I had the opposite experience. Had Eagle GTs on my 1998 Escort ZX2 which was a 2 year lease. At the end of the lease, with about 22,000 miles on it, they said they just BARELY passed inspection to take it back without having to replace them.
So who chooses the hardness of the rubber? (Hint the name starts with a P)
But it’s not all their tires, different compounds are used for different tires depending on the performance they want that tire to have. You prefer Michelin over Perelli because of the Perellis on the Volvo had a short lifespan, but the Michelin tires on the Porsche have the same problem.
Every Pirelli I have been around from the late 1960s (Cinturatos) to the present has exhibited the same two characteristics
- Great grip
- They wear out in no time flat
Michelins on the other hand have given me grip that is maybe 90% of a similar Pirelli but they out last them 2 or 3 to one.
As one customer with a C70 told me “I’ve had loves of bread that have lasted longer than these Pirellis.” (he needed 4 tires at 10K)
YMMV of course.
I’ve had Pirellis last longer than I expected based on previous experience, but the previous tires were a “performance” category tire, meant for racing and autocross. I did not expect those tires to last long. They were awesome in the dry though.
FI, what make and model of vehicle are you shodding? Also, what type of driving do you do most often? Freeway? City?
It’s a Toyota Camry 4-door sedan. Mostly city driving, some highway. New Hampshire, so there is snow and ice in winter; I am looking for an all-weather tire, as the roads are usually plowed and salted soon after snow, so snow tires would be overkill.
Look at the General Altimax HP. It’s got excellent test ratings by Road & Track and the price is less than Michelin.
Bridgestone Potenza also gets good ratings for passenger cars but I would check out the General brand first.
Another nod for Cooper.
The Eagles that you linked to were the best tire I’ve ever had-lasted 4 years, gave phenomenal grip in the wet or dry (which is important to me for reasons to do with safety and yes some occasional fun). I got some Dunlop Star Specs two years ago after Goodyear discontinued the old Eagles in my size (curse them), and while I have no other complaints they are almost worn to the cords now.
Welp, finally decided to spring for some Michelin Pilot Super Sports-best rated tire in its class on Tirerack (by both the experts and the buyers)-it apparently has a long wear life too.
I blame you for this! I just had to pump up my rear tyre in the supermarket car park, getting some very funny looks in the process. Looks like a slow leak, which I don’t have time for this week at all. You hexed my Pirellis!
I had a set of Coopers that gave me about 50,000 miles. I was satisfied with them.
I recently replaced them with Hankooks (Cooper model I was using was discontinued). I haven’t gone through a winter with them yet, but they’re performing well on the highway and in the rain.
You are just like my customers. It’s my fault when they run over something and get a flat.
Personally, unless you are buying speed rated tires for a high end sports car, I think all tires are 100% the same. Even then, if they are speed rated, I question if there is a difference.
I drive an SUV, and I buy the cheapest (non-retread) tires I can find which are no-name Japanese and Korean brands like Falken. We have a place in San Diego that specializes in these and they are considerably cheaper than Costco, Discount, or others in town because no one has ever heard of the brand and they don’t waste money advertising, which would then have to be passed on to the customer. The guys at the tire place use them on their own cars and as they told me “all new tires have to pass Government safety inspections, so what’s the difference?”. I agree. To me, asking what brand of tire you should use is like asking what brand of gas you should buy, but I’m sure people have strong opinions on that too. I’m now on my third set of no-name brand tires since making this realization. All of them were 1/3 cheaper than the other brands, have lasted the same length of time, and I have noticed zero differences. That said, I do normal city driving, at normal speeds, with occasional trips out to the desert or mountains where there are temperature extremes - no drag racing, no offroad driving, etc. so YMMV.
There definitely differences in tire noise. I had a set of Pirellis that drove me crazy for three years. I’m sure all tires meet government specs, but I don’t think there is a federal spec for noise.
There is not a spec for noise - and I know wherefrom you speak on tire noise. My current Michelins (I drive a VW GTI) are very noisy. But the noise is similar to racing tire sounds so I don’t mind it.
Yarster, Falkens have a definite following in the Drifting competition crowd. Older and non-racing Americans may not have heard of them but the word has been spreading.