Best all season tires?

There is a lot of discussion about replacing the OEM tires on the Modifications forum. One of the most recent threads is titled Tire Upgrade.

Hope that helps.

 

A lot of members like Nokian WR-G tires. These seem to do well for traction and rolling resistance.

I use Micheline MXV4+ Energy tires in the stock size. Micheline doesn't make these anymore, but they are making an MXV4+ Primacy in the same size, and it should be very similar. My Michelines have worked very well in our snowy Michigan winters.

If you live somewhere really bad, you might want to use dedicated snow and ice tires.

Tom

 

I'd happily give up 10% of the mileage in exchange for excellent traction - the integrities really are that bad. The best mileage in the world isn't much consolation if you're in an accident. I can heartily recommend the TripleTreds, though I have not yet had the opportunity to test them out in the snow. Still, they're an 'all season', not a snow tire.

 

10%??? Where did you read that?

In any event, the TripleTreds are Consumer Reports, Tire Rack, and Tire Rack customers' highest rated passenger all season tire.

And Consumer Reports rates the TTs' rolling resistance as "Very Good".

EDIT: But you might want to consider CR's next highest rated passenger all season -- the Michelin X Radial, which has CR's highest rolling resistance rating of "Excellent".

 

Maybe consider CR's next highest rated passenger all season tire -- the Michelin X Radial, which CR rates as having a rolling resistance of "Excellent".

 

Being a Dutchman, my vote goes to the Vredestein Quatrac 2 and Quatrac 3 (made in Holland). These are all season tires with low rolling resistance. They have passed the requirements for snow tires. I use Vredestein Quatrac 2 in the size 205/55 R16. The grip on the road is awesome, but tirewear is a bit high. I expect I have to replace them at 40.000 miles. In the US they may be a bit hard to find.

 

Consumer Reports' Ratings Passenger All Season Tires

In case you haven't seen it, attached is Consumer Reports' ratings for passenger all season tires. It was published in its November 2005 issue.

My apologies for attaching it as a Word file, but that's the only way my limited computer skills allowed!

Good luck.

 

Really? What have you heard?

I haven't had mine on that long, but I have not noticed a difference in fuel economy yet.

Mike

 

I talked to a guy at one of our local tire shops who claimed that almost every triple tred set he has sold has come back in about 6 months (after some initial tire wear) with complaints of noise. Any comments on that??
He emphasized that they were great tires in every other way, and that he would gladly sell them to me, but with that disclaimer...
Jim

 

That's one of the things that sold me on the Micheline tires: they are very quiet. I've heard that the TTs are noisier, but have never tried them, so I can't say.

Tom

 

TripleTreds Have CRs' Best Noise Rating

Consumer Reports, in the Ratings Chart I linked above, rates the TripleTreds' noise as "Excellent" -- its best rating.

I have had TripleTreds on three cars now, including one with over 40,000 miles on the TTs. And I have never had a problem with noise from the TTs.

However, I believe that nyprius, the Chatter that started that great thread "Tire Upgrade", has recently reported that he has noticed increased noise when his TTs' wore down to near replacement time. I suspect that may be a natural consequence of wear?

 

I paid approximately 475, but I traded in my Integritys. If I recall correctly, they gave me 100 credit for those. So, they were 140ish each mounted and balanced, give or take. They do cost more than the Integritys, in fact, they cost about double.

I have liked them so far. They seem slightly quieter than the Integritys (to me) and they handle better. On the freeway, cross winds seem to have only about half the effect on stability when compared to the OEM tires. They do have a stiffer sidewall and a higher load rating which translates to a slightly stiffer ride. I really only notice when hitting a sharp edge, such as uneven concrete joints.

Nokian used canola oil in the rubber compound for the WR-G2, which they claim reduces rolling resistance. I can still get 48 MPG (the same as with the Integritys) running them at 36 PSI all around. My wife only gets 45, but that's not the tires I have not tried them at a higher PSI yet. Also, I only have about 3,500 miles on the car, so it's not at its optimum yet.

The big thing for me is snow and ice traction, at which the Nokians are very good. I had the regular WRs on my Nissan Maxima and liked them. The only complaint I had was they were rated at 50K miles, but I only got 32K before they were down to the wear bars. That could be in part, because the Nissan has 265 HP, which was used regularly

Mike

 

The tire noise makes it so that blind people can hear the Prius, and not get run over

 

We used to run tires like that on our Jeep. We called them "gravediggers": voovoovooovovooovoovoovovooo as you drove down the road. Ah, back when gas was 17 cents a gallon, full service.

Tom

 

I have had the Nokian WR G2s for about 9,000 miles now and I love them. MUCH better handling in rain and snow than the stock Integrity tires. I may have lost about 1 to 1.5 MPG. I currently average 47-49 mpg in the summer and about 46-47 in the winter. PSI 42 front, 40 back. Stock wheels.