Submitted by Representative_Bad57 t3_ymuopl in BuyItForLife
Any recommendations for extra durable auto tires available in the US? I know there’s no such thing as forever tires but the cheapies they put on before selling didn’t even last a year before showing bald spots.
Since, as you say, all tires wear out, this boils down to a calculation between price, longevity, and performance (and this latter is subjective). Living as we do in both the NE of the US and the SE of Canada, we value and need good traction in many different circumstances.
We buy Generals for summer, and Nokians for winter.
Michelin Defender - 80k miles rated.
Michelin is widely considered the best tire brand in terms of durability. Their lower tier brands BF Goodrich and Uniroyal are also very good quality (not quite as durable, but more affordable).
This is a good recommendation. I don’t love them in all respects, but they’re durable.
That only helps if you drive that many miles before the tires wear out from dry rot. If not, you'd just end up with sub-par performance for fewer miles before having to replace them anyways.
You’ll find tires are a trade off; durability is a trade off with traction and sound. Michelin defenders are good if you want to prioritize longevity. Personally I switched to perelli scorpions as a good all arounder. Continental has some good options too.
Take note that tires rated for more mileage are made of harder compounds that don't wear away easily. That makes for a firmer ride. You may not notice the difference in a soft-sprung sedan.
Softer compounds result in less mileage but a more comfortable ride. As the other person pointed out, there is always a tradeoff.
Uneven/premature tire wear can be indicative of poor alignment. Even the best tires will wear quickly if your vehicle needs alignment.
Might be worth spending the money there instead of seeking out a harder compound tire.
Every tire is a compromise in some way. These prioritize longevity, but I find their wet traction to be good enough. I use them on a Prius, so it's not like I'm taking corners at 90 mph.
And then pay for the alignment as well
Yes, or if your suspension is messed up, all bets are off.
Yep, I had them and liked them pretty good but replaced with perelli as3 which so far I like a bit more for my needs; time will tell exactly how long they last.
I had Pirelli P4 in the past and they didn't come close to their rating. Think I got 30k out of a 60k tire. They wore evenly but wore out.
It’s actually even wear on all 4 tires, just super quick. We bought from one of those small lots that fixes up car after a crash so I’m sure it was the cheapest of the cheap tires.
The catch on any tires is to actually keep up with the warranty side of it, though most major tire locations will keep a record of this stuff for you. I personally go to NTB because they have a convenient location for me. But, let’s have some math fun fully based off of generic numbers, not actual tire prices. If I go to NTB and buy a set of tires where each tire costs $100, we have a total of $400 in value. They’re supposed to last 80K miles but only last 40K miles after standard warranty maintenance to generally include rotation and alignment every 6K-8K miles. NTB will now recommend me for new tires to which I’ll ask about the warranty on these tires I purchased from them. They do a little research in their system, then come back and tell me the tires only survived half the time they should have, meaning I’ve only received 50% of my $400 value. That remaining $200 can now be used towards new tires.
I’ve never had a tire get to their rating, lol. 30k is a bit rough. My Michelin lasted 48k. Based on my pirelli so far I expect about 40k which I think is pretty good.
Go-to brands for high quality tires: Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli, Yokohama.
If you want a long lasting tire, look out for a high treadwear rating, but be aware that the harder compounds these use to achieve a high treadwear rating also result in a loss of traction.
But you have to have them do the maintenance stuff or it doesn't count. Learned that one the hard way.
Michelin is good premium tires. Yokohama good budget tires.
I've heard bad things about Goodyear, can anyone confirm?
Yup. Personally, I’m fine with letting them handle those. I’ll take care of the outrageously priced simple things like brake pads and rotors. I remember my dealership quoting me $1200 for only rear pads and rotors. I chuckled. I think I paid $315 including taxes and shipping for pads and rotors for front and rear and took care of that myself.
I don’t think OP has that problem of driving too little
When i was commuting driving 20-40k miles a year, I put cooper tires on my car*. 60-80k ones with warranty. They always lasted as long as I rotated them.
Like other poster said there are trade-offs, so don’t drive like it’s a race car with 80 K tires and get plenty of room for stopping
I have Goodyear maxlife on my Subaru. Rated for 80k miles. I’m not a car guy, but I like them.
I have Goodyear MaxLife on my Subaru. I’m not a car guy at all. Tires are tires to me. I haven’t had any issues with these either.
https://tirereviewsandmore.com/top-10-longest-wearing-all-season-tires/
You can place your faith in two things: Treadwear and warranty. You find the Treadwear literally on the tire or the maker's website. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/UTQG_ratings_on_Japanese_Tire.jpg
The Treadwear will be on the tire as its like a federal law and stuff.
Having said that....you are compromising the safety of your car by sorting by highest Treadwear/longest warranty.
And the other idea to consider is you don't need to go full retard just because you had a bad experience with Kmart tires. You can/should find tires suited for your climate and vehicle and I'd recommend you visit tirerack.com and see what's best for your car before buying some shopping cart wheel tires onto your car an increasing your stopping distances by 300%.
Muncie4, I have been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty
Pirelli Cinturato P1s and Michelin Energy XM2s. 100k miles minimum assuming good wheel alignment.
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