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New Tire Report


stsjoe

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Well, went to get the oil changed and ended up getting new tires too. Impulse buying gotta love it! The Michelins were getting a bit thin but after 70k I'm not complaining, though I was never crazy about how they did in the rain. Long story short went with Michelin Hydroedges, seems to handle alot better(no squealing in turns) ride is slightly smoother but darn :blink: do these things go in the rain! no float or wandering like she's on rails. Cost was around 650.00 with mount, balance and aligment and there supposedly 90k tires.

Hope Everyone has a good Weekend!

Joe

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For 650 bucks I can buy 9 of PepBoys Futura Plus tires with 80k warranty. No doubt some of that 650 was because of the name “Michelin.” I’m not knocking your decision as Michelin has excellent tires, but I’m one of those who will rarely spend money on a name. For me to spend 650 on tires they would have to be self-rotating. The PepBoys tires are rated at: Traction A; Temperature B; Treadwear 640. I know there’s more to tires than just ratings, but WOW, for the price those Michelins should have a free road hazard warranty.

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Mac, not to argue but I would'nt let PeP Boys check the air, much less install tires! Had a 76 Wagoneer lost a tire 2 miles after they put them on, not a blow out , didn't torque the nuts, I went left rear left tire went right. I'm not burning PeP Boys but it was a joke trying to get that fixed :angry: and it was lifetime aligin, life time balance and rotate.

Joe

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For what it’s worth:

I have bought a lot of tires over the years and learned to buy quality, not bargain deals.

Now if a quality tire is on sale go for it.

I never know when I might want to rip down the road. I live in an area with lots of winding, mountainous roads that are unforgiving to "bargain" tires, and I hate flat tires.

Our summers are very hot, which shortens the lives of many cheaper tires, and we have some very rainy weather during the winter.

I need tires I can depend on for all of the above reasons. The bargain sale tires just don’t have it.

I am using Michelin XGT Pilot Z4, not because of the Michelin name (French), but in spite of it. My last set handled very well, and went over 60,000 miles before I needed to replace them. The last set cost $126 each, plus mount and balance. Well worth it to me.

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

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I was pretty shocked by that price but I do not know those tires. I have not bought tires in a wile but the ones on my 93 Seville are Goodyear P225/60R16, Eagle HP. I find a rateing of 97H , I do not know what that means. The reciept was in the glove box when I bought the car. They cost with mounting and Hi Speed balance $ 128.00 Ea. I can really put tires to the test at times and these hold pretty good. There seems to be about 60,000 miles on them from the reciept and the fronts are in need of replacement now. The rears were obviousley up front and are about half gone. I did lots to my car recently and tires will be next. I'm going with the same ones but I want to check the speed rateing, I want something very very hi. I understand the HP's are disscontinued, they are now called Eagle GT HR, if I got the right info from my tire dealer. I will do lots of research when it's time.

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I've owned and driven on a few different non-Michelin brands of tires (BFGoodrich, Regul, Firestone, Goodyear, Continental) and none of them equaled a comparative Michelin tire. I've never met a Michelin tire I didn't like. A lot of that comes from my parents too...they've bought nothing BUT Michelins their whole lives. My in-laws are the same way, so we're a pretty biased family. But until I come across a bad tire from them, I really see no reason to "experiment" with cheaper tires when I know I get good quality for more money. You usually get what you pay for. I've experienced no less with tires.

Our van came with a mixed set of Goodyears on it. Not only was there a slight vibration at speed, but the handling was squirmy, especially on ice. A new set of Michelin Agilitys from Sears (740/A/B) fixed that up. The Cadillac has seen nothing but Michelin tires from the day it was new (XW4s from the factory, and now two sets of Pilot XGT H4s). The Pilots are down to about 4/32nds of tread, and I'm going to put a set of Agilitys on the Cadillac too. 740 treadwear, A/B traction/temperature ratings, and a price of $96/ea. Hard to beat that for a known quality tire.

By the way, Michelin has FOUR different tire models, which are really the same. The Harmony, Destiny, Agility, and X Radial are all the same tire...with slightly different designs in tread. You can see the "fruits of my [research] labor", when I looked through all the specs and even called Michelin directly, before I bought tires for the van. http://www.jnjhome.net/dodge/michelin.htm

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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Well, went to get the oil changed and  ended up getting new tires too. Impulse buying gotta love it! The Michelins were getting a bit thin but after 70k I'm not complaining, though I was never crazy about how they did in the rain. Long story short went with Michelin Hydroedges, seems to handle alot better(no squealing in turns) ride is slightly smoother but darn :blink:  do these things go in the rain! no float or wandering like she's on rails. Cost was around 650.00 with mount, balance and aligment and there supposedly 90k tires.

Hope Everyone has a good Weekend!

Joe

Those Michelins are OUTSTANDING!!!! I am thrilled to hear that their wet weather handling is as good as they claim... Michelin is the best IMHO... Good Luck with them..you get what you pay for!

However, next time you buy a Michelin tire go to Costco or BJ's when they have their buy 4 sale, not only are their prices great, the buy 4 saves additional money, AND you get lifetime balancing and rotating and repairs....plus they use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts (not the installer, the manager). PLUS they are safety conscious, they will NOT put new tires on the FRONT of a FRONTWHEEL drive car (the old school idea when cars were rear wheel drive), they will only put new tires on the FRONT when you buy two... I like their attention to details.. Tell them up front you want the weights on the inside and request VINYL weights...

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I have not heard anything bad about Futura tires which are manufactured in the U.S.A. by Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. I bought my Furtura Plus tires in December 2003 and have no complaints. I think people tend to be bias against the less popular brands because, let's face it, having name brands like Michelin, Pirelli, GoodYear, etc. ;) is better than having Futura. :blink: If anyone knows of any reputable study comparing tire quality and performance including Furtura, please post it. I'm not convinced that spending $650 for Michelins' will provide that much more, if any, quality and performance increase than the $345.48 (mounting, balancing & tax included) Futuras' I bought.

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Cooper is a good tire also. Even within Michelin there are average performing tires and top notch tires. The Hydroedge is an incredible tire, he could have gotten a better price at BJ or Costco, but he is probably independently wealthy! :lol:

Until I bought a Pilot, I felt the same way, you do and I was a Goodyear fan. Now that I have tried Michelin, I will never go back regardless of price. I have had TOYOS on a car and they were white knucklers, I hate the Goodyear's on my wife's Monte Carlo and so does my wife, they are HORRIBLE in the rain (GT+4?), its not a name/manufacturer thing its a performance thing, if you like the Futura, good for you, stick with it. Your driving habits may not push a tire to its limits. However once you have done a 360 in the rain because the tires SUCK, you will feel differently.

I can tell you this however, if you put a high performance tire like a PILOT on your Eldo, you will think you died and went to heaven.... Going from an XW4 to a Pilot is the same upgrade, if the car can handle it....

My tires NEVER make the "WARRANTY" period they make about 45,000 miles and I get rid of them, my most important requirement is wet weather handling, and after 45,000 miles IMHO the wet weather performance is GONE, and so are the tires. Everyone has their own needs.

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MAC,

I'm also a prisoner here in Nazi Jersey. Which Pep Boys do you favor? I'm only familiar with the one in Hackensack and I wouldn't let any one of those people clean the windshield much less anything more complicated.

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Hi all,

I have posted several times on here that I have Firestone Affinity's on STS..I really like them and at $90 mounted/balanced/installed was pretty fair deal..Since installing them on my STS I have noticed great rain/wet weather handling..Never once have I slid or hydroplaned with them..For me, they have been the best wet weather tire I have ever had on any of my cars...

I read in the previous posting about every tire brand has poor, middle of the road, and excellent tire models...This is very true-I have Firestones on my Tahoe(THEY SUCK) and are pretty poor in wet weather and we get quite a few of those days here in Florida...I would have to say to do some research on the particular tire models before making a purchase..You wouldnt purchase a vehicle without some research so why would you not do the same for tires-they are the only thing between the ground and your 2-ton rolling mass...

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However, next time you buy a Michelin tire go to Costco or BJ's when they have their buy 4 sale, not only are their prices great, the buy 4 saves additional money, AND you get lifetime balancing and rotating and repairs....plus they use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts (not the installer, the manager).

I was going to buy the van tires at our local Sams, but when I found out they didn't have an alignment rack, I was disappointed. Then I found out that Sears does an alignment check FOR FREE when you buy new tires. They also use a torque wrench to install the wheels (I think pretty much everyone does today, but yes I did check!). We bought our van used, so I wanted to get an alignment check anyway. If I had bought the tires at Sams, I'd have had to make another appointment somewhere else, at an additional cost. And since it's been SO LONG since the alignment has been checked on our Seville, I plan to get the tires for it at Sears too.

Either Sears or Sams (or Wal-Mart) would probably be a good place to get 'em, because they have locations everywhere, and you can get tire service where ever you are pretty much.

Regarding the off-brands, I don't know much about them, good or bad. But that's why I don't deal with them. It's kind of like aftermarket mods... You're kind of doing the research yourself. I take the recommendations and reviews at Tirerack.com with a grain of salt, but I think they're worthwhile to read. The more expensive tires (like Michelin Hydroedge and Harmony and Goodyear Assurance TripleTred and ComforTred) get excellent reviews, and are at the top of their category. I couldn't decide between the ComforTreds and the Agilitys (which is the Sears equivalent to the Harmony). Prior experience with Michelin steered me toward the Michelins, although they were more expensive. I'm sure the Goodyear Assurance is a fine tire. But my money will go to where my experience is. And it hasn't been all that noteworthy with non-Michelin brands in my house.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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Cooper is a good tire also. Even within Michelin there are average performing tires and top notch tires. The Hydroedge is an incredible tire, he could have gotten a better price at BJ or Costco, but he is probably independently wealthy! :lol:

Until I bought a Pilot, I felt the same way, you do and I was a Goodyear fan. Now that I have tried Michelin, I will never go back regardless of price. I have had TOYOS on a car and they were white knucklers, I hate the Goodyear's on my wife's Monte Carlo and so does my wife, they are HORRIBLE in the rain (GT+4?), its not a name/manufacturer thing its a performance thing, if you like the Futura, good for you, stick with it. Your driving habits may not push a tire to its limits. However once you have done a 360 in the rain because the tires SUCK, you will feel differently.

I can tell you this however, if you put a high performance tire like a PILOT on your Eldo, you will think you died and went to heaven.... Going from an XW4 to a Pilot is the same upgrade, if the car can handle it....

My tires NEVER make the "WARRANTY" period they make about 45,000 miles and I get rid of them, my most important requirement is wet weather handling, and after 45,000 miles IMHO the wet weather performance is GONE, and so are the tires. Everyone has their own needs.

Don't I wish Scotty ;) I hit the Merchants Tire, only about half a mile from the house so I can drop it of and walk home, that day I wasn't in the mood to bum a ride or worse spend a Saturday in a waiting room plus I had new struts installed on all four corners 2 months ago and wanted to see if the handling at 175k would be like it was at 35k and it is!(and like I said it was an impulse buy as in put them suckers on and lets go!) As for the other Brands I've run them all, and they each seem to do well depending on application and expectation, my 76 3/4 ton GMC is on Goodyears(try getting 16.5 tires :blink: ) 95 Sonoma is on Uniroyals all have been good the Futuras on the Wagoneer were fine other than the wheel falling off not a confidence bell ringer there! The Moral of the story is to each his own heck I know people that still get tires at wrecking yards can't understand why you would buy them new go figure <_<

Have a good one ALL! Joe

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I have had Vogues, Firestones, Yokohamas and nothing lasted more than 35.000 miles. So, this time I decided to buy something comparable to the value of 14 years old car with 142.00 miles. A set of four KUMHOs plus installation less than $250.00! Oh... I forgot to include the state inspection in that number! :lol: Let's see how long they will last. They are ok just kinda noisy.

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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adallak,

Excellent choice! And your still alive. :lol: I think I might try the KUMHO Ultra Performance next time. Actually, they've been around since 1961 and are the 10th largest tire manufacturer in the world. Looks like they are an up-and-coming company with pretty good tires.

http://www.kumhousa.com/

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I just had Kuhmo 716 Ecsta's installed last week. The Goodyear Assurance triple treads were fine tires, and had about 85% tread life left in them. But I decided to give another tire a try (I have a shimmying Seville). The Kuhmo's were cheap, and the reviews, were outstanding. So far, I like them alot. My shimmy isn't gone, but it is definitely better. I am considering Bridgestone Turanza's for my next set. But, that should be about a year and a half away.

Don

"Modern warriors saddle iron horses of chrome."

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I just had Kuhmo 716 Ecsta's installed last week. The Goodyear Assurance triple treads were fine tires, and had about 85% tread life left in them.

Wow! What'd ya do with the Goodyears?

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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I just had Kuhmo 716 Ecsta's installed last week. The Goodyear Assurance triple treads were fine tires, and had about 85% tread life left in them.

Wow! What'd ya do with the Goodyears?

My sister has a '95 Bonneville, that was in need of some rubber. I asked her for $100.00, and that sealed the deal. A major loss for me (dollar wise), but I do not have the tires laying around, and she gets practically new tires, for next to nothing. I still haven't collected that $ yet. :D

Don

"Modern warriors saddle iron horses of chrome."

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Good to hear your sis got new rubber for a good deal. Regarding your shimmy...there ain't nothin' wrong with a set of Michelin Harmonys or Hydroedges, ya know. :) Great tires at a fairly competitive price (competitive with the high-end Goodyears anyway).

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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Yeah, but I am one of the crowd, who isn't completely in tune with the tire / shimmy connection. My thought is that certain tires will only mask the problem. With that being said, I wasn't prepared to spend more than $300.00 to experiment. Well, I ended up spending more after mounting and balancing, but the initial cost for the Kumho's, was $273.00. So I ended up with a better ride (less shimmy) for not too much money. I am fairly pleased.

Don

"Modern warriors saddle iron horses of chrome."

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Those Michelins are OUTSTANDING!!!! I am thrilled to hear that their wet weather handling is as good as they claim... Michelin is the best IMHO... Good Luck with them..you get what you pay for!

Mike,

Am I to understand that you have the Michelin Hydroedges? Your post is unclear on that.

I'm pretty certain I've seen whitewalls on the photos of your car. Are the Hydroedges available with W/W? This old fart is a die hard W/W fan and wet weather handling is also a priority for me.

I'm not currently in the tire market, but I'm always looking forward.

Regards,

Warren

P.S. I've strayed in the past, but I've always come back to Michelins.

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There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. - Ludwig von Mises

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The Hydroedges are not available in whitewall. Michelin tires currently available in whitewalls are the XW4, Symmetry, WeatherWise (from Sears), and possibly a few others. If I had a classy Deville, I'd have whitewalls too. Probably Symmetrys. Symmetrys look good in blackwall too. I thought about buying 'em for the van.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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