Any decent second tier tires for my car

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I currently have the tiger paw gtz they handle great but they rode so rough. What would be something that still handles good but rides a little smoother that won't break the bank size is 225/40/r18
 
Something I don't skimp on is the "friction" aspect of my cars: shocks, brakes and tires. But, I assume you're asking for your Dart(s) and I would look at a General, Firestone or BFG probably. I don't know how much you can spend, but if it is less than those, I would drop down to the well tested Asian offerings that have been around a while: Kumho, Yokohama, Hankook, Sumitomo, etc, Tire Rack has BFG Advantage T/A Sport, General Altimax RT43, and Firestone Firehawk AS all around 90 bucks per tire. Any of those will be a vast improvement over the venerable Tiger Paw.
 
Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 or Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+. Not only will they ride better than that Tiger Paw tire, but they'll VASTLY out-brake it in slippery conditions AND have more usable tread life.
 
Originally Posted By: ram_man
I currently have the tiger paw gtz they handle great but they rode so rough. What would be something that still handles good but rides a little smoother that won't break the bank size is 225/40/r18
The size is the problem IMHO. The 40 profile is too small. Go to a 70 series in 15" Yah, I know, they look dorky compared to the current style. But your econo-box will never be a race car, no matter how low the tires are. Higher profile tires are made for REAL road conditions, not a glass smooth race track.
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Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
A rough ride might be an issue with any 40 series tires.

For sure. But there's still plenty of room for differentiation. Within a given performance class, a good tire will always ride better than a bad tire. At a given quality level, a touring-type tire will always ride better than a straight-up performance tire. And so on.

Going up the quality food chain often means you can go up the performance food chain without sacrificing ride quality. I'd trust my tailbone to a high-end performance tire over a lower-tier tire of any type, any day.

I run 205/55/17 performance winter tires, and 225/40/19 "max performance" summer tires. Both sets are from Michelin. Ride quality isn't as different as you might think.
 
I have had some Cooper's rated at 60K on my Prius- currently at 63K with plenty of tread left.
BF Goodrich and Uniroyal are Michelin owned brands now.
I looked at some Wal-Mart "Douglas" tires that are made by Goodyear in the USA.
 
Ah, SORRY, didn't see the tire size there. For less expensive, maybe Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval AS, or General G-MAX AS,
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
Originally Posted By: ram_man
I currently have the tiger paw gtz they handle great but they rode so rough. What would be something that still handles good but rides a little smoother that won't break the bank size is 225/40/r18
The size is the problem IMHO. The 40 profile is too small. Go to a 70 series in 15" Yah, I know, they look dorky compared to the current style. But your econo-box will never be a race car, no matter how low the tires are. Higher profile tires are made for REAL road conditions, not a glass smooth race track.
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The series doesn't mean anything in isolation. It's meant to be a rough percentage of the width. A 70 series 15" tire would have to have a 185 section width to keep the same overall diameter. Not a good idea on a car that specs 225 as stock.

Dropping down to a smaller wheel could work if you could preserve the stock width and overall diameter. That seems to be tough for this size, though. To pick the 15" example, 225/55/15 is too small, and 225/60/15 is too big. It's a similar story with 16" and 17" sizes. I guess 215/60/15 could work, but there aren't a lot of good tire choices in that size. The best options all seem to be eco tires, which doesn't seem like a good idea given that you're already sacrificing lateral grip by going down in width.
 
Is this for the Dart?

40-series tires won't give you a good ride no matter what. You can probably minus-size down to 205/55-16 with no problems
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It's the stock size on my dart. I know it will never be a Cadillac but these tiger paws ride like cinder blocks
 
Originally Posted By: ram_man
It's the stock size on my dart. I know it will never be a Cadillac but these tiger paws ride like cinder blocks

I wouldn't expect miracles here, given your sidewall height, but I would look into tires in grand touring all-season category. If you're on a budget, look at Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum. TR has them for $78 a piece.
 
I put some Continentals on a Pontiac Vibe GT that I'm sure had a 40 or 45 series sidewall and an 18" rim. Coupled with the new Monroe struts, it rode surpringly well.

I can look into exactly what tire it was when I get back to the shop if you're interested.
 
Originally Posted By: ram_man
It's the stock size on my dart. I know it will never be a Cadillac but these tiger paws ride like cinder blocks


And your girlfriend's dart, how does that ride?
 
I'm happy with the ride on my BFG comp 2 summer tires in a stock 275-40-17 tire. And I know if I spent a little more for the Conti's or a lot more for the Michelin Pilots, the ride would have been much smoother. I'd recommend those 2. An all season tire will give a better comfort ride than either a dedicated summer or winter tire.
 
Price a set of GY Eagle Sport All Seasons, they have free install + upto $150 in rebates on those tires till 21st of this month ( free install part ) for father's day. Have these on my wife's Chrysler 200S in 245/40R19 size and its a smooth ride. Just drove from Indiana to Oregon with the car loaded ( moving ) with my wife and 2 cats. REALLY impressed with how they did for me through all kinds of weather including 2 snow storms north of Denver,CO.
 
I previously had some conti dws on my WRX in 17" size. Ride quality was garbage. Took them off in less than a thousand miles and sold them.

Replaced them with Dunlop direzza and the ride quality difference was night and day.

I was talking to one of my co-workers shortly thereafter, telling him about the drastic difference in ride quality. He's an extremely knowledgeable long time amateur race car driver. His immediate response was "because the Dunlops are probably heavier. Heavy tires ride smoother." Wat

Sure enough, I looked up the specs on the tire rack website and the dunlops are 5lbs heavier than the contis in that size, per tire.

Not at all saying that weight is the only factor, but I found it very interesting that he immediately called out the weight difference.
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
Originally Posted By: ram_man
I currently have the tiger paw gtz they handle great but they rode so rough. What would be something that still handles good but rides a little smoother that won't break the bank size is 225/40/r18
The size is the problem IMHO. The 40 profile is too small. Go to a 70 series in 15" Yah, I know, they look dorky compared to the current style. But your econo-box will never be a race car, no matter how low the tires are. Higher profile tires are made for REAL road conditions, not a glass smooth race track.
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This. An econobox with 40 series tires = silly.

And the dart is one of the best econoboxes Ive driven...

My accord has 225/50-17 tires and rides just fine. It was OE fit with Michelin Energy Saver and they have been very good tires for handling and ride, IMO. but 10% difference in aspect ratio in a 225mm wide tire is 22.5mm, or 1" worth of sidewall.

IMO, P215/55r-16 tires are the best of all worlds when it comes to size and fit for most vehicles. Not balloons, but a decent sidewall, yet can be made stiff.

Id look at what ridiculous sizes of tires and wheels others have fit without rub, then use a tire size calculator, and see how much taller of a tire you can go without issue... Perhaps a 45 or 50 tire is in the cards, especially at a 215 width?
 
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