Recommended tires?

[DJ]

Hey, when I bought my mx3 this winter it came with a new set of winter tires... but now I need some summer tires before I destroy these ones. I was just wondering what brand of tire will hook up really well and last as long as I don't really beat on them (but i will anyways). They just need to be sumemer tires...not all season. Btw im using the stock 15" alloy rims for another year.
Thanks in advance! These blizzak winter tires just do not like to hook up the greatest not to mention they are going to pretty much melt if I don't change them soon.

[DJ]

I was suggested Falken
s Azenis ST-115 but it looks like they do not make 15". Anyone have an opinion on Toyo or Yokohama?

[goflutie]

Well seeing I used to be in the tire business, I can recommend a few brands. I just put on some Cooper Lifeliner SLE's and they are great...but they are more of an all season\touring a summer tire. Here is what I think:

Yoko's are very good...expect to pay some bucks though. Bridgestone, in my opinion, are not worth the price anymore....get Yoko's. Stay away from Uniroyal\Firestone...been bad tires for 20+ years and still are. Kuhmo's have been a reliable tire and some here have used them with good results. The new BFG Traction TA's look very nice and they come with a very good warranty for a v rated tire. Toyo again are pricey and the quality has gone down since I sold them. No Michelin's!!! Goodyear...well get some Cobra's from Cooper and your better off.

Some tips:

- You are not going to use a V rated tire and don't let anyone tell you that it is necessary. T rated are up to 118 mph and on this size of 15" it's not worth the extra money you pay just to get the performance rubber. On 17" + I would then look at some. Unless they come in at the same price example the new BFG's.

- Look at the UTGQ rating. This is the tire wear rating...the higher the number the better. The lower the number the quicker the tire will wear. Those Falken's mentioned above, and btw I haven't seen these yet so no comment by me, have a 360 rating. The Coopers I put on have a 620 rating. The Coopers will last almost twice as long in theory. I would hate to spend $150.00cnd + per tire only to have the wear out in a summer.

- Don't pass up all season tires just because they don't say perfomance. Look at the Cobra's and the Traction TA's...both state all season but have a really impressive performance grip not a touring grip.

- Look at the tread\grip. Do you want them to stick for cornering?? Are they just going to be an everyday driving tire?? Are you worried about hydroplaning in rain?? What is your driving like??

Well I can go on but this is getting to be long. Where are you in Canada?? If you want more info, email me at "sideways@canada.com"...I can point you in the right direction and maybe save you some cash.

[UoMDeacon]

Good post.

[nope-mx3]

I have tried various tires on my Mx3.

Toyo Proxes T1S+ : totally crap. wore out in 2 months with normal driving.

Falken tires: slippery when wet. poor treadwear.
not good for trackdays.

Goodyear Eagle F1: excellent tire. had 4 215/40-17 for 2.5 seasons, and the guy who bought the rims could use them for 1 more season. Highly recommended.

Pirelli P-Zero Nero: bow down for the king
This is without doubt the best tire I have ever used. Grips like nothing else, even when it`s wet.
If you can afford them, get them

nope-mx3

[thebonestockkid]

Originally posted by nope-mx3:
I have tried various tires on my Mx3.

Toyo Proxes T1S+ : totally crap. wore out in 2 months with normal driving.

Falken tires: slippery when wet. poor treadwear.
not good for trackdays.

Goodyear Eagle F1: excellent tire. had 4 215/40-17 for 2.5 seasons, and the guy who bought the rims could use them for 1 more season. Highly recommended.

Pirelli P-Zero Nero: bow down for the king
This is without doubt the best tire I have ever used. Grips like nothing else, even when it`s wet.
If you can afford them, get them

nope-mx3

i have T1S's, i think theyre amazing. in fact this is the first BAD thing i have ever read about them.. did you bother getting an alignment when you got the tires? i think theyre awesome and theyre totally kick *** in the rain. yeah they wear somewhat fast, but if they wore out in two months, odds are its NOT the tires fault, unless you did over 15000+ hard kms. just my opinion tho lates

[DJ]

What kind of road noise do the yoko's have? I tend to take corners fast and all around drive like an ******* alot of the time... so will those grip as good as falken and won't be noisy on the highway?

[MX3-Freak]

Personally, I've had excellent luck with every michelin that I bought for any car that my family has owned... but others have had problems with them? To me, they always made the most well constructed tire, but what do I know?

[thebonestockkid]

not much road noise at all with the t1s's, and they grip really well, especially when heated up a bit so i found anyway lol i would have went with falken azenis but ive heard mixed opinions on them and not so great ones regarding wet weather, so i went with the toyos

[goflutie]

Hey guys...

First of all I should just make clear that my opinions from the tires I know are for the climate I am from. Depending on what weather conditions are around you should determine what tires you to buy...cold, warm, extreme heat, humidity, concrete or pavement roads...blah blah...so just understand that. So when I said no Michelins, doesn't mean they are a bad tire but with recent tread designs\constructions and especially price, they are falling way behind the pack. And with DJ being from Canada, not sure where though, Michelin is not a good Canadian tire...exception does go out to their winter only tire the Alpin...nice alternative to Blizzacks, but get them off the car as soon as it gets warm...won't stand up like Blizzacks to heat but are better on ice.

If you are a hard driver like myself but want a extremely quiet highway tire, definitely go with the Cooper Lifeliner SLE's...don't even know that you have a tire on. Because they are more of a touring tire I was very surprised on how well they cornered and stick to the pavement...very smooth. You are not going to get a performance tire that is quiet. It is not in the tread design of performance tires to be quiet...so you have to give and take a bit to determine what you really want.

Here are a few tires (205/55/15 stock) that I think are a good buy for both highway quietness and performance:

Cooper Lifeliner SLE: http://www.coopertire.com/us/en/ProductDetails.asp?ProdType=Passenger&id=202

BFGoodrich Traction T\A: http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/bfgapp/catalog/tires/tractiontahv.jsp

Yokohama Avid H4S: http://www.yokohamatire.com/TireIntro.asp?TireID=48

The Cooper's should be about 25% cheaper than the other two but the other two will give you slightly more performance in the corners. Most performance goes to Yoko's and the quietest will be the Cooper's. This is stickly based on tread design and the rubber compound of the tire. Again on how much you will notice, could be very marginal depending on how you drive and the roads your on. One thing to want nice cornering but where...on city streets at 30mph or on the highway at 70?? Dealing with 15" tires, I don't think you could go wrong with either one of the three mentioned above. Once you go bigger and wider, thats a whole different story but on these smaller puppies, I think it will be minor.

Another two performance tires to look at are the Goodyear Eagle F1 and the Cooper Cobra GTZ. Same performance...Cobra's cheaper.

You see I really value the performance\cost ratio, that I why I recommend Cooper's. I've used them personally and sold them for cars ranging from family cars to BMW's and Mercedes...great performance for the price. Just to let you know, I paid $110.00cnd for the SLE's, the BFG's were $150.00cnd and the Yoko's were $175.00cnd. That made up my mind.

One more note, the BFG's and the Yoko's are directional tires, this alone makes for a better performer and handler.

Hope this helps. If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks

Dave

[girliegirl]

How long to tires usually last??like miles wise. or does it depend on the tire brand.

[mazdubber]

I happen to think that the Bidgestone SO3's are one of the best tires on the current market. They are a bit pricey, but having driven race cars all of last summer that were equipped with SO3's I'd say they're worth every penny.

[ikarus1]

Kumho 711 $50 USD each locally in 205/55-15s
that is $69 dollar CAD!!

ratings are 320 treadwear AA traction A temp...in other words, in all areas you will not beat the price vs performance of this tire...period.

They also sell them on tirerack.com w/ a hazard warranty. If you live in canada or the northern US, get a set of winter wheels and tires, but it's close to summertime now so who cares?

Why bother having a performance car if you are going to put all-seasons on it?

<small>[ April 22, 2004, 09:49 AM: Message edited by: J Love ]</small>