Tire Choices?

[terryb52]

I am exploring new tires. I have a quote for TOYO SPECTRUM for $345 or FALKEN (yokohama?) from Big O for $306. Or NANKANG (not sure, but they may be Yokohama as well) for $245. Any experience with the last two brands? It's for my '92 Legacy Touring Wagon, mostly city driving, 12K a year, one long trip per year. Some snow. Thanks!

[geckolizard]

I put a set of B.F. Goodrich Traction TA's that are rated HR (they come SR, HR, and VR) on my '04 Forrester XT and they are great at speed, in the wet,or on the snow. I ditched the Yoko's because the traction sucked and they cornered poorly even though they were HR rated tires. The Traction TA's are very reasonable in price. I got mine from one of the online sources at $64 each, delivered.

[terryb52]

What do HR, SR, VR mean?

[rugbyben]

i put on some cheapo chinese tires but was plesantly suprised.

 

they are Sumitomo Serexon 4s they have the HR speed rating (by the way that is a speed rating as far as i know.. HR is 130mph) and i for get the traction rating. but its rated better then the potenzas.

 

anyway they were like $60 each on sale for $44, so i didnt expect too much but man they are great. dry and super wet traction. i only got them this spring so i dont know about snow yet but they got rave reviews.

and they have 60K mile warranty. which is higher then any comparable ive seen. check them out on tirerack.com

[SevenSisters]

Speed ratings"

 

SR means S speed rated, Radial tire. Rated to 112 mph

 

HR rated to 130 mph

 

VR rated to 149 mph

 

 

You’re not going to go that fast but this rating is indicative of heat resistance. Also of cost. Higher is better but will give harsher yet crisper handling (good) but will cost more.

A lot of manufacturers are producing private brand tires, e.g.: Falken so check out NHTSA to see who and where your tire is made. You need the DOT code molded into the tire sidewall. Check out:

 

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/manufacture/

Block out all the categories except tires.

You can get a realistic feel for quality by looking at the UTQG ratings on the tire too. Again, Tire Rack etc will have an explanation for the ratings.

Good luck.

 

[SevenSisters]

I should have been more specific. Enter the first two letters or characters of the DOT code, e.g.: NJ into the DOT ID field.

The tire will have: DOT NJXX XXXXXX 2404 for example. The 2404 means it was made the 24th week of 2004. Don't worry about the x's.

 

Alright, go outside now and check yours. Also ckeck your pressure!

[Rice Burner]

I have to agree that the bf goodrich traction t/a tires are excellent. I own a 97 impreza outback sport s/w and love the tires. I recommended them to my mother who has a 96 legacy outback s/w and she loves the traction t/a also. We bought ours at the tirerack for around $65 a tire. If you can, buy these tires!!! The grip is excellent and the treadlife on these are either 65-70K miles depending on peformance rating....

[s'ko]

the last set of tires I bought was from America's Tire. They were the Roadhugger tires. Spent 40 bucks each for them. They are incredible. Handled a lot better than the stock BF's that my OBS came with.

 

I currently have a set of 2002 WRX wheels w/Blow-tenza tires. They are horrible. I can't wait to smoke them so I can justify getting a better set

 

BW

[rugbyben]

I agree potenza's quality has really gone down. now that there are like 150 different ones you can get, and the price went up. stay away.

 

there is no rule with tires that you get what you pay for. dont skimp too much, because quality rubber does cost a bit mroe then junk, but just because one cost a few bucks more doesnt mean its any better. really check the reviews!