Tire Rack has a clearance on the Primacy HP

 

[dareo]

Looks like you have 4 to 5 32nds left as far as i can tell over the www. I would probably wear them some more unless rain is an issue.

I do also love getting new tires. Very fun for me to do.

 

[Nick1994]

The thing is, humans in general are more likely to go online and write a bad review about something than a good review. So maybe for every 20 good reviews not posted, 1 bad review does. I bought a programmable thermostat for my house on Amazon, I love it but didn't write a review. But I sure would have if I didn't like it or if I had an issue.

Tread life is dependent mainly on 1 thing, how you drive. If you drive 20,000 miles a year in Boston with all of those curvy roads they aren't going to last. But no tires will last 70k miles doing that. Those are the people complaining.

You want tires, if it makes you happy I'd do it and replace them. They aren't packed full of tread, time to replace soon.

Maybe make a goal for the Presidents Day sale for Discount Tire when they have the good rebates.

 

[901Memphis]

No way I'd replace those yet with your climate

 

[bvance554]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
No way I'd replace those yet with your climate


I don't understand this and the rest of the comments saying you live in Florida, it doesn't snow. It does rain quite a bit. We adapt to worn tires over time, and don't realize how bad they are. Till you get new tires, drive in a rain storm and realize wow, I should have replaced those a long time ago.

 

[Mr Nice]

Wait till Black Friday sale and buy new tires with rebate.