I've searched and searched about summer tires, but havn't really come up with anything solid. Someone seems to ask "Is this tire good?" and some people who have it say yes it is, but I havn't gotten anything on what tires are better for what. (Tire newb here, forgive me).

Basically, which set of tires is going to be good without blowing the bank (hopefully under 1K mounted and balanced keeping in mind I'm in Canada, prices are higher).

What I want out of it is straight line traction (obviously) while retaining at least hopefully decent (I'm not autocrossing here but I like to have fun) cornering ability. I'm not sure what makes a tire better for what. They also don't have to last 50,000 miles or whatever. A couple summers is good enough for me.

The local tire places havn't been a whole lot of help (one didn't understand why I didn't want all seasons for a cobalt ) besides the dealer who gave me a list of a few that he thinks would be alright. The one that caught my eye was Bridgestone Potenza RE-760's. Anyone try these? Open to any and all suggestions!

Joel

 

i run bf goodrich kdw2s and i think they really well

 

This is exactly what I was talking about.

What are they good for? Good grip, good cornering?

Joel

 

KDW2s are nice but expensive, not sure how much they run in Canada. I bought the Fuzion ZRi's and have been MORE than pleased with them. Boyfriend used them at the strip and got good traction (for a street tire) and I use them on the road course and they handle like the car's on rails. I paid $85(USD)/tire for my ZRi's

 

If ur looking for decent under/around 1g hit up the tirerack.com. Look at Dunlop direzza dz101. I have the more expensive star specs which i got from the tirerack and I love them. Mounting and balancing was only 65ish bucks at fountain tire on scenic too. Lastly get them in a 225 width.

 

I'm runnin 235/40/18 Nexen n3000s an got em for 100 each at a tire shop.good dry an wet traction for the price.I don't do alot of hard cornering but for semi aggressive driving they do just fine.in winter conditions they suck ass though.I would go with em again for sure though

 

Tirerack is also nice cus they properly calculate customs and shipping pricing. No surprises when the delivery people show up at the door.

 

I bought my 225/40/18 Kumho tires from discounttiredirect.com for $658 shipped to my door. I'm very impressed with that price. My only critera were all season and good treadwear, got both of those. Only 2 tires have been delivered so far, assuming the other 2 come this week I will definitely be buying from them again.

Same set is $725 from Tirerack.com

 

they are just awesome period. have ordered all my tires through them.

OP, maybe call tirerack and speak to a person, see what they tell you. They dont always try to sell you the most expensive tire. also, on their website there are TONS of reviews for all the tires from people. That can help you make a decision. If the general consensus is the tire lacks grip from the reviews...and they are rated high on grip per the mfr...i'd listen to the people, not the specs.

Also, my car came with Goodyear Eagle GTs. They have been surprisingly a good tire. They are a bit on the expensive side however, but have pretty good wet/dry traction.

 

Damn. That's quite a price difference

 

Yep. My other 2 tires just came actually, the delivery truck got stuck in the snow out front cause my moronic neighbour just pushed all his snow out into the road. Spent 25 min digging him out.

Anyway... though discounttiredirect is cheaper than tirerack, the selection is way inferior. In 225/40/18 they have only 58 tires vs tirerack's 106.

 

g force

 

I have a set of winters so I don't need any snow traction at all, but I would like to not kill myself in the rain haha.

I'll look into what you guys suggested here, and I'll give Tirerack a shout. Is our stock tire 215 or 225?

Joel

 

Check between discounttire.com and tirerack.com as far as tires go..you can hopefully read reviews on them there too pending people have actually submitted reviews.

I currently have Pirelli PZero's on my car and I love them. Little to no wheel spin with my torque damper and corner like a champ

 

Stocks r 215. But everyone gets a wider tire when they upgrade

 

Stock TC size is 225/40/18 so I went with that... that seems to be the most common size LSJ people buy for their second set as well.

Hey OP... you work at Home Depot in the south? Only red SS/SC with steelies that comes to mind... pretty sure I know of every LSJ in this city.

 

Red!?

It's Orange haha, need to get a better photo of her. I actually build houses and brought her in a few months ago from a fellow in Red Deer . Can't wait to put on the summer rims again either haha.

Also, I'll for sure get 225 then.

Joel

 

ya i got 235s on my stock wheels and it looks too wide for the wheel. like it cant be good for the sidewall lol.

 

this.

Acey might have found a better deal, but on average, TR kills any Canadian vendor.

 

i have no complaints with my toyo proxes t1r's

I haven't done any autox or anything like that though.
Just another one to look at maybe?

 

well, since I got my car, I've really found that Continentals are great tires (IMO),
but since i found the time I figured I'd post up a couple tires I like, and I'm considering as my next purchase;
I would like to go one tread size wider, but this isn't a biggie in my books...
I don't like some tread designs, so when looking on TR, I will scroll through, click on one that has a good looking summer/all season tread design, and take it from there.

In no particular order I submit the following suggestions;
Bridgestone Expedia SO-1
Dunlop SP Sport Max TT
Continental Extreme Contact DW
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric
Goodyear Eagle GT
BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW
Continental Sport Conct 3

My only deal is that I don't really care for the 10/32nd we seem to be hampered with... but oh well.

Tip:

Oh yeah;

1. Overall many Eagle brands have negative reviews, but I believe this is becasue of the sheer quantity of them out there (for many years they were GM's OE performance tire) - but I have personally had nothing but positive experiences with them.
2. I have understood that Conti's have a poor rep here because of two things; 1-they're a little pricey, 2-they have a softer compound, and shorter tread life
3. The KDW's make many CSS.net members cream their pants.

 

where you pay that much for them

 

craigslist maybe?

(that's a smoking deal)

 

nitto 555 cant b happier but it never rains in southern california ^_^

 

BAH-HA-HA!!

does that means it finally dried out in your area?
(admittedly I haven't paid attention to so-cal weather since Christmas)

actually since the OP lives not too far from me, I figured my suggestions might help... all of them are great summer tires, and are supposed to have good to great wet driving traits.