Worst Tires Ever?

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by heyheylbj:
So we had the first rain of the season in California today, and trying to get to work in the morning, my tires flat out wouldn't grip. I only have 26500 miles on them, and even in light rain, stopping quickly would have been an excersise in how to replicate an ABS system for me.

I have Firestone FR-690's that came as stock on my civic.

What are the WORST tires you've ever owned, why, and what did you replace them with?

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Those are probably the same crappy Firestones that came on my wife's 2000 Civic too! I chucked them out after the first year I hated them so much. Now I've got Kumho KW17 snow tires on the car, I put them on last fall and decided to just leave them on all year long, since I knew they'd be better in the rain than all season tires, and my wife doesn't corner hard so she didn't need the handling ability of a non snow tire. Besides, these KW17s are more of a "performance oriented" snow tire, with a tread design that doesn't look like a snow.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by heyheylbj:
So we had the first rain of the season in California today, and trying to get to work in the morning, my tires flat out wouldn't grip. I only have 26500 miles on them, and even in light rain, stopping quickly would have been an excersise in how to replicate an ABS system for me.

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A light rain after 4 or 5 months of no rain is worse than a heavy rain. You need enough rain to wash away the accumulated oil that has worked into the pavement. First rain of the season in California is always interesting, no matter what you have for tires.

 

[tadaima]

heyheylbj: Falken 512 are decent all season tires, great price too. However I have a set of 195/60/14 Falken Azenis Sports on my del sol. During the summer they handled great, stuck to pavement like glue; they are noisy though.

Potenza RE92, had a set of 175/70/13 and they sucked how ever you looked at it, but maybe because they are 13"

Had as set 205/65/15 Mich, MXV4 on a Cressida, didnt do much testing, but they seem to be decent tires..definately over priced though.

Currenty I have a set of Yokohama AVS Intermediates 195/45/15, but I haven't mounted them on rims yet..was thinking of just selling them.

 

[mikep]

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Originally posted by doubleclutch:
Goodyear Wranglers OEM on a F-150 4X4 were the worst tires ever, ...(snipped)

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Yep...Goodyear Wrangler RT/S, OE tire on my 2001 F150 4x4. They were outright dangerous!

 

[tadaima]

The general tires that came with my 00 camry. HP2000 I believe, tread started to seperate at around 10K...

 

[davefr]

BF Goodrich All Terain TA - Poor in snow, poor in mud, noisy, and fast tread wear.

I replaced them with Bridgestone Dueller AT Revos and couldn't be happier.

 

[Arup]

Goodyear Wranglers R/T are just too soft, no life at all, and very poor on road traction, the sidewalls rip easily, even with small stones or metal stuff, had OEM 16" on my vehicle but after replacing three of them, had no choice but to switch, sadly the only other choice is Bridgestone Desert Duellers which are adequate but nothing great, at least they last longer, grip better and sidewalls don't cut that easily, would have preferred the Yohohama Mud Diggers or Geolanders.

The Goodyear Wranglers though are the quietest of the lot, compared to other off road tires.

 

[4DSC]

It's funny to note how nearly ALL OEM tires that cars come with are lousy in one way or another. Some are downright HATED, others are simply mediocre.

Some infamous examples I know off the top of my head are the Michelin XGT V4's that came with some Acuras, and that Bridgestone Potenza RE92 that came with both Nissan Maximas and Subaru WRX (and other Subarus?).

The last OEM tires I've experienced were Goodyear Invicta GA (Caravan) and RS-A (Mazda 3) weren't "terrible", but the Invicta sure wore quickly and the RS-A doesn't seem like anything special so far. They're quiet and that's about all that's remarkable....

EDIT: The Caravan tires were replaced with Canadian Tire Motomaster SE tires eventually. They wore better, were just as quiet, and no one really had any complaints about them at all. Inexpensive too.

[ October 20, 2004, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: 4DSC ]

 

[MNgopher]

quote:

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Originally posted by mikep:

quote:

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Originally posted by doubleclutch:
Goodyear Wranglers OEM on a F-150 4X4 were the worst tires ever, ...(snipped)

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Yep...Goodyear Wrangler RT/S, OE tire on my 2001 F150 4x4. They were outright dangerous!

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Add another Ditto here... The Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires were not the stock tire on my '99 F150 4x4 (those were Firestone Wilderness HT's, on a 4x4 no less), but were bought as a replacement set.

Absolutely awful rain and snow traction. On the plus side, wore like iron and were relatively quiet... Right up to when something shifted in the the right rear tire (generally its not a good thing when the lateral runout on your tire starts with a number in front of the decimal place!).

I splurged on a set of Dueler AT REVO's, and will never look back. Best AT tire I've ever owned, and that includes the BFG ATs.

 

[Quattro Pete]

quote:

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Originally posted by heyheylbj:
Would you guys, if you had the whereithal, get new rims (NOT ricer rims.. something tasteful and not flashy) and run a larger size tire by 1 inch.. I'm running 185/70 R14's now, was thinking about saving some cash and getting maybe a 195/60 R 15...

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I would definitely do it. You'll probably find a much better selection of high performance tires in that size, plus you'll improve your steering response somewhat.

Just try to pay attention to the weight of the particular rims you'll be getting. You don't want to get some boat anchors that will negatively affect acceleration, stopping, and handling. Of course 'light' usually also means "not cheap."

 

[nthach]

Yea, Michelin is bit wee bit overpriced, but I think the Hydroedges are good tires, and they even have a nylon spiral wrap to boot!

 

[Brett Miller]

I vote for the Uniroyal Tiger Paws that were on a 1995 GMC Sonoma 4x4 I had. Those things were downrigh dangerous cornering on wet roads. I replaced them with Pirell Scorpian A/S and it was like driving a totally different vehicle. I do have to say the Goodyear Wrangler RT/S that were on my 99 S-10 weren't much better. Replaced those with Firestone Destination LE's and couldn't be happier.

 

[seotaji]

Michelin MXV4+ Energy have to be the most crappy / expensive OEM tires.

Uniroyal Tiger Paws are a little better, but still crappy.

Most tires that come with new cars are given or sold for very little money with the hope that they will be purchased again b/c they came with the car and people are sheep.

Also, whoever mentioned that the automakers were covering their behinds is correct. They would rather the tires give up grip so that people who really shouldn't be driving don't hurt themselves and sue the company for no reason.

#3. They give you a cushy ride, b/c that's what old people want. They could care less about handling unless you were buying a sports car.

[ October 23, 2004, 08:48 PM: Message edited by: seotaji ]

 

[mikep]

quote:

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Originally posted by 4DSC:
The last OEM tires I've experienced were Goodyear Invicta GA .....snipped

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I would say the next worst tire, second to the Goodyear RT/S, was the Goodyear Invicta GS. Just like the RT/S the wet weather traction on those tires was absolutely dangerous! I know one should never judge a tire company based solely on OE tires but it's because of my experience with those two Goodyear tires that has soured me forever on that brand.

I refuse to ever buy Michelins. IMO, they are charging double what their tires are worth based on the level to which they perform relative to other brands. IMO, Michelin is having a good laugh while charging absurd prices for their tires.

 

[Jerry]

Another vote for Michelin MXV4's. They were on my AWD Mopar van and during the first winter I could not believe how poor they were. Just sliding all over the place and making the ABS work almost everytime. We used to drive on a dirt road once in awhile, not much, just not paved, no big rocks etc, and by 15K miles, 2 of them had belt shift in them and were out of round. Used Uniroyals next and they had 2x the winter traction, wore ok, and were quiet as well.

Who can forget the Firestone 500's.. wife had 2 blowouts with these.

JR

 

[Shadohh]

Worst tire I ever had was Dunlop Sport 5000 a/s

crappy dry weather, worthless in the rain. adequete in snow.


They seemed to get better traction once the ****** tread was almost gone and the tire was practically bald.

 

[Jay]

Another vote for Michelin Pilot HK MXM4, the OEM tires on my Acura RSX. These are truly horrible, horrible tires. Their dry traction is bad way past the point of dangerous. What was Honda thinking when they put these tires on their cars?

 

[lobo11]

Stock Goddyear Wrangler ST tires on a 2000 Dakota. Terrible in rain and snow.

 

[T-Keith]

The worst tires I've ever owned, a two way tie.

1. The tires someone put them on my Lesabre. Multi-Mile Touring I think. They had less then 20,000 on them(80,000 miles warranty), but they were very worn. They would squeal on a 10mph corner, had very little traction, and weren't that great in the snow. Replaced them with Michelins, one of the best tires I've ever owned.

2. The tires I put on my Grand Am(got them for free) Akuret (yes that's how it was spelled.) Decent dry grip, decent cornering. Hydroplaned at 55mph in a light rain. Slush would actually stick to them, they would have a half inch layer of snow on them at all times. When in slush there was zero traction and it once took a 1/4 mile to stop from 30 mph.

-T

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Goodyear Wrangler Radial... standard on our Grand Cherokee in 94 (I was still a kid but I remember my dad complaining about them). Never wore correctly. Rough ride. Decent traction but horrible handling.

Michelin X-Radial (older style) replaced them..... these tires belong on minivans, not Jeeps.

Another vote for the MXV4s as the worst....

To the person who mentioned BFG All-Terrain T/As..... I'M SHOCKED! That's the first complaint I've ever heard about these tires.