melp me choose a tire

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asiancivicmaniac

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Hi everybody. The OE Dunlops on my Civic wore out, with only 28k on them. So I'm looking for a good tire for a decent price. Went to 5 different tire places and none of the tires that I had in mind were available. So I got quotes on the tires below. They're all out the door prices. Please help me decide which one to put on. BTW size is 185/70/14.
- Goodyear GT3 246.06
- Bridgestone Insignia SE 200 371.21
- Firestone FR380 277.05
- Sumitomo (HTR I think?) 335
- Michelin Symmetry 358

The Sumitomo was a wider size. I'm not sure how it works but the guy at Sears said that they would work since they would be cheaper than the OE size. I think he said 195/(something i don't remember). So can somebody explain how the wider size thing works? Should I go with a wider tire?

My priorities in a tire are: 1.wet/dry traction 2.tread life 3.comfort/noise

I tried looking them up on Tirerack and it seems like Sumitomo, Michelin, and Bridgestone got good reviews.

All opinions appreciated. BTW these are the only tires I've found in stock. I want to change them out by tomorrow so I can safely drive back to school on the interstate. So no need to suggest Yoko Avid T4's which was one of the tires I had in mind or anything else. Thanks.
 
I don't have much experience with any of them, but the Sumi is not bad on a light car. You need to compare the actual tread rating for each. imo, the Firestoe is a total skip. The price looks really good on the Goodyears if you could live with them.
I'd recompute everything with the bigger/wider 195/65-14 which will serve you better in all ways. It will even last longer as well as offer better choices. Look for some of the models reviewed here. Kumho ASX & KH-16, Yokohama TRZ are both really good. General Altimax is new interesting model. Def look at the bigger size, 14" are pretty cheap and you have to live with them for a good while.
 
Thanks for the reply. Ok, since now I know about the bigger size that puts another tire on the list. BFgoodrich touring from Sam's.

Also, what about the Kumho Solus HP4 716. There aren't many tire shops here besides Tire Plus, Sam's Club, Tire Kingdom (seems too pushy), and Sears so there are very limited selections and the ones that Autounion listed probably aren't going to be available.
 
I forgot you need them asap. BFG gets good reviews now. If Sams has them in 195/65, that would be a hit. I'd like to see you get them for $300-ish compared to the other smaller ones.
 
If you see any Michelin in your price range, that's a safe bet. imo, Yokohama, Bridgestone and Dunlop are the safest brands, but all brands make good tires and some that are dogs.
 
The Sp20 FE must be one of the dogs from Dunlop. It never had good wet traction since new and it's kinda noisy. Makes me weary of Dunlop.
 
I have a 01 Civic and just put on my 2nd set of Goodyear Assurance Comfortred today. The last set I was able to get 70K out of an 80K warranty tire. Bought them at Sears for $363. including tax, balancing etc.
Goodyear has got there act together with the Assurance series. These tires have been the quietest I have ever owned. Dry traction and wet traction are good too. Never had a problem. I would put these up against Michelins any day.
 
A tire worth looking at would be the General Altimax RT, it is very cheap ($45/tire at TireRack in your size), and the set we put on my Grandma's Camry have worked very well so far. Granted, like every All-Compromise tire they sacrifice all out grip for longer treadlife and a bit of all season traction but so far after 10,000mi on my Grandma's Camry they have only worn 1.5/32" giving them ~50,000mi real life wear (down to the 4/32" when I replace tires) on a Camry and seem to grip quite well in dry and wet conditions for a standard touring A/S tire. Their tread pattern looks like it will be a little weak for snow use but I doubt that will be a problem in Florida and my Grandma will switch them out for Blizzaks when we get below 50F consistently. I don't know if any of your local tire shops sell General tires but I would check and try to get them to price match if they do.

Jon

EDIT: In that size you shouldn't be paying more than $300 tops out the door for tires mounted and balanced, remember that Wally's World will mount, lifetime balance and rotate tires for only $11.00/corner if you bring in your own (say from TireRack, VulcanTire, DiscountTireDirect, EdgeRacing etc). Most places will price match this and I have found that this usually cuts ~$50-$300 out of their first quoted price.
 
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I dunno what specific BFG touring tire Sam's has, but I have BFG Precept touring tires that are really great IMO. Take a look at my post below and see if the tread looks similar.

The Kuhmo Solus HP-4 716 would also be a great tire and likely handle better.
 
I went with the BF Goodrich Touring T/A Pro from Sam's. It's this one here http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/overview/touring-t-a-pro-series-h-v/3258.html I like them so far, except I've only put a few miles on them. Got them for $307 +tax. They're suppose to be a 60k mile tire and if they last me for 50k then I'll be happy. Maybe more frequent rotations will help.

Handling seems better than the Dunlops and it's just a bit quieter than the Dunlops. Decent ride too. Can't wait to see how they do in the rain. Surprisingly they're made in Korea.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
Glad to hear you did not go with the Firestones. I had a set on my Voyager and they were absolutely terrible tires. You'd have the same problem you had with your Dunlops. They wear quickly and handle terribly. FR380's are total ----, IMO.

Touring T/A's seem like good tires. I know my parents have had them on several cars and though they've never stood out like some Bridgestones and Michelins I've had, they were always decent tires that handled well in bad weather and wore pretty nicely.
 
Glad to hear you are pleased. I'm guessing you got the 195s, that alone is awesome. How I knew about the Firestones is sometimes for fun I'll read the worst reviews of the worst tires in their class. iirc, my cousin got the 380s on her 1994 T-Bird, talk about making a bad situation worse.
 
btw- the price looks good too, really good. There is an old thread here, very fully, titled "Worst Tires Ever". I'll see if I can find it and bump it up.
 
Quote:

Yokohama AVID TRZ....great tire for not much $$ and excellent wet traction

Click to expand...

Right, I have those on my wife's car and love 'em. However he might be limited in that he has 14" wheels. Not a lot of selection left in 14" these days.
 
LT4, it's a 04 VP coupe. Wish I went with the LX sometimes. I think if it had 15"s it might have gave me more of a selection.

BTW the new tires corner so well that my car is fun to drive again.
 
I had Sumitomo HTR on my car(215/50/17)

great tires, excellent grip and even great in winter

but they worn out quicker than u thought, so that's a give or take

Michelin are expensive for average performance, i would go for HTR+
 
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