As always I def recommend asking Dianaz06, Mike, he knows a ton about tires! He's a plethora of tire and wheel knowledge!
Correct!! He helped me out when it came to buying my tires.
THATS RIGHT LOVE ME! lol j/k I highly appreciate the appreciation! I've been working for some years now in the BEST tire center for the BEST company to work for
I am a tire/wheel junkie now
Does anyone have estimates on how many miles Continental DWS will last on our cars? I ask because my VT came with the Kumhos and I rotated at 3500 miles when I got my. Now at 10000 miles im ready to rotate and the rear is almost out of tread. I drive it hard but don't understand how the rear is so low. The front has another 3500 miles in them maybe more. My only guess is maybe my strut bar helped conserve tread since it was installed when I rotated my tires. Either way I have a reason to get rid of these tires finally and DWS have great reviews and ratings on tire rack. Give me at least 20-25k miles of hard driving and ill be happy as long as it can stand some snow and still perform well.
Edit: Also I may by pierce torsion bar to help with the scary rear end. That is where I have the problem, it seems to lose traction easily and has kicked violently to the side in heavy rain.
Hello bluevtm. My name is Mike, Michael, whatever you'd like to call me. I've been called names bad enough they can't even say them in rated R movies LOL j/k but here on these forums I am known as MyDianaZ06. and I would be glad to give you my personal opinion on proper tire maintenance and recommendations on tires.
First off, rotations, air pressure checks and alignments are 3 key things you should do regularly to maintain a tires life.
1) The whole point of rotating tires is to make the tires last as long as they can. If you just leave the tires on the same place usually they wear on the driven wheels. For example, if you forget to rotate your tires you will noticed your front tires wear faster than the rear tires. So by rotating them every 6k to 8k will slow the wear down and spread the wear between all tires slower than just not rotating them and allowing the one side to wear super fast. A lot of people forget to rotate their tires and then get them rotated at around 10k to 15k and wonder why their rear tires wore down so quickly. The case is they were on the front for so long they wore down fast then when they got rotated it seemed like the rears wore down fast.
On our VT's, I would rotate these tires around 6k to 7k. Do it religiously. Make sure the pattern is the same every single time. Our vehicles are front wheel drive. The way we do it we cross the driven wheels and move the non driven wheels straight. Specifically, LF to LR, RF to RR, LR to RF and RR to LF. Do this every 6k to 7k. This will guarantee optimized life span.
If you want to get VERY technical about rotations, if you think 7k is too much, get a digital tread depth gauge. at 5k miles, check the tread dept between the front and the back MOST tires tread starts around 10/32nd. This is a measurement. If at 5k, if your tread between the front and the back is at or greater than 2/32nd between the front and back, then rotate them. Example, lets say XYZ tires that you installed started at 10/32nd tread dept. If at 5k they both are at 8/32nd, I'd wait another 1k miles. IF you measure your tread at 5k and the fronts are at 7/32nd and the rears are at 9/32nd then rotate them. Or is you want to rotate them when they get 1/32nd difference between the front and back you can. Keep track though. this is good practice.
I would recommend the Dill Digital Tread Depth Gauge. this is what we use at work. you can find them cheap probably on ebay or something. if you need help using them I can make a video to show you how to read tire tread dept.
2) Alignments
The whole point of alignments is to prevent irregular tire wear. Though, finding a shop that actually has a knack for doing perfect alignments are hard to find. Sure, you can take it to Hyundai dealership but don't think they are going to do the BEST job because they are Hyundai. They don't have special alignment racks specific to one car. They have the same racks most shops do. As a matter of fact, a lot of shops buy used alignment racks to cut cost of making a shop complete. most of those guys just know how to set it up and know how to cut corners on alignments. Machines have to be calibrated regularly, techs should have hours spent on them to better familiarize themselves with the machine and should have a journal for each vehicle to remind themselves of how front ends like to be aligned. Most of the data they have are general specs. Not specific. SO if you can find a good shop that you can trust, go for it. But please don't take it to some random shop and expect great results. In the end, you could be spending your hard earned money for some lame tech who knows how to cut corners. IN that case, not only did you get robbed by the tech but your tires will show too.
Reason why I say all that about alignments is because I see it time and time again where a dealership did someones alignment and they come back to me complaining about how their tires wore on the inside of the tread and blame it on us and the tire. When really their dealership ruined their tires. Consumers can be so naive about tire maintenance and rely on their dealers to maintain their vehicle. dealers are not responsible for your vehicle, YOU ARE. Find a good alignment shop and take it regularly. Honestly once a year is pushing it. I have this firestone I take my cars for alignments because I know this one specif shop and for whatever reason this firestone manager has techs that are very knowledgeable in alignments and their rack was brand new when the shop opened a couple of years back. They maintain regular calibration and make sure their techs are up to date on whatever changes needed to made on the machine. Reason I bring them up is because they have a GREAT deal on alignments. Lifetime alignments for 150 bucks. By the second alignment it pays for itself. do that every 6 months. You have every right to talk to the managers their about their alignments. Ask them how old the machine is and if they calibrate it regularly. Talk to a few. I know there are usually multiple firestones in one city.
3) air pressure. Check this monthly. Not just when the TPMS light comes on. You will probably notice it come on soon since winter is on its way. Shoot, but a nice digital gauge and check it weekly or daily if you want. Guys this is the single most prevented maintenance one can do on your own. My wife hates my repetitiveness about checking her air pressure. Checking air pressure is not JUST about checking for proper air, it constitutes better fuel efficiency, better wet/dry tracting, better tread wear and tire life. and a whole lot more. Not to mention when you check your air pressure you naturally look closely at the tread and you get very familiar about how your tire is wearing. PROPER air pressure. Proper air pressure means checking your driver door sticker for proper air pressure, NOT THE SIDE OF YOUR TIRE. I will tell you right now, proper air pressure for the VT is not 40 psi. I don't own one so at the moment so I can't look at my veloster turbo driver side sticker to check what the proper air pressure it. I will check when I get to work though for your info. But this is something you can though.
THE BEST GAUGE I CAN RECOMMEND IS accutire ms-4021b. I have one I have been using for almost SIX years. It has been to hell and back and still works one the same battery. I swear by this gauge. It is my buddy at work. Great diagnostic tool. If you need help using one I can make a video to show you how to use one.
Reason why I tell you ALL this is because if you do these 3 things on ANY vehicle, you will have great feedback on tires no matter what tire you go with. If you can go by these rule of thumb you, your tires and your vehicle will be happy
I don't want to get into tire review. It is truly politics. It is up to you how you maintain your tires. I hate politics. But I like standards. My standard is Continental are MID GRADE AT BEST. If you want best, go for Michelin or bridgestone. All others are imitators and are a waste of money. (see have I gotten under skin lol)
If you want my recommendation on a tire for you, given what you said, go for Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3. These are A+ and dry weather A+ in wet weather and great winter tires. These are SNOW tires but these will give exceptional winter grip. If you want a winter tire then Michelin makes a tire called Ice X3 I believe. But I think the A/S 3's will suite you best. Extremely quit, extremely smooth, very grippy. A/S 3's will stop better in dry and wet giving you a safer ride and they grip better giving you exceptional steering response. I swear these tires alone will cut at least a full second off your lap time LOL well I don't know about that. But these eat all other imitators like Continental all day long. Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's come with a 45k mile warranty. Of course if rotated properly and given the fact you have proper alignment and air pressure throughout its life. 45/6.5=6.9. This means you should rotate your tires 7 times with these tires.
UGH here goes me taking too much. Sorry guys. Hope this helps some what lol
