Any opinions of Kelly tires?

[Rand]

most are average or below. Unless they were free, or some crazy craigslist deal.. I can find a similar deal on tires I'd want to own.

Like the .24cents for 4 continental control contact touring as..

Even if I hadnt had a pro-rated credit they would have been under $250
without the extras such as road hazard certificates.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Not bad for a budget tire, and most of them are US-made

 

[ejes]

I ran a set of Kelly Edge once and got my 55k out of them. They were a decent tire and I had no complaints for the price.

 

[92saturnsl2]

We bought a 2004 Honda Odyssey that had a set of Kelly Explorer Plus tires in 225/60/16. They had 85% tread remaining when we purchased the vehicle, and we probably got about 30k out of them. I think they performed like cheap 40k tires should-- they rolled, gripped at least decent in all weather conditions. Nothing about the tires would make me tell someone not to buy them. There was nothing exceptional about them either, and they were replaced with Michelins.

 

[jstert]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: jstert
i got four kelly edge a/s tires installed on my 2013 passat s for $300 total a month ago. so far so good.


Where did you get that price from?


navy exchange in va. sale price was $64 each, plus installation special, 10% off coupon, no tax. i decided on cheaper kellys as i plan to trade in the passat in a year, i dont need 80k tires.

the kellys are softer and quieter than were the passat's oem continental procontact tires. so far only driven in flat mid atlantic east coast. mpg is about 10% less than the contis, i.e. the kellys give me 33mpg highway, 24mpg suburb. i will go north to hilly new england in late dec, im curious how much at home the kellys will feel in slush and snow.

 

[SatinSilver]

I had Kellys on the Accord years ago and forget what the model name was. I thought traction in the winter was very good for an all season.

 

[ToadU]

I've never ever had a set of Goodyear anythings worth a darn. GY trades on past glory of their name and NASCAR sponsorship. They make [censored] tires at every level and price point. Tire tests will confirm this. I wouldn't buy Kelly's as they are part of GY. My opinion but it's shared by many many others on forums and independent tire tests.

For my company cheap Chinese generics outperform anything made by GY and even remolds and retreads!!! I buy a lot of tires as a toeing company but also as a full service shop that sells and installs tires.

Good luck.

 

[4WD]

Load of it

 

[ToadU]

Originally Posted By: 4WD
Load of it



http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=GTAS

Here is one ranking source of grand touring all season tires. This category is one of the most popular on the market. Every category at Tire Rack is ranked.

Goodyears perform poorly in almost every category. Always at the bottom except for price.

There are other tests and rankings too from Consumer Reports, Motor Trend, Car and Driver and many more.

Forums online have a high proportion of people complaining about GY products.

If you like Goodyears buy them. I've owned literally hundreds of GYs over the years on trucks, coaches, heavy, medium and light duty / passenger / on -- off road applications. I have not had any positive exeperices with GYs. They have all been below average at best. On medium and heavy truck applications everyone in the industry knows GY has had major rivering problems for years and refuses or is unable to correct the problem. Google GY and "rivering."

There are better choices for less money on the market than GY. That's a fact and backed up in many independent tire tests and consumer rankings.

The OP asked for an opinion and I gave mine and qualified it. My opinion is as good as anyone's so your comment "load of it" is really not warranted. My opinion was at least qualified.

That's the great thing about having a capatilistic economy--the consumer gets to makes choices.

 

[ToadU]

Before anyone asks why I have owned so many GY tires if I don't like them.......

--for a long time period the preferred wrecker builder I use manufactured every wrecker w GY Load Range G tires. The cab and chassis would come with F rated from the factory and the wrecker builder would replace the tires w G rated and change the size from 225 70 19.5 to 245 70 19.5. They had a contract w GY so that's exclusively what they used. although I didn't like GY tires I liked the build of the trucks very much. When the GYs wore out I replaced with retreads or cheap Chinese tires I buy in bulk.

--I don't do any long haul anymore but when I did and my trucks were all over N America GY tires were the most common at truck stops and places that serviced large trucks. I did purchase GYs then. Not because I liked them. But bc at 4am in Canada or 2:30am in S Dakota I could get a matched tire for my rig. That availability outweighed to me the fact the GY tires were not that good.

A big reason for GYs success today is their past reputation of years gone by and glory days which gives them instant recognition and market penetration all over the world.

 

[ET16]

I have them on my van. I think that they are good value; maybe a little noisy.

 

[daves87rs]

Had some Kelly Navs on our Cavalier years back....were a pretty soild tire and the almost made the 70k promised....

 

[jstert]

update on my 2013 vw passat 2.5's kelly edge a/s after 2,000 miles and a couple of weeks now in new england winter.

n.e. weather has ranged from sub zero to 50f, wet/rainy to arctic high pressure. roads have been potholed to new, clean to snowy to plowed to spot icey. driven on highways and local roads at appropriate speeds, to purposely doing donuts, swerves and panic stops in the snow as mini tests.

verdict: the kellys are proving quite good for their mid $60 price. not noisey. in my snow mini tests they came under control in good order (admittedly i know how to drive in snow). mid 20s mpg local, mid 30s highway. hold air pressure very well.

the 4 kellys at $304 all in, otd, are a solid value proposition. 4 generals would have been just south of $500 otd. 4 oem continentals north of $650 otd. 4 walmart gy around $300. based on tech specs and online reviews indeed general altimax rt are better rated, but my financials at that moment dictated the kellys, and im satisfied.

 

[360kid]

I do see some Kelly tires for larger trucks, SUV, that some retailers are considering them as a premium tire. In the passenger line, I don't ever see anything compelling.

 

[jstert]

although im happy so far, selling kelly tires as a premium tire is pure dealer hogwash, and does nothing for kelly's reputation. i was looking for a decent value tire for another easy 20k miles and still have enough tread left to give my 48k mile passat some trade in value. i was close to getting walmart gy until i found the kellys. i had put walmart gy on a 2004 toyota corolla in 2006 and got 50k trouble free miles, but recent reviews were less flattering. after discovering kelly i called akron and worked my way through the phone to eventually speak with a tech rep, not marketer, who was really helpful, which made me feel good about the kellys.

 

[jstert]

quick update on my 2013 passat's 4 kelly edge a/s: mpg is up (yes i know with warmer weather gas formula changes) to 28 mpg suburban, 38 mpg highway (on recent mass to dc drive at 5mph above speed limit, perfect high 60s f temp). the car sat in mass for 5 weeks while i was overseas through warming, then snow, then warm again, and the kellys held their air pressure perfectly.

 

[CincyDavid]

I'm no fan of Goodyear tires, but oddly enough I've done well with Kelly tires...Explorers, Navigator 800S and Navigator Gold. My GY Invicta GS were scary in rain, Eagle RS-A wore badly and Wrangler ST on a Gr Cherokee had such soft sidewalls that the tire tech had trouble getting them seated on the bead.

To be fair, I also like Uniroyal, so I don't necessarily have to drive on tires from high-end brands.