A few years ago, I bought an older, smallish AWD station wagon (UK: estate wagon). It came with Uniroyal Long Touring A/S tires (225/60/16 97T M+S).
I am very pleased with their performance but, one of them suffered damage to the sidewall and must be replaced. As you may know, AWD vehicles must have their tires replaced in pairs (by axle) or, preferably, all of them at the same time. :eek:
I can’t afford to buy 4 new tires, so I’m looking to replace both front tires. (The rear tires have 8/32" tread depth.) Unfortunately, the ULT is no longer in production so, I need to check out other brands/models.
Which tires are closest to the ULTs in terms of quality, performance and longevity? Should I care about matching the tread pattern? The ability to withstand high summer temperatures is a major concern.
Some years ago, I had the previous model Bridgestones (940’s?) on all four corners of my Volvo V70AWD wagon and they did a great job in all four seasons (including light snow). I’m going purchase the new set for my RWD sport sedan in the next few weeks.
I have the Conti’s on my daily commuter FWD sedan, and on my wife’s RWD sports coupe. Excellent tires for all season, especially in the wet. I just drove 3 hours in 3-4 inches of unplowed roads (my FWD sedan), up and down major changes in elevation and was very pleased with how the Conti’s performed for an all-season tire. Very confident feel. My only complaint is that the sidewalls are on the soft side so if you corner aggressively, they don’t communicate back as well as I’d like. They grip well though.
@ QuickSilver: thanks for the advice. I’ve poked around TireRack.com in the past. Not sure how to search for, “tires matching ULT A/T 225/60/16 as closely as possible”.
Re: Bridgestone Potenza RE970 Pole Position. According to TireRack.com, the Bridgestone Potenza RE92 is OEM for my car. But $184/tire is out of my price range.
Here’s a selection of tiresfitting your size in the all season category, by price (low to high).
Pick something in your price range with the best reviews. I would not worry too much about matching your existing tread pattern. You already know that the tires should be in matching pairs on the same axle - front to back matching isn’t critical.
Start with TR’s recommended list of replacements, including some slightly different sizes (e.g., you often can and will usually find it worthwhile to go up a section width from OEM - from 225 to 235, in your case).
Read all the test and survey results closely, paying attention to the stats that mean the most to you. Read tests and stats on your OEM tires, or ones as close as you can get, to see if people found them better or worse than alternates. OEM selections are not always the best tire - many are chosen to increase mileage over other characteristics.
Read the reviews, especially by filtering to your make and searching for equivalent model. A tire that a Honda Civic or F-150 owner hates might send owners of your vehicle into frissons of bliss.
And - as much as possible - DON’T buy based on treadwear. Long-wear tires tend to have very poor driving and handling characteristics. I’d rather get 50k out of a set that is a pleasure to drive and handles road conditions safely than 80k out of a squirrelly set of glass marbles.
Tire Rack doesn’t sell junk, so the low-priced Fuzion tires are likely sufficient for your use. Undoubtedly made by some famous tire company and given a bargain brand name.
The banner on the lowest priced says that it is a High-performance summer time. I expect that you actually want more of a general all-season tire. The Fuzion Touring for $70 seems like your best choice.
I’ve had good experiences with Kumho tires, so I would have no doubts about the Kumho Solus KR21 either. I’ve never tried Sumitomo but they are a huge tire manufacturer so they’re a good choice too. They make Dunlop tires, you may have heard of them.
There are other good tires there for more money. A high performance designation is good even for everyday driving but you should avoid anything labeled as a “Summer” tire unless you mount snow tires early in the Fall.
Your local dealer may match prices. Tire Rack has been around a while, so local stores are aware of the competition but will price higher until you bring it up. Tire Rack normally ships only unmounted tires. They come quickly and shipping is fairly low.
Somewhere on their site you will find a list of places that are willing to mount the tires for you. Or, you can call them instead of ordering online and their agent will be happy to look up an installer for you. It’s been a while since I’ve put on new tires, but you’ll probably end up paying $10 to $12 each for mounting. I recommend searching for their installer list and calling one or two to find out what their fee will be. Then you’ll know the true cost and can use that to compare to local dealers. In most cases, Tire Rack will be the lowest cost after everything’s been considered.
WARNING! On some AWD systems putting different sized tires on one axle can do massive mechanical damage to the AWD system (think big$$$)
Check with your owner’s manual or local dealership for correct data.
Concur, I missed the OP’s note that he’s looking for one axle set this pass.
If you switch tires, look closely at the actual diameter as well (TR lists it) to make sure you don’t have a big mismatch between front and rear. Tires of equivalent “standard size” can have differing outer diameters.
Thanks again for the advice! I’m aware that I have to be careful about matching tire circumferences as well as size. Also, I want to avoid Z-rated tires because, the sidewalls are softer (than the 97H-rated tires I’m keeping on the rear axle). At some point I’ll rotate the new tires to the back, and I tend to rub the rear right tire on the curb when cornering. Oops… :o
@NitroPress: the OP (that would be me) is a “she”, not a “he”.
