My 2002 Hyundai Elantra is in need of at least a couple of new tires. Size 195 60R15.
Since I live in Toronto, I’ll need all-weather tires that can handle some snow and slush. The car is used for both highway and city driving. Obviously I would prefer to save money, but I do not want to buy Jimbo’s Good Ol’ Tires Made Out Of Old Runnin’ Shooz. Safety, not performance handling, is my main concern.
However, I have never bought tires before. Michelins? BF Goodrich? Goodyear? And each brand has a dizzying array of choices. What say you, Dopers?
This seems like IMHO territory, but I’ll note that I’ve had good luck with Michelins. If you live in real snow country, true snow tires on their own wheels are a good way to go.
And I’ll also note that you seem to be in need of tires rather soon into the life of your car. How many miles are on it? What brand of tires failed to last for 2 years?
I am not associated with them (except for being a customer), but Tire Rack is a terrific resource for tires. They have great information about a wide range of tires, including wear, handling, noise, and speed ratings, technical info, customer reviews, and a convenient compare feature.
Their prices are great, too. If you can find a local place that will mount them inexpensively, Tire Rack’s prices, even adding in shipping, are often lower than buying them locally. Of course, this may not be the case with shipping to Canada, but even so, the Web site is a great information source.
Small cars Bridgstone Blizzaks IMHO me and my wife went to watch the Ice Racing in Alberta once and these were the spec tires used for the racing that day, it could be different now but for my money the feel and confidence I get from these tires it’s worth it and they’re around the same price as other comparable tires.
I second using Tirerack for info, you can research there even if you don’t buy from them. Consumer reports had a large report on tires in november 2001, perhaps you could find it in your local library. (BFGoorich Control T/A M65 and Yokahama Aegis LS4 where both rated highly and have good snow ratings for about $50 US)
You may want to consider dedicated snow tires, particularly considering where you live. While there is a higher inital cost you will be able to use your summer/all season tires a little longer since all-seasons loose much of there snow traction long before they wear out enough to be unsafe.
Sometimes a set of snow tires on rims can be bought cheaply though the local want ads, if a car is traded in the dealer usually does not want extras like snow tires.
Tirerack is good, just don’t order from them. As a canadian you can get better pricing locally.
If you want some good tires (selection at least) visit wheel’s direct at McCowan and Sheppard (just east of McCowan in the Firestone plaza area). You can get pretty much any tire there for a decent price. Or Steelcase tire (on Steelcase, but I don’t have the address), I’ve heard from a lot of people about the good prices.
I agree, any tire that only lasts 2 years (depending on KMs) is rather bad. Try looking for better wear rated tires. All seasons are fair in our weather, but I would recommend full winter tires. I got blizzaks and they absolutely rock (but it was pricey).
Figure, all seaons average pricing to be in the $70-90 range, winter only tires range higher, up to $170 for my blizzaks (because of size).
15" tires are standard so you can pretty much get any tire in your size. Good luck.
As a matter of fact I am sitting in the waiting room of my local tire store so I just yelled across the room and here’s what I was just told.
“humm…(longer pause as a book is gone through), Toyo Proxes is supposed to be very good. It’s a mud and snow rated tire. That’s the Proxes TPT–I’m sorry. Runs about $66.95. Then we’ve got the Toyo Spectrum - $55.95 also rain and weater rated. Both are good tires.”
I don’t even know if you can get Toyo Tires where you are, but I find they work for me here in Colorado and I can afford them - Always a consideration for me.
The best all-weather tire I’ve used is the Goodyear Wrangler. It’s particularly good on snow and ice. Don’t know if they’re made for your vehicle or not, though.
I have no connection with Firestone, and have never owned Firestone tires (well, I have Bridgestones, from the parent company).
IMO, ** gatopescado**'s blanket condemnation of the whole company and all its products is unjustified. I didn’t study the issue closely, but I understood the problem to be the combination of the tires and the high center of gravity of the vehicle, and not the fault of the tires alone. And I’m quite sure that the company has done plenty since then to correct whatever faults (if any) were attributable solely to its tires.
But people still say “Don’t buy Firestone.” Unless you can provide a recent cite that indicates there are still problems, I say it’s unfair and unwarranted.
I don’t have a tire recommendation, but I if you are a member at Sam’s Club…shop there first…their tires are the same name brands as other stores but at least 20% less.
commasense, I believe I heard Firestone was fighting an attempt by consumer agencies to place additional Firestone models on a recall list since they had a high failure rate as well.
Frankly, I’d never buy them either. There’s plenty of good brands out there so why take a chance on one that’s had a high rate of failure?
I’ve never had any problem with fours sets of Michelins and the best performance tire I’ve had was made by Pirelli.
I am a big fan of the Bridgestone Potenza series. A little pricey but here in florida with a sports car they track well in dry and wet weather. The traction is excellent and hydroplaning is diminished because of the patterns. I would look at the Potenza RE950 for an all season performance tire. The best recommendation though is to get a directional tire. Even a cheap directional will perform better than a non-directional radial.
They are always more than happy to point them out.