tires recommendations please

[mediancat]

got a 2000 outback sport with WRX rims (205/55HR16) and over 50K on
stock RE92 (which aren't as bad as they are made out to be). i
probably should get new tires. tirerack.com has overwhelmed me and i
found people who love and hate all the different models. i'm looking
for high-performance all season (especially good in the WET
northwest). i've narrowed it down to:
BF Goodrich g-force T/A KDWS
Continental Contiextreme Contact
Bridgestone Potenza RE950
Dunlop SP Sport A2
Fulda Carat Assuro or Extremo

the guy at Big-O was pushing the Fuldas and they would be the least
expensive. tirerack made the Continentals sound good, but they aren't
carried alot around here and they sound like they have issues (with
balancing). I can get good prices on the BFGoodriches and
Bridgestones at costco. i'm not an aggressive driver but i drive alot
(100K in 3 years), lots of rain and forest service roads. any
thoughts on these tires - either good or bad. or any ones really
worth considering that i have missed. also would be nice to handles a
little snow now and then (i know, i want it all for cheap

thanks in advance.

 

[H MURDOCH]

I don't know if they're available in your size, but I got a set of Sumitomo
HTR+ high-performance all-season tires from the tire rack for my Forester.
I just got back from a trip involving a lot of snow and at times heavy rain, as
well as dirt roads etc.
The tires were very good in the snow, and very sticky in the rain.
In the snow, they only slipped when I deliberately tried to break them loose.
Probably not as good as snow tires, but very good. (The snow driving was on
back mountain roads at relatively slow speeds - don't know how they'd be at
high highway speeds)
In the rain, it was very difficult to get them to slide even with severe
provacation in an empty but wet parking lot. When they could be made to slide,
they were very benign and easy to regain control.
Dry handling is good with high limits and little noise or roll, but they don't
steer as sharp as previous Falken ZE-502's.
They also provide a good deal of rim protection against curb rash for my alloy
wheels.
Very happy with them for a cheap price compared to the Continentals or other
high rated tires.
If I only drove in the dry, would get the Falken ZE-512's (which replace the
502's).
Hope this helps.
Hank Murdoch
98 Forester
(e-mail address removed)

 

[SuperPoo]

got a 2000 outback sport with WRX rims (205/55HR16) and over 50K on
stock RE92 (which aren't as bad as they are made out to be). i
probably should get new tires. tirerack.com has overwhelmed me and i
found people who love and hate all the different models. i'm looking
for high-performance all season (especially good in the WET
northwest). i've narrowed it down to:
BF Goodrich g-force T/A KDWS
Continental Contiextreme Contact
Bridgestone Potenza RE950
Dunlop SP Sport A2
Fulda Carat Assuro or Extremo

the guy at Big-O was pushing the Fuldas and they would be the least
expensive. tirerack made the Continentals sound good, but they aren't
carried alot around here and they sound like they have issues (with
balancing). I can get good prices on the BFGoodriches and
Bridgestones at costco. i'm not an aggressive driver but i drive alot
(100K in 3 years), lots of rain and forest service roads. any
thoughts on these tires - either good or bad. or any ones really
worth considering that i have missed. also would be nice to handles a
little snow now and then (i know, i want it all for cheap

thanks in advance.

I have the Continentals on my 2002 WRX and am very pleased with them.
They are a great tire for aggressive driving, wet or dry. However, I do
not like them over 100 mph-- I can not pin down exactly why but the car
is not "solid" feeling at high speed with Conti's. In the snow they are
average at best. For the money, they are a good buy. ( I have 10k on mine.)

 

[D H]

got a 2000 outback sport with WRX rims (205/55HR16) and over 50K on
stock RE92 (which aren't as bad as they are made out to be). i
probably should get new tires. tirerack.com has overwhelmed me and i
found people who love and hate all the different models. i'm looking
for high-performance all season (especially good in the WET
northwest). i've narrowed it down to:
BF Goodrich g-force T/A KDWS
Continental Contiextreme Contact
Bridgestone Potenza RE950
Dunlop SP Sport A2
Fulda Carat Assuro or Extremo

the guy at Big-O was pushing the Fuldas and they would be the least
expensive. tirerack made the Continentals sound good, but they aren't
carried alot around here and they sound like they have issues (with
balancing). I can get good prices on the BFGoodriches and
Bridgestones at costco. i'm not an aggressive driver but i drive alot
(100K in 3 years), lots of rain and forest service roads. any
thoughts on these tires - either good or bad. or any ones really
worth considering that i have missed. also would be nice to handles a
little snow now and then (i know, i want it all for cheap

thanks in advance.

Just one other recommendation. I just put Kumho HP4 716 tires on both
our Foresters. Admittedly different size (225/60/16).
I am very happy with these tires, mainly good recommendations at
Tirerack reviews. My needs were similar to yours in terms of priorities; Wet
handling, decent snow handling. They have so for performed to my
expectations, great in the wet, and reasonable in snow, and were
considerably cheaper than the alternatives. I may have found a new brand if
they hold up reasonably well, which it appears they will do, but it is still
early, with maybe 8000 miles of use on a set.
--
D N
I E T S
Off to R the M __, D H

Reply to group. (Detestible spammers!)

 

[Mike Deskevich]

BF Goodrich g-force T/A KDWS
Continental Contiextreme Contact
Bridgestone Potenza RE950
Dunlop SP Sport A2
Fulda Carat Assuro or Extremo

add the Goodyear Eagle HP's to your list. i'm amazed how good they
are. we don't get much rain in colorado, but the times i have been
driving in the rain, it felt like dry pavement. and on colorado
snow/ice they're absolutely great (especially for an all-season tire).
they're a uni-directional tire, so you can only rotate front<->back,
but for the added traction it's worth it. i have 20k miles on mine
currently and they look as good as new. the stock RE92s looked
terrible after 20k miles.

generally when i look at tires, i don't worry too much about price.
tires generally last me 50k miles or more (except the stupid RE92s).
and that's about 5-6 years of driving for me. so if you amortize that
cost over the life of the tire, you're not paying much, and from what
i've seen you usually get what you pay for. and do you want to trust
your life on a contact patch the size of your shoes to a cheap tire?

i know nothing of the fulda tires, actually never heard of the brand.
just going by past experience, the goodyear, michelin, bf goodrich,
and contenentals are going to be the best tires. bridgestone,
firestone, dunlop are not as good. note: these brands are usually oem
on most cars. why? because they're cheaper and it's a good place to
cuts costs where the consumer won't notice.

 

[John Eyles]

I replaced the OEM Michelins on my 97 Legacy OB with Bridgestone
Turanzas at about 30K after one of the Michelins got gashed.

The thing handled SO much better with the Turanzas that I was
delighted.

But now they have 60K and will need replacement in the next
10K or so (these are all miles). I'm tempted to get the
Turanzas again, since I don't think they can be beat on
price/longevity, but I'm wondering if I'm short-changing
myself on performace. On the other hand, the thing's a
damn station wagon, albeit a very nice handling one, so
tires are only gonna help so much.

So, I'm curious, anyone else used Turanzas and what did you
think of them ?

John

 

[Fred Flintstone]

I have the Conti ExtremeContact tires as well. Overall, they do well (what
a statement for all season tires). If I had it to do over, I think I'd try
the RE950s.

 

[TransFixed]

mediancat wrote:


I went through exactly the same just now for my AWD Passat and ended up
with the ContiExtremeContact. Like the ContiSport2, they get great
reviews in general, which made me take a second look. I have had
Michelins, Yokohamas, and Contis before. In my opinion, Contis are
slightly better than equivalent Yokohamas, and a mile better than
Michelins, at a better price. Using TireRack, I paid (including
shipping and install) about the same for the ExtremeContact as the
lowest available model (about two grades down) at Discount Tire.

Fuldas used to be a brand name in Germany 30 years ago, I really don't
know much about them at this point. My gut feeling is that they would
be a discount item with just slightly poorer performance. Probably not
as bad as Michelins.

- D.