Federal tires

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I did a search on here and did not turn up anything. What's the story with Federal tires are they any good or junk? They make a performance tire called the "595" that is low cost and looks interesting for the $$
 
For what it's worth, I can't speak for Federal Tires, but I've had great success with GT Radial as far as lower cost tires are concerned.
 
Michelin: Always good. Usually great. Never bad.

Bridgestone, Dunlop: Usually good. Sometimes great. Rarely bad.

Pirelli, Goodyear, Continental, Yokohama: Usually good. Occasionally great. Sometimes bad.



Everything else: 99% chance you'll regret it at some point, if you're paying attention.
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Michelin: Always good. Usually great. Never bad.

Bridgestone, Dunlop: Usually good. Sometimes great. Rarely bad.

Pirelli, Goodyear, Continental, Yokohama: Usually good. Occasionally great. Sometimes bad.



Everything else: 99% chance you'll regret it at some point, if you're paying attention.


Lol... Well said!
 
Not sure I totally agree with d00df00d because there are plenty of other good tire brands out there, but Federal isn't one of them.

Good tire brands besides the ones mentioned in post #3 are Kumho, Hankook, Sumitomo, Falken, Toyo, General, BFGoodrich, Vredestein, Nokian, and maybe Cooper and Kelly as well.

What size are you shopping for?
 
Originally Posted By: tommygunn
Not sure I totally agree with d00df00d because there are plenty of other good tire brands out there, but Federal isn't one of them.

Good tire brands besides the ones mentioned in post #3 are Kumho, Hankook, Sumitomo, Falken, Toyo, General, BFGoodrich, Vredestein, Nokian, and maybe Cooper and Kelly as well.

What size are you shopping for?


+1
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Michelin: Always good. Usually great. Never bad.

Bridgestone, Dunlop: Usually good. Sometimes great. Rarely bad.

Pirelli, Goodyear, Continental, Yokohama: Usually good. Occasionally great. Sometimes bad.



Everything else: 99% chance you'll regret it at some point, if you're paying attention.


"Never Bad" tell that to those on BITOG who have posted about Dry Rot. Another "Hail to the mighty Michelin Post".
 
Originally Posted By: Camprunner
I did a search on here and did not turn up anything. What's the story with Federal tires are they any good or junk? They make a performance tire called the "595" that is low cost and looks interesting for the $$


I actually had them on my Alfa in 225-17 size. It was 595 evo type. They grip well in dry with sharp turn in and decent feedback. They are comfortable for a performance tyre.
But they are heavy, really heavy with very poor wet grip. Also I had issue with one tyre that couldn't get properly balanced.
I wouldn't use this tyre on a daily drive if you get any rain where you live because of its poor wet performance, but if the price is good for a fun-summer car like Miata or something it could work.
 
Every tire company has, Oh lets say, 1 or 2(or 3) tires that really excel in their category. Michelin has more!

Private label tires leave it to the customer to decide if their tire is OK for their own vehicle. There really isn't too many controlled tire tests on private label tires, unfortunately!

I alway view(IMHO) private label tires as, a tires that, I may install on a vehicle that I was selling OR, take me to (i.e. another year) a particular point with a vehicle AND THEN SELL!

I don't want to play guessing games with tires anymore! I want the proven tires on my vehicles. Tires that are tested by reputable sources and have good customer reviews.

Originally Posted By: Camprunner
I did a search on here and did not turn up anything. What's the story with Federal tires are they any good or junk? They make a performance tire called the "595" that is low cost and looks interesting for the $$


When a person does an internet search on a product and can't come up with any/little information, then is hit or miss when buying the product. I'm not necessarily looking for a home run every time(though it'd be nice) but, I certainly want extra bases for sure and hopefully a triple!
 
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Originally Posted By: tommygunn
Good tire brands besides the ones mentioned in post #3 are Kumho, Hankook, Sumitomo, Falken, Toyo, General, BFGoodrich, Vredestein, Nokian, and maybe Cooper and Kelly as well.

Forgot Nokian. My apologies.

On the rest... Yes, they make tires that are decent-ish. Two points:

1. IME, there's always an option from one of the bigger brands that costs about the same and is just better.

2. What's a "good brand?" Is it a brand that has the ability to make a decent product for the money, or is it one that you can rely on for decent products more often than not? To me, it's the latter. If we want to get specific about products, that's a different story.



And in any case, let's not forget that Federal is clearly a notch below even most of the ones in that list, so...
 
Federal is a Taiwanese company with previous connections to Bridgestone and Sumitomo. I think they're decent tires worth the price. If you're a low mileage driver, or this is all you can afford, or getting the car ready to sell, they're OK. You can buy better for a higher price.
 
Independent of the idea of Federal being a good or bad tire, I would offer that certain tires work better for certain vehicles and it's usually worth the time to research it from different sources including enthusiast sites for that particular vehicle ( if they exist ). Michelins have never been a value proposition for me as they've never been a particularly better or longer lasting tire in my experience than options that are $30-$40 per tire cheaper.

I think it's very important to understand the particular tire you get as I don't go by the manufacturer as much as I do the particular model. Some Hankook tires are great but most of the passenger series other than the H727 are not. Same goes for other manufacturers. In the cheaper tire sweepstakes, it might be hard to beat the current Cooper offerings of the CS3 and CS5.
 
Vuflanovsky,
You said that very well and it does mimic my opinion. I too have had private label tires and, they are what they are!(good for some)!

I've also had Michelin's but, ONLY on new cars that I bought. I've never replace with Michelin nor ever bought them again. I did like'em while I had'em!

And as I stated in my post above(other than Michelin), many tire companies have 1 or 2 tires in their crop that may standout but, the rest of their tire line is just average or below. And other tires are just round & black!

TMI:

Everyone, including myself wants tires that perform like the Michelin reputation but only want to pay $200/4 OTD.

I watch video tire reviews on thetirerack and, Continental Tires test out very well but, I have never had a good Conti for longevity and they didn't wear unevenly(it wasn't the alignment). As the next tire(Pirelli) on same vehicle(unaligned) were terrific. And I'm sure Pirelli doesn't work for everyone!

The Conti's that I've had were OK to start but, turn sour quickly! Waste of money for me since I have to always replace'em sooner than I should have. But, this is just me, so I don't buy'em anymore! Kind'a like most G/Y's!
 
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