danielv

iTrader: (2)

Has anyone ever tried about FEDERAL tires? They are pretty cheap in my area. My friend has it on his s13 and it seems to grip well. Anyone try it out for the tc?

kyledye25

Ok I am looking for a good set of winter tires. Not all season...WINTER! lol. I want the best traction for light snow, heavy snow, and even ice. lol. I live in Western PA, near Butler. So our winters arent that great. Not as bad as some im sure but they can be bad. My wife drives the tC mostly, so of course I want to get the best tires available. She almost wrecked the car last year...lol. Luckily she didnt, but I bought all season Yokos med winter for her and they worked out good in the snow. But now they are pretty much done, still has some life but we have put over 10k on em. But I need a REALLY REALLY REALLY good set of winter tires. Im getting new rims come spring and will put summer tires on them. So any suggestions for a good set of winter tires?

DJ08tC

Okay here are my first impression of General Altimax HP



I have had them on for about 500 miles, been through several rain storms, one on the highway with good down pour. They ran great in the rain, no hydroplaning what so ever, didn't try to push them to see the grip level, but they suit me just fine.
Dry traction is good too, I love the tread design on them.
They are pretty quiet not much road noise at all, but having an exhaust and a lot of edead kinds of limits the amount of tire noise I would hear.
Only thing I really dont like about them is they don't have the rim protection like the stock potenza el 400. Next time I think i might get 225 instead of the stock 215 size but so far I love them, A LOT better than the stock tires.

sw09

Bridgestone Blizzaks or Dunlop Graspics both are great snow tires

scionrider1107

I'm driving Continentials ContiExtremeContact DWS 215-45 17", the DWS stands for dry,wet an snow! Now, my experience w/ this tire is that it is a phenomanal all-season high performance tire, its dry handling is wonderful the grip is on par w/ any respectable summer tire, the wet grip awsome, I drive spirited in all wet conditions an the DWS's never disappiont, they stay planted to the asphalt! But get this, this is the kicker these tires come with a tread wear of 540 for a Z-rated tire people, also i driven in the snow for the 1st time with tires an again these are on par with winter snow tires, i must say these ContiExtremeContact DWS's perform very well in all conditions, i would definitly purchase these tires again.

austinguy83

Tire: Riken Raptors
Size: 215/45/17
Price: on the car when I bought it.
Miles: probably 15k
1-10:
Summary: death traps

these were just about the only thing that have worried me on my car since I bought it. I never cheap out on tires, but I just left these because there was still so much tread and I figured I could just wear them out and buy something better when the time came. They've always been kinda loud and harsh. Always transmitted just a little more NVH than I wanted. They performed alright. Gave up pretty easily if you pushed them, but I don't drive all that crazy on a daily basis so it never bothered me that much. They actually had pretty decent hydroplane resistance. until last night when I was driving home from dinner, and I noticed the front left tire was MUCH louder than usual. I wasn't far from home, so I figured i'd just look at it when I got there. I was about to exit for my house, and the front lost A LOT of pressure REALLY quickly, and I started pulling hard to the left, so I immediately let off the gas and started slowing down, and exited immediately. I got down to about 35 mph, and the tire totally failed. the tread went rolling off to the left, and I was just riding on my bare wheel. I managed to wrangle the car into a parking lot without getting into an accident, but i'm really lucky there wasn't much traffic.... I check my tire pressure once a week, and all of my tires were within spec, and have been kept that way. I've reserached these tires since, and have discovered several other incidents of almost identical failure. I would NOT recommend buying these tires....

kyledye25

Tire: Fuzion HRi
Size: 215/45/17
Price: $460 installed
Miles: 45k warranty
1-10: 8.5 so far.
Summary:
These are great tires!! ^^I also had the Raptors on the tC when I bought it...boy did those suck. Dry pavement they were'nt too bad I guess.....but on wet roads and in the snow they were HORRIBLE. But they were quickly replaced with Yokos and they were good at first. But they only lasted 21k miles. ____ed me off let me tell you. But I got over it and bought the Fuzion HRi's....only tire they had for the tC at the time. I was getting them because I was driving to the Cleveland Browns vs. Pitt Steelers game in Clev. I live near Pittsburgh....yep I am a Browns fan. Die hard! It was supposed to snow but did'nt. Any who....the tires feel great. I put maybe 700 miles on them and have driven in some decent snow/slush. VERY GOOD tires for the money. Although I just checked on tirerack.com and I can get them for 74 a piece....but at the time I was'nt going to wait I needed them bad. The yokos were done. So 460 installed was kinda high....but what ev. Snow traction is great. Road noise dropped from the yokos. Was on the highway and even at about 100 they felt amazing.I had to okay a wee bit. OK so for a decently cheap tire I would HIGHLY advise people to consider these. They feel great, great traction in the rain and snow, dry pavement is like glue, and road noise is good compared to the Yokos. Which seemed loud. Great tires! I hope this helps someone.

EDIT: These are high performance All-Seasons. Forgot to mention this part.

silvertcgirl09

nitto gens tires here a very nice tire grips real good on turns and is a softer compound

GammaTNT

iTrader: (8)

Tire: Yokohama AVID H4S
Size: 215/45/17
Price: $100 each/ shipped
Miles: 400
1-10: 9
Summary: excellent in the rain.

Front wheels/tire: Stock rims with new AVID H4S
Rear wheels/ tire: 18" fn01r-c with used Toyo Proxes 4

Been raining the whole day yesterday. I drove 400 miles in the rain with high confidence.
At light rain, i was going 80mph on the highway. I slow down to 60 during heavy rain.

RoboCop

iTrader: (1)

I'm going to have to disagree with the Fuzion HRi review. I had them too and they had no dry traction. The compound is so hard I could burn out all day and not worry about tread life. I had them when I bought the car and they last forever. The tread looks exactly the same as when I first got them.

I'm running goodyear GTs 225/45/17. Extremely satisfied. They do seem to have less traction when you first start driving, but as they warm up, they pick up traction better. Wet traction is really good. I drive confidently on these tires. Apparently these have good snow traction. Haven't really met snow too much because the roads here are kept clean. So far the best tires I've driven on and I've only been on the Fuzions and Kumho. The GT's are a really good price tire too. I picked mine up for $100 a tire.

jmetcalfe84

Good to hear your review I just purchased these for the TC. I have a set of them now on my 05 ford focus and they preform just as you have described on the focus, so picking up a set for the TC was a no brainer. I love the tread design on them as well. I got 4 for $407 shipped and will have them put on for $50 today so all for $457 i think is pretty good.

kyledye25

Update: It has snowed here in western PA. Last night actually was alot. 2 feet in most places. So is a pick of what the road looked like about 35 minutes ago. I was driving home from AGH. I have to say I am very very impressed by these tires and would HIGHLY recommend them to everyone who owns a tC!! But buy them on tirerack.com then get them put on else where. Here is what I drove in:

By DB8kyle25 at 2010-02-06
And here is the thread on the tire...sorry I didnt put it up before:

By db8kyle25 at 2010-02-06

Hope this helps someone.


EDIT: These give good rim protection as well!! The come out about an 8th of an inch or so off the rim which is great. I dont curb my rims....but my wife has! So this little added protection helps alot when she drives. She loves the tires too.

kyledye25

I havnt driven in the summer time yet or any warm weather really. But as far as dry traction goes Im not stompin' on the gas all the time so its perfectly fine for me. If and when I go stomp on the gas the do let loose for about a second and then catch and go. Better then the yokos and much better than the raptors for sure. But This tire is great in the snow! That is why I back them. Not many tires can go in the snow and also be a good tire all year around. We will see what they are like in the summer. And you can get these for $74 bucks a piece on tirerack.com. So all in all they are a great tire for a great value. I also have heard bad things about goodyears....but then again it really all depends on the driver and how they drive. Tires make a huge difference in a car and how someone drives. As you can see I am very particular about my car and tires especially. You said the Fuzion HRis would last awhile....thats great. Another reason why they are good tires. In my eyes. But I am concerned about the dry traction as you pointed out and will take note when warmer weather hits. Till then A+ on Fuzion HRis for me.

Mouse

This looks like it's turned into a decent thread. Good job peeps. I think this is the most long-term on topic thread I've seen on SL in a long time lol.

I'll add my tire reviews shortly. But as I was reading this thread something popped into my mind that might also be helpful on future reviews in this thread....along with the city/highway and weather conditions.

I personally think it would help if when each of us reviews... to also list what type of driving you do. We could list the category we think our driving style would fit into...I.E. "mild, average, spirited, racing, etc."
If you can think of better terminology that's cool with me. Just thought it might be helpful.
Because depending on your driving style one brand/model of tire might be great for all season for someone with an average driving style...but might be completely crappy for someone with a spirited style, etc.

kyledye25

Good idea here!! I like it. Cant believe I was talking about people driving different and I didnt think of this. Glad someone did. I will say I drive spirited. Every once and awhile I race someone....usually ricers in civics or cavs. I do drive a bit "aggressively" I guess. As in I dont drive like a grandma....I like to get places quicker I guess. But I dont stomp on the gas every chance I get either. And I am very very safe when I drive...always use turn signals, stop at every stop sign, yield when needed, etc. But thats me....lets here how every one else drives!!

SCIONOSIS

I know, huh. There seems to be no fork along the path of this thread, KOW. I agree. People's daily driving styles is good know when contributing in their review.

And, everybody, thanks for sharing your reviews. Especially the ones who happen to autox their tC's. Though, I haven't seen a review for the Bridgestone Blizzaks yet. Hopefully, someone will make a review for that snow tire before next winter in the midwest. ha ha!

davedavetC

iTrader: (4)

im gonna do some quick reviews because i've had a lot of tires throughout the years lol

first up i had Nitto Neogens



these tires were great on dry and wet pavement and were okay at best in the snow. im getting them again for my AME wheels that will be here in a week.

next up i had a set of BFG KDW tires



these tires were amazing. stiff side wall, great in the dry and wet, did not try in snow. would buy again.

next up i had goodyear eagle f1 summer tires



great dry and wet didnt try snow, horrible with camber lol but very stickey tire. but very expensive to replace. i probably wouldnt do them again.

then i had Toyo Proxie FZ4 tires



this is compareable to stock lol. i was not a fan of these tires one bit, but then again i dont like all seasons (besides the nitto neogens which felt more like a summer tire) i would never buy these tires again.

then i had Kumho MX these where very sticky tires IMO



i had them on my SSRs and they were great i would buy them again but i wouldnt put them on an aggressive tire because i run camber and these dont do well with camber.

next up is Falken FK-452



these are great tires also, quite, grippy and decent tread wear i would buy them again.

and for my winter tires i have Hankook Winter iPikes and i friggen love them

excellent in wet dry and snowy conditions and they are studable for heavy ice!



yes i've had a lot of tires and no i didnt wear through them all. the only ones i wore through were the Falkens and the Nittos the rest got sold because i moved on to a different set of wheels.

CSUnited14

Category: All Season Tire
Brand: Achilles
Model: ATR Sport
Size: 235/35ZR19
SPD Rating: 91W
UTQG: Tread = 400 / Traction = AA / Temp = A
Price: $103.20 ea.
Miles On Tire: 800
Driving Style: Spirited

Summary: Overall These Tires so far are better then expected. I did not have money to spend on real expensive tires. So i did lots of research on a decent lower priced tire. This is a tire that had great reviews So i went with them. Man i am very surprised so far They are a meaty tire. Which gives it a sloppy feel when high speed lane changes. But they corner very well and stick to the ground very well. I have both sway bars so i like to take corners fast. I WILL BUY AGAIN.

CLT-tc

both old posts but thanks for the review. it was between these and the AD07's but this seals the deal. now i cant wait to get these tires!

Thorium06

iTrader: (5)

Bridgestone RE-01R
Codename: OREOS
Max Performance Summer Tire
245/45/17 on Enkei RPF1s 17x8
Price: $70 a piece last year on closeout!

I really like these tires, too bad you cant get them anymore mwahaha! As mentioned earlier, these were the tire to have in the street tire class of both autocross and road racing. (many teams around here still prefer these when things get wet) Much much stickier than the hankook rs2s I used to run. Very responsive, and predictable. Once warm, they have a lot of forward and lateral grip. These also provide the driver with alot of confidence in the rain. Overall a very quick fun and somewhat rare tire. If buying used, dont be fooled, these were pretty cheap for a long time. Probably my favorite tire so far.

Very few drawbacks I have experienced. As they are summer/track tires, they perform very poorly in cold conditions. DO NOT USE IN THE SNOW! Don't believe me? Try it I dare you. Daily driving, they provide a very stiff and loud ride. It is night and day between these and my snow tires, its odd to resort to snow tires for comfort.