I know there are lots of tire threads, but I am close to getting new rubber for my 04HCH and I have a few questions. I have the stock Dunlop SP20 which made it to 40k but they're ready to go. This tire gets horrible reviews so I suspect there's better tires out there. The bridgestone 381 gets better reviews and they seem more popular than the Dunlops, but I'd sure like to see know if they're really that great for the price at $80 each.

One tire that's impressing me right now is the HTR 200 which gets spectacular reviews. However there's very little I can find about its winter performance. Some comment that it's meant to be a summer tire, but there are very few comments on how it actually performs in snow. In NM we do get snow and I drive 80 miles each way so I need to be safe for winter driving. Have any of you tried this tire in snow?

Greenseal rates both the 381 and HTR 200 highly for low rolling resistance and overall performance, but again, there's little said about snow. They do not rate the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred, but at tire rack this one is rated top tire in all season category. Any data on rolling resistance for these? At the same price as the 381s I think I would be choosing one for FE (Bridgestone) and the other for winter traction (goodyear).

All comments welcome, I need tires in the next few weeks. I am less concerned with price and more interested in getting the best tire I can, though I don't want to throw away money on fancier tires that don't perform better than cheaper models. Thanks.

 

I would try Kuhmos...they get great reviews and are $37 each at Tirerack.

 

Which ones? And how does it work at tire rack? Do you have to have some local shop install them for extra money? How do they feel about that? Can yo ustill get road hazard warranties?

 

You've only got 4 little squares that connect the car to the road -- don't skimp on tires. Personally, I think Kuhmo and Sumi are the Kia of tires.

And I don't know how much snow you get in NM, but nothing beats a good snow tire for winter traction-- for e.g., Bridgestone Blizzacks are my fav.

 

I'd have to disagree on the tire selection. I'm very picky about tires. I've done alot of research on them for my own cars. And Kuhmos consistently rate at the top and have better customer satisfaction ratings than BF Goodrich, Goodyear, or Bridgestones.

Judging tire quality solely on price is not a good way to go.

FOR THE OP:

Go to Tirerack.com...select your make, year, and model...and then select TIRES.

Then you can select all tires available, OEM tires, or BEST SELLERS.

Read the reviews...do the research...you'll find Kuhmos are very good...very grippy, very quiet, very affordable.

You can buy road hazard and all that through the website...best thing to do is call them and ask them those questions...they are very easy to work with. Yes you will have to have someone install them...but trust me, unless you can strike a bargain with your local store, they are easily the least expensive.

Also try Costco for hassle -free changing...they cover everything in their price.

 

I don't see where you disagree with me. I never said to judge tires on price. I too use the Tirerack's reviews and test.

However, their is no statistical survey on how the tires perform over time. The Kuhmo reviews are the opinions of people who tend buy cheap tires and post about them on the Internet. I don't totally trust average joe consumer that buys a set of tires every 4-5 years.

Also, most tire reviews there are positive. Almost all the reviews I have read rank highly. So what does that tell you?

Lastly on the reviews, many of the Kuhmo reviews say "Great tire for the Price". You got a lot reviewers who were happy to get such a cheap tire.

$37 for a tire is dirt cheap. Most Sumi's are dirt cheap. They are not the best tires. It's tempting. All I said was don't skimp.

 

Fair enough.

However, if there is no statistical survey truly showing tire performance, then why spend so much extra for a tire that will probably not give you much more performance, if any, from a tire that costs half as much and has consistently good reviews (granted from people but hey...ultimately people are the ones using them). I personally have purchased expensive tires that turned out to be terrible.

Also, other than price based analysis how do you define skimping? What exactly are you not getting with the Sumi's or Kuhmos that constitute skimping? Could you clarify that?

 

To clarify, don't jump to the conclusion that the tire is a diamond in the rough because you read a few good reviews and it's cheap -- that's it.

I admit that I have to change my way of thinking when I do need to buy new all-seasons for the HCHII.

I did just buy snow tires. I did that based on the Blizzacks LRR rating from GreenSeal, the Blizzack reputation, and my experience owning two sets for our old bimmers.

I think it's dificult to buy tires for the HCH today, because the manufacturers and the Tirerack do not identify which are LRR tires. I hope I wont have to buy them for a couple of years and I hope more information is available to us when I do need them.

However, if I have to buy them today, I would start with the list from GreenSeal. Narrow it by what sizes where available at Tirerack, expand it by cousins of those tires (for e.g., Blizzack WS were recommended by SL, but only Blizzack REVO were available in our size and they are very similar tires), and lastly read all the reviews.

When I read the reviews, I don't take everyone's word, rather I look for trends. If I read 33 reviews that are all rated 7-9, but I read 4 times that the tires get squirrelly in the rain, then I cross that one off my list. You get the idea? You can't trust one consumer review, but you can trust similarities among a few reviews.

Not to drag this along, but I once bought a set of Kuhmo MX's for an old bimmer based on their spectacular handling reviews at the tirerack. When I put them on, my car rode horribly. The ride was jarring and bumps in the road sent my car left and right. I never read about any such tendencies in the reviews. I sold them on-line and went with some Pirelli PZero Neros which had good reviews and good test results. Problem solved.

The Kuhmos overall had great reviews, but had a slightly higher occurance of negative ones than the Pirellis. It's hard to quantify, you just have to read a lot of reviews and look for trends.

Over the past several years, I have always read (at mostly bimmer boards) that Kuhmos and Sumi's were "Good for the Money".

I hope that helps in some small way.

 

Thanks, but I know how to browse at Tire Rack, that's where I got much of my information, however on some tires they list N/A for winter performance, they have absolutely no information about rolling resistance, and some tires they don't show any ratings for, just reviews. So it is only one source for a partial set of information. I have already consulted their info and GreenSeal and have some specific questions. (Thanks for your help, by the way, but I'm far beyond the "Gee whiz, how would I ever shop for tires?" stage).

Am still curious how it works to actually buy the tires from tire rack and get them installed and serviced over the life of the tire. Who offers the road hazard service when a tire goes bad, the shop that installed them? I don't particularly like the idea of a mail-order replacement, that sort of defeats the purpose of road hazard becuse what I need is protection while traveling which is why whenever possible I like to buy from a chain store with lots of locations.

I would also still like to know what model of kumho you find so appealing, because with every manufacturer no two models are the same. Some are great and some suck, I've never found a tire maker that didn't fit that rule.


I too never skimp on tires, but I also don't believe there's an inherent connection between price and quality/performance.

Still also hoping somebody has some information on winter performance of the Sumimoto. I did not choose that one because "its cheap and has a few good reviews," rather it has hundreds of overwhelmingly positive reviews and very high ratings (top of its category as a matter of fact), the clear conclusion of which is that they're great tires despite the low price, but there's very little data about winter performance.


As for snow tires, I have lived in severe winter climates my whole life (northern Minnesota and the mountains of New Mexico) and I have never purchased snow tires specifically for winter use. I have always bought the best all season tires I could get and had pretty good luck. I am not going to buy separate snow tires, I plan to buy all season tires that get good ratings for dry, wet, and snow--if I can find them or that kind of information on them.

Thanks all for your comments, keep it coming.

 

It seems if you are concerned about snow performance, you should get snow tires. Just remember you aren't really paying more for tires, you'll just have two sets.

Your all-seasons won't be wearing when you have your snow tires on.