# Buying new tires...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-new-tires/722678>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 16, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-new-tires/722678 "2015-06-16T16:12:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-new-tires/722678/1 "2015-06-16T16:12:49Z")

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What should I look for when a smooth quiet ride is the goal? Road conditions are not an issue. Car is a Honda accord.

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**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-new-tires/722678/2 "2015-06-16T16:23:13Z")

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Tire Rack lets you look at reviews/ratings for tires bought by people who own your same vehicle.

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**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-new-tires/722678/3 "2015-06-16T16:37:54Z")

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I’d say that 22" rims are right out.

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-new-tires/722678/4 "2015-06-16T17:41:44Z")

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There are really 3 options to most tires- treadwear, ride quality, and traction. In practice, it tends to be the first one vs. the second two, because the typical way to make a tire wear longer is to make the rubber harder/more resilient, which lowers the traction and makes the tire less comfortable. Performance tires may have softer tread compounds, but usually have stiffer sidewalls, giving them a harsher ride as well.

So you’ll probably be best served by looking at standard all-season or “Grand Touring” style tires.

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**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-new-tires/722678/5 "2015-06-16T17:49:55Z")

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From personal experience -

Comfort/Ride Quality:

1. Continental ExtremeContact DWS
2. Micheline Pilot Sport A/S 3
3. Bridgestone Potenza RE970 AS

Performance in dry:

1. Micheline
2. Bridgestone
3. Continental

Performance in wet:

1. Micheline
2. Continental
3. Bridgestone

Performance in snow:

1. Continental
2. Micheline
3. Bridgestone

Pirellis are good but don’t last.  
Kumho are cheap and loud.  
Yokohama also sub-par.

- The usual warnings about switching to a winter tire and steel rims if you have to regularly drive in real winter conditions including snow and ice.