Random tire thoughts.

In reply to Rodan :

One of my customers was upset that his car couldn't break traction anymore.

He used to have old 205/75s on it.  He put 295/50s on it, after which it couldn't do burnouts at will at any speed.

Yeah, must be something happened to the engine...

The Radial T/As are kind of interesting tires in that they respond well to burnouts.  They aren't good cornering rubber but they will hook in a straight like if you provoke them enough.  The soft sidewalls are more forgiving of shock loading, too. They aren't as good as a proper drag slick/radial but they are pretty decent as far as streetable rubber is concerned. 

I just looked up some Radial T/As last night.. 

Normally they're not on my radar at all, but these were for some 14" slot mags on a 1971 Cuda.. I feel like i get a pass for wanting to put Radial T/As on that. Right?

I don't even consider cheap tires anymore except maybe for trailers.

I put a pair of cheapy tires on my ex's Tercel once.  I figured the car exceled at nothing, so who cares what the 155mm rubber was.

I was wrong.  They were so noisy.  They were downright dangerous in the rain, and the tread cupped so terribly.

I usually shop the better brands.  I will put Michelins on something that deserves them, but I usually flip around between Firestone/Bridgestone for A/S passenger stuff, Kumho and Toyo for high performance stuff, and whatever is best rated but not expensive for truck stuff.

In many cases (IMO) Michelin is the good stuff, (for cars, not necessarily trucks) but there are many other common brand names out there that offer 95% of what Michelin offers for 70% the cost.  In my limited experience, the Chinese knockoffs offer 10% of what you need for 60% the cost.  Not a good trade-off for me.  They're vaguely round and questionably rubber.  They are a way to put tires on and meet the absolute minimum qualifications to be called a "tire," but otherwise I have yet to find one that does anything well.

Michelin is a good, organic, grass-fed, Angus Filet Mignon from a high-end butcher shop
The other big brands like Goodyear, Firestone, and General are a nice supermarket Rib Eye.  Half the price but 95% as satisfying
Chinese tires are a hot dog.  They barely qualify as meat.

They all have their place.  I might consider cheap chinese tires for a weekend trailer queen... but then again, I will never own a weekend trailer queen.

I generally pick based on reviews / tests of an individual tire, not so much the brand.  There are plenty of tire brands with some good stuff in their lineup right next to some borderline garbage. 

Currently the Jeep sits on a set of Nokians for winter, Toyos in the summer (previous set were Goodyears) and the off-road set are Hankooks. 

I also wanted to say I'm certainly not against people putting whatever tires they want or can afford on their cars. I'm also not saying all these tires are garbage.

I just didn't realize how prevalent these no name tires were and wondering how long until the big names have to make some adjustments to their product lines to compensate for the loss of market share. 

Goodyear is trash riding the coat tails of their name.  I’d rather have a sumitomo.

i’m wondering about these $40 V rated 165/40-17 economist atr-k tires i got to use as drag fronts. They seem round.  They’re definitely black and have tread.  Curious to see how they roll.

Here's my experience with Chinesium tires.

1) Goodride tires on my 5th wheel RV.  trailer weighs 8000 lbs gross.  225/75-15 trailer spec tires.  They've been on there going on 5 years.  That trailer has made lots of long road trips, and seen lots of very rough gravel roads on the way to our dry camping back country camping sites.  They are holding up extremely well.  No cracking or unusual wear and they still maintain pressure between trips.

2)  Forgot-the-funny-name Chinesium tires on my G35 coupe.  Only had them on for a summer before I sold the car but they were shockingly good.  Quiet, smooth, and even wearing.  Not as much ultimate grip as the Bridgestones they replaced, but predictable and fun to slide.

In contrast, the Coopers I put on my 2500HD last March are garbage.  Fast wearing and very poor in the winter, which is why I bought them.  They are "snowflake" rated as a 4 season tire (not to be confused with all-season). 

My experience is that Chinese tires aren't all bad.  I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again.

I always try to have a decent tire, even on our beaters. I've never bought a chinese tire, and hope I don't have to.  It just doesn't make sense. It's like when I put a brand new outboard on my 40 year old Boston Whaler. Some things just need to be reliable. 

My compromise tires are Generals, which I have on my 30 year old C2500 and the very worn out Sienna. The DD Lancer Ralliart Wagon has a set of Continental DWS 06s, which I love.  Planning to replace them with the new Extreme contact sport when they need to be replaced.  

My newly acquired miata came with a set of Khumo Ecsta PS31s. Don't know anything about them, made in Korea. We'll see how they autocross in a few weeks.  My first event, so shouldn't be any worse than the driver!

I rarely ever see garbage brand tires on cars.  Once in a while, but certainly nowhere near the majority.  Maybe 5% of cars I see?

What I find far more concerning is:

A)  The number of cars with BALD tires on them.  Usually just 1 or 2 of the 4 tires.  And the person owning the car has no idea.

and 

B)  The number of vehicles missing 1 or more lugnuts.  This is staggering.

In reply to Nick Comstock :

American Tire companies do not really care.  They are a cost conscious corporation run by a management firm for the benefit of the heirs of the original founders of the company. 

The heirs could care less about tires,  All they want is their checks.  It’s what happens when entitled heirs  turn over a company to a management team that promises to maximize the profits. 

Curtis said:

I don't even consider cheap tires anymore except maybe for trailers.

I put a pair of cheapy tires on my ex's Tercel once.  I figured the car exceled at nothing, so who cares what the 155mm rubber was.

I was wrong.  They were so noisy.  They were downright dangerous in the rain, and the tread cupped so terribly.

I usually shop the better brands.  I will put Michelins on something that deserves them, but I usually flip around between Firestone/Bridgestone for A/S passenger stuff, Kumho and Toyo for high performance stuff, and whatever is best rated but not expensive for truck stuff.

In many cases (IMO) Michelin is the good stuff, (for cars, not necessarily trucks) but there are many other common brand names out there that offer 95% of what Michelin offers for 70% the cost.  In my limited experience, the Chinese knockoffs offer 10% of what you need for 60% the cost.  Not a good trade-off for me.  They're vaguely round and questionably rubber.  They are a way to put tires on and meet the absolute minimum qualifications to be called a "tire," but otherwise I have yet to find one that does anything well.

Michelin is a good, organic, grass-fed, Angus Filet Mignon from a high-end butcher shop
The other big brands like Goodyear, Firestone, and General are a nice supermarket Rib Eye.  Half the price but 95% as satisfying
Chinese tires are a hot dog.  They barely qualify as meat.

They all have their place.  I might consider cheap chinese tires for a weekend trailer queen... but then again, I will never own a weekend trailer queen.

Curtis, this hurts but is possibly becoming very evident if I can't get my chin cooper RS3-A's to balance....will post the results in the next few days.....

I've never bought any chinesium on purpose. My  drivers currently have pirelli, continental and yokohama on them(er, matched sets if you're asking), for winter tires I have general altimax artics but since i live in the ice belt apparently, next set of winters will emphasize ice traction. The only michelins I have owned were defenders and they were some of the worst in the wet I have ever experienced. I know michelin makes some outstanding tires, but in my experience the defenders are not those tires. I have found that when I shop online, I can always find one of the top tier brands within 50 bucks per set of the chinese junk. That being said, the largest wheel diameter I own is 16 inch. I so lament this big wheel craze. Especially since this will be the year I replace my fleet. 

Nick Comstock said:

In reply to BrokenYugo :

I can comment on goodride. I put a set on the last E21 I bought. Because 13's are not common, I needed them that day and they were in stock.  Dry grip was low. I could easily break traction at will even with the massive 100hp it was producing. They were dangerous in the wet. And when I say dangerous I mean they would hydroplane at 25 mph at anything more than a light drizzle. It was like driving on ice all the time. If the road was even slightly damp the car was all over the place. Driving to work I felt like I was working harder than Tommi Makinen at the rally Monte Carlo. But not in a good way. I only put a couple thousand miles on them before I couldn't take it anymore and ordered some Khumos from tire rack. Those things felt like fricken Michelin SuperSports after the goodrides. 

But, how was the ride?  They weren't named "Goodhandle," or "Goodtraction."  I mean, really, what did you expect?

Curtis, for the record proper hot dogs are most definitely made of meat, much like tires yes the brand does matter. Proper suasages of all types are and artform, just because it says hot dog or bratwurst on the package and looks like a hot dog or bratwurst on the package doesn't mean it is one......................don't even get me started on Pizza & people who eat at that olive place that calls itself Italian food......OK back to the topic.

The Subaru has Continentals on it, the Miata has Kumhos, the Ford E250 camper van has proper truck tires but there something like Corsa and the Santa Fe has Arizonian (could be Chinese) the race cars use Hoosiers. My dual sport and vintage MX bike have Bridgestone.

EDIT: The van had name brand tires on it when we got it but after about a year one of them came apart so I put Flakens on the van which went near 7 years before one popped. It was on the list but obviously I went to far.

Living in one of the driest deserts in the world rain performance doesn't factor as highly. 

We have to keep an eye on the sidewalls as they crack a lot sooner out here.

snailmont5oh said:

Nick Comstock said:

In reply to BrokenYugo :

I can comment on goodride. I put a set on the last E21 I bought. Because 13's are not common, I needed them that day and they were in stock.  Dry grip was low. I could easily break traction at will even with the massive 100hp it was producing. They were dangerous in the wet. And when I say dangerous I mean they would hydroplane at 25 mph at anything more than a light drizzle. It was like driving on ice all the time. If the road was even slightly damp the car was all over the place. Driving to work I felt like I was working harder than Tommi Makinen at the rally Monte Carlo. But not in a good way. I only put a couple thousand miles on them before I couldn't take it anymore and ordered some Khumos from tire rack. Those things felt like fricken Michelin SuperSports after the goodrides. 

But, how was the ride?  They weren't named "Goodhandle," or "Goodtraction."  I mean, really, what did you expect?

I saw some pictures of a trailer my dad built a long time ago, it had (and I'm not even making this up) "Manhandler" tires.

snailmont5oh said:

Nick Comstock said:

In reply to BrokenYugo :

I can comment on goodride. I put a set on the last E21 I bought. Because 13's are not common, I needed them that day and they were in stock.  Dry grip was low. I could easily break traction at will even with the massive 100hp it was producing. They were dangerous in the wet. And when I say dangerous I mean they would hydroplane at 25 mph at anything more than a light drizzle. It was like driving on ice all the time. If the road was even slightly damp the car was all over the place. Driving to work I felt like I was working harder than Tommi Makinen at the rally Monte Carlo. But not in a good way. I only put a couple thousand miles on them before I couldn't take it anymore and ordered some Khumos from tire rack. Those things felt like fricken Michelin SuperSports after the goodrides. 

But, how was the ride?  They weren't named "Goodhandle," or "Goodtraction."  I mean, really, what did you expect?

Oh they rode excellently, and were super quiet. Probably the quietist tires I've had. 

My newly acquired miata came with a set of Khumo Ecsta PS31s. Don't know anything about them, made in Korea. We'll see how they autocross in a few weeks.  My first event, so shouldn't be any worse than the driver!

I have owned several sets of Kumho Ecsta tires in various A/S high performance types and have been incredibly happy.  Similar experience with Toyo Proxes.

I currently have two sets of Kumhos on two different cars.  It has been a few years since the purchase but I hope they are as good on the bang-for-buck as they used to be because I need tires soon.

In reply to Curtis :

we just put another set of Platinum LX on the wife's Forte. Still great for the money