Help Me Choose Tires?

cambir

Need to buy tires for my wife's 2008 Mazda 5, so looking for some opinions/experience. I know many have loyalty to brands, etc...I'm just trying to get a decent tire that will last without breaking the bank.

Size: 205/50/17 with at least an 89 load rating. Probably going to get all season, but we do have a set of studded snows also. Would like at least a 40-50K tread warranty. Trying to keep the budget under $150 per tire. I've looked at Tire Rack, Les Schwab and Costco and will be heading to Discount Tire this week.

Current front-runners I'm considering:
Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S
Bridgestone G 019 Grid
BFGoodrich g-Force Super Sport A/S H&V

Anyone have experience with these particular tires? Have any other particular tires for me to consider?

kawizx9r

Just wanted to say I loved the G Force SS for all-season tires.

Much quieter than the Kuhmo Ecta's I ran before. Now I use Hankook Evo Ventu's

cambir

kawizx9r wrote: »

Just wanted to say I loved the G Force SS for all-season tires.

Much quieter than the Kuhmo Ecta's I ran before. Now I use Hankook Evo Ventu's

Good to hear they are quiet...the car is pretty noisy with the stock Toyos. Michelin claims a 50k warranty on the SS which is pretty rare in the size I need. What's your experience re the wear/life?

kawizx9r

cambir wrote: »

Good to hear they are quiet...the car is pretty noisy with the stock Toyos. Michelin claims a 50k warranty on the SS which is pretty rare in the size I need. What's your experience re the wear/life?

Well.....I ran through the BF Goodrich (fronts) within 3 months from burn-outs everywhere lol so I can't really say. They were a street/strip combo since I was too cheap to buy separate tires for the track.

Sold the rears with +80% thread life, no complaints at all from the new owner.

Our tire-usage differs greatly but like I said I did like them on the street during daily driving.

cambir

kawizx9r wrote: »

Well.....I ran through the BF Goodrich (fronts) within 3 months from burn-outs everywhere lol so I can't really say. They were a street/strip combo since I was too cheap to buy separate tires for the track.

Sold the rears with +80% thread life, no complaints at all from the new owner.

Our tire-usage differs greatly but like I said I did like them on the street during daily driving.

That does sound a little different than how my wife will be driving the kids around...I hope! :eek:

Thanks for the input!

jbooker82

You cant go wrong with a BF Goodrich tire.

Not the same tread but I got 50K miles out of their 33"x12.5x15 All Terrain tires. That kind of milage out of a big all terrain tire is pretty dang good.

[Deleted User]

I like the Michelin's as well but couldn't afford them last time out. So I spoke to a few folks and ended up with the Pirelli P4. I have to say I have been pleasantly suprised with them. :cool:

leadfoot1

I recently bought some Hankook Ventus V12 ?? or EVO V12 ?? can't remember the model exactly but I like them alot.

Joe08867

I am also a Michelin man (MXV's) and can say they are much quieter than the Kuhmo's I have run as well.

My Michelin's have almost always been pretty close to there tire warranty on wear. In fact I got 60,000 out of my last 50,000 warranty set on my Impala. Probably close to the weight of you Mazda 5 if not heavier. I believe my tires are 235/70-16's.

Sherardp

Hankook or General UHPs are nice. Pirelli or Bridgestones also. I like Hankook though they run great and perform very well.

shack

I generally put Kumho high (or ultra high) performance all season tires on all my cars. No complaints or problems.

nooshinjohn

Another vote for the Michellin Man. I have Primacy MXV4's on my car and Harmony's on the wife's.... great tires.

TNRabbit

I was using Yokohama Avid A4 on my Probe but recently went with an equivalent Kumho due to TireRack.com not having the Yoko's in my size. Both have been excellent. The Yokohama's EASILY get sidewall damage so I recommend the road hazard warranty. They stick like the dickens, rain or dry.

heiney9

Kuhmo's are very nice. I have never had any luck with Pirelli since the original P6's I had on a Volkswagen Scirocco.

Tire Rack is the only place I buy my tires from.

H9

heiney9

I also think Michelins are way over priced.

madmax

I like to go to tirerack.com and read all the reviews.
madmax

acmf74

heiney9 wrote: »

I also think Michelins are way over priced.

Agreed!

danger boy

is it only Mazda's that come with slightly hard to find sized tires, or do other car makers do it too? Mine uses a 205/55/15 which is not made by many time manufactures of any good reputation anymore.

got some from Costco on two week order and they are fine.. were sligthly over $100 each. I think they are BF Goodrich

gmm141

A buddy of mine turned me on to Nokian WR G2's. He's a Subaru dealer and a lot of the Suby guys swear by them.

I got a set and loved them. They were competitively priced and way out performed the Goodyears I had before in rain and snow (unfortunately, I can't rate them against studded snow tires). They have worn very well too. I have ~15k miles on them and there is still lots of tread left.

They are worth a look.

Good luck!

TNHNDYMAN

I have the BF Goodrich gforce Super Sports on my 02' Mazda Protege and have been extremely pleased both w/ dry weather grip and all weather traction especially wet. I think its a great fit for the Mazdas.

SpartanStang14

I just got the Yokohama AVID Envigors and am quite happy with them. They got me through the winter in my 04 Mustang Gt.

I've also heard nothing but great things about Continental ExtremeContact DW and DWS's. (Dry Wet and Dry Wet Snow)

cambir

danger boy wrote: »

is it only Mazda's that come with slightly hard to find sized tires, or do other car makers do it too? Mine uses a 205/55/15 which is not made by many time manufactures of any good reputation anymore.

got some from Costco on two week order and they are fine.. were sligthly over $100 each. I think they are BF Goodrich

Al, you remember which model of BFG you got at Costco?

cambir

Thanks for all the input so far. I'll probably go check out what Discount Tire has available, but the additional support for that specific BFG is causing me to lean a little more in that direction.

I appreciate the help! I'll take all I can get.

PrazVT

I had a good experience with Yokohama S.Drives on my 08 Mazda 3 (also 205/50/17), and they were pretty inexpensive. They're wet/dry tires though, but you seem to have snow tires so not sure that'd be an issue come winter. I'm running Michelin PS2s now, and my sister runs the A/S PS2s on her Acura TL - both are grippy, but expensive.

tonyb

Just threw a set of Michelin hydro threads on the es300 today. Good tire,has a heavy sidewall which I need since the car is front wheel drive and pretty heavy upfront. You need the stability for going around corners otherwise the car will tilt too much. Now only if the wife can stay out of potholes, and she seems to be a magnet for every frickin' nail on the road.

carvcom

I say get the Michelins if you can afford them, with good driving habits, 50 or 60,000 is easy.
I've never had a set of BFG go over 35,000.
My 2 cents.

shack

carvcom wrote:

I say get the Michelins if you can afford them, with good driving habits, 50 or 60,000 is easy.
I've never had a set of BFG go over 35,000.
My 2 cents.

heiney9 wrote:

I also think Michelins are way over priced.

I've owned a few sets of Michelins, however, I will never buy them again. They are not bad tires but Brock is right...you can get just as good or better for far less $ than Michelin.

cambir

SpartanStang14 wrote: »

I just got the Yokohama AVID Envigors and am quite happy with them. They got me through the winter in my 04 Mustang Gt.

These look like a new potential. What kind of winter were thrown at them (snow, ice, etc)?

Has anybody else had experience whith these Yokohamas?

cambir

Just purchased a set of Yokohama YK520 from Discount Tire today. A little cheaper than the BFGs and a lot cheaper than Michelins. The Yokohamas were recommended over the BFGs and pretty equally to the Mihelins by the reps at the store. They also have a 60K mile warranty...the best I found in my search. Seems like the right tire this time.

Discount Tire had a great selection, excellent customer service and will match anybody's price.

Thanks for all the suggestions and opinions!

slk55amg

I have the Piolt Exalto on two vehicles. On my Mercedes 320clk, they have about 20,000 miles on them and still look almost new with plenty of tread life. I just put them on my SLK55, a vehicle because of the huge amount of torque goes thru rear tires very quickly, they have a 45000 mile tread wear warranty, if I get 30,000 out of the rears, I will be elated.

SpartanStang14

hey sorry I just now saw that you asked about the yoko's. I didn't really drive on any ice, but I got a little action in an inch or two of snow and with a couple of bags of salt in the trunk, I didn't slide around or have any close calls. I'm a very cautious driver in the snow, though. They also have a pretty good warranty, 45,000 miles I think. I got mine from discount tire direct because they were pretty cheap and had free shipping.

Also, here are a few youtube TireRack Reviews comparing them to some similar tires.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_fQ_b-I51g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnN5i8HibW0