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Could those of you who are into cars please give me some advice on all-season tires? I have to replace the ones on my vehicle and have been surfing the Internet for reviews of the various brands. I have called around to find out the cost of those available in my neck of the woods. But I am finding it confusing.

The original tires are Michelins. I know they're good tires, but they are expensive. Am I paying for the brand name if I purchase them? Are there others that are just as good only cheaper?

I am not going to rush out and buy any too soon as I'm hoping that the Canadian Tire will put some on sale. They do so periodically. My timeframe is this: I want to have the new tires by the time the snow arrives to stay in December. (Notice my optimism re: snow not coming to stay until the last month of the year!!! ) Any help given will be much appreciated!

Well, a lot depends on what you want the tire to do.

The traditional hard Michelins lasted a long time, but they didn't tend to grip as well on snow and ice.

So there are also softer Michelins which grip better, but don't last as long.

And Michelin has tended to use a lot of siping and such to get their harder tires to grip better. So the ice and snow performance of Michelins in general is now pretty good.

Some people are claiming really good things for their silica formulas. Wearing long and gripping great, but I don't have any experience in it. I looked at that and I thought oh sure, they add sand to the mix when petroleum got expensive as a cheap filler and then they find it works pretty well.

There's no perfect tire, it's what do you want it to do. Like is this just a cold weather tire and and you are going to get a different set or is this tire going to be expected to handle rain and mud and gravel and whatever and not just snow and ice.

One thing I notice in tires is the expensive ones tend much more to be rounder than the less expensive. You can get tires in the cheper end that your car always bucks a bit even with the tires in balance, because the tires are a bit square. Some of the top end tires are getting so good they need very little balancing and are almost perfectly round. All things being equal, the rounder tire is better at maintaining road contact, traction, and control of the car, plus it puts less wear on the stearing components not to mention the driver.

So, what are you putting the tires on? My idea of a tire for a small car would be different than a high clearance truck.

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Marv
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For real exceptional driving in an all season tire, it would be very hard to beat the Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus. It's particularly good on ice for an all season.

A real good tire at a lot less would be the Goodyear TripleTred, but I've heard you give up a lot on ice compared to the Michelin.

Then there would be winter only tires. They grip the best and have the thread that will pack a lot of snow and get rid of it. No all season will really do as well as they do in snow and ice. Thing is, the compounds that stay soft at 30 below, also tend to be real soft at high temps and so they get eaten up if you use them for summer highway or gravel driving. Gravel tends to be hard on them even in the winter, and they do tend much more to throw larger pebbles, so if you do gravel make sure to slow way down when meeting people.

A good example of that would be Michelin's X-ice. Bridgestone's Blizzak would also be a good choice of a winter only tire, maybe even better than the Michelin people who put a set of them on really can't believe how good they are on ice.

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Marv
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Thanks for all that info, Marv. It helps! You asked:



It's a 1994 Dodge Intrepid. I expect the new tires will outlast the vehicle!

I don't want the expense of buying both winter tires and tires for the rest of the year. I don't do a lot of winter driving and the majority of it is on well-cleaned town streets and highways. if the weather is really bad and the roads are really slippery, I stay home!

Interestingly, my sister tells me they have made it mandatory to put winter tires on ALL vehicles in Quebec. That hasn't happened in my province yet, but it might, at which time I will be forced to buy two sets of tires for my car.

I have a 2003 Outback and was looking for a really good all-weather tire, and found it in the BF Goodrich Traction T/A. I ski and hunt, and the tire is great in snow and even sand, but is still a great on-road tire. I went with the higher speed rating because of all the curvy mountain roads I drive on too. The only time I had trouble was one time we went to the mountains and it rained for a couple days, then froze, then snowed 4." If the road would have been gravel, no prob, but it was paved. Cars were flying everywhere - 4X4's, snow tired vehicles, everything except the road grader with chains. I was able to use my 1st and 2nd gear to keep the tires moving but not sliding down the steep hill, but almost went in the ditch a couple times. We decided to get off the road and wait for the snowplow. As soon as it got the snow off, I was fine. I don't think anything but chains would have done any better.
It sounds like a good All Season would work for you, and I'd have a set of chains if you have to drive in really bad conditions. For me, even when chains are required, I get a pass b/c of my all wheel drive, my mud and snow-rated Traction T/A's, and the fact that there are almost no manufacturers making chains for the Outback.

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Στηθι εδραιος, ως ακμων τυπτομενος. - Ignatius |II Timothy 4:2| All Scripture is NKJV, unless a translation from the Greek text or otherwise noted.
M.A. Theological Studies (New Testament), Faith Seminary, Tacoma WA
Member, Evangelical Theological Society, North American Patristics Society.
Assistant Editor and contributing author of several published and forthcoming publications.

THIS IS A QUESTION FOR CLICK AND CLACK!

http://www.cartalk.com/ct/review/index.jsp

The call in show is Saturday, so maybe I will hear you on the radio!
These guys have helped thousands and only killed hundreds.
S

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Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" --
The apostle Paul, NASB

Don't drive like my brother!

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Στηθι εδραιος, ως ακμων τυπτομενος. - Ignatius |II Timothy 4:2| All Scripture is NKJV, unless a translation from the Greek text or otherwise noted.
M.A. Theological Studies (New Testament), Faith Seminary, Tacoma WA
Member, Evangelical Theological Society, North American Patristics Society.
Assistant Editor and contributing author of several published and forthcoming publications.

Professional opinions are available here:

http://www.tirerack.com/

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Cobra (the car, not the poisonous reptile)
all scripture is NRSV unless otherwise noted

Thank you for the information and the links, gentlemen! I appreciate it!

I learned a lot at tirerack.com and cartalk.com. Thank you for those links, gentlemen. I will refer to them again when other car stuff crops up.

In the end, I decided to purchase Goodyear Allegras as they came on sale at a garage in my neck of the woods -- buy three, get the fourth one free. I read many reviews about them and they got good ratings so I am pleased.

Thanks again for the help. I appreciate it!

The new "Woody"! It's called the "Splinter," but it has a lot more wood than it's predecessor.

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"The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him." (John 14:21)

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Here's the rear view. Smokin'!

_________________
"The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him." (John 14:21)

Forum Code of Conduct
The Bible NETWork Doctrinal Statement
The NET Bible Study Environment
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Biblical Eldership

THats FUNNY!!!
We ran with Goodyear tires on our race car, and they work pretty well on our truck. one should consider a tire compatible with location. What do you get more of, rain, sleet, snow, sun. A hard tire will be soft in Arizona where a softer tire would avail better traction in colder climates.

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Beautiful body on the woody! The two inch road clearance may pose a problem.
I didn't ride my bike (motorcycle) much this year. The last rear tire tire I put on was a cheap dunlop hard rubber for lasting. I've lost control of the rear several times in skids since then. I always recovered, but am not so sure about winding it out on the twisties since then. The skid looked great, but I could have been roadkill. Eyesight and reflexes are not the same as before. I'm going to ride it like a Goldwing next season.

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Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" --
The apostle Paul, NASB