turtle54

Hey everybody! I have a 93 es300 with 270k on it. I need a set of inexpensive, quiet, all season tires. I don't want expensive tires because i don't want them to outlast the car. I don't see my baby
having a lot of life left in her. I plan on buying them from Tirerack. Any help would be great. Thanks

99es300LM

Pick up some used 1s with good tread left. There must b a place that does them in your area. Otherwise between 350-400 mounted balanced and installed is as cheap as you'll get em at any tire spot.

mtnman82

I just put a set of the Kumho Ecsta ASX's on and find them to be just fine (daughter's car). They were ~$325 for the set. I drove the car out of town a couple weeks ago (4 hour drive each way) and thought they rode nice, were low noise, and I got better than 28mpg with the A/C on going 70+mph. I wanted something I felt was a good quality tire, but on the cheap as my daughter will be taking the car to school so it will likely be sitting a lot (hopefully she'll be studying and she's in the dorms). In my mind the tires might dry rot before they wear out so didn't want to put something too expensive on. I think these had the best specs of the sub $350/set tires I looked at. The only thing I might have done different might have been to put 225's on instead of the stock 205's (but that would have been more $$ too...).

Edit: to me the spec's were better than the Sumitomo or General's (both good tires) in the same price range. Also, just checked and the Kumho platinum's (better than the ASX's I just got) have a rebate right now so a set of 4 are $290. I think the only way to go cheaper might be to go to Pep Boys or something like that. Good luck with it!!!

Power6

Opinions on tires are like...opinions...and you know what those are like!

If you are buying from TireRack take advantage of their expertise, call them up, you can tell them what you are looking for in a tire (cheap, quiet, etc) and the tech will help you pick a tire. The tire tech will know all the tires and their attributes, most of us here buy one set of tires at a time, not all the available models to test so we can't offer you expert advice.

Now that said I can offer you some of my opinion ;-) ..."expensive" tires does not mean high tread life. When you say you want a "cheap" tire what you are saying is paying less money is more important than good traction in the snow, or rain, stopping distance, quiet, or ride quality. Of course there are limits of reason, just want you to realize the tires are the only thing touching the road. TireRack is well respected so I don't think they would steer you wrong.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I concur with all of this. I'm still riding on the cheap tires that the previous owner put on to make the car look fresh. For the love of God, stay away from Starfire tires - they look deflated at even 40psi and they don't provide much traction. He also installed two Fuzion HRi's and they're not too bad for a cheap tire. The only weird thing about them is that they look directional, yet they're not.

jbl-1985

I went really cheap and got a set of Douglas performance tires put on at Wal-Mart...$332 installed. Awesome thing is the tires are pretty decent, and the guys at WM actually did a good job of balancing them all. Took a chance it it seems to have paid off.

randal

In my opinion, the last thing you want to 'cheap' out on is tires. They are the only thing between you and the road. An accident will be much more expensive than any small tire savings. Again, just my opinion.
Now, Michelin has a very nice tire with rebate that you should check out. Its top rated and affordable.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....t+Exalto+A%2FS

jbl-1985

Spending more on tires doesn't mean they're safer or will last longer. I understand these tires are made by Goodyear and when I learned that it was good enough for me.

randal

You get what you pay for.

Power6

That is classic tire shop sell, "these tires are made by Goodyear"...boom high profit cheap tires sold!! The reality of that statement, is like going to the Toyota dealer to look at the Yaris..."oh its made by Lexus" would you buy that??

Like car makers, running a tire company takes huge capital so there are only so many tire mfrs out there, all those off brands are made by the big brands, there aren't any "start-up" tire companies.

Now you have two sides to this...when you buy a Goodyear its like buying a bottle of Coca-Cola, some of that cost you pay has nothing to do with the product, you bear the cost of advertising in the cost of the tire. With the generic, Goodyear doesn't advertise those, so you should be getting more for your money.

The flip side...some of that greater cost of the Goodyear goes into engineering a better tire, to stay competitive, win some comparisons, get more reccommended by your tire guy etc. The generic, it is created with average or worse technology, to make an OK product that tire guys love to sell since the MSRP builds in good profit for them. If the tire doesn't meet the standard, the Goodyear "name" is not tarnished, just some generic name that will change next year anyways.

I tend to the side of a premium tire it increases my enjoyment of any automobile. But I wouldn't fault anyone for feeling either way, just be aware of what you are getting.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I like your thinking, thank you for the insight. I have always bought tires based off of Customer Reviews and the Brand Name, since I don't know much about them.

mtnman82

The lesser expensive tires I've tried in the past, like the Douglass or Winston "Sam's", have had noticeably less grip than tires even a little more expensive. You might especially notice this when it's wet or raining out. FWIW, the Douglas tires are actually made my Kelly who are owned by Goodrich, so those are kind of third removed from Goodrich if you will. As mentioned earlier, asking about tires is like asking about oil - tons of opinions and favorites. Tires are even more subjective and what works for one may or may not work for another. If you are happy and they work for you, that's what counts (assuming a certain level of quality control is in place of course). Curious what the traction and temperature ratings are on the Douglas tires (should be on the sidewall)?

randal

After considering all sorts of tires, we ended up getting Bridgestone Turanza Serenity tires @ Tirerack for $100 each. Then there is a $70 rebate. The tires seem great with a nice, quiet, smooth ride and happy with the price. Perhaps not the cheapest but they seem like quality tires.

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

General altimax's

jbl-1985

92H is the code on the sidewall. A lot is said about the handling of tires on dry and wet pavement. There were a set of Yokohama's on this car before the Douglass ones, and quite frankly I don't notice any difference in the ride and handling, and the Yokohama's were much more expensive.

I believe too that in many cases you get what you pay for, but it's not a rule of thumb by which to make a decision by on everything you purchase IMHO.