Tire season is almost here!

[09SnowyVibe]

I have 215/45r17's on my AWD Vibe.

Tires that I was running were the Goodyear Eagle RS-A's, and they are complete garbage, IMHO. 4 brand new when I bought the car last year, and after 20,000 kms, they started getting noisy. They also scalloped and wore out on the inside fast. I had to throw one out actually. Car was lined up, brand new alignment machine, and rotated frequently.

We went to 16 inch steelies with OE hubcaps because wife smacked up one rim already, LOL. We are using Hankook Winter I'pikes, and after 20,000 kms, they have 75-80 tread left, and wearing smoothly. Really impressed with the noise levels too. Looks good for another year.

I've been looking at a few Michelins, Toyo, and Sumitomo tires. Hankook is another consideration as well. Those 17's in that size are hard to find in some cases. What I want is a fuel saving tread, plus handling, and a treadwear of something 400 or better. Ride comfort would be nice, but the wife and I are young, and can take the chrome 17's, they make the car look sharp!

Any thoughts/ideas?
Thanks

[star_deceiver]

What I want is a fuel saving tread, plus handling, and a treadwear of something 400 or better.

Pick either handling or treadwear... you won't get both. Fuel saving will be more affected by your right foot.

Personally I recommend Hankook Ventus V4! You will not hydroplane with these! Grip is incredible! Fuel economy (the rare and few times I made the effort), I could easily manage 750/800km tanks on the highway... but most times I just drove like hell and averaged 7L/100kms!

As for life, the first set lasted almost 2 summers. The second set has half a season under them and about 80% tread remaining... Car may be gone but I still have the summer rims...

[vibolista]

Take a look at the new Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus on Tireracks site. They don't have a 215/45 17 but they do come in the same size my son has on his Vibe... 215/50 17. Rated as Low Rolling Resistance (LLR) tires and have a decent set of UTQG numbers: 600 AA... the reviews mostly note that they are a very quiet tire!

They also come in 225/45 17 which is almost what I run on my Vibe in summer... 225/50 17.

Tires are a tough choice, but it's fun to do the research. Good luck and tell us what you end up with.

[Rayven01]

Take a look at the new Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus on Tireracks site.

Yeah I was looking at those, they look pretty nice. They do make 205/55R16 for those of us with steelies. So far that's what I'm leaning towards when my tires are due.

[09SnowyVibe]

I could go with a 215/50 series, but I want to stick with something as close to stock as possible, I've made the mistake of putting bigger tires on cars before, and the fuel mileage usually gets terrible.

Was looking at the bridgestone Ecopia, and they do come in 45 series. It has a 460 utog rating vs the Ventus's 280. I would go for a Ventus, but I've put them on customers cars before, and I found most of them were replacing them every year.

I know I ought not to get too fussy, it is a 45 series tire after all.... I just don't want a repeat of those RSA's....

[kowell]

Are we talking about all seasons or summet tires?
I quite like the Continental Extreme Contact DWS I bought last year, much better then the OEM Eagle RS-A

[vibolista]

The Bridgestone Turanza has 600 rubber which will last longer than the Ecopia's 460 by quite a bit. You have all wheel drive, so tougher on tires than a plain front driver.

They make a 205/50 17 in the Turanza that's only a few tenths of an inch different in diameter than the 215/45 17s. I like the 50 sidewall aspect because it gives the aluminum rim a fraction more protection from rough roads.

The Turanza's are also a low rolling resistance tire, like the Ecopias, so you shouldn't take much of an MPG hit if kept inflated properly. I keep my summer 225/50 17s at 38 to 40 psi front and 36 to 38 rear and still manage 36 to 40 MPG when I travel around the area in relative comfort and quiet.

My tires aren't considered LRR... Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum... which also happen to have a UTQG number of 600 A A. The Kumho's are wearing very evenly and still have much of their tread left.

The Ecopias are a very good tire, but I think your AWD Vibe will wear them down pretty fast.

[thebarber]

Fuzions are on clearance on tire rack right now. HRI, VRI, ZRI. I've run HRI's on my yaris...loved them

[vibolista]

Yeah I was looking at those, they look pretty nice. They do make 205/55R16 for those of us with steelies. So far that's what I'm leaning towards when my tires are due.

Sorry Raven, didn't notice that there was a question in your post! When I was looking in the tirerack site I did notice that they had the 205/55 16 size in the new Bridgestone Turanza model... but they sure don't give these tires away.

It may be worth spending the money, if the Serenity Plus is as good as the reviews indicate. In a Vibe, a quiet tire = driver!

[Rayven01]

Oh it wasn't a question, I was just confirming that they indeed had them in 16". And realistically the pricing is on the low side if you look at tires with similar characteristics and user ratings.. $109 a tire is certainly cheaper than Michelin Defenders or the like at $130!

[vibolista]

Oh it wasn't a question, I was just confirming that they indeed had them in 16". And realistically the pricing is on the low side if you look at tires with similar characteristics and user ratings.. $109 a tire is certainly cheaper than Michelin Defenders or the like at $130!

Or a set of 205/55 16 Bridgestone Potenza RE93A high performance Summer tires for $1,016 !!!! $254.00 each !!! What the heck are those tires made from?!?

I guess I'm showing my age. I put a set of Summer "performance" Nitto tires on a '93 Civic Coupe EX (that I still own), and back then I thought that 100 bucks each was a crazy exorbitant price for a 205/45 16!!! Average prices for a 16 inch tire back then was 50 to 70 bucks! The old days.

You can still find moderately priced 16 inch Vibe tires, under 90 bucks on tirerack. I counted 15 of them. As thebarber noted, the Fusion HRi is on closeout sale for $60 with UTQG 400 AA, so excellent price. Most tires on that list under 90 bucks had pretty soft rubber, UTQGs ranging from 200 to 400 or so. For the Vibe, I like to stay 400 to 600+ numbers for durability. A couple of tires on that list showed numbers of 560 and 640.

[Rayven01]

Most tires on that list under 90 bucks had pretty soft rubber, UTQGs ranging from 200 to 400 or so. For the Vibe, I like to stay 400 to 600+ numbers for durability. A couple of tires on that list showed numbers of 560 and 640.

Right, that's what I look for too. In the long run saving 20 bucks a tire only to have to buy new tires twice as often is not smart in my book. And my car stays 99.9% of the time below 3K RPM so the performance of softer rubber I could care less about. But I do like to balance it for some comfort. A $90 tire with 600 rubber is usually pretty hard on the ol' keister!

[tpollauf]

I quite like the Continental Extreme Contact DWS I bought last year, much better then the OEM Eagle RS-A

These are exactly what Junior's 2009 Vibe GT got just last December. A bit pricey (mainly due to them being 18") but so far very pleased with them

[09SnowyVibe]

Most tires on that list under 90 bucks had pretty soft rubber, UTQGs ranging from 200 to 400 or so. For the Vibe, I like to stay 400 to 600+ numbers for durability. A couple of tires on that list showed numbers of 560 and 640.

Right, that's what I look for too. In the long run saving 20 bucks a tire only to have to buy new tires twice as often is not smart in my book. And my car stays 99.9% of the time below 3K RPM so the performance of softer rubber I could care less about. But I do like to balance it for some comfort. A $90 tire with 600 rubber is usually pretty hard on the ol' keister!

The Hankook winters are up to 35,000 kms now, and still have 75 percent tread left. Still quiet, and wearing well. They have good snow traction and good on ice, as we found out this winter. No studs. Run a 205/55r16.

I've had customers buy the low profile W409's, and it is a tire recommended by many of our customers!

I just need to find the sweet tire for the summer!