Give me some new tire recommendations!

[Hamster]

Hello everyone!
I haven't posted on this forum in a few years, mostly because I've never had any problems with my Yaris. Bought this car new in 2009, and I still have the original tires from the factory! The reason is because I only have about 25,000 miles on the car (no, that is not a typo), so there has been very little wear and tear on the tires. The treads are fine, but while putting in air today, I noticed that there are small cracks in both the tread and the sidewall. Obviously, those are age-related, and I figure the safest thing to do is to just go ahead and replace the tires. They're at least nine years old anyway, so why not.

Anyway, this is my first car, and this is the first time in my life that I'll be buying brand new tires. Does anyone have any recommendations for a make/model of a good all-season tire? Note that I take public transportation to work, and it's been seven years since I'd been on a roadtrip. I use my car nearly exclusively for running errands on the weekend, and it stays in the garage during the week. So, in a tire, I'm looking for quality, safety for snow and ice (I live in Ohio), longevity, and, if possible, good road feel. So, no sports or performance tires, etc. Just something that will get me to and from the grocery store, with the occasional highway driving. Price isn't an issue, I just want great, quality tires that can easily last another nine years.

[CB900F2]

Toyo Celsius

[kimona]

Michelin Defender A/S

[atomic_hoji]

I had great luck with a set of Nokian WR G2s - they ran well as an all season, but also performed decently in the winter. Unlike general all seasons that are garbage in cold weather, the WR G2s actually stuck to the road and pushed through the snow pretty well - I wouldn't say as well as a dedicated snow tire like the Hakkapalitta, Blizzak, etc.. but they were good. These were on a Mk4 VW Jetta TDI and I live in a rural area, so they were run up and down main highways and (often unplowed in the winter) county roads all year round. The WR G3 is out now, which I don't have any experience with, but if I weren't running dedicated snow tires on my cars I would have a look at when shopping for sure..

The Nokians will likely be pricey, but like anything it's definitely worth doing some research and deciding what fits your requirements and budget best.

Good luck! :thumbsup:
-- Adam

[Hamster]

Thank you, thank you everyone! Wow, such a tough decision. I did some quick internet research into all these suggestions, and they're all great tires! I'm intrigued by the Nokian ones, since you, atomic_hoji, report a good experience with them in ice and snow. Safety is my top priority. But the Michelin Defenders and Toyo Celsius are apparently really good, too! I'm going to get new tires installed the first week of January, so I have a couple weeks to decide which ones I want before I need to order them. Cost of tires is a non-issue, and I can easily afford to splurge on a set of good ones.

[Hershey]

General Altimax Arctic . Can be purchased for $74 or so at Wal-Mart . They have very deep siping to base of tire to help with grip in snow and ice. Start at 12/32s' and should last for 4 years or more . Can be studded too . Usually for $17 or less per tire .

[Kalispel]

I plan to go with Yokohama YK740 GTX at Discount Tire.

https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/yokohama-yk740-gtx/p/27357

[Hamster]

Hershey - I looked up the tires you suggested. The problem is that they are a winter tire. I know that having a winter tire is ideal, but I just don't have the space in my 1950's-built garage to store an extra set of tires (and building a shed to store them isn't an option, since sheds in my area attract burglars). So, I'm stuck with all-season, which is what everyone around here uses anyway. But anyway, thank you for your reply!

Kalispel - I did a quick lookup, and the Yokohama's appear to be a good option! I will definitely consider them.

[Hershey]

The General Altimax RT43 T-rated or H-rated. Used the H-rated for one winter and they did well. The T is rated slightly better for winter by Consumer Reports. The H has a firmer sidewall. They are both under $65 at Walmart. See tire reviews at Walmart and TireRack.

[Hamster]

Thanks Hershey, I looked up the General Altimax, and it does indeed have a lot of great reviews on the websites you listed, and others. I will add it to my list of tires to consider!

[KALISPEL II]

I finally replaced the factory 195/50-R16 tires on my Yaris the other day at Discount Tire. My car has 49K miles on it now (I've owned it for a bit over 3.5 years now), & the tread depth was barely in the yellow zone on the tread depth gauge. After a bit of updated research on tire options, I decided to go with the recently-released YOKOHAMA all-season (rated 65K) touring-performance tires AVID ASCEND GT in the same 195/50-R16 size. Those are the Yokohama tires that replaced the Yokohama YK740 GTX series tire.

My initial impressions are that the ride is better, the tires feel more grippy, & the road noise is less compared to the tires that they replaced. I'm happy with my tire choice - though I did have to wait a week to get them delivered from Yokohama factory to my local store, due to "uncommon tire size for the U.S. market". :laugh:

https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/yokohama-avid-ascend-gt/p/37564

I paid $111 base cost per tire ($578.55 total cost installed), but ordered & paid for them during the weekend where a 10% Visa Gift Card rebate was in effect. I plan to donate the rebate gift card balance to an animal rescue organization when it arrives.

[dogsridewith]

What is the rim size?

[Hamster]

Now this this thread has been revived, I feel really embarrassed to say this but....I still haven't bought new tires! Why? Well, it's not a money issue. What can I say, I just keep procrastinating! I now have put on an additional 3,000 miles on this car since my original post. Also, after being educated about how bad city driving is for a car, I now drive almost exclusively highway miles. I now drive to a town 25 miles away to do my grocery shopping. Anyway, the cracking hasn't really gotten any worse, so I've just been closely monitoring the tires. I really wanted the Michelins, but Michelin no longer makes an all-season tire for the size the Yaris needs. That's what I get for procrastinating. I will definitely consider the Yokohamas. Now that I've been doing a lot more highway driving, I would really appreciate having less road noise.

[kimona]

What size are you looking for???

185/60/15: https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/michelin-defender-t-%2b-h/p/32521

195/60/15: https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/michelin-defender-t-%2b-h/p/32512

185/65/14: https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/michelin-defender-t-%2b-h/p/32496

[Hamster]

My door jamb says P185/60R/15, so that would be the first link you posted. Are these tires a new product? If so, I'm really happy that Michelin is making tires in my car's size. I did a search months ago, and I couldn't find anything. Their tires are very good quality. I've got family members with Michelins on their cars, and the tires handle incredible well on snowy streets, and road noise is very minimal.

[kimona]

I've had Michelin Defenders and they were great! Right now, you can get a set of them for $70 off, plus $50 off if you get their C/C.


$440 - $70 - $50 = $320, no tax, free shipping.

[Hamster]

I looked on Discount Tire's website, and I saw that the $70 rebates offer expires on March 16. Yikes! I'm a master procrastinator, so that's a little too soon for me. But Michelin has rebates all the time. If I ultimately decide not to act in the next few days, I'll just wait for the next offer to roll around, which I'm sure won't be too long from now.

[kimona]

Why procrastinate? Git 'er done!

[DarkShadowFox]

200$ for 4 high performance all season tyres.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

The General Altimax RT43 T-rated or H-rated. Used the H-rated for one winter and they did well. The T is rated slightly better for winter by Consumer Reports. The H has a firmer sidewall. They are both under $65 at Walmart. See tire reviews at Walmart and TireRack.

I'll second the Altimax RT43. I have at least 50k miles on my set, and they still have plenty of life left. They offer good dry and wet grip for being all season tires.

[Hamster]

Why procrastinate? Git 'er done!

Well, I have a couple more days to decide! The thing is, I'd hate to get rid of my OEM tires if they're still usable. I figure that ten years thing applies to, well, normal people. UV rays apparently break down rubber, but my car spends maximum four hours a week outside my garage. I have a couple more days to figure out what I'm going to do. There's definitely no cracks on the outer sidewall. But, I realize that I never inspected the inner sidewall. I'll get under my car in the next couple of days with a flashlight and inspect. If I see cracking, I'll go order up new tires.

[kimona]

If you think your OEM tyres are still "usable", then simply run a craigslist ad and you'll probably sell them quickly. That's what I've always done. Nothing like having nice new rubber on your car.

[Hamster]

Okay, update. I could not outrun time and physics. In the past month, the OEM tires rapidly declined. I started seeing dry rot, as well as very visible cracking on the sidewalls. I felt it was no longer safe to drive the car. Luckily, Michelin came out with another $70 rebate, right when I needed it. So, I ordered a new set of Michelin Defender tires, and got them installed at my nearest Discount Tire.

All I can say is, WOW! I am COMPLETELY blown away by how a set of good quality tires changes the handling and the overall feel of the drive. I know it's cliché, but my only regret is not changing out the tires earlier. I long presumed the iffy handling at high speeds (by which I mean 80 mph), as well as the ever-present road noise, were because the Yaris is a "cheap car." I had no clue those two problems were because of the cheap OEM tires. The ride is so much quieter, and the car grips the road so well and feels more stable when changing lanes on the freeway. And the Yaris so much more fun to drive! For anyone on the fence about splurging on pricey tires, I say, do it! It's worth the money.

[IllusionX]

Well, I have a couple more days to decide! The thing is, I'd hate to get rid of my OEM tires if they're still usable. I figure that ten years thing applies to, well, normal people. UV rays apparently break down rubber, but my car spends maximum four hours a week outside my garage. I have a couple more days to figure out what I'm going to do. There's definitely no cracks on the outer sidewall. But, I realize that I never inspected the inner sidewall. I'll get under my car in the next couple of days with a flashlight and inspect. If I see cracking, I'll go order up new tires.I get rid of my tires at 6 years mark no matter they are still good or not. I'm not taking a chance of a blow up, especially with the kids. If you live anywhere in new England or in Canada, that's usually the time tires have already show sign of dry rot.

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[Hamster]

I live in Ohio, so it's cold and snowy here, too. Given the condition of the tires, I was probably lucky I didn't experience a blow out. In retrospect, I was really foolish to be driving on tires over ten years old, and it's something I won't do again. The cracks looked really minor for the past year, but then they got really, really bad seemingly overnight. Next time, I will change out the tires at the first sign of cracking, no matter how minor. Or sooner if they show signs of dry rot.

[bob225]

Tyres or tires are a big can of worms, mine had 2 badly cracking Dunlop's on the rear and 2 random Chinese ones on the front fitted by a main dealer (these were cheap $%^) by the previous owner

I now have 4 new Avon's ZT7 that have transformed the car, I now trust the car knowing im not going to find the nearest ditch at the slightest drop of water

[Leegamer]

tires are the best bang for your buck mod to your car.