Re: Tire Brands: Good, Bad, Wretched

I am a member of Consumer Re****ts 'talking tires' board.  This group
answers 
all areas of questions on tires, and occasionally chats with the CR techs 
who are actually testing the tires whose ratings appear every Fall in
their 
magazine.  Here are some summaries, based on some of the subjects raised
in 
this board.

++CR does have by far the most thorough tire tests out there, including 
testing of treadwear and traction on snow and ice.  Their results are 
usually worth looking at, as are Tire Rack's.

But the way CR tests tires means that they only test one subset of tires a

year, and it is usually at least 4-5 years before that subset is
re-tested. 
As a result, many of the tires listed in their test results are now 
discontinued, and some fairly new and exciting tires (the General Altimax 
being but one of many examples) will now go months and even years before 
test results are released on them.  As an example, results on 'H' and 
'V'-rated performance all-season tires that they tested were released just

over 18 months ago.  But already, over half of the 'H'-rated tires have 
either been discontinued or supplanted by a better tire from that brand. 
There are already (at least) about a dozen tires in the major national 
brands that should and would be in those test results.  But it will be 
almost 2 1/2 years before that sub-set and all their new tires have the 
latest test results released again.

++Amongst dealers who sell the tires (whose priorities may be different
than 
ours, but who can't be ignored because they do sell them), the 'Toyo'
brand 
has been at the top of their satisfaction list for eight consecutive
years, 
an impressive achievement.  Toyo has a VERY solid new tire for your car,
the 
Versado LX, and is about to introduce a new tire for trucks and SUV's
soon. 
Sadly, Toyo is not sold through any national chain, and (like General in 
some places) can be hard to locate a retailer.

By the way, the Continental brand has finished dead last in that same
survey 
for more than a couple of years now.  That should also get your attention.

++Consumer Re****ts has tested the Falken Ziex ZE-512 more than once, and
has 
placed it at or near the top of its rankings each time.  The 512 though is

also being discontinued nationally, and will soon be sold only through the

afore-mentioned Discount Tire.  In its place is the new Falken Ziex
ZE-912. 
It also looks to be very impressive at a good price.  Our tire board was
FAR 
less impressed with the 512 than the CR engineers were, but the 912 has 
seemed better so far.  The 912 is also sold at Sears Auto.

++One of our rules is to never make generalizations on any one tire brand.

Be it Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Sumitomo, Cooper, B F Goodrich or 
whomever, all of them sell tires that would be considered between good and

excellent and some that would be considered far less so.  It is no
different 
than going to a tire store, and basing your whole feeling about that chain

on the one tire you bought there, especially if it was a cheap dud.

But I know that is what many people do  A typical quote follows: "I ain't 
buyin' tires no more from 'such-and-such place.'  That one set was crap." 
When what really happened was they made a poor (and usually cheap) choice.

Had they chosen a better tire, they would be raving about both the brand
and 
the store.

++Another rule jives with what has been said here:  NEVER, EVER buy 
second-rate crap for tires.  Sadly, in these days of ultra-high gas
prices, 
I expect many more people to be running on onsafe tires for way too long, 
and then when they do get different ones, buy that second-rate garbage, 
simply because there isn't as much money left to buy tires.

All car owners must realize that you have to figure tires into the cost of

owner****p of a car, just like oil changes, wiper blades, etc.  The tire is

one of the most im****tant safety features on a car, since that is where
the 
car you drive and the road you drive on actually meet.  Scrimping on that
is 
no different than trying to scrimp on anything else.  Maybe you can do it,

but there is a price.

++I apologize for any people that may work for car dealers on this board, 
but on our CR board, at least in the year 2008, many of the worst 
experiences on tires come from people who buy them from these car dealers.

It seems that far too many new car dealers are appallingly ignorant 
concerning tires, be it brand or whatever.  Way too many of them have no 
idea what they are really selling.  The CR board almost unanimously 
recommends that you find a specialized tire dealer, either one in your 
community, like a Firestone Complete Auto Care or similar, or something 
on-line, but with knowledgeable people working with you.  BTW, a place
like 
Tire Rack does impress us with their tire experts.  That is one case where

you maybe do some research on-line, then talk to them on the phone before 
you make a selection.

Sorry for the length, but tires are an im****tant subject to me.


"Robert Cohen" <robtcohen@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:89514f40-dbde-4390-a166-20db968024c6@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirebran.jsp
>
> These are mostly/many brands I'm not expereinced with.
>
> I'm thinking currently of Fuzion and Continental as the least
> expensive, but ya gets what ya pays for, I suppose,  tho not always.
>
> Are there any sleepers in this list? (Low price/fine quality =
> sleeper)
>
> Terrifically bad pun intended: Some pricey brands imho are overly
> inflated.
>
> I won't mention one tho, hintt, it starts with "M" and speaks with
> ghostly appearing French accent
>
> Any body who has had a particularly good or particularly bad tire
> brand on his/her beloved hyundai heap deluxe, please clue moi, or
> forever have a slow leak that nobody can fix