Battle of the Lame Tires - OEM rubbish

[wirelessF]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Short version: The OEM (Vehicle Manufacturer) sets the specs the tire has to meet - and they are different than what a consumer would want. A consumer wants wear and traction and a vehicle manufacturer wants fuel economy - and those 3 things are incompatible.


Another funny thing about OE's equipping tires, I was checking out a 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 4x4, looking at the spec sheet, it comes factory equipped all-terrain tires, except it has Goodyear Wrangler SR-A's, which is a highway all-season tire. Looking at the 2500 Z71 4x4 across the lot, factory equipped A/T tires, but with Michelin LTX A/T2's.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: wirelessF
Another funny thing about OE's equipping tires, I was checking out a 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 4x4, looking at the spec sheet, it comes factory equipped all-terrain tires, except it has Goodyear Wrangler SR-A's, which is a highway all-season tire. Looking at the 2500 Z71 4x4 across the lot, factory equipped A/T tires, but with Michelin LTX A/T2's.


That's the stock 1500 Z71 tire. Used to be the Bridgestone Dueler A/T.

 

[CapriRacer]

Once again:

You have to be very careful comparing OE tires. Each is completely different than the next one. An example.

The company I used to work for supplied the same size and model name to 5 different vehicle manufacturers and EACH OF THEM WAS DIFFERENT!!

So while you may have Goodyear Integrity's on your vehicle, the Goodyear Integrity's on another manufacturer's car would be completely different. Nothing at all alike.

 

[xtell]

Goodyear Conquest OEM tires on my 2001 Cavalier. Tires wore out in under 10,000 miles and this was with my 70+ year old mother driving the car most of the time. The Firestone 721 tires OEM on my Pontiac. The steel belts came through the tread on all four tires. BF Goodrich Rugged Trail tire OEM on my 2004 Toyota Tacoma. Smooth and quiet ride on dry pavement with ZERO traction when pavement was wet or snow covered.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: xtell
The Firestone 721 tires OEM on my Pontiac. The steel belts came through the tread on all four tires.


That wasn't a OEM tire issue, that was a Decatur IL plant Firestone issue.

 

[DBMaster]

I had the same Bridgestone Turanza EL400's that were previously mentioned. Garbage! They lasted 30,000 miles, had lousy wet traction, squealed around corners, and rode noisy on the highway. This is what you get when you spend $20,000 on a car? Junk, junk, junk. Even Discount Tire discontinued this carp line of tires.

Next time around I'll just go straight to the tire store and trade my OEM tires in on something else. Believe it or not, places like Discount Tire will give you good money for "factory take-offs" because there are a lot of poor misinformed souls out there who really like buying the same tire that came with their car.

This is in contrast to my last new car, a 1989 Honda Accord that came from the factory with Michelin MXV's (predated the MXV4). Those were great tires.

 

[glock19]

I had the Bridgestone Turanza EL400's on my Legacy. My biggest issue with them was the ridiculous amount of road noise. It sounded like I had mud tires on my sedan.

 

[DBMaster]

I also saw those EL400's as OEM on Nissan Sentras and, get this, the flagship Lexus LS! If I spent $70,000+ on a car and got those tires...

As I was researching factory take-offs I could see that it might be a possible bargaining chip when you buy a new vehicle to have the dealer swap out the tires for you. It probably won't be free, but since they can sell the take-offs for close to retail the result might be worth the extra trouble.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: wirelessF
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Short version: The OEM (Vehicle Manufacturer) sets the specs the tire has to meet - and they are different than what a consumer would want. A consumer wants wear and traction and a vehicle manufacturer wants fuel economy - and those 3 things are incompatible.


Another funny thing about OE's equipping tires, I was checking out a 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 4x4, looking at the spec sheet, it comes factory equipped all-terrain tires, except it has Goodyear Wrangler SR-A's, which is a highway all-season tire. Looking at the 2500 Z71 4x4 across the lot, factory equipped A/T tires, but with Michelin LTX A/T2's.


There was a story over on a Chevy Truck board where a new truck had the "All Terrain Package" or something to that effect and was supposed to have the A/T tires but came with the SR-As. The guy bought the truck and didn't research the tires that came with it until later. Once he found out he had "street" tires with the "all terrain" package he wanted A/T tires. He escalated the tires all the way up to the GM regional rep. who declined to change out the tires. He's not a happy camper buying a 40K truck and not getting the proper tires.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I also saw those EL400's as OEM on Nissan Sentras and, get this, the flagship Lexus LS! If I spent $70,000+ on a car and got those tires...

As I was researching factory take-offs I could see that it might be a possible bargaining chip when you buy a new vehicle to have the dealer swap out the tires for you. It probably won't be free, but since they can sell the take-offs for close to retail the result might be worth the extra trouble.

Good idea !
Some dealer probably will try to close the deal so they will do that with little extra cost, assuming they carry the brand/model you like or they can order the tire you like from their distributor.

Dealers usually try to talk to customers about upgrading wheel/tire combo like plus 1, they probably never had to deal with exchanging same size but different brand/model.

 

[aa1986]

I was helping a friend choose a new replacement tire due to a non-repairable puncture and they had EL400s on their vehicle from factory.

Went to Tire Rack and saw they were the worst tire in their class. Lots of complaints about tire life.

Hers - hardly worn at 40,000 miles.

Went back to Tire Rack reviews and there were a few people who were entirely happy with them and had gotten 80,000 miles out of them.

Tires are very strange things!

 

[DBMaster]

^You are 100% correct - strange things. You friend didn't happen to be 80 and a resident of a certain city in the Los Angeles area, did she?

 

[aa1986]

Wow!

You're right!

She didn't happen to be 80!

But I'm curious. Who were you thinking of? Someone famous?

 

[DBMaster]

The Little Old Lady from Pasadena. The one who only drove her cream puff of a used car to church on Sundays. 8-D

I personally drive too aggressively to ever get long wear out of my tires, but 30,000 miles is pretty lame - as the thread title indicates.

 

[aa1986]

That's definitely not her. She's in her 20's and drives quite aggressively.

 

[DBMaster]

I wonder what kind of car allows you to get that kind of mileage out of those sub-par tires while being driven assertively?

Is most of her driving highway?

 

[wirelessF]

Originally Posted By: CKN
There was a story over on a Chevy Truck board where a new truck had the "All Terrain Package" or something to that effect and was supposed to have the A/T tires but came with the SR-As. The guy bought the truck and didn't research the tires that came with it until later. Once he found out he had "street" tires with the "all terrain" package he wanted A/T tires. He escalated the tires all the way up to the GM regional rep. who declined to change out the tires. He's not a happy camper buying a 40K truck and not getting the proper tires.


Probably has to do with eeking bits of MPG out of half tons since they are being MPG rated. The SRA's aren't LRR tires but if it gets .05 MPG better than real A/T's then they will use those instead. Should have listed them at all-season instead. The 2500 isn't subjected to MPG tests so they can put the most aggressive A/T tire on there and not care about the MPGs.

 

[aa1986]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I wonder what kind of car allows you to get that kind of mileage out of those sub-par tires while being driven assertively?

Is most of her driving highway?


Mazda 3 driven in CT. Definitely mixed driving.

 

[DBMaster]

^I am amazed. My car is a Mazda 3. So, we're talking 3,000 lb. The wet traction was terrible from day one. Since my purchase of this car was necessitated by a hydroplaning spin-out of my beloved 89 Accord I am sensitized to wet traction issues. I would have "loved" the 3 from purchase point if I had traded off or ditched those tires at the dealer. I went the other way and bought one of the most expensive options (Michelin Primacy MXV4) as replacements. WHAT a difference. Lesson learned. If my Turanzas lasted as long as your friend's it would have just extended the agony. 8-D

 

[aa1986]

I drove the car a few times and couldn't find obvious fault with them. Perhaps if I had driven it more, I would have noticed.

Like you, I have noticed significant differences between tires before. Indeed, today I'm replacing some average tires with some top rated tires on one of my vehicles so that will be interesting.