tire selection

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rock n roll kid

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may change tires on my 06 subaru forester .wal mart will probably be the place of purchase . have only bought tires for my 07 pontiac in last few years , which were a good year assurance original equipment ... they have been great tires .

many brands at wally world , most i have not heard of like solar , evolution & a host of others .
my criteria reads : 50, 000 tread life , very good traction , & a decent wear factor & ride .

should i shy away from all these unknowns , or are there some decent tires with the no names offered ? total cost , with taxes & lifetime rotate & balance should hopefully be under $400 , or very close to that .
thanks up front rock
 
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This does not answer the question you asked. I've gone to Michelin's the last several tire purchases, Walmart carries them. Great ride, and tread life. And traction is good also. To me, they're worth the extra dollars.
 
rock n roll kid said:
may change tires on my 06 subaru forester .wal mart will probably be the place of purchase . have only bought tires for my 07 pontiac in last few years , which were a good year assurance original equipment ... they have been great tires .

many brands at wally world , most i have not heard of like solar , evolution & a host of others .
my criteria reads : 50, 000 tread life , very good traction , & a decent wear factor & ride .

should i shy away from all these unknowns , or are there some decent tires with the no names offered ? total cost , with taxes & lifetime rotate & balance should hopefully be under $400 , or very close to that .
thanks up front rock
Click to expand...

There are only a few companies that make tires. Find out who made them and yes many of the off brands are a very good tire!

Most managers in a tire store should know that info!
 
First criteria should be load-bearing capacity, which is a factory rating indicating the types of tires applicable to vehicles of certain types and weights.

Second, correct size and profile for your vehicle. Big differences in recent years with 50-series, 60-series, 70-series, etc.

Third is tread style. This should be based upon your intended uses. Highway tread, snow tires, all-season, etc.

Getting the rated mileage is usually more of a matter of regular rotation and tire balancing than anything else. I have seen tires factory-rated for 50,000 deliver over 60,000 with proper routine maintenance, or completely worn out at less than 40,000 without.

As Nylakesider pointed out, there are really only a few tire manufacturers, with each making several brand names. There are some excellent tires with less-known names displayed. I suspect there are several websites available with valuable research data for the tire shopper.
 
I've had a number of brands of tires over the years, but the best I've had so far are Michelin. I'm currently running Pirelli tires and they are better than the Dunlop tires i had that suffered catastrophic sidewall separation, but Pirelli is not quite as good as Michelin.
 
Last tires I bought at Walmart was four Goodyear Vivas. After I got back
home I did some research and found a lot of mean-mouth comments about
them. But mine have been wearing well and a very smooth ride. Four of
them for my Buick was well under your $400.
I have had Michelin on my truck forever. Can't wear them out.
 
-db- said:
Forget Walmart, order online and have delivered to your local Discount Tire these new tires, the absolute best offering for Subaru Foresters and similar crossovers:

Tire service near me | Find a location | Discount Tire

See the reviews at subaruforester.org as to why these are the best bang for your buck.
Click to expand...

X2. DT is the only place I have bought tires for the past 10yrs. Their service & warranty is the best.
 
Michelin's on the vette. Took those Goodyear factory "run craps" off, horrible in every way. Instead of running on Goodyear Flintstone tires, much smoother and comfy now with better handling. And less expensive. :)
 
Tires are very much a commodity. All tires are a trade off between wear and traction. Goodyear leans toward the traction side so they tend to wear faster, because of their traction reputation, Goodyear also sells more to the high performance crowd so they tend to cost more. Kelly Springfield are good tires if you can find them, they are a sort of economy tire that is made the same (in the same assembly lines with the same materials and tire builders) as Goodyear Tires. Michelins claim to fame is wear, they will almost always last longer than a comparable Goodyear tire, but not grip as well in winter or high speed conditions. I would not hesitate to use Kelly's or Michelin's on a Subaru. I cannot recommend Firestone due to personal experience, but some do. There are very few independent tire makers left in the world. Most of the unknown brands are "house brands" for the major tire makers made in lower cost labor markets. Hankook tires have served me well and are my favorite independent "bargain brand". I am not a fan of Pirelli, but some do like them.

Warranties on tires decrease in value with the miles run and are prorated, if your tire fails completely, you will not get a new tire, only the value of the tire (when purchased) multiplied by the ratio of the miles the tire ran divided by the warrantied miles.

Caveat Emptor.
 
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I don't have a Subaru so this may not help.

I've had 6 different brand of tires on my Chevy 2500HD.

In Aug I purchased my first set of Michelin's and they are the smoothest and quietest of any of my previous tires.

My previous tires were Hankook (never again), BF Goodrich (longest lasting), Cooper, Big 0 (made by Cooper), and Yokohama. I doubt that I will buy another set of Yokohama's either. They got noisy and rough way too early in their life. I actually replaced them early just because I was soo displeased with the road noise.
 
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Lots of Chinese made tires, and Korean made tires out there. My old tire Guy liked Kumho for the small cars. Had Them on 2 Hondas, great tires. Just put Michlins on My truck before elk season and love them. Got them at DT. Got Pirellis on My Jag and when they go I am going to DT for more Michelins.
 
My experience over the years has been that odd brand name tires tend to have a shorter tread life. The caveat is I tend to buy winter tires that use a softer compound than an all season tire does.
 
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stansdds said:
I've had a number of brands of tires over the years, but the best I've had so far are Michelin. I'm currently running Pirelli tires and they are better than the Dunlop tires i had that suffered catastrophic sidewall separation, but Pirelli is not quite as good as Michelin.
Click to expand...

Know anything about Hankook brand?
 
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