I am going to need tires soon. Does anyone have a preference for brand? I have Fusion on there now but not sure if I can do better with out spending a ton of $$$. Present size is 205/50 R16.

 

I prefer Michilens.

 

Continentals here. Best thing I could find for the money. Go to www.tirerack.com and look at their tire reviews - that will get you headed in the right direction.,

 

I hate to even suggest it but I've bought the last two sets of tires at Wal-mart. I don't trust them for a second and check my lugs as soon as I get home but they have great prices on name brands. And you can shop on line. I've also used discount tire and scored a super sale on a discontinued model in the custom size I run on my Supercoupe. They were dirt cheap. Anything under a $100 a tire for a directional Z is a steal in my book.

 

I have the Fuzion as well and really like the tire. Try tirebuyer.com. It is a great site for tires in my opinion..

 

I run BFGs on my Supercoupe. Of the last 2 sets, one came from Walmart, then the last set came from Sears. Both were OK places to buy tires, based on the price.

The last 2 sets on my wife's explorer came from Sam's Club. I really like Sams purely for the fact that their tires come with road hazard and roadside assistance. I don't mind changing my own tires, but if she's out somewhere with all 3 kids, and gets a flat, and I can't get right over there to change it for her, I like having it available.

My Volvo will need tires next spring. I run dedicated winter tires, and my summer tires probably have 10k left on them. That will get me to winter. I am also going to replace my spare tire, an *original* P-Zero on a Volan. While it still has decent tread left, it's 16 or 17 years old. I don't think I'd trust it at highway speeds.

Ideally, I'll send all 5 volans off to be repaired/restored over the winter, and then throw a nice new set of 5 tires on them when they return. If Sams can do stick on lead weights instead of clamp on weights, I'll get my tires there!

Brand wise, I'm agnostic. I like a good quality brand, with good ratings. I've run Michelins, BFGs, Yokohama, Goodyear and Toyo in recent years. I wouldn't disqualify most any brand, but I tend to stay away from Firestone. A friend of mine just put Hankook Ventus on his car, and I'm anxious to hear how he likes them after a few thousand miles.

 

I just ordered a set of Bridgestone Potenza S-04's for the R wagon (P205/45R17). The obviously cheap previous owner was running P215/45R17 Nexen's on the front and P225/45R17 Kumho's on the back. Ugh So I'm out a few bucks correcting this issue with the proper sized quality tires.

From my research, the S-04 was the best value in the R's size. They're about $110/each from the Tire Rack and score in the 9's in most categories in their survey. But they are relatively heavy (23 lbs v. 18-21 lbs for a lot of others) and of course they're a dedicated performance summer tire, so you can't use them in winter. They will also surely wear a lot faster than a good set of all-seasons.

Unfortunately, they don't come in the T-5's size. Closest is P205/55R16, which will be a little taller than stock. The General G-Max AS-03 is available in that size and scored pretty well in Tire Rack's survey. They are only 85 bucks each right now and also an all-season tire. It was one of my finalists.

Whichever you get, I urge you not to cheap out totally. Tires are pretty important so it pays to spend a little more for quality tires, versus the cheaper Korean brands, IMHO.

 

FWIW, Discount Tire will match the Tire Rack price plus shipping. I've used them for a long time. They have a broad product range and do a good job not damaging your rims and balancing the tires. A lot of tire stores just offer one or two brands. Discount Tire offers several.

 

Right now all 4 tires are Fusions and I don't want to go full performance as they would be stiffer and I am already getting complaints about it being a stiff ride. Personally I don't have a problem with a stiff ride if I could get rid of some of the rattles but my wife likes it a little more on the comfort side.

 

We obviously get ripped off here for tyres. Bridgestone Potenzas are about $190 per tyre.......and that is reasonably cheap.

 

There are several versions of the Potenza. The S-04 is a bargain at $110 per tyre. The REO50A is nearly $250 per tyre. It depends on what version you're looking at. They also don't perform equally so check the survey on the Tire Rack or do research!

 

Kuhmo Ecsta....awesome on my 02' C70 vert HPT 5-sp manual. I couldn't believe the difference in handling....and for less than $100 per tire. I bought them through TireRack and had my local place put them on.
I do only have ~1500 miles on them so far, so not sure about how long they will last.