I just realized this week that I haven't bought the same set of tires twice since I bought my 92.

So over the last 7 years, I have created the perfect tire test!

The tires:

Set 1: BF Goodrich Comp T/A ZR - These were great, lasted 35k miles. About $600 a set. DISCONTINUED.

Set 2: Kumho Escta 712 - A good all around tire, not a great handler, but good all season, surprisingly. 30k miles. About $450 a set. DISCONTINUED.

Set 3: Kumho Escta MX - These were sticky! Handled GREAT! And lasted quite a long while, all things being equal. 25K miles. About $500 a set. DISCONTINUED.

Set 4: Toyo T1R - These are the best kind of tires in the world - FREE! I won them from Speed Channel a couple of years ago. However, if I had bought them, they would have been the most expensive by far. As a set of tires, they are very good. Very quite and ride nice and handle very predictably. I do enjoy them and wouldn't mind them again, but I don't see them being twice as good as the MXs to justify the extra costs. About $1000 a set. The T1R series was being discontinued, but they hadn't made them in Corvette sizes for the new tire. I don't know the current status.

I will be due for new tires next year. I think the next set will be Goodyear F1, Michelin Pilots or one of the newer tires from BFG or Kumho. Either way, they will be a different tire than tested above. Mostly because the tires tested in the past are, well, no longer available... sad, really...

I have BFG G-force TA's KDWS on my 93 and like them, the price was good but bought them as part of a wheel package so it is hard to compare.
Try Sam's Club for tires, the prices are great, they will have to special order but can get nearly any tire I ever needed in less than 2 weeks. If you are NOT a member their prices are so good it will pay you to join, no BS.
I recently replaced the Michelins on Karen's Pacifica, they had to be ordered as mentioned but Sam's price beat the next lowest estimate by over $200 for the set of 4.
Probably a good idea to get them mounted and balanced elsewhere at least based on my local club.

We have a membership. And yes, the local talent that works in those places is a bit, uh, scary.

I deal with Tire Rack, pretty much exclusively. I have them dropped shipped to a local vendor and that's that. The local guys do a real nice install and a great price. Can't beat'm.

I am going to redo the front screen, and we have Tire Rack as a sponser. Can't wait!

I get whatever fits on the day. Isnt all that easy to find tires in this size. I had Kellys on my 87 and they were an exceptional tire, the set lasted 6 years easily. Im using Hankook on the 94 and they are quite good too. Anything but Sumitomo HTRs, they wore down in no time flat.

I have never done Summitomo's... on any of my cars. My mom has a set on her Acura, tho. Not a bad tire, really.

I have had good luck with Falken, tho. They just don't seem to last all that long.

Yeah they were on the car when i got it, were near brand new at the time, but they didnt last long, the other 2 tires that also came with the car have about half or abit less tread on them, so they are really going the distance quite well. They are Federal.

Federal is an old brand. Not all that bad, just not all that modern, IIRC.

I have had Generals, and I will NEVER own those pigs ever again. I swear... I had them back in the mid-80s and the sidewalls all bulged on all 4 tires. They rode like CRAP. Handled worse. I ditched them with 15k miles, and at the time, I was a poor college student, so as far as I was concerned, a waste of money. I was expecting 40k or more miles from them.

For several years after that, I checked Generals on other cars, and so many of them had the same sidewall bulging going on.

Erm... they look modern enough for me mate...



How modern do you want them?

Ventus? I thought that was part of the Summitomo line? At least that's how they are here, I think. I will confirm.

No mate.

You are right, Ventus here are sold under the Hankook banner.

Good tire, from what I understand.

Got BFGs on the back. They sure didn't last long. Dunlops on the front because they only had the front size in dunlops*front tires are smaller than rear". Dunlops have really good tread life though. Had kumos before that but couldnt find them anymore. They were allright. I would like a 4 set of the same tire but....

There are some Yokohama A550 on e bay for $115.00+ $20.00 shipping each. I don't know how they run, but they sure look Bad A$$!

Quote:
No question about that mate, they seem good enough to me ;)

just put kuhmo ecsta asx, seem to be a nice tire,

have the pilots on my 93 and LOVE em !

I have tried several different tire brands.... Bridgestone use to make some I remember they had a center groove, awesome tire but didn't last long. Then I went tried Nitto. Not a bad tire but as they wore the road noise increased significantly. I switched to BF Goodrich KDWS which were good tires and lasted a long time, I went through 2 sets of those... The lastest set which I got with my rims are Vrdestein.... so far so good.... I'll let you know how long they well last.... I got them through tomzwheels.... I also know that they (tomzwheels) sell Sumitomos.... I might give them a try since that brand makes the 315/35/17s....

Thats a big NEGATIVE on the Sumitomo, forget about them, you dont need the experience, i wouldnt give you a bum steer.

Quote:
thanks for the tip..... I will stick with the Vrdesteins for now....

I have BFGs right now. They have been a great tire. I will purchase them again.

I put BF Goodrich on my mum's Mercedes Benz not too long ago and they are alot better than the Dunlops that came off it

Here's my tire comments... as you can tell by the mileage, I don't baby em.


Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 - 12,000 miles - $100 each
Noisy, decent grip, flatspot when sitting, overheat easily on auto-X, you get what you pay for, discontinued

Yokohama AVS ES100 - 9,500 miles - $120 each
Great in rain, quiet, predictable grip, suck at the dragstrip

Nitto NT-555 - 9,000 miles - $100 each
Mediocre in rain, comparable to Kumho Ecsta, too hard for a performance tire, you get what you pay for

Bridgestone Potenza RE050 pole position - 5,000 miles and counting - $170 each
Excellent grip, excellent rain performance, held up great on road course, price equal to Goodyear GSD3, absolutely worth the money, but only offered in sizes up to 255/40/17.

[quote]Got BFGs on the back. They sure didn't last long. Dunlops on the front because they only had the front size in dunlops*front tires are smaller than rear". Dunlops have really good tread life though. Had kumos before that but couldnt find them anymore. They were allright. I would like a 4 set of the same tire but.... :banghead]

Thanks for the segue. My "new" '94 came with the wrong tires on the front. The manual calls for 255/45zr17s and the car actually has 285/40zr17s. Will this be a problem? Should I correct that problem now or can I run the larger tires until they wear out?

Pete

Wont matter a damn, will depend on what size wheels youve got on it, if youve got 9.5" rims all the way round, you cant stick 255s on them and expect them to look ok or have the lateral grip they would have if they were fitted to the correct 8.5" front wheel.

What size tires are on the back?

My 94 has 275s on 9.5s all round.

I have 315s on the back of my '88. I bought the Dunlop Sport 8000s. I love the thread, but I haven't driven it enough to give a good or bad report on them. I know I paid almost $300 each from Tire Rack with shipping.

Ive got 2 Hankooks, and 2 Federals on the 94 at the moment, in all honesty, id rather have the 255s on the front being a daily driver, but then i also rotate front to rear reasonably often, so the 275s all round is handy that way.

I have a fair bit of trouble getting the rears to hook up so i wouldnt want anything smaller on there, but 315s might not solve that anyway.

Id love a pair of deep dish Amolds for the rear, Grandsport offset, and that genuinely wider look of the deep well for the centre cap.

Both brands of tires i have fitted have been great in terms of traction and lasting tread, wet weather grip is also important being a daily driver, and they stick well. Its not going to matter what practical tire i put on there, if i want to spin the wheels, ill do it without use of the brake.

Quote:
when I first got my car it had 285/40/17 on the fronts and the rim was 8.5..... the tires were fine except they "cupped" as they got older..... When I replaced them I when to 275/40/17 on the front and didn't have the cupping problem until the tires were about ready to be replaced.... now I have 9.5 rims on the front so the 275/40/17s are no problem.....

[quote]I deal with Tire Rack, pretty much exclusively. I have them dropped shipped to a local vendor and that's that. The local guys do a real nice install and a great price. Can't beat'm.

I am going to redo the front screen, and we have Tire Rack as a sponser. Can't wait! [quote]

I am looking to buy a full set right now. Had good experience with tirerack.com but onlinetires.com are even cheaper, by $6.- per tire.
Has anyone dealt with onlinetires.com?
What's the best online place to go to, from your experience?

Tire rack is fine, just don't tell them what car it's going on, tell em its for a tire swing.

Once I ordered non-OEM sizes and they would not ship until they contacted me to confirm the size. At least they claimed to try and reach me. They never left a message. I was out of town and in a hurry to get the tires when I got back. They basically called, I didn't pick up, so they sat on the order until I contacted them.

I've gone thru several sets of tires, driving 20000 miles per year over the last four years. Been buying tires on eBay, having them shipped and installed locally. The brand is Kumho ECSTA Supra 712's. They work for me.

I run Nitto 555R Drag radials on the back since I only drive about 2K miles per year. What is a good tire to put on the front that isn't overly hard but won't flatspot terribly when sitting for 2 weeks? I don't do autocross or anything like that, and I'm not worried about a long tread life, just want a tire that doesn't ride overly harsh but also doesn't shake me out of the seat for the first 10 miles after sitting a while.

I just bought a set of rims that have low mileage Sumitomo HTR Z tires mounted on them. I'll try the Sumo's and see what they're like.

I'm taking off a set of Falkens. These tires came on the car when I purchased it. They aren't very worn, but they're getting old and the compund is hardening. They're noisy and they ride pretty rough.

I didn't see anyone mention the Firestone Firehawks so I will toss them into the mix.

IMHO they are grippy and quiet compared to the Kuhmo and the BFG's that I've had. I didn't run the BFG's in the rain and didn't keep them long when I bought the car. I don't drive like it's dry when it's wet like many people I see on the road so I think any tire would be ok for me in that regard. I do feel better in the wet with the Firestones than I did with the Kuhmos.

YMMV tax tag title dealer prep fees and floormats extra.