Help with Tire Selection

DaShukSXT23 · Post by **DaShukSXT23** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:30 am

Getting new rims probably within the next 2-3 weeks and have a choice of what tires I can match with them. I have heard they are all pretty decent brands but was hoping to get some feedback from people who have experience with them. I'm getting a set of 17s and have the following tire options:

Nexen N3000

Nankang NS-I

Falken Ze-502

Hankook K-106

I'm basically just looking for a decent tire that is going to last a good amount of time, the stupid Goodyear LS tires I had on my car were gone after about 22k even with proper rotating and care. Need it to perform halfway decent in crappy road conditions as I still drive up north during the winter sometimes. I've heard good things about the Nexen and Falkens from others in the tuner community but don't know much about the Nankang or Hankooks.

MoxHair · Post by **MoxHair** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:12 pm

I have nothing nice to say about any of the tires listed.

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:24 pm

My brother had Nankangs on his '98 R/T at one time.

Nankang = BAD. Sucks.
He was having problems with belts breaking on these tires..... bubbles would keep popping up on his sidewalls.

Mind you, he paid attention to tire pressures, didn't run them low or anything..... AVOID.

- Nick

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:46 pm

MoxHair wrote:I have nothing nice to say about any of the tires listed.

Spend just a little bit more and get something worthwhile. There are many good inexpensive tires offered by Toyo, Kuhmo, Nitto, etc.

Post by **racer12306** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:51 pm

My opinion on tires:

There are cheap good tires and cheap junk tires. Stay towards the cheap good tires, or more expensive good tires than risking your car or your life to safe a $100 or so.

DaShukSXT23 · Post by **DaShukSXT23** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 4:02 pm

Yeah I was thinking of upgrading to the Kuhmo Ecstas or the Toyo Proxes. They are both a bit extra $ but I'd rather have a decent tire then some crap that is going to go bad after 15k miles.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 4:09 pm

Nitto Neo Gen ftw. very good and very affordable!

Pablodragon · Post by **Pablodragon** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:14 pm

didn't know Kumho Ecstas were an upgrade... I got some of these when I bought my 16" rims...they were one of the cheapest (in price) at that time

Have had them at least a year, free tire rotations done, even left them on thru a Michigan winter and have had no problems and no signs of any abnormal wear

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 8:45 pm

Depends on which Ecstas.

Cheap

Ecsta HP4 716

Moderate

Ecsta ASX (My winter tires)

Better

Ecsta SPT (My summer tires)

Best

Ecsta MX

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:11 pm

The Kumho AST are nice and Toyo4's

dodge_girl · Post by **dodge_girl** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:01 am

im not an expert by any means but i have the nexen N3000 on my car (215/45/17), and for the price they have been great, been on the car for a year now and they are holding up really well.. just my 2 cents

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:07 pm

The Falken Ziex 329's have been good to me.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:25 pm

Just a suggestion/question. Why not use the wheels you currently have to put winter tires on, and get some decent summer tires for the new wheels.

I know initially it cost a bit, but you can put off buying the winter tires till winter

.

I wouldn't think you're going to need anything dedicated to snow use, being in GA, but you don't want to be stuck with us Yanks for too long either, due to an inch of snow. Obviously watching the weather can slightly reduce the chance of being caught in a major blizzard.

I have gotten 5 years of use from my winter and summer tires by swapping them out for the season. So in the long run it is cheaper to have an alternate set. The draw back is storage. If you are driving across a state or two, I don't think them dry rotting before wearing them out is going to be a negative.

Medan · Post by **Medan** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:25 pm

SlvrACR wrote:The Kumho AST are nice and Toyo4's

+1 to the Ecsta ASTs.

I paid $75 each for mine. Not necessarily the best tire on the market, but I have put about 20k miles on these and they still have half of their tread left. Decent wet performance, good dry performance. I've driven about 150 miles in the snow and they have been fine.

DaShukSXT23 · Post by **DaShukSXT23** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 3:53 pm

occasional demons wrote:Just a suggestion/question. Why not use the wheels you currently have to put winter tires on, and get some decent summer tires for the new wheels.

I know initially it cost a bit, but you can put off buying the winter tires till winter .

I wouldn't think you're going to need anything dedicated to snow use, being in GA, but you don't want to be stuck with us Yanks for too long either, due to an inch of snow. Obviously watching the weather can slightly reduce the chance of being caught in a major blizzard.

I have gotten 5 years of use from my winter and summer tires by swapping them out for the season. So in the long run it is cheaper to have an alternate set. The draw back is storage. If you are driving across a state or two, I don't think them dry rotting before wearing them out is going to be a negative.

I'm actually from WV and I travel back at least 5-6 times a year for college football games and to visit friends in Pittsburgh so I normally get an all-season tire anyways. I am going to be keeping my current wheels and tires that I have now as a "winter" set since I normally go up north between September-February which tend to be the coldest months up there. Right now I have a set of Dunlop Signature All-seasons on there and they have been great tires. They have about 10,000 miles on them and still have a ton of tread life left so I would hate to just abandon them. This is one of the reasons I have been delaying getting rims is because I don't really need new tires yet and I didn't want to put the Dunlops on my new rims.

The snow really doesn't bother me, I grew up in it and my parents are both from Detroit so dad taught me winter driving in a rear wheel drive and made me drive hills whenever it snowed 3-4 inches so I could get a feel for it. The Neon actually handles pretty good in snow being FWD with a good set of tires. I went up to MD in January for a ski trip and we got 6 inches of snow one night and they couldn't plow. My stupid friends couldn't get their SUVs out of the driveway but the Dodge got out no problem, it was quite hilarious. When it rains in Atlanta it might as well be snow the way people drive down here. We got 3 inches last year one day, it all melted within an hour, but the interstate was backed up 20 miles, quite a site.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:10 pm

DaShukSXT23 wrote:
I'm actually from WV and I travel back at least 5-6 times a year for college football games and to visit friends in Pittsburgh so I normally get an all-season tire anyways. I am going to be keeping my current wheels and tires that I have now as a "winter" set since I normally go up north between September-February which tend to be the coldest months up there. Right now I have a set of Dunlop Signature All-seasons on there and they have been great tires. They have about 10,000 miles on them and still have a ton of tread life left so I would hate to just abandon them. This is one of the reasons I have been delaying getting rims is because I don't really need new tires yet and I didn't want to put the Dunlops on my new rims.

The snow really doesn't bother me, I grew up in it and my parents are both from Detroit so dad taught me winter driving in a rear wheel drive and made me drive hills whenever it snowed 3-4 inches so I could get a feel for it. The Neon actually handles pretty good in snow being FWD with a good set of tires. I went up to MD in January for a ski trip and we got 6 inches of snow one night and they couldn't plow. My stupid friends couldn't get their SUVs out of the driveway but the Dodge got out no problem, it was quite hilarious. When it rains in Atlanta it might as well be snow the way people drive down here. We got 3 inches last year one day, it all melted within an hour, but the interstate was backed up 20 miles, quite a site.

w00t for Pittsburgh!

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:17 pm

I've been getting Toyo Proxes 4 for the past 2 years at about $80 each, then more for shipping and installation (usually comes below $600 overall -- 205/40/17). However, I have to get new ones every year, with about 25k miles. Very good VALUE in my opinion, handles good in wet and dry, not so great in snow. On the track they performed well.

I'm actually ordering my 3rd set here in the next couple weeks.

MoxHair · Post by **MoxHair** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:00 pm

whats wrong with tires that last less than 15,000 miles.

I think I've bought 4-5 sets of tires in the past 12 months, 18,000 miles total.

Post by **racer12306** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:03 pm

Mox, your just a beast. Thats why tires don't last for shit under your car.

DaShukSXT23 · Post by **DaShukSXT23** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:11 pm

MoxHair wrote:whats wrong with tires that last less than 15,000 miles.

I think I've bought 4-5 sets of tires in the past 12 months, 18,000 miles total.

The fact they cost $400-500 to replace, haha.

lambostealth · Post by **lambostealth** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:42 pm

Look into the K104's instead of the 106's, better tire by far, I've had two sets, never an issue, plenty of tread, sticky, doesn't give a rats ass how much water you throw at them, they just hook. But, they don't like snow.

SOKADAO954 · Post by **SOKADAO954** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:13 pm

racer12306 wrote:Mox, your just a beast. Thats why tires don't last for shit under your car.

mox aka chuck norris

Donkeypuncher · Post by **Donkeypuncher** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:31 am

Of the tires listed falken is the probably the best. If I had to recommend a brand, yokohama and khumo are better choices for a mix of good performance/price/treadwear.

01rtgurl · Post by **01rtgurl** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:08 am

I lol'ed at the 22k. My tires last 5-10k depending on compound lol. My current ones on the Miata are 140 treadwear, and I think I'm doing damn good with 10k on them and not bald yet with the way I drive LOL.

Good luck in your search, I really like my Falken ZE-329's I have on my stock miata rims that get switched over to the neon. Good traction and all season to boot.

Xclusives_619 · Post by **Xclusives_619** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:36 pm

I had the Falken Ze-502 and they where great

Post by **Diablo0** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:39 pm

I have a set of steelies with winter tires on them I'd be willing to part with for a pirce.

Then you could get some nice summer performance tires.

Like a set of Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs

MoxHair · Post by **MoxHair** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:30 pm

racer12306 wrote:Mox, your just a beast. Thats why tires don't last for shit under your car.

You act like its a bad thing.