Tires for a co worker's car....

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daves87rs

daves87rs

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A co worker of mine needs tires for his Cavalier before winter. He does quite a bit of driving (works and goes to school)So he needs a pretty good set of tires. And since he takes good care of his Cav, I'm sure he'll spend a few bucks for a good set.

Even though I have a few cars with this size (stock 14s), I wanted to see what tires others might think would be good for him.

I'd offer my Kelly Navs, but they are being discontinued. I was thinking pretty much anything in the Mich/ Cooper family of tires....or the Goodyear TT/Comfort treads.

I personally like the BFG Traction TA/ Cooper Cs4s, but then again, my Cav sees very little snow. (Love the sportiness, though)

I'm out of the market right now (until next year, anyways)


Your choice?



Info: 03 Cavalier coupe/78k / 195/70/14 Base trim
 
Goodyear TripleTreds are much better in the snow than the Mich Hydroedge. They last a long time, have very good wet and snow traction. They are noiser than the HyrdroEdge, but not bad at all. I live in Michigan also, and drive through the same [censored] that you and your co-worker do. I have them on my Camry (winter ride) and they are great. I was at Belle for 4 years, and the Nav Gold was a decent tire for the money, but not in the same class at all. If he does not mind spending the extra money, those GY's are a great choice. And of course the coopers are always a good bargin also.
 
The Cooper CS4s have very good snow traction, but are otherwise not noteworthy (not as impressive as I expected them to be). Believe it or not, but in a recent Consumer Reports test, the Hankook Optimo H727 was the best all season tire in winter traction, rivaling even the winter tires for snow and ice traction. It even performed well in most other categories, placing #2 overall just behind the Michelin HydroEdge.

I guess it really depends how much the person wants to spend. The Michelin HydroEdge and Goodyear Assurance TripleTred both are very impressive, but are much higher in price than their competitors. I personally have always found enough value added to premium tires to justify their price, but in terms of paper performance, there are a ton of excellent choices that cost less, like the Pirelli P4 Four Seasons, Hankook Optimo H727, Kumho Solus KR21, etc.
 
How about the Michelin Primacy?
A solid tire that should be at least okay in snow.
It does snow here, and I've never had a set of Michelins that weren't pretty decent in the white stuff.
I'm not sure they come in the right size, however.
 
Something cushy on the Cavalier would be good, like the CS4s.

Post some specific prices on models you'd get.

Sometimes the Bridgestone dealer is attractive.

imo, up-sizing is the most important move to consider, but is there a 205/65-14?.
 
I've got the Comfort treads. The ride is very smooth,quiet. But.....the handling is not precise and my mpg dropped about 7%. They probably last about 40k.
 
Hydroedges are noisy. And they tramline a little. But they last forever.

The Cooper CS4s are quieter, but no where as crisp in terms of handling when compared to the Hydroedges. They are also a lot cheaper.

I really don't put much faith to CR's testing. A lot of tires perform great when they are new, but 20k later, they have out-of-round issues, cupping, etc, and those are problems that you'll only know about through reading Tire Rack's consumer reviews.
 
I think both tires recommended would be fine.. you just need to avoid the usual OEM standard tires that are horrid

IE, goodyear Eagle LS

(not saying all oem tires are horrid)

and we are talking about a cavalier here.. so I'd go for something high traction and not worry about anything over T or H rating
 
I have the Michelin Harmony in the same 195/70-14 size on an Achieva and like them really well.

I put the T-rated Traction T/As recently on my V-6 Camaro recently and think they are quite decent as well. It poured like crazy on the way home with lots of standing water on the road and the car was still planted solid.

The Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring TR is a good small car tire if you can find it. They were awesome on my SL2 when I had it and were well on there way to lasting over 60K. They anen't commonly found a lot of places though it seems, at least that was the case when buying the Achieva's tires.
 
Originally Posted By: JustinH
Do you have discount tire near you?

I would get a set of their house brand Arizonian's for a cavalier.




Not sure who makes those....
 
Originally Posted By: moklock
I have the Michelin Harmony in the same 195/70-14 size on an Achieva and like them really well.

I put the T-rated Traction T/As recently on my V-6 Camaro recently and think they are quite decent as well. It poured like crazy on the way home with lots of standing water on the road and the car was still planted solid.

The Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring TR is a good small car tire if you can find it. They were awesome on my SL2 when I had it and were well on there way to lasting over 60K. They anen't commonly found a lot of places though it seems, at least that was the case when buying the Achieva's tires.



A good idea....very few places here carry Tiger Paws anywhere....
 
Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
I beg to differ, my Hydroedges are way sloppy, coming from the CS4-V


Dude, you're comparing a T-rated tire to a V-rated one. Can't do it! Compare the HydroEdge to the CS4-T. Based on everything I've read, the T-rated CS4 is rather soft and squirmy.
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: JustinH
Do you have discount tire near you?

I would get a set of their house brand Arizonian's for a cavalier.




Not sure who makes those....


They are made by Kelly Springfield.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tires/arizonian/home.do%3Bjsessionid=2vSpK8LJNkpGFPMqsP2NhGWyT8m72Q1YXqgvBcJWRyHKYdTFTwyMNCt15bkLn2MdLBfyCPsHWTTpGMpLpSQT1Lw2v3x7NN6SQxyZ43MKl71BXbp8GPymzm7jQ01qspLL!180288519!978817179?r=TCNINT|pc|76248
 
Originally Posted By: JustinH
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: JustinH
Do you have discount tire near you?

I would get a set of their house brand Arizonian's for a cavalier.




Not sure who makes those....


They are made by Kelly Springfield.


http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tires/arizonian/home.do%3Bjsessionid=2vSpK8LJNkpGFPMqsP2NhGWyT8m72Q1YXqgvBcJWRyHKYdTFTwyMNCt15bkLn2MdLBfyCPsHWTTpGMpLpSQT1Lw2v3x7NN6SQxyZ43MKl71BXbp8GPymzm7jQ01qspLL!180288519!978817179?r=TCNINT|pc|76248



Which would mean that they are a goodyear family tire...


Interesting...
 
Last edited:
I put GY TT comfort tread on my Kia Spectra a month ago. They were spendy, but so far the have been excellent in rain. Gas mileage stayed the same, much less noise than factory GY Eagle LS.
we should have ice/snow in a week. Will let you know how they do then.
 
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