hleapha

My crappy Kuhmo Ecstas lost a few bands today on the drive into work. They were on the inside of the tire. They lasted 34,000 and I would say they limped through the last 10k. That is not what I was looking for in a tire.

I know there are tons of tire threads but most are people modding their cars and changing size and all that. I have to make a list of tires that I want, call around tire places to price the install, and get them installed in the next few hours. Forgive me for not being able to search because I am at work.

Here is what I am looking for:

1) Good value
2)Longevity
3)Gas mileage

The other criteria like wet grip, soft ride, and performance are secondary but still wanted. I'm trying to spend $500 or less.

What tires would you recommend? THANKS!

1islandparadise

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with those Kumho's. My wife's TSX had them, and we loved them. Although, they were very loud once the tread was wearing down low. We later replaced them ith Nexen N5000. The tires have a 60,0000 mile warranty from Nexen and are super quiet. We paid $355shipped for a brand new set of 4 on ebay and paid walmart to mount/balance the tires for less than $40. Her tire size is 215/50/17 where as our stock sizes are 235/45/17 so it shouldn't be to much more I would think. I hope this helps!

hleapha

Thanks for your reply.
I did quickly do a search and found AZiners liked the following tires for our TL's:

-Conti DWS: Seems to be consensus good tire at good price.

-Michelin Pilot Exalto's Great tire, maybe out of my price range

-Michelin Pilot A/S or A/S Plus: Great tire, probably our of price range

-Pirelli PZero Nero A/S: Don't know much about them

-Yokohama Avid W45: Don't know much

-General Excalim UHP: Only know that they have good value

-Nexen N5000 and N7000: good price and warranty

-Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110: ?

Would any of you add or subtract from this list? Which do you think would fit my criteria best? Also, I am considering going to a 245/45/17R since I believe our stock (05 Base) is 235/45/17R. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks!

nfnsquared

Conti DW if you don't need Snow.

#1 rated Max Performance summer tire on tirerack.com, $143 each:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ay.jsp?type=MP

GoldnKnight22

I'm a huge fan of the value you get with Hankook's. Look to see if you can score the Hankook Ventus HRII's in your size, I loved mine (these aren't an all-out economical tire however). Don't do the V12 Evo's, that's too performance-oriented for you.

hleapha

I went and got a set of Uniroyal GTZ's put on. I called several tire shops and they recommened that one for what I was looking for. I got my car alligned b/c it was wearing on the inside. Tires mounted/ballance/alligned was $600. This includes free balance/rotate/repair. The prices for the DWS were $650 to $690 not including a $60 allignment. I just didn't have the money right now. They said the Uniroyals would be about a 50k mile tire.

Also, they all said they would not recommend putting anything but a type W tire on. It is not just a number for speed. It was matched to the car for sidewall strength, spead, and the type of handling that this car will see. I had the Ecsta AST's that were a type H and they lasted 25k miles and had a big bubble on one sidewall and had belts comming off another.

The ride back to work was smooth and they felt nice. I know they aren't a Yoko or Michelin but hopefully they will last about as long and give a decent ride. I will update hopefully years down the road, and tell how they were.

Thanks for the help.

Bearcat94

I've personally ONLY shopped for "W" or "Y" and bought (twice now), "W"-rated.

"H" - . Wouldn't do it personally.

hleapha

Yeah, they were surprised a shop recommended and sold them to me. I went in with a little more knowledge even though tires are not my strong suit in my deck. I feel fine with my purchase. If I could have afforded more, I would have probably bought the Yoko Envigors.

Bearcat, if i'm not mistaken i saw you lived in Columbia from one of your posts. And that's a mascot in Cayce. I went to Kar Kare in West Columbia on Hwy 1 near the Bojangles (Triangle City). My buddy is a tire distributer and highly recommended them. The were a super nice, down home business. They were just as cheap as any where else i quoted (like Franks). Even when talking about alignment, he said that it wasn't that bad and wouldn't even recommend it if I had a $200 set of tires, but he said it would be worth it on a $500 set or more just b/c of the life it would save me. Judging by the wear difference on my old set, I think he was pretty spot on. Mentioned my rear pads were about done, which I know they are, but didn't even try to sell me some.

Bearcat94

I'm in Charlotte.