Whenever walking through the parking lot at work, for as long as I remember I catch myself looking at people's tires.

Whether it's to see how bald the tire is, how uneven the wear is or even the brand of tire.

And I can't help but get upset when I see bald tires and how often I see tire brands I've never heard of before. Like today I saw a brand or something called Douglas, and the other day I saw a brand called Champion.

Now I understand people have budgets but when I see cars with big aftermarket 20 inch rims and cheap tires I can't help but think they can't afford the 20s and if they got 18s could have bought some higher quality tires.

End rant, my apologizes, just drives me crazy when people don't put any thought into their tires and I'm not just talking when there is snow on the ground.

 

I always look at tires on other vehicles. Problem is for most they are just that, tires. They dont care what the brand is, and believe all tires are the same. They are usually out to get the cheapest best deal on them. They are usually the same people that never check them for wear, psi either.

 

after putting on a pair of summer tires; I became a tire nut and always look at other peoples tires.

can tell when some one just got their 5.0 mustang

 

Ya, it's a progressive expense. As you start getting better and better tires it becomes tough to go back and tires obviously get pricey.

I went summer/winter a couple years ago and started with some middle of the line summers and now I have michelin super sports and the ride quality is ridiculous in all summer conditions.

I don't know how many hydroplaning accidents my buddy tells me about who is a state trooper and how many violations he'll write after the accident for having improper equipment. (i.e, meaning bald tires)

 

I've been trying to convince a friend of mine that's time for new tires on his car. His excuse: He doesn't drive it in the winter so it's not a problem.

Really, the only cars I see with "good brand" tires are the ones that came with those tires stock. Otherwise, my experience has been the same as yours, pits.

 

I won't be replacing the Goodyears on my Focus with the same tire unless they justify the price.

I will probably go with a moderate tread wear All-Season because I drive a lot.

 

I was at Discount Tire over the weekend getting my wheels and tires mounted, and I was shocked at the amount of people that came in and had no idea what tire size they currently have, what belongs on the car, or which tire to purchase. One father was with his son and he asked him what they should get - between an off-brand cheapest economy Yokohama tire or a mid-range name brand Yokohama tire.

I was just cringing at the lack of respect some people have for something that they could literally depend their life upon.

Speaking of, did anyone hear that sad story of an IU student heading back to Chicago and one of the car's tires blew out?

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/05/...na-university/

I would never skimp on tires. Never.

 

I generally buy name brand... but wouldn't say I'm a snob per say. I do see people buying the cheap stuff like some of the off-brands you mentioned... but I don't judge b/c I don't know their financial priorities. As was mentioned, for most people, a tire is a tire.

 

After the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 tires wear out, I'll probably be looking at the Michelin Pilot Super Sports or the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11A.

 

V12 on the Acura DD
and RS3 for street-NT01 for the track on the S2000

Basically a FWD sedan doesn't need an RS3, since I won't be drivign it near the limit and the V12 is a great all purpose tire (had Conti DW before)

 

I would be if I had good tires on my car

I think the tires right now run at about $90/tire. But hey they aren't that bad, but then again I've never driven with good tires haha so I'm missing out a lot......

Like james may said, theres no fun when you can never get close to limits in cities. Well these tires you can without going ridiculously over the speed limit

 

I've been stuck on HP tires since 1989. I had several really good educational sessions with a tire store employee and never looked back. Now it's become an obsession.
I'm always amazed at the shit people run on their cars. Especially those who will shell out $40+K for a car, but refuse to spend more than $500 for tires.

:idiots:funny how some people are unclear on the concept of the most important safety/performance device on their vehicle.

Nothing comes between your car and the cold hard pavement, but a good set of tires.

 

All awesome posts, another thing that's crazy when I hear is when someone will say that they have good tires on their car and say, "Oh ya, I got some Bridgestones on my car"

When you just name the manufacturer of the tire without the model it is insane how many people think there is only Michelins, or Bridgestones or etc and don't actually know anything about the actual model from that manufacturer.

They think all Michelins or Bridgestones are created equal.

 

I think the majority of people in the states don't want to dedicate the time, energy and brain-o-power it takes to understand the complexity of something like a tire. They see car tires as a burden to their wallet and schedule. Thus the reason I see people end up in the ditch everytime it snows here in Portland.
Forget about the dedicated snows, if they would have simply replaced their tires in the fall (or checked them monthly as they should), they wouldn't be sliding around on a set of baldies...

End Rant

 

I changed from those Potenzas to the Pilot Super Sports. I recommend the Michelins. Full disclosure: I'm biased toward Michelins, but it is because with every vehicle I've owned Michelins always rode smoother, wore better, and had better grip.

edit: Like some of you stated above I too when I see a "nice" car on cheap tires. My rule of thumb has always been, if you can't afford the maintenance then you can't afford the car. Putting cheap tires on a nice car is skimping out on maintenance IMO.

 

I do as well. I tend to notice shit like that.

 

I check out tires on other cars more or less for wear. I don't go with no name tires but also don't spend the money for top dollar ones either. Most likely there are many good choices in the middle.

For our DD's we have used bridgestones and have gotten decent mileage out of them. I am more educated about the numbers on the tires and what they mean. For the DD, we don't need high performance tires.

Now, for the 911, i have sumitomo htrz III's. They are really inexpensive tires but they are rated very well. I do not track them and don't plan on it. But, if i did, i would choose a much better tire to burn off on a road course.

 

I don't look too much but once it caught my eye how a G35 had the same Continentals I have on my I30. It is ridiculous how people won't spend the money on good tires if they have a decent car. Like my friend with a '12 Scion tC wore out his Toyo Proxes in a year (car has a little more than 15k miles) and he complains that the tires suck and its not his problem when he does crazy cornering and peels out constantly. Now we all tell him to get new tires and he says he is just going to ride on the bald ones as long as he can, which scares me because of his driving style especially in wet conditions. This is when he lives with family with some extra money since he works full time, and he just bought a moped and parts for it. Although I do try to convince him to get what I have (Continental DWS) since they made a huge difference in how much I enjoy driving my car from the extra grip compared to the ones on my car when I got it.

 

I think for most people in general, car maintenance goes over their head. It's a technical topic and in our sanitized society, the knowledge that used to be passed down from father/son working on cars has disappeared.

And there's also no shortage of crooked businesses willing to take advantage of people's ignorance. I had a friend who kept getting sold "top of the line" Michelin MXV4 Energy tires "because that's what Acura recommends" by her dealership. I can't believe they charge people real money for those pieces of trash.

I also get frustrated at how many people don't rotate their tires. On a FWD, it is so important but I would say less than half of car owners do any kind of rotation. So that starts most people down the path of buying 2 tires at a time for the life of the car.

 

I mostly buy Toyos and Pirellis.

 

Folks don't care and rather trust an "expert" at any store that probably knows only a little bit more than the actual customer about tires at some places.

As far as being a brand snob goes, I'm very weary of off-brand tires such as the cheap 45 dollar tires that some people put on their cars from random brands! I've been through a few sets of tires and compounds, grooving, etc make a large difference in the way the car drives and it's safety. I highly doubt many of these brands actually do research and testing in what to do and probably pick an arbitrary design that there is a mold of.

Personally I feel that the ratings system such a 540AA and such should improve every decade to raise the bar on the minimum saftey requirements. Right now a grade C is assigned to a pretty crappy tire and is DOT approved. I highly doubt that car companies would use these but some tire stores do sell them. Any sort of lack of maintenance and that tire will blow out easily.

 

I'm not a tire snob towards strangers' cars, except when they are nice high performance cars with generic or cheapo tires.
I'm a tire snob with regard to tires on my family's cars. The worst tires I've had on any car were the OEM tires-- usually Michelins or Bridgestones -- that wear more slowly at the expense of traction at the limit. The replacement tires are usually ridiculously speed-rated (like the V-rated minivan tires ) name-brand UHP tires with better dry traction for a lower cost than the OEM tires.

 

I don't look at other peoples' tires. I mean, really? I do pay attention and do research when it comes to mine, however. I will not hesitate to buy the next tier down if it can be demonstrated that I can have similar performance and save money.

For example, for my first CTS-V, after spending almost $2k twice on the excellent stock Michelin PS2s (and they are a match made in heaven for this car), I decided to spend less money on tires. Bought Hankook Ventus V12s for less than half the price. Got 80% of the performance and longer tread wear. Too bad they were tough to balance initially, but once done, they were solid. That said, I'm going for Pilot Super Sports next time--better performance for slightly less money.

 

I wanted to get some really nice 19" Volk wheels for my car last summer but after realizing how much some good tires were gunna run me, I decided against it.

Instead I went with 18" ronjon legends and wrapped them in potenza re-11's. By far the best tire ever period imo. I also have a set of potenza pole position for fall/winter. There is no such as hydroplaning with those tires lol. Although I don't necessarily need such a high performance tire on my car, it gives me peace of mind knowing that I have them, especially when pushing the car.

The headbanger is that I only paid 800 bucks for the rims and I think like 1100 for the re-11's and close to 900 for the pole positions

I don't understand how ppl can cheap out on tires, it's the only thing making contact with the road! Brakes and tires, the only two things that make the car stop, can't cheap out on those.

 

 

I usually go with Yokohama on my car, have AVID ENVigors on it right now.
Got a great deal on some Sumitomo HTR A/S on my wife's Civic & have been really impressed with them for a cheaper tire.

 

I'm definitely not a snob, but I tend to look at tires quite a bit. If I see a car or truck that I like, I always check to see what it's riding on. I try to do my homework as far as bang for the buck and that's why I'm running Nitto Motivos on the TSX right now. Decent brand, decent reviews, decent price. So far so good. My brother is running a set of NT555s on his modified S10 and I was impressed with them, but thought they might be overkill on the TSX. The Motivos were $100 less per tire than the stock Michelins, and I feel they ride and handle better. Considering I drive back and forth to work on these during the summer, they should hold up fine. We'll see.

I have Hankook iPikes on a set of steelies for the winter. These tires absolutely kick ass in any crappy weather I have thrown at them.

I've got GoodYear Fortera HLs on the TrailBlazer. They were OK, but the price was right there also. Got them delivered for about $120 each. I most likely will not get them again. I'm certain there are better choices.

I have BFGoodrich Radial T/As for the Oldsmobiles. With the stock wheels in stock sizes, they are a decent tire for what they are. They ride nice, wear well, look good on the older cars, and they handle way better than some old school Firestone Wide Ovals or GoodYear PolyGlas GT bias plys!!

 

I think that sums it up the best IMO...

 

A new 2G RL member just put 20"s on his "new" flagship. Tires? Lionhart...

I don't suppose 91 octane will go in the tank either.

 

I get A/S's for our vehicles, in the 80's and 90's I used and recommended Pirelli for low end (P4, P44, P400, P500), and Dunlap for mid end (D60A2, SP5000).

Lately I've become more open to other brands I would never consider in the past, put Kumho SR21 on our Pilot (after three sets of the Goodyear OEM Integrity). So far they have been much better than the Goodyears which wore well (80K miles) but were also noisy.

My TL has been more difficult for tire chooses, the OEM EL42's were garbage, next set were Avon A/S550 that were decent in performance but very loud as they wore. Next tried Continental ExtremeContact DWS were great but decided to try a set of General AS-03 to try to get 40K miles. So far the Generals (owned by Continental) have been almost as good as the DWS.

Never liked Michelins, always seemed pricey for the performance I got with them.

The big problem today with tire makers is the very wide range of models and choices . Remember in the 70's and 80's when it was simple (high end Pirelli was the P7, Goodyear was the VR50), now a days there are nine different PZero models alone. It's confusing for the average car owner.

 

I had to do a google search because I've never heard of Lionharts.

It's pretty bad when your brand's website is on the 2nd page of Google's results.

https://www.google.com/search?q=who+...w=1280&bih=939

 

Funny story, I always check out tire sizes and wheels in parking lots... for obvious reasons, lol. So I see a set of 19" RonJon's on a 3G TL and I'm scoping them hard, bending down to see the size of the tires. The owner walks up to the car and gives me a look like "yeah, why you sweatin my wheels", I just gave him a thumbs up and walked away.

 

I'm a Michelin Fan.

THAT WAS YOU!!!!

 

^ran those Yoko's on the RDX. Great tire (had to take them off when the wife picked up a nail in the sidewall with 45% tread left). My only complaint was the grip could have been a little better. Otherwise, for the price they were top notch.

Running Michelin Pilot Sport A/S plus on both vehicles right now.

 

And their website is just a .jpg static graphic...

 

I've had Yokos on most of my cars. Kumho Ecsta on my CB7 Accord. Never had a problem with any of the Yokos. I was between the AVID & the Goodyear Eagle GT, AVIDs had better reviews & better traction reviews, so I jumped on those.

 

I find it hilarious when cars are equipped with run-flats from the factory due to no spare tire/donut, and cheap out and just get regular tires.

 

Everyone I know with run-flats HATES them. They all bought better tires and a roadside service.

 

I don't care what other people have on their car...I only care about what I have on my car...nothing but the best!

They do this because they don't like the run-flats, not to cheap out....

FYI - I have run-flats on my Mini. I use them for the winter with the OEM wheels, and have Summer performance non run-flats I use for the rest of the year. I carry with me a can of slime with a compressor, and a spare tire just in case. My summer tires that aren't RFT's cost more than the stock RFT's, FYI. Non RFT's offer a better ride, plain and simple. Although I've been hearing great things about the Bridgestone Potenza RE760 RFT's, a lot of people saying the ride does not feel like you're driving on RFT tires, which is definitely a step in the right direction!

 

I have Hankooks and they've ended up being excellent tires, I had never heard of them until I was shopping for tires.



Rubber is just rubber, right?