Hey, I am in the market for a set of tires and have found that there are quite afew companies that make the "High Performance" tire size that I am lookin for 215/35/18. I found that the prices range from $100.00-$250.00 per tire. I was wonderin if the old saying holds true with these tires, You get what you pay for. Are there brands I should avoid. Your help is greatly appreciated.

my favorite tire is bridgestone S03's, but i don't know if they make them in our size(215/35/18's), but for our cars any tire is fine that is 215/35/18s. i'm using the nankang ns2's and think that for our cars is a very good tire for the money. sure there are better tires, but our cars don't need tires that could be used on cars like ferrari's. i heard the perelli(spelling) give a lot of road noise. i know for a fact that nittos 555's are really good performers for the price. i used kumhos 712's and recommend them, but the nankangs last long, perform well, and don't make much noise. i need tires for commuting!. my 2 cents

FALKEN Ziex ZE-512 is a pretty good tires all year round.

i have a set of 215/40/17 Hankook Ventis from tires.com. $83.00 each with free shipping. I like them.

I have Yokahama ES-100s 205/40/17.
They have a nice "square" look with a sidewall that sits nice and flush with the rims... and I have no complaints about thier performance.

i voted for Yokohamas cause that is what i have on my xB! they ride and handle well! 8)

but for our cars any tire is fine that is 215/35/18s. i'm using the nankang ns2's and think that for our cars is a very good tire for the money. sure there are better tires, but our cars don't need tires that could be used on cars like ferrari's. i heard the perelli(spelling) give a lot of road noise. i know for a fact that nittos 555's are really good performers for the price.

I agree with dchan8 since we're not going to be needing same performance tires like the High Performance sports cars, an affordable tires will do. Nankang seems to last long. 13,500 miles on my Lowered xB and I'm very happy with the Nankang NSII

Since it's for the xB, whatever is the cheapest one would be my favorite...

I paid $110 each shipped for 215x35x18.

i have a set of 215/40/17 Hankook Ventis from tires.com. $83.00 each with free shipping. I like them.

I agree with Randy, I have these tires too and they are a great deal.

toyo proxes t1-s or dunlop sp9000. w00t

One thing i want to stress to you guys and something that I will always stress is that when it comes to tires, you really get what you pay for.

My S2000 came stock with Bridgestone S02s which is an amazing tire. I have a set of S03s in 19s on my dads lexus and they are so so. A little too stiff for my personal taste.

One company that you missed which surprises the hell out of me is Toyo. They make probably a few of the best tires in the world. All three sets of rims i have have Toyo on them. My S2000 runs on 18" Toyo T1s which is probably the best high performance tire on the market short of being R compound. On the track, I run 17" Toyo RA1 which is an R compound but still is DOT legal. I have them shaved and seriously, they are basically slicks. They also hardly ever chunck after being heat cycled repeatedly.

On the Scion i am running a new tire that they just released which is a all season high performance tire. Much like the S03, same basic idea but its actually softer and offers more grip for its treadwear.

I may sound like a commercial, but after all the driving i have done and continue to do, tires are one thing i know about. With all of the critical elements involved, tires are the what make contact to the road. You really dont want to skimp out here. Just my opinion.

I love my Nitto Extreme Tires...awesome grip ...awesome looking...

One thing i want to stress to you guys and something that I will always stress is that when it comes to tires, you really get what you pay for.
.....
I may sound like a commercial, but after all the driving i have done and continue to do, tires are one thing i know about. With all of the critical elements involved, tires are the what make contact to the road. You really dont want to skimp out here. Just my opinion.

I agree that if you want really good performance, you shouldn't skimp on tires, BUT IMO - our Scions(either the xB or xA) are not high performance cars, keep in mind our speed limit is about 100mph, so anything HR rated is probably enough, and most 215/35/18 tires are well above the HR rating, so they would be more than enough. I don't think I'll ever max out a performance tire good enough for supras, skylines, nsx's, ferraris, porsches, etc.., so I'll stick to what is cheap, quiet, and can handle about 100mphs. my main need is tread wear.

One thing i want to stress to you guys and something that I will always stress is that when it comes to tires, you really get what you pay for.
.....
I may sound like a commercial, but after all the driving i have done and continue to do, tires are one thing i know about. With all of the critical elements involved, tires are the what make contact to the road. You really dont want to skimp out here. Just my opinion.

I agree that if you want really good performance, you shouldn't skimp on tires, BUT IMO - our Scions(either the xB or xA) are not high performance cars, keep in mind our speed limit is about 100mph, so anything HR rated is probably enough, and most 215/35/18 tires are well above the HR rating, so they would be more than enough. I don't think I'll ever max out a performance tire good enough for supras, skylines, nsx's, ferraris, porsches, etc.., so I'll stick to what is cheap, quiet, and can handle about 100mphs. my main need is tread wear.

I completely agree with you about the "need" for highest priced/ best tire for our little cars.....I doubt anyone in a Scion will ever push the performance envelope of our tires like a true sports car would.

This has nothing to do with performance. I am talking about structural integrity. With my backround in motorsports, there is a strong element of engineering involved in what I do.

All i am saying is that it doesnt all boil down to performance. Ride quality, noise, density of tire, and longevity are only a few of the variables that get effected by poor tire quality.

You guys can keep your tires from China, I know better :)

This has nothing to do with performance. I am talking about structural integrity. With my backround in motorsports, there is a strong element of engineering involved in what I do.

All i am saying is that it doesnt all boil down to performance. Ride quality, noise, density of tire, and longevity are only a few of the variables that get effected by poor tire quality.

You guys can keep your tires from China, I know better :)

Docofmind

you mentioned that the tires on your Scion are softer, do they have a nicer ride due to that? also, what is the road noise like?

i have Yokohama's all season type tire and it is fairly quiet and rides pretty good too but i could use a softer ride..... i have 215/40/17's on my xB....

i have yokos PARADA 215/35/18 which handles really good both wet and dry pavement. And i really like that crazy tread pattern

Yanges, what i meant when i said softer was in relation tothe Bridgesstone S03s. They are basically the same type of tire (same rating) and in my opinion, they are softer. This offers better grip and better ride quality without any noise.

Keep in mind that im running a 3% larger tire, a 215/40/18 instead of a 215/35 which is what is advised.

Hopefully by next meet my car will be lowered, spacers will be fitted along with my 6 piston calipers and intake. Your welcome to come out for a spin and you can tell me what you think.

Im not going to knock any tire but seriously, if you really are on a budget and dont want to shell out the dough for premium tires go with the Kumho MX tires. They are the newer series released from Kumho which is actually a very good tire. Much more responsive and no where near as loud as the crappy ECSTA tires they also have. They also have much more grip than the Parada spec 2 as well.

This has nothing to do with performance. I am talking about structural integrity. With my backround in motorsports, there is a strong element of engineering involved in what I do.

All i am saying is that it doesnt all boil down to performance. Ride quality, noise, density of tire, and longevity are only a few of the variables that get effected by poor tire quality.

You guys can keep your tires from China, I know better :)

I personally think there is nothing wrong with tires made in Asia. FYI most of the rubber used in tires are supplied from one supplier in the world. This one supplier also supplies to Bridgestone, Goodyear, Michelin, etc... I should know as they are a branch of my company.

As for structural integrity, I would believe that all tires sold in the US meet safety guidelines, otherwise i don't think that the manufactures would be albe to sell their tires here. I also think that they don't want to have any law suits if a tire fails.

I used to work at Discount Tire and Yokohama always made the best tires. Nitto used to be good but their quality went down as fast as their popularity went up. We'd have Nitto customers come back all the time with bubbles and swelling in the sidewalls. Falken had problems with being out of round (a b*tch to balance properly). Bridgestone's were good and Kumho's were actually good for how much you pay. I never saw Nankangs come through. This was more than a year ago though. I still only buy Yokos, but I'm overly picky at times.

Edit: Goodyear and Pirelli made good stuff but were VERY overpriced.

Hmm I just got nittos 215/35/18's so far so good... I hope I dont get any of these problems.

Hmm I just got nittos 215/35/18's so far so good... I hope I dont get any of these problems.

Sumitimo 18" for $70. I run my cars alot harder than anyone else, bad temper. They only last less than 15,000m even tho good for 29,000 so the guy sez. One time it was only 12,000m so I get these cheap little babies. They are competition all season tires but don't last very longhttp://www.scionlife.com/forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

I had a set of 225/40-18 Falken Azenis on my Matrix, and they lasted 42k highway miles and still have half tread, not even done to the wear bars yet. I now have Bridgestone SO3s on it, and my Matrix sticks like glue!

I have Kuhmo Ecsta 711 or 712s (I have to look) and have had no problems w/ them.

I may try Parada Spec 2s next, but I hear they're noisy.

I have always been a Yok fan. Back in the day, I used to run shaved A-001Rs on my Celica. I loved those tires.

squirrel

I too used to sell tires, and the Yokos were the best performance tire you could get at the time ( this was 10 yrs ago ).

At that time, Michellin was the best touring tire, and would last forever on some of higher end cars like Caddys. Goodyears, they just flat out suck.... they sucked then, and they suck now. I had nothing but headaches with Goodyears for belt shifts, buldges, uneven wear, and pre-mature wear. I had Goodyears on my NEON, and they lasted 20K miles!

Im looking into the Yokohama Avid H4 and the H4S

Yoko IMO

kumho's may not be the best they are pretty darn near the top and they absolutely offer the most bang for the buck.

yokohamas wear out too quickly, from personal experience

I too used to sell tires, and the Yokos were the best performance tire you could get at the time ( this was 10 yrs ago ).

At that time, Michellin was the best touring tire, and would last forever on some of higher end cars like Caddys. Goodyears, they just flat out suck.... they sucked then, and they suck now. I had nothing but headaches with Goodyears for belt shifts, buldges, uneven wear, and pre-mature wear. I had Goodyears on my NEON, and they lasted 20K miles!

Im looking into the Yokohama Avid H4 and the H4S

Yoko IMO

i have the Yoko Avid H4 and am very happy with them....

i only have about 4k on my xB, but they still look new and handle very well....

i used to have yokohama a520's and i didn't really like them too much. you really need to look at what kind of driving you are doing and find a tire designed for that purpose. don't cheap out on them either since it the first contact point between you and the road.

i used to have yokohama a520's and i didn't really like them too much. you really need to look at what kind of driving you are doing and find a tire designed for that purpose. don't cheap out on them either since it the first contact point between you and the road.

the Avid H4's are more of a regular tread design, rather than racing type tread....maybe that helps them wear a little better....