[minnus]

I've finally picked up some rims (18x7.5, offset of 48). Now I need tires. This has been a little bit more difficult to get a handle on. First off, every place carries different brands, mostly mutually exclusive. Second, every place also has their own policies, perks, and disadvantages. Third, reviews for most tires are extremely diverse - which I suspect stems from different driving conditions. Forth, there is pricing. I found that tires are unique from most other products in that pricy tires does not necessarily mean good - and likewise, cheap does not mean bad.

As I do with most purchases, I do a crazy amount of reading, but with tires...especially tires (wheels were easy - looks, weight, strength - done), the more I read, the more muddled my search becomes.

I am from the North East. We get a fair bit of snow, so my decision process has come to: set of summer tires + winter tires, or a set of really nice all season, or all season + winter.
All season plus winter makes the most sense to me as the weather here can be quite sporadic. If snow comes out of nowhere, and I don't have Winter tires on yet, I would not want to be in Summer tires. Like-wise, I get the impression that all seasons are not sufficient for snow/ice, so Winter is preferred.

Our stock VT tires actually worked out pretty well in the snow. Going back and forth between the dealership when I made my purchase, it was snowing pretty bad. The stock tires felt fine going 50-55 ish on the highway - but then again, I'm a fairly defensive driver (I slowly feel that is going away though...curse of the VT).

Tire research process...

At first, I wanted Bridgestones - mainly the RE970AS. Tire Rack rated them fairly well, and they are also on sale at Costco. Costco so far has been my ideal place for tires. It is my understanding that they are certified, and if something goes wrong, there is the financial backing of Costco themselves. They also provide various free tire maintenance services with tire purchase - at least till your membership runs out. I thought I was all good to go...till I discovered the complaints about traction in the snow.

Doing my research - the DWS looks like a great option, if not the best option - except there is no local option. I have to order it, and take it to a place to mount. I would lose the perks of a locally purchased tire.

Now I am looking at Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season. They look pretty good, but are more pricy than the RE970AS and DWS by a fairly large margin. I also don't know if I trust Goodyear techs (haven't done research on them really). The downside is that there aren't many reviews out for it - especially related to snow. That is a fairly large unknown.

A buddy of mine recommended the Toyo Proxi 4 Plus all-seasons.

Costco only cares like three brands apparently, with Michelin being one of them and a good choice from my understanding. I'm kind of a sale whore though, so knowing that there is going to be a coupon in like one and a half months is putting me back. Costco also have fairly poor prices compared to competitors, so without the coupon, its a terrible bargain.

This is getting a bit overwhelming to me. Anyone with some directional advice? Perhaps the RE970AS isn't as bad as people make it seem (optimistic thinking)?

 

[Cristobal09]

I would highly recommend the continental dws tires. Theyre great all year round. Theyre excellent in light snow, they have great grip in dry and rain as well. Now are they as good as summer tires in the summer? No of course not. Are they as good in snow as snow tires? Again, no. But unless you want to pay the 100 bucks or so to mount and unmount tires every season, I HIGHLY suggest the conti dws. Guys on the 370 forum use them as all season tires, they are THE tires to go with for all season performance. Plus they last a very long time.

 

[btjetman]

I had the conti dws on my G6, great all season tires very confident inspiring in the wet, good grip all around and got about 48000 miles on them.

 

[minnus]

There is definitely impressive endorsement for the DWS. I may have to trust my Matte Gray VT to *shutters* ... Sears...

 

[21retsolev]

FWIW here is my .02 ...

I had the Bridgestone Pole Positions on my STI ... good tire in all seasons ... only weakness was in 2 plus inches of snow as the tire was unable to clean itself.

On my John Cooper Works Mini I had the Conti DWS tires ... I really did not like the tire as I felt the sidewalls were to soft. BUT they were great in the rain and light snow.

On my VT I installed the new Cooper Zeon RS3 tires ... WOW! These tires have all of the strengths of the previous two mentioned. I have 2500 miles on these tires and have been through the snow, rain, ice, even some warmer temps up to 55 degrees.

With that being said, if I were to purchase any of these again based on where I live .. I would choose the Cooper tires hands down ...

Now .. if I did not get the snow or ice and just colder weather ... I would choose the Pole Positions.

I more than likely would not choose the DWS again ...

Hope this helps ...

 

[[email protected]]

the important question is how much do you want to spend? if you're looking for a decent tire for a decent price i'd recommend kuhmo 4x's

Kumho*Ecsta 4X

i know some might shudder away from kumho after driving on the stock tires but they're probably the worst kumhos i've driven on. my gf has AST's and they are very good as well but the directional tread isnt as good for snow.

any tire you get i recommend going to 225 40 18s though

 

[GT800]

Nitto Neogens are a really good tire for the price to.

 

[minnus]

Thanks for the excellent information everyone! Extremely helpful. Having more options is certainly better than having less. Up till now, I never even looked at Nitto nor Cooper. I will definitely also look at those Kumhos.

 

[minnus]

Whoops - forgot to answer the "important question." I don't really have a budget. I just want the best performance to price ratio. Something I am also considering is how I am going through, as some places offer various free services.

 

[cwee477]

sorry for the noob question but what is the difference between 225/40/18s vs 215/40/18

 

[Stone Axe]

If you have 2 sets or rims then you can run summer performance tires and winter tires pretty easily. Plus the original rims are probably good to hang on to when it comes time to sell it.

I live in Atlanta so I'm looking for affordable performance tires that could be slightly taller.

 

[minnus]

sorry for the noob question but what is the difference between 225/40/18s vs 215/40/18

This is clearly the tire noob (all me) thread. Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to that question either, lol. I am under the impression that the increased width would increase the sidewall ever so slightly and make the ride very slightly more comfortable.

 

[minnus]

Yeah, that was what I was thinking of doing. I wouldn't mind going the summer tire + winter tire route - I am just slightly concerned about longevity. How often would I have to replace summer and winter tires?

 

[MyDianaZ06]

I've finally picked up some rims (18x7.5, offset of 48). Now I need tires. This has been a little bit more difficult to get a handle on. First off, every place carries different brands, mostly mutually exclusive. Second, every place also has their own policies, perks, and disadvantages. Third, reviews for most tires are extremely diverse - which I suspect stems from different driving conditions. Forth, there is pricing. I found that tires are unique from most other products in that pricy tires does not necessarily mean good - and likewise, cheap does not mean bad.

As I do with most purchases, I do a crazy amount of reading, but with tires...especially tires (wheels were easy - looks, weight, strength - done), the more I read, the more muddled my search becomes.

I am from the North East. We get a fair bit of snow, so my decision process has come to: set of summer tires + winter tires, or a set of really nice all season, or all season + winter.
All season plus winter makes the most sense to me as the weather here can be quite sporadic. If snow comes out of nowhere, and I don't have Winter tires on yet, I would not want to be in Summer tires. Like-wise, I get the impression that all seasons are not sufficient for snow/ice, so Winter is preferred.

Our stock VT tires actually worked out pretty well in the snow. Going back and forth between the dealership when I made my purchase, it was snowing pretty bad. The stock tires felt fine going 50-55 ish on the highway - but then again, I'm a fairly defensive driver (I slowly feel that is going away though...curse of the VT).

Tire research process...

At first, I wanted Bridgestones - mainly the RE970AS. Tire Rack rated them fairly well, and they are also on sale at Costco. Costco so far has been my ideal place for tires. It is my understanding that they are certified, and if something goes wrong, there is the financial backing of Costco themselves. They also provide various free tire maintenance services with tire purchase - at least till your membership runs out. I thought I was all good to go...till I discovered the complaints about traction in the snow.

Doing my research - the DWS looks like a great option, if not the best option - except there is no local option. I have to order it, and take it to a place to mount. I would lose the perks of a locally purchased tire.

Now I am looking at Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season. They look pretty good, but are more pricy than the RE970AS and DWS by a fairly large margin. I also don't know if I trust Goodyear techs (haven't done research on them really). The downside is that there aren't many reviews out for it - especially related to snow. That is a fairly large unknown.

A buddy of mine recommended the Toyo Proxi 4 Plus all-seasons.

Costco only cares like three brands apparently, with Michelin being one of them and a good choice from my understanding. I'm kind of a sale whore though, so knowing that there is going to be a coupon in like one and a half months is putting me back. Costco also have fairly poor prices compared to competitors, so without the coupon, its a terrible bargain.

This is getting a bit overwhelming to me. Anyone with some directional advice? Perhaps the RE970AS isn't as bad as people make it seem (optimistic thinking)?

Ok Here is my 2 cents.....

Hello minnus =) I will give you my 2 cents that's probably worth less lol Also this is for everyone not just minnus, we are all noobs ar something even if we think we know =) (including my dumb butt)

Ok so some people here mifght no that I am a tire technician at good ol' Costco. Just to give you an idea about how we are trained and certified before costco lets us touch a car, each of us when we start gets trained by managers and supervisors for weeks no matter where we came from or how much we say we know. the way discount tires and ntb train their techs (if they do) is completely different than the way costco does. So even if costco is a few bucks more than discount tire or ntb, just know when a costco technician touches your new car with your new rims, they are touched with extreme care and caution and knowledge that we know to make sure no corners were cut.

The difference between costco and the rest, we get paid more. Honestly, we are all paid VERY will. Also, costco treats members like platinum and employees like gold. It makes a difference because our jobs mean more to us than cheap pay and hard labor at other tire shops. This means we will do whatever it takes to make sure when we are servicing your car, nothing bad happens that will piss you off because our job is always on the line. AVERAGE part time employees at costco is $17 an hour with beneifts and bonuses (twice a year). I love my job, and when anyone comes in, I will make sure that when you leave you understand why you are a member and that you will always come back and recommend people to come back.

To become a tire tech at costco, we train for weeks with sups and managers only. Then we have to take three 100 question test and pass them every year with 90% or higher. If we do not pass one we are out of the shop and can retake it 6 weeks later (or something like that. I never failed (- So when you pay a little but more then the rest, keep in mind Costco spent years and A LOT of money to make sure their techs are well over qualified to work on members cars tires. I would hate handing my keys off to a underpaid tire shop tech who hates his job.

When comparing apple to apple, we are always cheaper. I don't mean JUST tires to tires. I mean tires, warranty, everything I said about our techs, hours of operation, and future warranty even if your membership expires and everything you get with your tires. Valve stems are free, BUT FOR VT OWNERS, VALVE STEMS ARE $2.30 because or our tpms. STILL CHEAPER THAN ANYONE ELSE. Free nitrogen and nitrogen checks for the life time of the tire whether or not your a member still, free lifetime rotation and balancing for the lifetime of your tires whether your still a member or not, free flat repair whether your a member or not. AND free road hazard warranty up to 5 years. And the reason we won't road hazard a tire or fix a tire after 5 years is because not even tire manufacture will warranty their tires after 6 and thats because tire material does not last forever. Everything wear and tars over time in the weather. Though we will still do everything else but a road hazard warranty past 5 years. We do not recommend driving 6 year old or older tires but hey, if you can have your tread last a long time do it. We will rotate and balance and check nitrogen on them until you have no more tread.

So you can buy cheap tires on tire rack, pay for shipping, pay for install, pay for road hazard, wait for tire rack everytime you need a new tire because it blow out because tire rack ships everything, having to go through buying tires at tire rack and work with another company to do the rest of the work which I presume is someone who doesn't do nearly as quality work as costco. But unless your saving a ton of money, it isn't worth it. At least to me. Now this is all me and from what I know about my company and what i know everybody else does.

I am not getting paid to represent costco here on this forum, I love my job and love what I do. I love costco and how they treat everyone. And I definitely want to inform my fellow VT buddies here that costco is one of the best places to get your tire services needs done. After I move on to the next ship, if I do ever find a decent paying hvac job (its just so hard to leave costco becuase no matter where I go in the hvac industry, I will be taking a BIG pay cut) I will still continue to pay for my membership and one of the reason is because it is worth having JUST for the tire services alone. But do your research like minnus and myself do, which is A LOT, and find a happy place for you whether it is costco or discount tire or ntb. And if anybody works at any other tireshop and wants to complain to me about how I am bashing on their company. Go ahead buddy, go ahead and put in an application at costco. We are an equal opportunity job and work for a company that stands above all. It is great. =)


NOW ON A TIRE NOTE,

Like minnus said, it is true that costco will only stand behind the best products for our members. Those in tires happen to be Michelin, BFG and Bridgestones. I worked on every tire out there. I fixed toyo tires, I fixed continental tires, goodyear, ALL. The only rubber I doesnt feel cheap when I am buffing it is the three that we carry. Michelin engineers only choose the highest grade of ruber material. SO when I see the way they wear, the way the rubber reacts to the buffer, it seems of the highest quality. Guys, it is no secret, you get what you pay for. You know when you buy a michelin, it is going to last as long as they say, and if you rotate like you should maybe longer, and at the same time ride great quietly and smoothly on wet or dry. BFG is owned by michelin, NOT MADE BY MICHELIN. BFG has been around for the longest. It was the first tire to ever pull a G force on ground (and was on a corvette btw) They make GREAT sport tires. And bridgestones are next to Michelins to me.

You can recommend toyo, yoko, goodyear, Michelins….anything. But there isn’t going to be a tire that is great in the snow, great in the rain or great in the summer all in one tire. There might be a good tire for the snowy slush, and great in the summer, their might be a tire that is great in the winter, but only decent in the dry. But like I think I saw stone said, if you are going to have two sets of rims, like most people end up with when buying aftermarket rims, you can have a great set of winter tires on one set of rims, and great summer tires on the other set. So you can have bridgestones blizzak tires on your factory rims since, like minnus said, right now bridgestones are on sale at Costco, and then later on when Michelins are on sale pick up some great Michelins pilot super sport s for your aftermarkets. Now you might think that Is ridiculous to buy two sets of tires, which to me it is because I live in texas and get NO snow like most of you guys do. But when you live in an area where you get heavy snow every year, I heard of people doing that, buying two sets of tires to keep up with you guys crazy whether.

Anyways I am definitely not going to bash on you guys who are recommending tires like continental, toyo and yokohama, I do think they are garbage and for a little more you can get a name brand tire, only because I haven’t had firsthand experience on them. I know they are going to be ok. But I just think compared to a Michelin it doesn’t compare. I am just real picky what kind of tires I roll with only because it is the only thing between the car and the road. But do your research and try any tire you think you will be happy with, and get them anywhere you think you will be happy with. And if you do not like them, them you know next time you will not get them.

 

[MyDianaZ06]

sorry for the noob question but what is the difference between 225/40/18s vs 215/40/18

The difference is minimal. It is going to be a 10 mil wider (which varies between tires, some can show no difference between a 225 and a 215 and some can show some difference.)

ok to explain to you, 225 is going to be the width of the tire that touches the ground, 40 is 40% of 225 that is on the side wall, so 40% of 225 is how think or high the side wall will be, and 18 of course is going to be the size of the rim that it fits on.

So note that 225 is going to be SLIGHTLY wider than a 215, also keep in mind everytime you go up in widht, the side wall is a little taller, %40 of 225 is taller than %40 of 215.

Get it?

 

[minnus]

Thanks MyDianaZ06 - I definitely appreciate your input. I would very much love to purchase a set from Costco - it is just that the Bridgestone selection is so limited We're actually pretty limited drivers - we live in a fairly large city, so we can always take public transportation during bad weather. I almost feel like having dedicated tires would be somewhat wasteful. From Costco, there are only four sets of all seasons:

Turanza EL400-02
RE970AS
Pilot Sport A/S Plus
Primacy MXM4

Both Bridgestone options are apparently terrible for snow, and Michelin's aren't on sale. I might just wait the two months for Michelin's to go on sale...but I'm not too sure if its worth the wait...

 

[MyDianaZ06]

Thanks MyDianaZ06 - I definitely appreciate your input. I would very much love to purchase a set from Costco - it is just that the Bridgestone selection is so limited We're actually pretty limited drivers - we live in a fairly large city, so we can always take public transportation during bad weather. I almost feel like having dedicated tires would be somewhat wasteful. From Costco, there are only four sets of all seasons:

Turanza EL400-02
RE970AS
Pilot Sport A/S Plus
Primacy MXM4

Both Bridgestone options are apparently terrible for snow, and Michelin's aren't on sale. I might just wait the two months for Michelin's to go on sale...but I'm not too sure if its worth the wait...

no problem. and like I have told you before, I'm not familiar with snow tires in either of the three brands we carry because in Texas, nobody buys them lol. but I will do my research on them because I should know. and true, Michelin so are not on sale currently but should be soon after. but hey if you need tires get them where ever. even if I think other tires aren't worth it (which again I'm biased because I love the three we sale) but any tread is better than no tread. but if you can wait, please do. you know what they say, once you go michelin it's hard to not go back. lol anyways

 

[minnus]

Finally made my trip to Costco, and it was very disappointing They didn't even let me order the tires because they could not "verify" the stock size since they didn't have a sizing book for 2013 models.

I have to contact Hyundai myself, get their response in WRITING, before they are willing to work with me. That is a tad irritating.

 

[jeremy]

Finally made my trip to Costco, and it was very disappointing They didn't even let me order the tires because they could not "verify" the stock size since they didn't have a sizing book for 2013 models.

I have to contact Hyundai myself, get their response in WRITING, before they are willing to work with me. That is a tad irritating.

Go to a real tire store and not Costco.

 

[MyDianaZ06]

Go to a real tire store and not Costco.

Costco is a real tire shop. They sometimes just get too safety precaution but this is too far even as a costco tire shop employee. whoever Minnus talked to doesn't need to verify anything in any book.

I am real embarrassed of the experience that Minnus had. They do not need to verify the size of the tire on any book or anything. There is a sticker on the driver side door that has verifies what size tire needs to go on the vt PLUS the tires on it are original.

Well Minnus I would call them for you if you'd like and see exactly what they were talking to. The will order it for you and do everything. Had you been at my costco there wouldn't have been a problem.