Battle of the Lame Tires - OEM rubbish

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My Forester came with Bridgestone Dueler 687's and they were okay until they got past about 15,000 miles then they started a decline in performance. By 27,000 when I changed them out they were downright treacherous in snow and sleet.
 
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
General Grabbers on a 2003 Tahoe and Michelin Energy MXV4 on a 2006 Hyundai Azera. Both sets were **done** by 22,000 miles and were complete garbage in every regard.


I don't think those were "Grabbers". More likely it was an AmeriTrac (or as I called them, AmeriSuc)... which were off of my truck by 3,000 miles.

Bridgestone Tur(d)anza EL400's, which were OE on the 2007 T&C.... and what comes on the new ones isn't any better... either a several year old design of a Yokohama tire, or a cheapie Kumho.

The worst was a Wrangler ST that came on the 2000 Sierra. It did nothing except go round and round.... no traction, no handling, no ride quality.

Look at the [censored]-tacular tread design of the Wrangler ST...

gy_wrangler_st_ci1_l.jpg
 
The Continental ContiProContiContact withContiEcoContiPlus ContiTechnology (I have never seen a company try to use their name so much in their products) on my parents' Focuscape are awful in pretty much all conditions. Never had a tire tramrail that bad either!

The Optimo H725s on my Focus weren't that bad. Unfortunately, a bad factory alignment sent them balding way earlier than they should have.



Originally Posted By: Chris142
Goodyear wranglers.


Have had two sets of Goodyear Workhorse tires. From new, they always shake a bit and ALWAYS flatspot after sitting overnight


Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
General Grabbers on a 2003 Tahoe and Michelin Energy MXV4 on a 2006 Hyundai Azera. Both sets were **done** by 22,000 miles and were complete garbage in every regard.


I don't think those were "Grabbers". More likely it was an AmeriTrac (or as I called them, AmeriSuc)... which were off of my truck by 3,000 miles.

Bridgestone Tur(d)anza EL400's, which were OE on the 2007 T&C.... and what comes on the new ones isn't any better... either a several year old design of a Yokohama tire, or a cheapie Kumho.

The worst was a Wrangler ST that came on the 2000 Sierra. It did nothing except go round and round.... no traction, no handling, no ride quality.

Look at the [censored]-tacular tread design of the Wrangler ST...

gy_wrangler_st_ci1_l.jpg



Those are still standard equipment on Jeep Wranglers and were on 99-04 Grand cherokees
 
I had BF Goodrich Long Trail T/As on the Tahoe when I bought it. I didn't have a great opinion of them. In talking to someone I trust in the tire industry, he said they've had some complaints, especially when installed on full size SUVs.
 
Goodyear Assurance on my Magnum RT. They wore like iron at the expense of all else. Bad traction, weak handling, and way too loud.
 
The RE92a's(Bridgestone) were awful on my wife's Legacy. They worked well on dry roads in normal driving. However any extreme and especially winter scary. They did though stay quiet and the 160AA rated tire lasted nearly 60k miles.
 
I was about to say I never experienced factory tires but then I remembered I had Michelin Energy tires on the CVLX when I bought it.
I smoked them all the time. I'd one tire fire all the way through first to a speedo reading of 50mph, shift to second and finally start to catch at around 60mph speedo. Once hooked the speedo would be back down to 30mph so the car would downshift back to first. It was hilarious and the amount of smoke they would put off doing that was amazing.
Its been awhile, and thats all I remember about them. I pulled them off for winter tires before first snow and trashed them. I went to Mustang 18" wheels for summer so I had no reason to keep them.
 
My worst truck tire was Continental Conti-Trac. They lasted 700 mi before I replaced them. A close second worst was Michelin Latitude on a JGC.

Goodyear RSAs seen to be a favorite OEM. I had them, and they were bad. I thought it couldn't get much worse, but my current GY LS2s are much worse. I'd prefer the RSAs.
 
What I find interesting is that the OEMs are using garbage 'top tier" brand names "Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone, Dunlop etc and no one bats an eye. Yet someone lists an slightly off brand 1.5 tier tire or even a Chinese made one and they are all over it like a fly on excrement right out of the gate.

All tire companies have the potential of producing real bottom rung garbage at a low price point. On the flip side many companies can produce a good tire at a higher price point. Just depends on how high of a price point you want to go. Name brand means very little to me if I consider my use and what I want out of a tire.
 
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
What I find interesting is that the OEMs are using garbage 'top tier" brand names "Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone, Dunlop etc and no one bats an eye. Yet someone lists an slightly off brand 1.5 tier tire or even a Chinese made one and they are all over it like a fly on excrement right out of the gate.


Two thoughts on that.

First, these OEM tires aren't "garbage". They are simply optimized for things we may not choose in a tire if we could design it ourselves. In many instances, they're generally very high quality tires, with very low defect rates. That's very different (to me) than a tire from a lesser known manufacturer that may be more prone to slipping a belt or blowing out, etc.

Second, these OEM tires aren't really the product of the tire companies anyway. They've been designed to a very specific set of requirements and they meet exactly those requirements. Something from, say, Dong Feng Jing Tire LTD out of China (to make up a name) could be designed to anything...or nothing at all. While quality control (in terms of roundness, consistency, etc) is generally very high for OEM tires, it could be very low for true low-cost tires.
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Bridgestone Turanza EL 470. Those sorry excuses for tires came OEM on our Fit. Loud, horrible in snow, and had zero performance. They sucked the life out of the car. Glad one of them bubbled a sidewall so we could ditch them.



Same here on my 2012 Subaru Legacy. These are horrible tires. The only consolation is the AWD makes up for the poor snow performance, but can't wait to get rid of them.
 
If OEM tires are not "garbage" how come the noise levels on many are so loud? I don't care if you drive a new Econo box or a $60,000 pickup- most would like quiet tires. The Goodyear LS on my Silverado were loud and garbage as were the Bridgestones EL-400s on my Subaru. Both tires were loud garbage. And both vehicles were purchased new.
 
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Originally Posted By: CKN
If OEM tires are not "garbage" how come the noise levels on many are so loud?


Because the OEM requirements for those tires apparently didn't prioritize tread noise level. You may believe (as I do) that most people prefer quiet tires. But I assure you that the tires performed exactly to the OEM specifications. If you don't like an OEM tire, it's generally the set of requirements that are to blame...and not the tire itself.
 
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
What I find interesting is that the OEMs are using garbage 'top tier" brand names "Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone, Dunlop etc and no one bats an eye. Yet someone lists an slightly off brand 1.5 tier tire or even a Chinese made one and they are all over it like a fly on excrement right out of the gate.

All tire companies have the potential of producing real bottom rung garbage at a low price point. O the flip side many companies can produce a good tire at a higher price point. Just depends on how high of a price point you want to go. Name brand means very little to me if I consider my use and what I want out of a tire.



I wouldn't want the brand dilution like that. But, it's guaranteed business and you have to deliver whatever the OEMs what if you want their business.
 
You may be correct. But I think the tire manufacturers are "shooting themselves in the foot". Most people don't research tires. All they know is they bought a very expensive car (even a stripped Hyundai is pushing 20K) and they have some noisy XXXX brand tires and they want nothing to do with that brand at replacement time.

Yeah, I know the tire guys say that customers choose the brand that comes with the car (most of the time) but that hasn't been my experience.
 
Originally Posted By: wirelessF
Forget the name brand high end stuff, or even budget brand high end stuff it's the low end rubbish tires that OEM will throw in to save money and bite you in the butt later. They have low ratings in tire surveys but they should be decent because tire brands make them (with poor adverse conditions ratings.)

Truck Lame Tires:
Dunlop Grantrek AT20 vs. Bridgestone Dueler H/T D684 II - common OEM rubbish they throw on trucks but if I were to buy a new truck and have to drive in adverse conditions I would put better meats on.

What other rubbish do you see on cars that come as OE?


Had a set of those AT20's once OEM and they were god awful. Terrible in any wet condition and they couldn't be balanced to save my life. Also loud. Just junk. Got rid of them after just 300 miles they were so bad.

Anything OEM from Goodyear is total rubbish in my experience. Frankly anything Goodyear period is but that is not what you asked. hands down though Goodyear has the worst OEM tires.

There have been a few decent OEM tires for me over the years( Michelin LTX M+S and Firestone Destination LE & LE2 most recent ones for me ). Most are not worth snot and I swap them out asap for good tires. I then turn around and sell the OEM takeoff's to someone who thinks OEM's are great and recoup a lot of the money.
 
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Originally Posted By: mrsilv04

The worst was a Wrangler ST that came on the 2000 Sierra. It did nothing except go round and round.... no traction, no handling, no ride quality.

Look at the [censored
-tacular tread design of the Wrangler ST...

gy_wrangler_st_ci1_l.jpg



Had a set of those Wrangler ST's OEM on a 2005 Silverado Ext Cab 4WD. They were really bad. I would rate them the 2nd worse OEM Goodyear tire I have ever had. Only one worse were the Wrangler HP's on my 08 Ram 4WD. The HP is hands down the worst OEM tire I have ever had.

Both were replaced as soon as I could get the cash together to do it.
 
I only have purchased 1 new car in my life. The OEM tires did not excel at a single optimized attribute...noise, ride quality, handling in dry/wet/snow etc. fuel economy, wear...even aesthetics were bottom rung...and to top it off they are not cheap to replace!

I'd like to know what "optimized" attribute they DID meet if I missed it. Heck even Tirerack gave them one of the worst ratings of the bunch, so I am not the only one who missed it.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
General Grabbers on a 2003 Tahoe and Michelin Energy MXV4 on a 2006 Hyundai Azera. Both sets were **done** by 22,000 miles and were complete garbage in every regard.

I don't think those were "Grabbers". More likely it was an AmeriTrac (or as I called them, AmeriSuc)... which were off of my truck by 3,000 miles.

Could be, that was a few vehicles ago. They were pure junk no matter what the moniker was.
 
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