Advice on new tires please ??

[Sull]

So I am still planning on getting new rims and tires for my vibe. Been looking at wheelsnext, seems they have free shipping to Canada anyhow I am on a budget so cheaper is better, but I want a decent tire for everyday driving .. I am not some crazy racer dude.So here are some tires, cheapest to most expensive:Federal SS595 225/40/18Nankang NS-II 225/40/18, $40 dollars more than first tiresKumho Ecsta Ast 225/40/18, $80 dollars more than first tiresFalken Ze-912 225/40/18, $164 dollars more than first tiresKumho Ecsta Asx 225/40/18, $168 dollars more than first tiresToyo Proxes Fz4 225/40/18, $236 dollars more than first tiresAnd the list could go on and on getting more expensive. Now I have seen the Federal tires been mentioned here? from what I have read around the net some say they are noisy? would I really notice the difference between the first time and any of the other tires listed ??Any info guys would be appreciated thanks

[Raven]

If you are on a budget, drop down to 17" wheels and go for a really good tire, 225/45/17. If the roads are rough in northern BC like they are here you'll be happy you did. Don't forget that even if the shipping is free, you do have to pay GST, PST, brokerage fees and perhaps duty 8-11% (for tires made outside NAFTA) if they want to be sticky about it.

[Sull]

17 ? Yuck , but, but, but I want 18" hahah. Some roads can be bad, I would much prefer to get 18 considering you don't save that much.I did factor in duty/brokerage/taxes and it would still be cheaper to order them from the states.anyone else add anything

[Raven]

Don't get the Federal and definately not the Nankang. I highly recommend the Nitto NeoGen, $113.00 at Discount Tire Direct, $140.00 at Wheelsnext. I buy all my tires from http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/home.do. I get them shipped to Ogdensburg, NY. and drive down to get them, it's about 2 hours. You're obviously too far north to drive down to Washington.

[WaveAction]

cant complain about Nittos;...i recently bought the Nitto NT555's and well cant say i love them or not yet since they havent even gotten out of the box that the tire/wheels were in..but i've done my research and they're apparently good tires. infact i got them at wheelsnext as you were also thinking of doing.. free shipping and they prepaid the customs fees so it was the price for the tires and that was it..nothing hidden..may pay abit more compared to discounttires...but the discount between the two would be the custom fees and shipping that discounttires would slam on you

[Sull]

Hmm ok why do you say that about the Federal and Nankang ? what about the Kumho Ecsta Asx I know some users here are running them, any thoughts ? I know nothing about tires so any input is great @WaveActionTell me more about wheelsnext! I am going to order tires and rims from them and I was reading, but they said I could still be charged duty/brokerage/taxes whatever you want to call it. You paid nothing ?? Any info on your purchase please

[Mojo72]

I bought a set of 16" Yokohama YK520's in Nov08 from Discount Tire and like them a lot.

[NibCrom]

I recommend BF Goodrich Traction T/A. Good all-season tire.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by Raven »Don't get the Federal and definately not the Nankang. I highly recommend the Nitto NeoGen, $113.00 at Discount Tire Direct, $140.00 at Wheelsnext. I buy all my tires from http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/home.do. I get them shipped to Ogdensburg, NY. and drive down to get them, it's about 2 hours. You're obviously too far north to drive down to Washington. I love your view... "Don't get those" without a single word as to WHY....

[Sublimewind]

Sull,What are you after in a tire? Pure performance? Performance A/S? A/S? Much of what you've outlined are performance A/S which I personally feel don't exist... Any sort of A/S tire is a compromise between decent dry/wet traction and mediocre (SP?) light snow traction... The problem is they don't do any of it WELL... not like a dedicated Summer performance tire or a full winter tire... Performance tires wear quicker(softer rubber), but provide better performance while doing so... A/S tires wear longer, because of harder rubber compounds, but don't offer the same level of performance.. I've long since left A/S tire behind and have gone the summer/winter tire route and will never look back... Give us more of what you want/need out of your tires and we can offer better suggestions.. Oh, and it doesn't take a "crazy racer dude" to benifit from better overall performance... the only thing between you and the road is rubber. Overall it's CHEAP insurance, and ask yourself what you want between you, your family and the road...??

[Sull]

I live in the north right and have a set of studded winters on steelies, these are great for the conditions here. Now I don't live in CA where it barely rains, I need a tire that grip in wet and dry for just everyday driving. I like driving fast to and from work 30 min drive This year I will be doing more road trips and such 400km -- 800km that kinda stuff. A set of loud tires would be rather annoying I read that about some.Honestly I don't need the tire to work at all in the snow or ice, soon as it gets time for that my winters go on. Mostly dry pavement with some wet conditions. Now A/S or pure performance I am not sure, what is the difference in mileage between the two ? I mean how much longer will one last ?I do drive agressive, but not crazy. I am coming from a rust bucket so to speak. I think any tire would do me fine honestly... if I have never driven on nice tires ??I read some good reviews about the Nitto Neo Gen mentioned above.. that was at some subi site, this is an all season tire...

[Sublimewind]

Well, if you have winters, look at summer performance... they aren't going to last as long as a A/S tire, granted, but you reap the benifits of a more "performance" tire.. You don't need a high speed rating, that car just can sustain high speeds.. lol.. So, an "H" rated tire would be sufficent... Traction rating can go from C to B to A to AA (worst to best)UTQG rating (treadwear) is very subjective to the driver, alignment, the use the tires are getting...ect... A higher UTQG means longer life, and harder compound, which means lower traction rating.. A lower UTQG means sticker, less wear, better performance... ect.. Now noise, I don't thing there is a general rating system for that (not to mention a standardized one) so, that's going to be difficult... Usually tires with smaller tread blocks are quieter... But again, that's very subjectiver to MANY MANY things.. If you have ANY tech questions, you can look here... http://www.tirerack.com/about/techcenter.jspSo really, it comes down to A. what you have avalible to youB. what you care to spend to get what you wantC. what sort of driving you doD. what fits your "gut feeling"I can tell you right now, if you want GOOD opinion on performance tires, this isn't the place to be looking... BUT, you are welcome to look through the tire section at NASIOC.com to get a really good "gauge" of what's a good performance tire... I'm not saying Vibers AREN'T into performance tires, but, let's all face it, the performance level of a Vibe is FAR less than that of most Subies today...

[NibCrom]

There goes Sublimewind on one of his tire rants again.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by NibCrom »There goes Sublimewind on one of his tire rants again. Hay, I gotta be known for SOMETHING.... lol.... Keepin my peeps safe and happy is the goal...

[NibCrom]

You do a very good job of it, sir.

[Sull]

Thanks for the info I think I am going to go with the Kumho Ecsta SPT summer tire.. good bang for your buck if you will Seems they are good for the money... Good "budget" performance tire

[Raven]

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »I love your view... "Don't get those" without a single word as to WHY.... Because they're garbage. I don't risk my life on crappy tires. I spend hours and hours and hours researching tires. Everyone I know comes to me for advice on tire selection

[WaveAction]

honestly most of the summer tires are decent..anyone of them are better then all-seasons imo..i had nankangs and never had a problem with them...good basic tire for daily driving..probably not the best for racing or anything like that.as for the info..i went on the site and checked out all the rims they had..i continually narrowed it down as i was looking..comparing them for price and doing some photoshops of them..then i got into the wheel packages and ya..i didnt have to pay anything for shipping or brokerage fees..if i did then it was included in the price cause the price i payed online is all i payed..hopefully it'll be the same for you

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by Raven »Because they're garbage. I don't risk my life on crappy tires. I spend hours and hours and hours researching tires. Everyone I know comes to me for advice on tire selectionthat's cool man, but without explaining yourself or even when you say "because they are garbage" you AREN'T giving anything but opinion... Opinions are like bungholes, everyones got one, they usually stink... NOW, if you were to give some accounts as to WHY they are garbage, your opinion would account for sooooooo much more... see... I'm not dissin ya here man, but if you want to be effective in a converstation about something like this, you have to do more than to just spew opinion, for the very reason I listed above.. Personally, i'd LOVE it if we could rock this secion of the forum with knowledge... I try to as much as possible.. I try and keep my personal opinion to a minium and only mention things i've used myself, or other, with easily found posts/links.. anyone can say something sucks, but to really PROVE it, is the key..

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by Sull »Thanks for the info I think I am going to go with the Kumho Ecsta SPT summer tire.. good bang for your buck if you will Seems they are good for the money... Good "budget" performance tire I think that's a great tire, I personally have had 3 sets of Kumho 712's the predessor to the SPT.. and I LOVED them... I mean LOVED them... If they still made them, i'd still be using them... The SPT looks like a great rain tire to... I think you'll like them..

[Sull]

@RavenI think I remember reading you had a set of Nankang? were those NSI's or and I thinking of someone else. They were not that good hey ?@WaveActionCool, Yeah I went to the home page and they are displaying that you pay not duty etc for Canada so much be correct ... lets hope. anyway I factored in duty/brokerage etc and it was still cheaper than getting in Canada. This just seems to be an easy route for me.I have not went to the extent of photshoping any wheels onto my car as my skills are next to none in PS. I have looked at all the vibes I could find and I am down to a couple wheels. I still have a little time because I am not lowering and installing my wheels until the roads are dry which could be a while yet. The "law" says studded tires have to be off at the end of April, last year I took mine off right before the deadline.. this year I am hoping begining or mid month @SublimewindThanks. Yeah I read reviews on all the cheaper "budget" performance tires, the tire got a good review with lots of comments on people saying good things etc, tirerack also has some good and bad reviews .. just like all tires. I guess for me this will be a good learning experience, I really should take some notes on how my car handles and reacts with these tires, then next time I get a new set of tires I will be able to do a good comparison Thanks for your info

[Sublimewind]

Anytime man, If I see it, I usually comment on it... And I would like to make it good and known, that I was in no way trying to detract from Ravens point, I am mearly trying to get more info on the page that is less subjective to "opinion"yes, i've given my own opinion on the subject, but it's based in expierence., the best I can make it...

[Raven]

Actually I had a set of Nexen before I started studying tires more thoroughly. They were by far the worst tires I ever had. They would break loose without warning on dry pavement and had vitually no grip on wet roads. They also hydroplaned very badly. In fact my wife ended up crashing and rolling several times because the car hydroplaned. She was going too fast for the tires and the road conditions though. On a better set of tires she may have been alright at the speed she was going.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by Raven »Actually I had a set of Nexen before I started studying tires more thoroughly. They were by far the worst tires I ever had. They would break loose without warning on dry pavement and had vitually no grip on wet roads. They also hydroplaned very badly. In fact my wife ended up crashing and rolling several times because the car hydroplaned. She was going too fast for the tires and the road conditions though. On a better set of tires she may have been alright at the speed she was going.Ahhh, yeah, now I remember your distain for the Nexen tires... Which tire exactly did you have by them??? But, in this, your opinion of them is subjective to your bad expierance... Not discounting your opinion at all, but, considering what happened, obviously you won't like them... but there are other factors involved in that... Like what specific tire it was, thier condition, road conditions (obviously wet when the wifey wrecked) tire pressure, age... all factor into what happened.. Personally, I wouldn't buy them myself, but, a dicussion like this could bring to the front WHY they failed you so badly... they could be a great tire for all we know, but when you start placing the variables onto them, things can change quickly..

[Raven]

They were N3000 I believe. 4 months old, under 5,000 miles, 8/32nds of tread (I check often), 36psi, raining heavily.Ultra High Performance Driving [ Directional wide aqua groove design [ Arrow center rib design-High speed driving performance [ Shoulder design-Improved cornering stability [ Aggressive type lateral grooves-Resists hydroplaning [ W & Y - speed rated [ UTQG 340AA

[Sublimewind]

Wow man, and they were THAT bad... That sucks.. They "look" like a decent tire... any way to tell if they were old?? Maybe the rubber had hardened or something??

[Sull]

Can't wait for spring. Just snowed again last night booooohttp://www.tirerack.com/tires/...a+SPTTick Tock Tick Tock. I almost have enough money for my new wheels

[Sublimewind]

nice, I can't wait to hear what you think of them... I sure hope you like'em.. I don't doubt it though... When I said I had 3 sets of Kumho's, I meant it and being from the "north" myself, I can say that they were a STRONG tire (the 712's I had, at least) I can't tell you how often I would rally down the dirt roads, drifting bumpy, rocky dirt curves... I definitly put them to the test, whenever possible.. Then the MUD, I had them in 6" of mud before and they cut through like a shark after a seal.. In the rain, let's just say, triple digit speeds in a downpour was enough for me.. mind you, I was driving a heavy'ish AWD car to... I don't know if I would recomend that in a Vibe.. It seems "squirly" at speed..?