I'm going nuts! buying tires soon

[lovemysan]

I lost a tire to a sidewall laceration last week. It was the only decent tire on the car, go figure. So I will be purchasing tires soon. Noo! Please!! I'm begging! I'll watch 50 hours of oprah! anything! pleassssseeee! Back to reality.

I dispise tire shopping. The last thing you want to do, is get a tire that you will loath and then have to use it for 5 years or until its worn out. The endless research with constant dead ends, can't get this size or this particular model, find a great tire only to learn its 5lbs heavier etc.

Forget about LRR. Theres very little information out there. Its annoying to even look for them.

So I need your suggestions, maybe I'm missing something here. My size is
185-65-15
I heard to steer clear of the goodyear integritys. I like the michelin harmony but at $90 plus shipping I can't really afford them. I thought about the yoko avid trz its a 80k mile tire but I'd have to go with a 195-60, which I'm trying to avoid. Firestone affinitys are stock but noisy. Some have suggested the kumho 795 a/s but its only rated at 35psi.

I need some advice. What do you recommend? Help me to decipher which traits to go for. I prefer price,FE, durability in that order but I'm stuck on a mental fence.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

I bought tires off tirerack.com for the first time a month or so ago, and was rather impressed, shiping turned out to be around $35 for 4 tires, and I took my spare rims to a local shop, and had them mounted, balenced and old tires disposed of for a grand total of $10 per tire, I ended up saving nearly $100 on the 4 snow tires.
Of course buying local is alwas best, I had truble parting with the exatra $100.
Either way, tirerack.com is a great resorce as they show all the tires of the selected size, and lets you check out the specs on them so you can find out load range, speed range, wear index, heat disapation, grip, max psi,tire weight, tred width, rev's per mile, tire hight, all of that important information is right there, and if you check off all the tires you like, you can compair them all side by side with those specs all listed.

[cfg83]

lovemysan -

I am using tirerack too, but only for research at this point.

My rims are for 185/65 HR15 too, so I was thinking of moving one level up to 195/65 HR15.

I have my eyes on these but they are expensive ($109+!!!) :
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?...&place=32

The specs table gives me a ton of info. For instance, there's one model of the 195s that comes rated at 51 PSI :
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp?...&place=31

I don't know if these are a good pick, but I can use tirerack as a starting point and then use Google to search for articles on the tires I am interested in.

CarloSW2

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by theclencher

It's not worth going nuts over. Go down to your favorite tire store and see what kind of deal you can cut.

I agree with theclencher. Just go to a 'tire-mart' (I guess Canadian Tire wouldn't really be an option for you) and see what they've got. Right now I have super-high rolling resistance G.Y. Nordic IceTrac tires on
Attachment 107
but in the summer I ALWAYS use Goodyear Allegras
Attachment 108.
I jumped for joy when I saw that's what the Geo already had when I was looking to buy it. The tread lasts forever.

You can also usually tell which tires have the least amount of rolling resistance by looking at the tread pattern. Horizontal tread is not good, but tires with tread that runs along the circumference of the tire and has a solid centre rib are good choices. Usually the quieter the ride performance is, the better rolling resistance.

Whatever you do, DON'T buy tires at Walmart! I got some cheap Kumhos there for my Fiero and they lasted maybe 5 oil changes.

[SVOboy]

I got yokohama something or others that were rated very well on tire rack and I love them. They were only 42 each and I got them through a smaller online seller that had a special for free shipping. Good times.

[Matt Timion]

I've had lots of luck with tirerack. I recommend using them.

BTW, please get to their site using the link in the "coupons" tab above. It'll help support GasSavers.

[lovemysan]

I checked at sams and walmart. They both carry junk basically for my size. I've gotten the run around from the local guys before. I prefer to a controlled purchase. I know well before hand what I'm getting and not worrying about a salesmans hype and lies.

I won't be using any taller tire, because of the way I use my car the extra long overdrive actually hurts economy sometimes.

[GasSavers_DaX]

My next set of tires will be Michelin Harmony's. I know they're pricey, but they have a great tread life and I have heard they have less RR than a lot of others.

[Spule 4]

I have bought tires from several mail order and now online sources for two decades here in the US, including Tire Rack.

Tire Rack used to be the best for prices, but anymore I can match or beat them locally unless it is something oddball that cannot be found here (Metro tires).

Tire rack can be good for research, but the one thing I hated about them is they want feedback on the tires a week or two after purchase, how about six months or 10K miles or so?

For a LRR tire of good quality, look at the Nokian i3. And no, Tire Rack does not cary Nokian.

[diamondlarry]

lovemysan, I have the same size tires as you. Who knew? Anyway, I bought Goodyear Assurance Comfortread's. They are supposed to be somewhat LRR...I think.