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Okay, I am so not qualified to choose tires for my car. I've done a bit of research here and there and the brands (Hankook, Proxies, etc.) just have me reeling. Any suggestions from the car dudes here?
I live in Boston: wintry roads with the occasional blizzard-like conditions, but it's not northern Maine. Need year-round tires, not seasonal (unless seasonal is also year-round? see how ignorant I am?).
Any feedback would be much appreciated. :)
Also, I read that the Michelin Primacy MXV4 are good tires for Civics, too.
I'm a car nut, and all my vehicles ride on Michelins, even my motorcycle. Their tires are a bit more costly than other makers, but they deliver a superior product. I have the MXV4 Primacy on my daughter's old BMW 3-series and its a quiet, capable tire that has excellent wet road manners and does OK in light snow. I run Michelin Exaltos on my son's Mazda3 and that's an excellent model as well, designed a bit more towards the 'sport' side of things.
Michelin Corp also owns BF Goodrich and Uniroyal, but I find they keep their product line at Michelin at a higher level.
All Season tires are OK, but not great, in snow. You can't beat a dedicated snow tire for the winter months. Mostly its a result of the rubber compound functioning in colder temps. Summer- Only tires (like I run on my sports cars) get hard as a rock at about 38 degrees and its like riding on ball bearings. I've often kept two sets of tires and wheels for my vehicles, one summer set, and one winter set, and swap them out when the temps drop. With real snow tires, its amazing how well a vehicle can travel i the white stuff. But since I'm in VA we usually (past winter excepted) don't get totally hammered by snow and I tend to run all-seasons on most our vehicles.
Costco has the best prices on new tires in my experience.
www.tirerack.com has excellent reviews for many tires and brands as well...one of the best places to go to read about the differences in tires.
I would also recommend Michelin, but they are a little pricier than other tires, not sure how much you want to spend. If you don't want to deal with the hassle of having two sets of tires, one for summer and one for winter, just get some Michelin all-seasons/all-weather. Otherwise you can get summer tires and then winter tires in October, but you'll have to deal with storing the extra set, getting them switched twice a year, etc.
If you have a Costco membership they are good like Duane suggested. Only thing is they don't do alignments so you can get your tires there and then take them somewhere else for an alignment, with Costco prices you probably still come out ahead.
I've also used this site for ordering tires. These were more unusual low profile tires and they beat the pants off of the other internet competition on this tire, but not on all sizes / brands.
http://www.1010tires.com
Walmart was happy to mount them for a very reasonable fee. Tire dealers around my area want an arm and to legs for any tires or service you want.
Another fan of Michelin. That's what I have on my Honda CR-V. Since it's a transportation module (read land-boat) rather than a fun car, I don't mess with separate tires for summer and winter. Michelin has some very nice all season tires that work well in our Minnesota winters.
I believe Consumer Reports rated the Michelin Primacy MXV4 and Pilot Exalto at the top of their respective lists. Other tires to consider, according to CR: Dunlop Signature (performance all-season), Hankook Optimo (all-season), Continental ContiExtremeContact (ultra-high performance, all-season). Those tires should be a bit less expensive than the Michelins.
Personally, I bought a set of Primacy MXV4's for my wife's Elantra and we are very pleased with their performance so far.
On a separate note - if you haven't already encountered this situation, be on the lookout for a cracked engine block. I think this affects model years 2006-2008. If your car is suddenly leaking coolant or overheating, it probably has this problem and should be taken to the dealer ASAP. It happened to my 2006 Civic.
That's ugly...cracked engine blocks. Out of warranty, that's going to be $ 3K to $ 5K to fix. Bet they almost never fail in the 3/36 mo warranty period....
Luckily, I was still within the warranty period. I think that as a powertrain component, though, it's 5 yrs/60k mi.Quote:
Originally Posted by drcollie
But, of course, the battery tested for low voltage just past its warranty coverage period of 3 years. Honda - 1, Me - 0.
Purchased Michelin Primacy MXV4's for my Infinity M35X. After 8000 miles they are still running smooth.
Didn't use this car much in the snow (although we had more than our fair share last winter in N Va) so I can't speak to the snow/ice traction capabilities. Also had a set of Michelin Cross Terrains on my Murano. Good tire for snow (aggressive, deep cleat) but became loud at about 15000 miles. I just replaced them at 30000 miles with Michelin Latitude Tour HP's . All purchases were at Costco, based on good price, availability, and lifetime rotation and balance. Also since the Cross Terrains were warrantied
for 65000 miles I received a 55% discount on the replacement Latitudes along with $70 per set discount for the current incentive. Overall I am happy with Costco for tires and Michelin as a brand.
Larry