Your favorite DD tires

[BavarianZHP]

I know my dad loves Michelin... Made in the USA patriot stuff... bridgestone is japan and conti is Portugal? I'm definitely trying out some DWS's when the time comes.

[fredo]

I heard Michelin are made in France ? Maybe they have factories in USA by now.

[3ZHP]

I'm on my second set of Bridgestone Potenza RE-11s and very happy with them. Found a good Tirerack review that may interest you.

[az3579]

^Not that simple, imo, which is why I think that there's so much consternation.

The question has always been (and remains) is the premium you pay for the best reflected in the difference in performance AND do you stand to benefit from said performance given your driving style.

If you put 20,000 miles a year on your ride, the hundreds of dollars of difference turns into thousands over the course of a few years.

You hit it on the head, though-- figure out the increased benefit vs what you can afford or are willing to pay.

This x 1000000. If I put maybe 4-5k miles on a year and garage kept the car most of the time, I'd have Michelin Pilot Super Sports, or maybe Hankook RS3's. . But, since I drive 30-32k a year, I can't afford to replace a $1000 set of tires every season, because they get horrible mileage. That shit is way too crazy for my budget.
That's why instead I went with a $700 set of Hankook V12's that lasted me probably around 25k or so before one of them blew up, forcing me to replace all four. The timing couldn't have been better; it blew up right when it was winter tire switchover.

In the end, some of us have to make some serious budget vs performance choices, and most of the time the budget ends up winning.


Guy,
I love the RE-11's. I have a set of these as my auto-x and track set. They're still good after 3 years of 95% autox usage, 1% track, and 4% street usage. These tires are amazing in the dry.
They tramline like a biotch though when you hit bumps.

[BavarianZHP]

I heard Michelin are made in France ? Maybe they have factories in USA by now.

Yep French company but many of their tires are made in the US (probably only applies to us? I'm certain they have many factories in many regions across the globe). At least the ones I looked at had "Made in USA" stamped on them.

[3ZHP]

[QUOTEGuy,
I love the RE-11's. I have a set of these as my auto-x and track set. They're still good after 3 years of 95% autox usage, 1% track, and 4% street usage. These tires are amazing in the dry.
They tramline like a biotch though when you hit bumps.[/QUOTE]

Love the tires, several track days at Mid-Ohio and Nelson Ledges and a few auto-x's here in Tennessee. Once I got out of the Norther n Ohio checkerboard and into the twisty hills of Middle Tennessee, I couldn't give them up.

[Vas]

I love me some Summer tires that are nice and sticky. Currently on Bridgestone Potenza s04 and came from conti dws.

[terraphantm]

Yep French company but many of their tires are made in the US (probably only applies to us? I'm certain they have many factories in many regions across the globe). At least the ones I looked at had "Made in USA" stamped on them.

IIRC my SuperSports were made in France

[HokieZHP]

I agree with Bruce. You should invest in the best tire you can afford. If I'm on the highway and the person in front of me slams on their brakes, I want to make sure that wet or dry my tire will slow my car as quickly as possible. As well as hold me on the road if I am surprised by an upcoming corner on a back road. I guess that's how I've always viewed tires. I'd rather have something that will give me the advantage in a "what-if" scenario.

I understand y'all's point with driving so much and spending more on a tire adds up but for me it's worth it for peace of mind. Just sharing my view/opinion on tire selection...

[RITmusic2k]

I know I weighed in with an economy answer, but I have to post my thoughts on the "how much tire to buy for your car" discussion:


It doesn't feel like it, but tires are cheap. Of the two major consumables we put on our cars, they're not the big one.

The most expensive tire set (that isn't a racing slick) I can find for our cars is the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 ZP, at $1,366. They're rated for 20,000mi. In the absolute worst case scenario, we can say you'll go through two sets of rears in that time (as noted by the reduced mileage guarantee when staggered sizes are used), which adds another $802, bringing our total up to $2,168.

Well, in those 20,000mi, given average local prices and my current driving habits, I'll have spent $3,727 on gasoline.

It's just a matter of psychology and framing that makes tires seem so expensive; you have to pay for a whole year's worth (or more) of them up front. If you had to buy gas this way, you'd likely have a heart attack. It's just convenient that we can only hold a tankful at a time, so we end up doling out $40 or so a week - by its nature, we're forced to budget our fuel expenditures.

You might say it's an unfair comparison because gas is something we simply *have* to buy when we own a car. But the exact same thing is true of tires. And for all the money we spend on performance enhancers from aerodynamics to engine tweaks to suspension and brakes, tires are the only thing that actually sticks us to the road. When gas fails us, we slow down and pull over. When tires fail, we risk death. They're more important than gas.

So If we set aside $20 every time we filled up our gas tanks, then we'd have all the money we need for the nicest tires we want when the time comes to change them. And unless we're all going for the absolute most expensive tires on the market, we'll probably have a lot of money left over.