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BTW, when you find the lift kit for the Passat let me know and I'll come over and help you put these on.
Grand High Poobah
The Fraternal Order of Procrastinators
Wife's 2000 Camary with 19,000 miles needs new tires per NY State Inspection station assessment. She drives primarily locally, 5 or 6 miles a day. Maybe 8 times a year she will drive a 150 mile round trip to baby-sit for one set of grand kids. I think we also made 3 1500 mile round trips since we have the car. I usually drive us to the grand kids other times with my leased car.
Any recommendations on which tires to buy? It is a 4 cylinder Camary.
Also, wasn't 19,000 miles somewhat early to have to buy new tires? Thanks in advance from geezer Bob in NY.
What tires were on the car originally that wore out in 19,000 miles?
How did they wear - evenly across the whole tire, or more on the edges?
What's a Camary?
If price is an issue I would suggest the Cooper Lifeliner Classic II, if you can pay for them go with the Michelin X-One or Symmetry. Hope this helps and let us know what you decide.
Grand High Poobah
The Fraternal Order of Procrastinators
Anyone have experience with Semperit winter tires? I have a coworker who has the Sport Grips on his A4 and considers them excellent. He is, however, the only person I've talked to who has any experience with them. Any opinions/experiences would be welcome. This is for a BMW 330Ci and I'm in S.E. PA where we don't get a whole lot of snow (more ice and slush), but I live in farm country where removal doesn't always happen very rapidly when we do get snow. Thanks!
I would appreciate any comments anyone may have on any and all of these options. I do about 25k miles of driving each year, mainly on rural 2-lane highways (with some interstate as well), in a four-season climate. I might push the speed limit envelope a bit, but overall I'm pretty gentle with my car. So, I'm looking for the best possible combination of quietness, comfort, all-season traction and treadwear. I probably should get snow tires for the winter, but I'm looking to see if I can get away with an all-season with reasonably good winter performance (the road crews here are usually pretty good at keeping our roads in good shape in winter).
Thanks for any feedback you can give me.
One local Michelin dealer didn't think that Michelin still made the X-One (so much for knowledgeable sales staff!). This did not inspire much confidence in me! A person at another tire shop (who did seem knowledgeable to me) said that they didn't recommend the X-One because their customers, in general, have not had good experiences with it, meaning that the tire did not last as long as Michelin says it does (roads can be tough here in Maine) and did not perform as well, either. This person recommended the Nokian NRW as the best all-season choice, while agreeing that the Dunlop SP Sport A2 was a good tire. That reaction to the X-One surprised me, because it goes against what Consumer Reports says (when I mentioned the X-One, the salesperson immediately said, "So you're been reading Consumer Reports!" and went on to downplay the X-One), as well as the generally positive reviews at tirerack.com.
I had NRW's on my last car, and I was very pleased with them. The only "down" side to them, in my experience, was some tire noise that was audible in the 20-35 mph range. They were quiet at highway speeds. They are very good in snow and slush, and pretty good in the wet (even if CR doesn't think so). I can get a set of four, installed, for about $460, including taxes.
The Dunlop SP Sport A2 is available for about $302 for a set of four, installed, including taxes. The Nokian, I expect, will be better in winter conditions. The Dunlop is probably a bit better, I expect, in dry/wet conditions. I've read conflicting reports as to whether the Dunlops are quiet or noisy. Both would proabaly give a similar ride. I expect the Nokians would last longer.
Too bad you can't "test drive" tires like you can cars!
The bottom line? If I knew that the Dunlops would be as quiet/comfortable as the Nokians (or more so), would be decent in snow for an all-season, and would be good for 40-50k, I'd go with them as the better buy. If the Nokians last longer, are no less comfortable, and are significantly better in nasty weather, they would be the way to go, in spite of the price difference.
If any of you have had experiences with both tires and can compare them, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks!
Whatever you choose, good for you for doing the research -- you're way ahead of probably 90% of the tire buying public!
Steve
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Anyhoo, the X-One is a terrific choice for your car. If you have a whse club membership then you can buy it as the X Radial Plus. Same tire, different name. Otherwise you might want to mail order them from someone like Tire Rack.
Re: Nokian, in the current issues of "Nines" magazine (SAAB club mag) they review both the NRW and the new WR. Looks like the WR is replacing the NRW. It's a better tire in all respects. If I lived in the NE and wanted a true all-season tire the WR would be my choice. UTQG on the WR is 400/420-A-A.
$75/each for Dunlop SP Sport A2's? That's a darned good price. Someone wants your business. I just don't know how good that tire is in snow/ice. But it is a goodie for the other three seasons.
You're doing a fine job in shopping, Bob. Keep up the good work!
Side by side, I give the Dunlops an edge in handling but the Michelins probably will last longer. Don't know about the Dunlops in snow, the tread looks funny. But the Michelins are pretty good all around. Don't know where they are coming from when they said the Michelins don't perform. You can hot foot them a bit and they will handle but if that is your normal driving style a high performance tire would be a better choice (I mean something other than the SP sport A2s, because they are not a real handling improvement over the X-ones).
I don't think the Michelins will go 80K miles maybe 50K. But you can't use tires down to the wear bars here in the northeast. I heard Yokohama Avids are pretty good all around and go for a lot less than the Michelins. Check them out too. No good or convenient source of Yokos where I live so on-line would be my only choice.
I've scraped them a few times against the street curbs parallel parking in one or two spots but the browning seems to occur all over the entire sidewall. I tried cleaning them with the carwash solutions as I washed my car but they turned brown again once the water dried off. My other car has older Michelin tires (MXV4) with lots of mileage and way more scraps against the curb but not much browning.
One of you mentioned the Nokian WR. As far as I can tell, that's not available (at least, not in my car's size) in the US yet. The Nokian web site for North America has it mainly in SUV sizes so far. Does anyone know when it will be available in car sizes here? I've e-mailed Nokian, but no response as of yet. My local Nokian dealer doesn't seem to know what I'm talking about when I mention about the NRW being replaced by the WR.
Thanks again!
You may want to try some tire protectants, but get one that has AO's in it. One way to tell if a tire protectant is having an adverse affect is to try a little and wipe your finger across the treated surface. If you get the black from the tire, then the tire is being dissolved and that would be bad. Mind you, that doesn't tell you if the stuff has AO's. Just whether the tire is being attacked.
Hope this helps.
As for the WR, all I know is what I've read. Only Nokian can tell you when it will be available and in what sizes. Funny that the dealer doesn't know - maybe they didn't get the memo?
Another reason tires get brown is from excessive application of tire dressing. Tires need to be cleaned before every application of dressing. If it builds up then the tires look nasty. I don't agree that seeing black smears on your finger is eroded rubber (although that may be true in some instances). Typically the black smudges come from a mix of dressing, brake dust, and road grime. Tires and wheels are the dirtiest parts of the car - I just wiped down my wheels prior to typing this and they were grimey after two short days of local driving.
Use a quality tire cleaner like Eagle One Tire Cleaner and a stiff brush to scrub the sidewalls clean. Do not use harsh detergents or products with bleach. Follow up with a tire dressing that is water-based and has a UV protectant. Do not use oily silicone-based dressings that make your tires super shiny. Not only are they bad for rubber but the product slings onto paint staining it.
Feel free to hit us with questions if you like. I hope this helps.
If you want a showroom shine you can put that tire dresser on them but it is messy stuff. Make sure you don't drive away until it is completely dried or it will splatter onto the rest of your car. Last time I took my MINI in for service and they washed it they did tire dresser too and while the tires looked good, they splattered my black plastic bumpers, etc. so I had to go out and buy some of that stuff to put on the bumpers so they didn't have dark spots on them! Now I have the bottle of stuff but I won't be using it too often. The MINI has Goodyear Eagle NCT5 EMTs which stay grey, not brown, but they look nice and black with the tire dresser on them. I'm going to save the stuff for driver meets though I must say, the way the MINI is eating through the front tires (performance summer only, high traction, low treadware) I seriously doubt the tire dressing is going to reduce the life of the tires, LOL!
I'm still vascillating between the SP Sport A2's and Michelin. I keep reading glowing reports about X-One's, but they are T-rated. The Passat comes with H-rated tires. What do you think about down-rating tires? I am unlikely to need a 130 mph tire - 118 mph should about do it, LOL. Any other trade-offs beside speed?
Also, what's your view on up-sizing? In the old days just about every car could take two or even three sizes larger. Now it's not so simple. I know it can take one step up. The standard tires are 195-65R15 on 6" rims. I figure if I go up to 205-65R15 I gain just enough width to get a little more stick, and enough diameter to correct the 3 mph speedometer error. Make sense?
Going to 205's should not be a problem. The Golf can go to 225/40-18 and lots of folks have 17s and 18s on Passat's. I think the 205 upsize is a good choice.
As for speed ratings, if I were the Omnipotent Tire Swami of America I'd suggest that all my subjects use speed rated tires. It's not so much how fast you drive as it is benefiting from the more robust tire construction. An H-rated tire has to be built better to withstand the heat and strain of high speed driving. I believe that translates to a better tire, all other things being equal. At 80mph on the interstate in hot summer weather the H-rated tire is handling the heat better than the T-rated one. But you can certainly go down a notch if you like. Just be careful out there
X-One's vs. the Dunlops - - If you just want a tire to cruise on with no sporting aspiriations, the X-One is fine. But the Dunlops will definitely provide a more responsive, sportier ride. So it really depends on what kind of driving you do and how you want your car to feel. Neither is a bad choice as long as the context is right.
I hope all this helps
A week back, I've washed the tires with a car washing solution and scrubbed the sidewalls with a cloth a few times. Does this hurt the tire in any way? I bought a can of Turtlewax spray-on tire cleaner last night. Will products like these restore the black or just prevent additional browning?
hpulley4 - thanks for confirming that these Affinitys do turn brown easily. I agree with you on the tire attributes.
Stock steel wheels, silver painted.
Paint is peeling with black (primer?) underneath.
I want to prime and paint the wheels. What should I do to prepare them? Sand? Acetone? Xylene? Mineral Spirits?
Thanks in advance.
For an H-rated tire at a reasonable price I recommend you check out the FIrestone Affinity LH. I was also considering moving down from H-rated tires on my Olds Intrigue but came across this new tire and after some research, purchased them. So far I can tell you that the handling feels better than the Goodyear's it replaced (forgot the name right now but they would have cost $130 each to replace -the Firestone were about $80), the ride is smooth and there is little noise. I will find out this winter how they are in the snow.
Check out this paint:
http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?&SKU=20229
But thanks for the thought - it all figures in.
We've had comments about how going from H to T will make the car's handling slushy. To make a pun out of it, how about for snow tires? Q rated tires are perhaps better in actual snow conditions but will handling be completely compromised in going from H rated summer tires to Q rated snows?
Around here some years we have snow on the roads for months at a time but other years we just get a few 4-6" snowfalls with cleared roads in between. I'm torn between wanting a good Q rated studless snow tire (studs are illegal in Ontario) or getting an H rated snow tire which will likely handle much better when it is dry but which perhaps isn't that much better than a good all season tire in deep snow. Any thoughts? I'd be looking at Michelin Arctic Alpin Qs vs. Michelin Pilot Alpin H rated or Nokian Hakka Qs vs. Nokian NRWs or Vredestein Snowtrac T rated vs. Vredestein Wintrac H rated.
Are the heat dissipation rates of H rated tires worth that much in the winter? I don't do trips as long in the winter generally.
The door placard for my car lists H rated and Q rated tires so apparently the manufacturer thinks the Qs are OK.
I think the HTR200 is the model at tire rack.
I would recommend ANYONE who has to deal with snow to just totally scrap the entire idea of all season tires and go with a 3 season and snow tire combo. The easiest way to do this is with 2 sets of rims, so you can just swap at your convenience at home. A good (possibly great) snow tire is the one I posted about a few pages back, the one with the "green diamonds". These are like studs which don't wear out, but just keep coming up fresh as you drive. They are quiet and environmentally friendly, and inexpensive. They are also rated as better than the Bridgestone Blizzaks.
I've been thinking of going to 225/55R16s on my ES. Thinking that the wider tread would give me a ride that is slightly more to my liking. My local tire shop says that these should fit fine on the existing rims.
We've just changed the tires on my wife's '84 SL from the original 14" wheels to to 225/50R16 Dunlap 8000's. I like most aspects of the ride of these Dunlop tires, except for the deep vertical tread lines which seem to occasionally "track" with some deep grooves in the hiway surface.
Any thoughts on tire options I should consider or if I will attain a slightly stiffer feel in my ES?
My spare doesn't match my other 4 tires so I leave it out of the rotation, and I figure that my doing any rotation is still better than what half the population likely does.
Steve
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SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
the front to back swap at least will change the rate of wear for 2WD cars. but it will not compensate for the uneven wear on the inside and outside of the tire. still, seems better than no rotation.
just a theory.
However, I agree that an X rotation pattern is the most efficient method to normalize wear across all tires, in cases where it is possible!
Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
My worst mileage in years is on the 2000 Passat. I just (today) replaced all 4 at 45k. They all had 4/32 left, but with winter coming I made the move now. That actually is respectable on Continental H-rated tires.
Steve
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I did like the body style a lot, and it had real rain gutters too.
Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
The end supports on the hitch rusted out, not the frame ends, thankfully. Car's a piece of work. Power steering line popped yesterday, and I thought I could convince my wife to put a bullet in it this time, but no, spent $100 fixing the thing yet again.
That, in addition to the outrageous prices, is yet another good reason to avoid these types of tires like the plague.
Also, I have a new set of wheels that require stick-on weights. Is getting tires mounted and balanced on them going to be a problem, or should most tire retailers such as Big O Tires know what they're dealing with?
Since I've always had radial tires, I always rotated front to back...not that I always rotated.