Opinions on where to buy tires?

[lakersfan1]

I busted the HELL out of my front rim hitting a small boulder on the street going about 40 MPH. Didn't seem to do any undercar damage, but it did knock an entire 10"x4" chunk of metal out of my rim. Hence, that ruined my sidewall. Since my rears are almost bald, I figured I'd get a new set of tires all around.

I've got it down to either Kumho 712's or Continental ContiExtremeContact. Both are available through The Tire Rack, then I can get them mounted and balanced locally. Or both are available on order at Discount Tire for local store install. If I can get Discount to price them about what online order with shipping is, think it's worth going to Discount? Only reason I'm considering this is because Discount has those balance and rotate warranties, which would probably be worth the money. Anyone know if they also have an alignment warranty?

Also, if anyone has experience with the 712's or Continentals, experience would be appreciated. From what I can find out, the Contiental has a better warranty, wet handling, less road noise, and longer tread life. Only benefit I can see to 712's is the dry handling is supposed to be better. But I figured this could be different from tread width to tread width.

[mazdubber]

I don't know about the continentals. But my friend has a set of 712's on his 98 GSR. A decent tire for regular driving. Total **** for any type of spirited driving. VERY greasy tire. Noisy too.

[mitmaks]

i had good experience buying from Discount and also altons has some good cheap tires

[illicitQ]

i got the kumho 711s just recently i love em. tires.com try them

[jumboplay]

Khumo 712? Basically a gift from the heavens. Honestly they made me an awful driver...I want to test their abilities too often. I recommend them, excellent for the price...just don't do anything stupid! Hehe

[Taras]

I got a set of Conti Extreme Contact for my Winter tire. Stock GS size. In the summer I use Toyo T1S. By winter I mean, rainy colder weather here in BC, Canada. Not much snow here at all, may be a few days in a year. I bought them specifically for the rain. Had them one season and think that they are great. Better than Toyo FZ-4 I had a few years back. Of course these are just my opinions. Cont's are not bad in a dry either, had then in a snow too and they held up alright. Can't compare to a proper snow tire. I did manage to drive T1S's in a snow too, but don't ask about that. Got my Conti's from Tire Rack and was pleased with the service. UPS shipping to Canada sucked though. Next time I asked them to use FedEx.

[jumboplay]

I got Kumho Ecsta Supra 712s from tirerack.com. The prices are excellent, arrives fast...just watch out for the UPS border fees and all that. They are BRUTAL. If you're in the states it's fine, but to Canada, they are litterally sick. UPS sucks. Yuck.

[badger4prez]

I just bought a set of BfGoodwrench's Traction T/A tires and I love them so far, quiet tire that has good dry and wet weather grip.

[Gro Harlem]

Tirerack & Discount Tire Direct (tires.com) are both excellent. Tires.com has free shipping on anything you order which is nice, but their higher prices reflect that.

Tirerack doesn't carry falken, tires.com does.


As for tires, i'm a cheap bastard so I stick with the less expensive ones.

I've tried Falken ZIEX-512's, Falken Azenis Sports, Kumho 711's, Kumho 712's, Nitto 450's, BFGoodrich Traction T/A's, Yokohama Avid T4's on my own vehicles. (low profile tires)

I can say that the ZIEX 512's are GOOD in dry, GOOD in wet (almost as good as they are in the dry...its amazing) and decent in snow. They wear decently too. They are unidirectional though.

The Azenis are super amazing in the dry, pretty crappy in the rain (you have to be careful or you can lose the rear end) & wear VERY fast. Best suited for a spare set of autocross-only rims. These tires would be good drag tires, cheaper than slicks, almost as sticky, but best suited for the twisties.

Nitto 450's are OK in the dry, crap in the wet & are horribly made. If you hit a bump they will bubble & crack and eventually you'll have a flat. Stay away, they are overpriced garbage!

The BFGOodrich's are better than the 512's in the dry, a little crappier in the rain & good enough in the snow. They are more expensive so I don't see why you'd get them over the 512's, but they are a good tire worth considering.

The Yokohama Avid T4's are more of a pedestrian tire. Good dry traction, OK wet traction, OK snow, but squeal when pushed to their limits. They wear VERY slowly though which is why they are awesome. The ones I did have on my 15" wheels still have a crapload of tread left, and my sister has been using those tires for over 20k miles (i used them about 15).

[lakersfan1]

I ended up getting Falken Ziex 512 at a local Discount Tire. My brother-in-law knew one of the guys at one store was giving rock bottom prices on them to the local import guys. Originally, I got a quote at one Discount Tire for about $412 for all 4 just mounted and balanced with tax. When I went to the guy my in-law referred me to, he got me the same tires for $350 including mounting, balancing, tax ..... and he threw in the lifetime balancing warranty and the lifetime road hazzard warranty.

[nope-mx3]

Ive used Falkens, Toyo, Goodyear and Pirelli.
I`m probably never gonna use another tire than my Pirelli P-Zero Nero`s.

Falken and Toyo (T1S) was total crap.
The Goodyear Eagle F1`s was very nice, I used them for about 3 seasons, and the guy who bought my rims used them for 1 more.

The Pirellis are even better. Definetely the best tire I`ve found. (atleast in 215/35-18)

nope-mx3

[mitmaks]

i like bridgestone potenza very good tire

[mdavis]

Nitto 555s are amazing. Awesome launch traction, and excellent handling. They really, really make the car stick to the road. In a wide-open parking lot I was hard pressed to get them to even break traction cranking it 90deg. The wear reasonably fast, and aren't very good in rain (although they'll work if you have to use them) I never had any problems with them cracking or bubbling or anything like that... top quality... Would recommend them to just about anyone.