Need some help selecting tires please!

[knaffie]

I've had it with these stupid stock tires being so noisy! Time for something a little quieter. My (wife's) Vibe is a daily driver and long trip vehicle. Although the tires do need to handle decently well, high speed handling is really of no concern to me so long as its not any worse than the stock tires. Smooth ride and and quiet are on the top of the list. I do need an all season tire, as the car gets driven in snow all winter.I have a friend that works at a discount tire and this is what he told me:3 come to mind right away. inexpensive would be the Falken sn828. little more would be the Yokohama yk520.you can see reviews of the Yoko on our website since it's a private label (technically) for us. great tire in every aspect, just not sure if you want to spend that much (obviously I'll get you a deal on whatever you pick).also look at the Continental Pro Contact. Anybody have any feedback on those? Or, would you recommend any other tires for me instead?Thanks for any help!

[northvibe]

I dont know about all season...but if you look at continental, make sure the kind you get are the ones made in germany, they are superior to the US made ones.

[bonzo4ever]

I picked up a set of General Altimax HP for my Vibe GT last year, and they've been outstanding. Cut right through the slush and snow over the winter, handle rain like dry pavement, and so far some pretty even and light treadwear. They're rated for 55000 miles, so they should last a while, and I ordered them from tirerack.com. Thus far (about 12k miles) they're about the best tires I've bought.

[knaffie]

How is the road noise and ride compared to the Eagle RS-A?

[bonzo4ever]

Hard for me to say. They stock goodyears were shot when I bought the car, though I managed to get a very dry summer's worth of driving out of them before scrapping them in the fall. I'm not a fan of goodyears myself (all of the ones I've driven before have worn very quickly), though I can say I didn't notice very much of a road noise increase versus the improved handling. The cabin on mine tends to be a little noisy anyway, so I might not be a good judge.

[JohnC]

Smooth ride and quiet...Goodyear Assurance. Check out the comments at Tirerack.com. Mine are 30k miles old and still not noisey.

[KNINE]

I recently put Uniroyal Long Tourings on my car, rated at 80,000 miles. They're great in the rain. I bought them Walmart and got a pretty good price.

[tnpartsguy]

A little warning about Walmart, Sam's, Costco, Discount Tires, et al.Even if it's a name brand, make 100% sure it's not one of their private labels. Example, Goodyear makes a line of truck tires especially for Walmart/Sams. You can't get them anywhere else, and Goodyear doesn't back the warranty on them. They are de-contented tires, meaning that Goodyear built it to Walmarts specs, taking out a nylon ply, or a stell belt, ect. Don't be fooled into buying tires that could be underrated for your vehicle. All tires are NOT created equally. If you see it at a discount place, check to make sure you can buy it either on TireRack.com, or your local tire store (Goodyear, Firestone, ect)

[~MRVIBE2006~]

Quote, originally posted by tnpartsguy »A little warning about Walmart, Sam's, Costco, Discount Tires, et al.Even if it's a name brand, make 100% sure it's not one of their private labels. Example, Goodyear makes a line of truck tires especially for Walmart/Sams. You can't get them anywhere else, and Goodyear doesn't back the warranty on them. They are de-contented tires, meaning that Goodyear built it to Walmarts specs, taking out a nylon ply, or a stell belt, ect. Don't be fooled into buying tires that could be underrated for your vehicle. All tires are NOT created equally. If you see it at a discount place, check to make sure you can buy it either on TireRack.com, or your local tire store (Goodyear, Firestone, ect)So, in stating what you just stated, ANY tire that is available ONLY at one location/dealer is suspect? And we should be buying tires that are available everywhere? I never thought of this. Opinions?

[knaffie]

Good discussion on the private labels. If you look at my original post, he recommended a Yokohama private label tire to me. I'll have to ask about the "de-contented" thing.But then again, this is just a Vibe, not a Corvette. If the tires ride smooth and quiet down the road for me, I'm probably going to be happy with them.

[HighMileVibe]

Dont buy yokohama! i have had three different sets and all have had 1-3 of the four belts break away inside the tire causing a huge bulge in the tread. When pursuing a warranty on them, Yokohama asked me to prove I did not cause it - so much for customer service. If i can afford them, i usually get Michelin. Otherwise, i have been very happy with Kumho and Sumitomo tires.

[djb383]

Quote, originally posted by knaffie »How is the road noise and ride compared to the Eagle RS-A?Lots of high performance all season tires have less road noise than RS-A's.http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...=true

[vibolista]

I looked for a quiet tire, did a lot of research, and ended up with Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum. Goofy long name, but turned out to have a nice ride, do well in the rain and are very quiet. I use dedicated snow tires... so winter traction was not important. Did leave them on to the first snow fall to see how they handled the slick stuff and would not recommend them for that purpose.

[KrazyB]

In regards to the stuff about wal-mart tires, as a long time employee that just got fired. They cant even put the tires on correctly balancing is bad tires fall off wheels fall off, and for oil changes sometimes they even forget to put oil back in the car. So I would definatley stay away from those places all together rumor with the company is that they are pulling all of the tire lube express's out of the walmarts.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by KrazyB »In regards to the stuff about wal-mart tires, as a long time employee that just got fired. They cant even put the tires on correctly balancing is bad tires fall off wheels fall off, and for oil changes sometimes they even forget to put oil back in the car. So I would definatley stay away from those places all together rumor with the company is that they are pulling all of the tire lube express's out of the walmarts. This isn't "new" news... Though I am sorry about your job, I wouldn't take my car to Wally World for anything... Much less a quick change oil place.. I'm just that kind of guy though, no offence to you I hope..