New tires for my Corolla

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sceva

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I am making the final decisions on new tires for my 2014 Corolla 205-55R16. H rated. Midwest climate (Chicago and Central Ohio winters)

Currently has Michelin MXV4's on it Grand Touring All Season. I was narrowed down to a Continental PureContact, a General Altimax RT43 (a US made tire) and a Pirelli P7 Plus. All highly rated on Tire Reacj and # 2, 3, and 4 in their class. Pretty much decided on the RT43 as they've been great on my wifes car. Probably order from Tire Rack and have them installed locally. While getting final prices this weekend Discount tire was trying to sell me on their Continental Control Contact Touring A/S which is a Discount only tire as superior. This is a T rated tire not the H rated called for and is a Standard all season not a Grand Touring. I am not a fan or propriatary design, don't want to go down in speed rating and don't really trust their rating system as it's self serving. but Was wondering what the readers think. Of these choices, which tire? Any feedback on the Discount tire Control Contact?
 
My only experience with Continental's were on cars that came with them as original equipment(OE) and I didn't like'em!

We have personal experience with RT43s and P7s.
Both are good tires that will happily go through the snow, however, the RT43s may have an edge there while the P7s are a bit quieter(not saying that the RT43s are loud).

I also have the MXV4s on my current Altima and I hate them in the snow however, it is a nice tire in 3 seasons while being smooth & quiet.

For the price of the RT43s, you can buy 5 of them and have a full size spare tire(get a rim) and do a 5 tire rotation every X amount of miles. And still not pay as much as 4 tires of the other brands.
 
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First of all, the 205/55/16 sized tire has the most options of any tire size. Lots to choose from.

General Tire is owned by Continental. General is Conti's value oriented brand, but General makes good tires for the money. The RT43 is getting long toothed.
NO ONE seems to like any OEM tire regardless of the brand if you at the TireRack reviews. A T rated tire might have softer sidewalls and provide less steering response
than the tires that came on your car. However, they might ride a little better. Is that what you want?

I bought new tires for my GTI a few weeks ago. I actually wanted the new General AS/05, but they wouldn't arrive in time for a weekend trip so I had to get something else.

I got a Continental ultra high performance all-season exclusive to NTB. I compared it to the Discount Tire exclusive Conti and the NTB version has an AA traction rating and a 560 treadwear rating while the Discount Tire version has an A traction rating and a 550 treadwear rating. I got a $100 off web deal by making a reservation online, making the tires out the door for $592 vs Discount Tires $633. The tires are very good and I'm not easily pleased.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
First of all, the 205/55/16 sized tire has the most options of any tire size. Lots to choose from.

General Tire is owned by Continental. General is Conti's value oriented brand, but General makes good tires for the money. The RT43 is getting long toothed.
NO ONE seems to like any OEM tire regardless of the brand if you at the TireRack reviews. A T rated tire might have softer sidewalls and provide less steering response
than the tires that came on your car. However, they might ride a little better. Is that what you want?

I bought new tires for my GTI a few weeks ago. I actually wanted the new General AS/05, but they wouldn't arrive in time for a weekend trip so I had to get something else.

I got a Continental ultra high performance all-season exclusive to NTB. I compared it to the Discount Tire exclusive Conti and the NTB version has an AA traction rating and a 560 treadwear rating while the Discount Tire version has an A traction rating and a 550 treadwear rating. I got a $100 off web deal by making a reservation online, making the tires out the door for $592 vs Discount Tires $633. The tires are very good and I'm not easily pleased.
This. ^
 
The ControlContact Touring is a DTD-private version of the TrueContact, so anything about the TrueContact applies to the ControlContact as well.

If you can wait a month, DTD will have their labor day sale, with great prices and rebates. The Cooper CS5 Ultra is very popular on here because of that, but the RT43 might have some good rebates, too. Just see what's on sale at the end of August, if you can wait. The sale usually starts a week or so before labor day.

DT will install DTD tires for $16 each. They may also match the DTD price.
 
About a week or two ago I bought the same size tires for the Matrix off of Amazon. Nokian eNTYRES for $45.50 each although the price seems to change daily by a significant amount. Treadwear is 700, Traction A, Temp A. Speedy rating H, Load is 94 XL, LRR tire. Had them installed at the Ford QuickLane for $80. So $275 installed out the door with no rebates. Had an alignment done at the dealer with coupon for $70 = $76 out the door.

I was tempted to go for the Cooper CS3 T rated. I'd stronger consider that for the softer ride. The Nokian does ride a bit stiff but handling is excellent. I think those tires were about $40 more total. The CS3 is supposed to be better in the snow than the CS5 according to Tire Reviews and More, an online tire review site.
 
The only advantage to the T over H is probably the treadwear warranty. T is good for 118 and H is good for 130. The higher the speed rating the softer the rubber compound. So it's all about trade offs, the H will probably handle better than the T, but it's a Corolla, you're probably not after high performance anyway. I did the same with my Taurus, had T rated tires on there instead of H. The difference was that the T rated tires were good for 80k and the H rated were 70k.

Anyway, I have the Pure Contacts on my Mercedes, they had a 50k warranty and had the V rating. They're smooth, quiet and seem to be holding up fine.
 
I'm down to the Generals and The Conti Pure Contacts

Pretty sure I'm going with the Generals this time. US Made and best value as well as highly rated.

Pure Contacts come in close to the same price if you factor in a $70 rebate that you need to wait for and spend later.

Will watch a while to see if General offers another Rebate, I can wait a few weeks
 
Originally Posted By: sceva
I'm down to the Generals and The Conti Pure Contacts

Pretty sure I'm going with the Generals this time. US Made and best value as well as highly rated.

Pure Contacts come in close to the same price if you factor in a $70 rebate that you need to wait for and spend later.

Will watch a while to see if General offers another Rebate, I can wait a few weeks


The RT43 is also available in 205/55R16 in an H rating, it shows up as a grand touring tire on TireRack.
I believe that CR gave the H tires a lower winter rating than the T tires, though. I bought the Ts for my daughter's car as the OEM tires had that speed rating and I was very concerned about winter performance given that she would be using them in all seasons...her school will be cancelled on the very worst days and winter tires didn't seem necessary.
 
You might also want to look at the Michelin Premier A/S. Excellent reviews at consumer reports and long tread life. We've had excellent experience during snowy winters and in wet, slushy conditions with them in Michigan. Handling is outstanding.
 
Originally Posted By: NO2
You might also want to look at the Michelin Premier A/S. Excellent reviews at consumer reports and long tread life. We've had excellent experience during snowy winters and in wet, slushy conditions with them in Michigan. Handling is outstanding.


at $45 plus more per tire over the RT43's it would cost me an extra $180 plus. I realize they are excellent tires but that $180 make a huge difference in my decision.
 
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What about the Goodyear Assurance Comfortred Touring tires? They seem to be a step up in comfort from the RT43. My brother has them on his 2014 Camry and the 2012 Camry I have has the RT43 T rated. They seem to be quieter and with a softer ride if that's what you're looking for.
 
Funny that you mention the G/Y Assurance ComfortTread Touring.
I had the G/Y ACT's on my wifes Lexus and they were a fine/perfect for this car and great in winter.

When the G/Y ACT's were used up, I ended up replacing them with the RT43's, ~2 yrs prior to selling the Lexus.

The RT43 were much cheaper however, and I found the bump absorption and cornering(not handling) to be much better than the ACTs though the RT43 were(not loud by any means) but, not as quiet at the G/Y's. Both were equal in snow however the RT43s seem to have a much better highway tracking(straight line) and did have some advantages over the more expensive G/Y's.

This a nice comparison between two completely differently priced tires but, similar tires. If I had to do it all over again, I'd take the RT43's over the G/Y ACT's...especially for the price difference!
smile.gif
 
i put two sets in succession of replacement walmart in-house goodyears on a 2004 toyota corolla that bought from hertz in 2005 at 24k miles and sold at 103k in 2016. sadly, had to sell because inherited 91 yo mom's pristine 2006 toyota highlander. very excellent experience with walmart gy tires on the corolla.
 
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Funny that you mention the G/Y Assurance ComfortTread Touring.
I had the G/Y ACT's on my wifes Lexus and they were a fine/perfect for this car and great in winter.


Thank you for the write up. Very interesting to read. My brother prefers the ACTs over the eco Michelins that the car came with. Glad to hear you liked the RT43s over the ACTs.

The Nokian eNTYRES that I just purchased for the Matrix were even less expensive than the RT43s without having to deal with rebates. $280 installed by buying on Amazon and having the local Ford QuikLane do the install. They compare favorably on paper with the Generals. 700 tread, Traction A, Temp A, Load rating 94 XL. The center rib has numbers that count down from 8 - 1. As each number wears away that's how tread is left. The lower the number is the deeper it's carved into the rubber.
 
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