GenII replacement tires if I *don't* care about LRR?

If Mileage was not my main concern
Michelin Defender=

if Mileage was
Michelin Energy Saver A/S=

 

Running Kumho's on mine. Cost was $60 each from Tire Rack. They drop shipped them to my tire dealer Tire Kingdom. I like Kumho's and have very good luck with them. Not a LRR tire so took a 1-2 mpg hit but nice tire for the money. Very very quiet and good in the rain. I think non LRR tires may be quieter as they have a less stiffer sidewall IMHO but I make this comparison compared to the worlds worst tire the GY Integrities. Yuck.

 

Ed,

What is it you don't like about the Integrities? I note you and several other's frown on them. Please educate me a little...

Ron

 

Seriously?

 

Ron,

The Integrity tires have exceedingly soft sidewalls. They therefore tend to feel unstable in turns and winds, especially at highway speed. They also tend to scrub the tread edges in hard turns which have caused some here on PC to have to replace them prematurely. These problems are reduced if you run them at somewhat higher PSI (42f/40r).

JeffD

 

Thank you Jeff for the information. I am still on them, but I do at times experience things that don't seem just right. Thanks again for your post and your honesty.

Ron

 

I have Yokohama Avid Touring-S's on my 2009. They are the 3rd set of tires that I have had after the OEM Integtities and a set of Goodyear Assurance Fuel Maxes. Both sets of LRR tires wore out way too quickly (right around 30k for the Integrities and 35k for the Assurances). So far I'm pretty happy with the driving and handling of the Avids. I'm in suburban Philly and we have only had a couple of small snowfalls but they have been decent in the snow as well as in the rain. The one negative is fuel economy. I was expecting a hit of 3 or 4 miles a gallon - it has been more like 7-8 miles a gallon though.

 

I thought the whole point of LRR tires were the stiff sidewall and the Integrities seem to be very stiff. Many people inflate those to 50 psi + for better mileage. I tried that and they hit minor potholes really really hard. Disturbingly hard. Its like driving a go kart. The front suspension is not that good to begin with and rightly so as the main mission of this car is 0 emissions and excellent gas mileage. It accomplishes this with flying colors but is not a performance car in any aspect.

Integrities handle poorly. Are extremely loud. Scary rain tire. And wear poorly. Anyone who disagrees with this is someone who has never put a quality tire on the car instead of those.

On LRR tires when you hyper inflate the tires that takes all the bump absorption out of the tires as the sidewall which is very stiff to begin with does not flex anymore. With the tires not absorbing it passes all the bumps along to the front struts and the lca's and bj's and the rear struts and your body. So what little you save in gas will be quickly eaten up by having to replace all listed quite early. And that's expensive. Not to mention hyper inflation also turns the car into a rattle trap and sqeeker as everything in the car is continually pounded to death.

Which is why when you picked your new Gen II up back in the day the tires were inflated to 28 lbs so you have a nice ride.

Michelins and Yoko's both make a very good tire.

 

I put Firestone Precision Sport tires on my car as my top concerns were wet and dry traction. I picked the Precision Sport over the Precision Touring as they've got a higher speed rating and lower treadwear (400 vs. 560). I'm not racing this car but I like to corner fairly aggressively. These tires lived up to my expectations: they grip quite well and I've never heard a chirp out of them.

The OEM tires, on the other hand, cried every time I cornered and had me crying every time I drove in the rain. Even though I wore them down after 30k miles, I couldn't get rid of them fast enough.

As reported at Tire Rack, these tires are a little noisier but it's not that bad. As with others I've lost about 1-2 MPG (after the initial break-in period) but the additional traction is well worth the cost. At $67 ea., it was a great value for the money!

If you're not as aggressive of a driver, you might look at the Precision Touring. They're a few more bucks apiece, but the reviews look even better, especially in the noise category.