Wife's car needs 215/45/17s

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Looking for a new set of summer tires for the wifes car. She has an extra set of wheels and winter tires for the snow.

Commute is about 8 miles total. Pavement the entire way. Drives down a winding creek road, then hits the freeway for a few miles, and finally a little stop and go driving in town.

Car is a 2009 Ford Focus. These have known issues with the alignment going out and chewing up tires FAST. Factory tires also seem to be junk and wear out fast.

Not spirited driving or auto cross or anything silly like that.

Not much rain in our area. When the snow falls the summer tires come off and the winter tires go on.

Seems to be a semi difficult tire size to find many offerings. Once again its 215/45/17s.

Looking at the Firestone Champion HRs due to buy 3 get 1 free promotion right now.

Thoughts?
 
I had the same problem with my wifes 2010 focus. I have Big O brand 80K tires on it now and 10K on the tires tire wear is a lot better.
 
I don't know why they insist on putting such low profile tires on a regular passenger car. my Mazda5 is not quite as bad; they are 215/50 17, but I wish I had a taller profile.
my old beater camry has a GREAT size- 195/70 14! almost 5 1/2" of sidewall! comfy, and I don't need to worry about potholes, esp since it has steel wheels also.
 
I just put on Fierce ZR's on my Mustang and love them. Nice tire for a great price. They have your size. Made by Goodyear for Dunlop. Listed as Dunlops ans Kelly.

Check out their website.
 
I think the trend in recent years toward low-profile tires on almost every car is ridiculous. It gets expensive to replace tires and the improvement in handling isn't really needed, IMO.
I would rather replace 195/65/15's on a Focus for $75 each than an exotic size for twice the price....
 
A quick look at DTD lists 49 options between $73 and $261 (and everything in between). I had the same in a '10 Focus. Rather than a true "summer" tire, I'd pick all season. They will most likely last longer, and ride better.

A new tire than interests me is the Nitto Motivo. It's a UHP tire, but rated for 60k miles. General G-mAx, Cooper RS3-A, Conti DWS....you have many good options.
 
I can recomend either of the Hankook all-season UHP tires, Ventus V2 or V4. Good performance and comfort, wet and dry. Very competitively priced up here too.
 
This : Tire Rack - Eagle GT

Call your local Goodyear dealer and ask if they will match TR pricing shipped to your doorstep, most of them will. There is a 40 dollar rebate on these tires , if you buy them using a Goodyear Card , you get 6 months no interest and additional 40 for your rebate.
 
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I also question the desirability of super low profile tires on most cars. Our cars handle much better than in the old days, wider rims and over-sized tires (compared to the overloaded 1960's original equipment tires) and few benefit by the super low profile.

Capriracer often comments on the extra blowout resistance of H rated tires over T rated..... but I think the following consideration is MUCH more important.....

I am now involved with the service, relocation and transportation of about 400 rental cars. All new cars, lots of brands, thousands of miles driven every day and we NEVER have blowouts.

But, road hazards: The 45 series (and similar) have lots and lots. Go barely off the road, hit a chuckhole on the road edge and BANG they are flat and the rim is damaged. Unlike a regular blowout, these almost always happen when our customer is already in a perilous situation. AND he needs a team to go get him since he cannot change the tire, and the spare is only good for 50 miles anyway.
 
#1: Try driving a car that comes with 215/45-17 and put some 195/65-15s on it, suddenly it takes all the crisp handling and maneuverability out of it, I have done it. Sure maybe the 15s drive better if you are into Buicks.

#2: a low-profile tire can handle a lot also. My rally tires were 235/45-17, if they can handle jumping and hard abuse on dirt.. that says a lot for them.

#3: 17"s are cheap, you can find Kumhos and Falkens for less than $90 shipped.
 
Originally Posted By: bourne
This : Tire Rack - Eagle GT

Call your local Goodyear dealer and ask if they will match TR pricing shipped to your doorstep, most of them will. There is a 40 dollar rebate on these tires , if you buy them using a Goodyear Card , you get 6 months no interest and additional 40 for your rebate.


I second the Eagle GT. Just put a set of them in 235/45/17 on my car and they are really smooth riding tires. Very low noise for such and aggressive tread and crisp handling. My size came in XL load capacity, so they can handle the road hazards better. The $40 rebate was a nice bonus.
 
Originally Posted By: MrWideTires
#1: Try driving a car that comes with 215/45-17 and put some 195/65-15s on it, suddenly it takes all the crisp handling and maneuverability out of it, I have done it. Sure maybe the 15s drive better if you are into Buicks.


+1
 
Originally Posted By: MrWideTires
#1: Try driving a car that comes with 215/45-17 and put some 195/65-15s on it, suddenly it takes all the crisp handling and maneuverability out of it, I have done it. Sure maybe the 15s drive better if you are into Buicks.

#2: a low-profile tire can handle a lot also. My rally tires were 235/45-17, if they can handle jumping and hard abuse on dirt.. that says a lot for them.

#3: 17"s are cheap, you can find Kumhos and Falkens for less than $90 shipped.


And #1 is relevant to an econobox why? No wonder so many Americans are broke. I see a ton of cars in Germany with very small tires doing just fine.

#2 may be the case, may not be. Likely a function of keeping enough air in.

And for #3, why would I want a third-world item on a safety part as critical as a tire. $90 isnt the norm in a lot of these sizes.

These giant tires are ridiculous. IMO before too long we are going to run into real safety issues because the cost to replace is going to drive people to running on worse and worse tires.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
MrWideTires said:
And for #3, why would I want a third-world item on a safety part as critical as a tire. $90 isnt the norm in a lot of these sizes.

These giant tires are ridiculous. IMO before too long we are going to run into real safety issues because the cost to replace is going to drive people to running on worse and worse tires.


Kumho is not third world, they produce in Korea. Sumitomo makes their line in Japan. I happen to have this size tire and have priced them out. Kumho looks promising.

It used to be that these tire sizes were dominated by expensive sports models. However trickled down are less expensive long lasting alternative for folks.

I do concur not sure why a Focus has these on it. My wife's Subaru turbo wagon does but 16" rims do not fit over the large brakes rotors on it.
 
Stay away from Falkein , I had a set of ZE-912 on the TL and was far from impressed. So much so that I got rid of them with 7/32nds of tread left ( interestingly that was with 10k of regular driving and the tires supposedly have a 65k treadlife warranty , LOL ).

Never owned a Kumho or Sumitomo before but friends who have , complain about dismal treadlife a lot. Your best bet would be to find a decent Goodyear, Bridgestone or Continental DWS in your size.
 
Never seen ANYTHING wear faster than a Conti! Saw a set of 225/60R18's on a Charger totally bald in A's that replaced them went almost 70K.)

Then again, the GY Assurances (same size) on my Mag did essentially nothing well...but wore like iron, with legal tread at 75,000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2


And for #3, why would I want a third-world item on a safety part as critical as a tire. $90 isnt the norm in a lot of these sizes.


Originally Posted By: bourne
Stay away from Falkein , I had a set of ZE-912 on the TL and was far from impressed. So much so that I got rid of them with 7/32nds of tread left ( interestingly that was with 10k of regular driving and the tires supposedly have a 65k treadlife warranty , LOL ).

Never owned a Kumho or Sumitomo before but friends who have , complain about dismal treadlife a lot. Your best bet would be to find a decent Goodyear, Bridgestone or Continental DWS in your size.


Kumho and Falken are not third world, they are name brand tires. They are certainly worlds appart better than the american "tiger-paw", "uniroyal", and "Sailun" that most people get when they buy bigger profile tires.

The Falken ZE912 was designed to be a cheap to buy tires that will still keep you safe, you are gonna give up treadlife but you can't have everything.
My rally tires were 235/45-17 and my first set was Kumho and second set Falken FK452, they were able to handle jumping, hard cornering on dirt, rocks, they never failed.. After they were almost done I gave them away to be used on my friend's Maxima for drag. Oh yeah these tires were also shoved into a curb at high speed in the Maxima, the wheel needed replacing.. but the tire never even lost air.

I do agree 17"s is a bit big for economy cars, but 15"s make a car feel like a Buick and cars are getting bigger brakes now. A perfect size IMO is 205/55-R16.
 
So what tires are still made in the USA? I deal with buying tires every single day in my biz, and all the tire reps complain about is how china is undercutting them sooooo bad its impossible to sell an american made tire anymore without selling it at a loss.
Yet they rely on the chinese price point tires and sell tons of them just to make up for the loss on the American made ones.
 
Originally Posted By: MrWideTires
#1: Try driving a car that comes with 215/45-17 and put some 195/65-15s on it, suddenly it takes all the crisp handling and maneuverability out of it, I have done it. Sure maybe the 15s drive better if you are into Buicks.

#2: a low-profile tire can handle a lot also. My rally tires were 235/45-17, if they can handle jumping and hard abuse on dirt.. that says a lot for them.

#3: 17"s are cheap, you can find Kumhos and Falkens for less than $90 shipped.

sure, low profile tires handle great (my mazda5 handles WAY better than my '93 camry!) but, the low profile tires ARE more prone to road hazard damage; a pothole is going to blow it out much easier than a tall sidewall tire.
my '87 GTI had 185/60 14's and handled just fine (great in fact) so handling is more than just tires.
 
Originally Posted By: MrWideTires


Kumho and Falken are not third world, they are name brand tires. They are certainly worlds appart better than the american "tiger-paw", "uniroyal", and "Sailun" that most people get when they buy bigger profile tires.


Where are they MADE? China or Japan. Done. I had bought Falken Ziex Ze512 tires because they were one of the few quality options for the size on my BMW. Wore like iron. Made in Japan - it was OK. Now they are made in China. Will not buy. Got Michelin Pilot Exalto AS in one aspect ratio smaller, roughly the same $, made in USA, and better in noise and hydroplaning for certain.
 
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