Specific Tire Model Feedback Wanted

[--Aaron--]

Those Continentals linked in my above reply are persuading to me because my fiance's father bought an 05 Taurus brand new which came with the Continental brand tire. He got 65K out of them and they still had an even 2/32 remaining!!

[Black Betty]

He's got around 20k on the them and no complaints, now he does have a toyota 4x4 he uses in the winter other then light dustings which he said they are fine he has no reviews.

I've always had goodluck with Nello tire here in York and they do great alignments. Had both of mine done there and Mike got his there. And they are close to Lehman incase something breaks like a rear bolt because it's all rusty like on the wifes car. They ran down grabbed it and it was only like $5. Super cool people!

Do a quick search on google dots on tires

"Since it is very hard to make a tire that is perfectly balanced, some tire manufacturers apply yellow dots that indicate the tire's light balance point and serve to help you balance the assembly while mounting the tire. The yellow dots should be aligned with the valve stem on both steel and aluminum wheels since this is the wheel's heavy balance point. This will help minimize the amount of weight needed to balance a tire and wheel assembly. So usually, whenever you see a yellow dot, match it up with the valve stem.

This is always true except in cases where a red dot also appears in the lower sidewall. The red dot indicates the high point for both radial runout and radial force variation. As I'm sure you know, not only is it hard for tire manufacturers to make a perfectly balanced tire, it also is very difficult to make a perfectly round tire.

Tires tend to have high spots and low spots. The difference between the high and the low is called radial runout. Radial runout changes the radius of the rotating assembly, causing it to raise and lower the vehicle as it rolls along. That gives the perception that the tire is "hopping'' or "bouncing'' down the road and ends up delivering a rough ride to the driver and irregular wear to the tread.

etc....."

wow great info dave. I've been working at a national tire chain for 3 years now and have NEVER hear this. I do know about the yellow dots though. I always figured it was just something for the manufacturer.

Aaron when you get your tires balanced make sure they have a road force balancer. Even at my work we dont so I'll balance them at my work on a normal balancer then take them over to the dealer I interned at and road force balance them there.

As far as the Eagle GT's I like mine although I've only put 3000 miles on them. I do not like conti's or kumho's. I had kumho solus hp4's and contiextreme contacts. Both wore extremely prematurely (but even), both had extremely soft side walls as well. The conti's had a considerable amount of road noise too.

Keep in mind if your balancing them with sticky weights you should have them rebalanced reguarly because sticky weights have a tendency to move even a little.

I'd say the Eagle GT's or either of the dunlops Dave listed are a good choice.

[--Aaron--]

Excellent John.

So you have the Eagle GT's? Are they quiet/comfortable/responsive?

The Sumitomos always had a really sloppy feeling sidewall.

Also, that was some very educating material Dave posted above. I would've never thought.

[Black Betty]

Excellent John.

So you have the Eagle GT's? Are they quiet/comfortable/responsive?

The Sumitomos always had a really sloppy feeling sidewall.

Also, that was some very educating material Dave posted above. I would've never thought.

They are quiet and comfortable. For the last year I've been driving on Nankang NS-2's (what came on the car) and I was able to deal with the suckiness until recently when in two seperate instances I had to stop quicky (not slam the breaks) at abotu 40-50 mph and I managed to lock up all 4 tires. Those two incidents were enough to make me throw the GT's back on. I haven't had an alignment yet so I don't want to comment on the responsiveness yet.

After selling tires I will say that personally if I ever need a high performance or even just a nice tire I will stay with the name brands Michellin, good year, dunlop, bf goodrich (made my michelin) ect. The only exception is Falken because the 912 and 512 are some really nice tires (but they wear fast)

[--Aaron--]

Great, your feedback has been really helpful!

Would you mind throwing a picture up of how the tires look on your car?

[czar]

When I bought this wagon (95 turbo 850) it had Khumos on it.

They quickly wore down and I bought 2 Pirelli P6's (maybe I should have bought 4 but winter was coming and I just wanted something new and better for the drive wheels)

The Pirelli's did not last long at all (under 15k miles) but they did well in the snow.

Then I ended up buying a brand new set of Khumo's Solus'...I absolutely HATED those tires! I doubt I will ever buy Khumo's again...I had Khumo's on a Mazda 626 I had years ago and don't remember ever having a problem with them...but on the 850 they were worthless...imo..

So, when I did all of my suspension stuff a month or two ago I bought 4 Firestone FR710's. It is an all season touring tire. I am happy with them so far

I don't know if any of you have run these Firestone's but they weren't too pricey (about $100 each)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=FR710

i didn't buy them through Tirerack by the way. Small independent tire shop here in Pittsburgh gave me a much better deal than Tirerack

Is it just me or do these front wheel drive Volvo's eat up tires? I have spent a small fortune on tires in the 3 years I have owned this car

I sure hope these Firestone's do better.

[Matty Moo]

Anyhow, I have successfully killed the craptastic Sumitomos to the point where the middles are pretty worn down.

I remember you posting some time last winter or fall about the middles wearing and you mentioning you were running 39 or 40psi. You should think about pressure issues rather than shit tires or an alignment. You can run anything from the cheapest private label brand up to the very best, if you don't have the pressure dialed in right, you'll have wear down the middle.

I run Bridgestone G019's on my wagon. I have almost 25k on them and I'm still around 80% on tread.

[Black Betty]

Is it just me or do these front wheel drive Volvo's eat up tires? I have spent a small fortune on tires in the 3 years I have owned this car

I sure hope these Firestone's do better.

Combo of soft tires and too low of a load rating. Remember we have 3900 pound fwd cars. On the flip side the rear ends of these cars tend to be rather lite so if you are noticing premature wear make sure all 4 have the same tread depth. I've started to rotate my tires every oil change instead of the recommended 7500 miles.

I agree I've had many many sets of tires on the car. Thats why I decided on the Eagle GT's 50k tread wear warranty and since I bought them through a local tire chain it will be that much easier to process the claim if they wear early.

Aaron, what pictures would you like? Side profile or of the tread? Currently I just have them up front as i was running out of time at the shop one night and only managed to mount 2.

[--Aaron--]

When I bought this wagon (95 turbo 850) it had Khumos on it.

They quickly wore down and I bought 2 Pirelli P6's (maybe I should have bought 4 but winter was coming and I just wanted something new and better for the drive wheels)

The Pirelli's did not last long at all (under 15k miles) but they did well in the snow.

Then I ended up buying a brand new set of Khumo's Solus'...I absolutely HATED those tires! I doubt I will ever buy Khumo's again...I had Khumo's on a Mazda 626 I had years ago and don't remember ever having a problem with them...but on the 850 they were worthless...imo..

So, when I did all of my suspension stuff a month or two ago I bought 4 Firestone FR710's. It is an all season touring tire. I am happy with them so far

I don't know if any of you have run these Firestone's but they weren't too pricey (about $100 each)

http://www.tirerack....tireModel=FR710

i didn't buy them through Tirerack by the way. Small independent tire shop here in Pittsburgh gave me a much better deal than Tirerack

Is it just me or do these front wheel drive Volvo's eat up tires? I have spent a small fortune on tires in the 3 years I have owned this car

I sure hope these Firestone's do better.

They don't look too bad, honestly I think I have my heart set on the GT's. I hope yours work out for you!

I remember you posting some time last winter or fall about the middles wearing and you mentioning you were running 39 or 40psi. You should think about pressure issues rather than stuff tires or an alignment. You can run anything from the cheapest private label brand up to the very best, if you don't have the pressure dialed in right, you'll have wear down the middle.

I run Bridgestone G019's on my wagon. I have almost 25k on them and I'm still around 80% on tread.

I only had them over inflated by 5 psi over what Lehman suggested, according to them the crazy center wear should not have been what it is only having that much more. I agree with you completely my next set will stay right at 35 just to be safe. I obviously do not want this to happen again, especially with a more expensive tire.

The center wear is just nuts, it started and accelled very rapidly, I dropped pressure and it started to even out. A few K miles later it was too late, they had a very noticeable loss down the center.

My one's about bald in the middle which makes rain a little not fun.

Combo of soft tires and too low of a load rating. Remember we have 3900 pound fwd cars. On the flip side the rear ends of these cars tend to be rather lite so if you are noticing premature wear make sure all 4 have the same tread depth. I've started to rotate my tires every oil change instead of the recommended 7500 miles.

I agree I've had many many sets of tires on the car. Thats why I decided on the Eagle GT's 50k tread wear warranty and since I bought them through a local tire chain it will be that much easier to process the claim if they wear early.

Aaron, what pictures would you like? Side profile or of the tread? Currently I just have them up front as i was running out of time at the shop one night and only managed to mount 2.

I surely will rotate religiously around 3K once the new ones go on, Jason @ Lehman made a comment that our cars tend to eat tires a little strange pretty much no matter what. I don't know how true that is just saying......

I think with a solid suspension/steering/alignment setup tires are just tires and should last as long as they can when run properly.....who knows.

The warranty sure is attractive, main reason for wanting the GT's. That and the tread pattern's pretty neat looking.

Hmm, maybe just one of the sidewall, I'd like to see how the sidewall looks. My Sumitomos have a more rounded sidewall and make the car look higher than it is on the H&R's, IMO anyways. And possibly one of the tread with your wheel cocked one way?

I appreciate it!

Thanks for the feedback guys!

[Black Betty]

I surely will rotate religiously around 3K once the new ones go on, Jason @ Lehman made a comment that our cars tend to eat tires a little strange pretty much no matter what. I don't know how true that is just saying......

I think with a solid suspension/steering/alignment setup tires are just tires and should last as long as they can when run properly.....who knows.

The warranty sure is attractive, main reason for wanting the GT's. That and the tread pattern's pretty neat looking.

Hmm, maybe just one of the sidewall, I'd like to see how the sidewall looks. My Sumitomos have a more rounded sidewall and make the car look higher than it is on the H&R's, IMO anyways. And possibly one of the tread with your wheel cocked one way?

I appreciate it!

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I'll try to get some tomorrow for y ou. Too dark out now. The sidwalls are pretty square and the GT's have a rim protector so if you nudge a curb you wont scratch the rim. I did this once and the rim was fine. I was suprised to say the least. However if you hit the curb hard your gonna curb it still.

The manufactures always try to rate the tires with the highest tread life they can for marketing purposes. For example the Michelin Hydro edge claims to be a 90k mile tire and its easy to sell because you can say this tire might outlast the car ect.. But the amount of tread ware claims that come in are very very low. As a result I feel these tread wear ratings were either done on a very light car or they are just inflated.

[bigmay850]

seriously get the gt's! Ive had toyo proxy4 before gts

and they only lasted a year!

its was sooo scary driving in the rain!

ive had the gts on the rear for almost a year and barely any wear!

[Modus]

I run with Micheline winter tires Alpin PA3 as all seasons. It's almost classified as a taboo, all critics defiantly do not recommended it. But I have to disagree with the negative thoughts that I receive. I have 20k on them and I'm around 80% on the tread. 2 years old so far. I have had horrible results with all seasons in the wet. I do plenty of highway driving for work, love to travel in the left lane doing 70MHP 4 feet from a concrete divider. I needed a tire that's going to evacuate all the water it sucks up. A winter tire will surpass any all season tire for water evacuation efficiency. Those puddles love to pool around where you can't see them, hydroplaning resistance is what sells me.

As for the tire itself, has a huge psi margin great traction all around comfy not to loud and is also H speed rating. I like em.

Michelin Hydro edge, stay away from. I have had horrible results with those.

[jschaefer7406]

I only had them over inflated by 5 psi over what Lehman suggested, according to them the crazy center wear should not have been what it is only having that much more....I agree with you completely my next set will stay right at 35 just to be safe

Aaron,

Regardless of what Lehman says, 5 psi over spec is definitely enough to cause excessive center wear. Even 35 is high for a FWD model. I only run 34 on my AWD (which of course is a bit heavier) and have always had perfectly even wear.

I'm currently running Michelin Harmony tires (80k mile warranty). Been on there since spring '06 and are quiet and smooth. At 60k miles, they all still measure 6/32 straight across. Now granted, they are a touring tire, not a performance tire. But I couldn't ask for a smoother or quieter tire, especially one with such great wear characteristics. Michelin tires usually cost a bit more, but you get what you pay for. Just my experience, I'm sure someone will disagree .

Whatever you settle on, be sure to lower that pressure. I would try between 32 and 34 psi (assuming you don't drive around with the car fully loaded all the time ).

Good luck,

Joe

[--Aaron--]

I'll try to get some tomorrow for y ou. Too dark out now. The sidwalls are pretty square and the GT's have a rim protector so if you nudge a curb you wont scratch the rim. I did this once and the rim was fine. I was suprised to say the least. However if you hit the curb hard your gonna curb it still.

The manufactures always try to rate the tires with the highest tread life they can for marketing purposes. For example the Michelin Hydro edge claims to be a 90k mile tire and its easy to sell because you can say this tire might outlast the car ect.. But the amount of tread ware claims that come in are very very low. As a result I feel these tread wear ratings were either done on a very light car or they are just inflated.

Understood, take your time.

Thanks again for the explanations.

seriously get the gt's! Ive had toyo proxy4 before gts

and they only lasted a year!

its was sooo scary driving in the rain!

ive had the gts on the rear for almost a year and barely any wear!

Sounds like you like yours.

I just might have to snatch a set.

I run with Micheline winter tires Alpin PA3 as all seasons. It's almost classified as a taboo, all critics defiantly do not recommended it. But I have to disagree with the negative thoughts that I receive. I have 20k on them and I'm around 80% on the tread. 2 years old so far. I have had horrible results with all seasons in the wet. I do plenty of highway driving for work, love to travel in the left lane doing 70MHP 4 feet from a concrete divider. I needed a tire that's going to evacuate all the water it sucks up. A winter tire will surpass any all season tire for water evacuation efficiency. Those puddles love to pool around where you can't see them, hydroplaning resistance is what sells me.

As for the tire itself, has a huge psi margin great traction all around comfy not to loud and is also H speed rating. I like em.

Michelin Hydro edge, stay away from. I have had horrible results with those.

I hear ya, I do quite a bit of commuting for work as well so rain performance is very important to me. Snow.....eh, this year is the exception but generally we don't see enough to warrant snow specific tires. Although they would help in the little bit we do get.

Thanks for your input!

Aaron,

Regardless of what Lehman says, 5 psi over spec is definitely enough to cause excessive center wear. Even 35 is high for a FWD model. I only run 34 on my AWD (which of course is a bit heavier) and have always had perfectly even wear.

I'm currently running Michelin Harmony tires (80k mile warranty). Been on there since spring '06 and are quiet and smooth. At 60k miles, they all still measure 6/32 straight across. Now granted, they are a touring tire, not a performance tire. But I couldn't ask for a smoother or quieter tire, especially one with such great wear characteristics. Michelin tires usually cost a bit more, but you get what you pay for. Just my experience, I'm sure someone will disagree .

Whatever you settle on, be sure to lower that pressure. I would try between 32 and 34 psi (assuming you don't drive around with the car fully loaded all the time ).

Good luck,

Joe

Thanks alot for chiming in. Noted, I just didn't think 5 psi over would cause such a disturbance.

I will keep the new set around 33 or so.

I am on the same page as you get what you pay for, I am a believer. I can't wait to get a nice reputable, warrantied set of tires on the car!

Did you see my showroom thread? Jewels!!!! We are twins, almost.....

Hope you, the family and the cars are doing well!

[v4lve]

Not sure if it's how I drive or what, but the Eagle GT's wore out pretty quick for me. Great tire aside from the wear issue, nice and quiet, comfortable in the rain. Just keep whatever paperwork you get in case you need the warranty because after about 20-25k. I don't even pass the penny test (And yes my car was and is aligned, the wear is very even - just premature)