TireTalk Forum: Where the rubber meets the road

Since we never get tired of talking about tires, we thought we'd help you find everything you always wanted to know about tires and CR's tire coverage. This is designed to be enTIREly comprehensive.

How to find the TireTalk forum
(available to ConsumerReports.org subscribers only)

• From the CR's Cars main page, click on the Forums link. TireTalk is one of the top green links; the color indicates that this is a premium forum for subscribers only.
• From anywhere in the Cars section of ConsumerReports.org, you can also go to the Tires section by using the dark blue horizontal navigation bar. TireTalk can be found underneath the three featured tests on the top left side.
• Better yet, bookmark our main Cars forum pages so you'll always be one click away from talking cars with our staff experts and fellow readers.

Now let's talk tires
This forum has over 5,500 discussions on tires, where you can ask advice or share an experience if you are an online subscriber, or read various discussions if you are non-subscriber. It's a fascinating site covering questions on practically anything related to tires. You can get some direct advice from the CR tire test engineers, the CR moderator, and from some very savvy forum regulars. There are also links on the left side of the page, under "Related Information," for more on CR's comprehensive tire test ratings to aid research and fuel discussion.

Some of the questions and discussions are truly unique, such as how well do winter tires work at temperatures of 50 to 60 degrees below zero; which, naturally, leads to the question of will the car even operate at these outrageously cold temperatures. And there also was the forum user who discussed how useful snow tire chains are when traveling through the difficult terrain of the Panama rainforest.

Most of the questions are pretty mainstream and offer a barometer of what's happening in the trenches for consumers when comes to tires. Here, CR tire test engineers learned first-hand of some of the quick wearing performance tires that we recommended, and as a result CR now does vehicle road test wear evaluations to provide tread life ratings. We, that is, the tire test engineers, witnessed the complaints of fast wearing runflat tires on Toyota Sienna AWD models, so we're now in the midst of a wear test program to share first-hand information that we'll write about in future blogs.

We also learned that consumers are not often aware that their new cars may come with runflat tires on it and don't have a spare tire; that the car has summer performance tire that offer virtually no grip in cold wintry weather; or the performance tires on their new family sedan will wear out quicker and are more expensive to replace than the tires on their previous car. Tire technology is changing to keep pace with new cars, and we keep on top of all the news and latest products in the industry.

We also recognize that tires are more expensive to buy; come in larger wheel sizes; and have higher speed rating grip and cornering limits. These innovations allow cars to handle safely and securely at levels your old car (and tires) couldn't match. Our advice when buying a new vehicle: Ask about the standard tires and tire options available to be sure you get what you need.

CR tire engineers are always perplexed by how some consumers will buy an expensive car or SUV and then when it comes time to purchase replacement tires will quibble about tire cost and even consider using lower speed rated tires than recommended just to save a few bucks.

Remember: Tires are the only thing between you and the road. The wrong tire can make a good car perform badly. Don't get caught. Use CR's information on how to choose a tire, read our test reports, and ask questions on TireTalk. We'll see you there.

-- Gene Petersen   

Comments

[Alex Arzumanov]

Tires replacement – how many to replace?
Whenever you need to replace a tire, say when it was damaged in a pothole and cannot be repaired, you would be strongly recommended to replace not one but two or, in case of four-wheel-drive vehicle, all four tires. You’d be given various reasons for this including possible damages to your car suspension components due to different height of the new tire in comparing to the old one, etc. I suspect the recommendation is driven mainly by desire to sell you more tires. Here is why. I can not possibly imagine how can a mechanic in Joe Schmoe’s Automotive prove this statement event to himself. Surely he did not perform any kind of long term test to prove anything. Also, I doubt that the difference in height between an older and new tire is significant enough to cause damage. After all, we never ride on absolutely leveled surface and the load on different wheels constantly changes. Tires never get worn-out evenly and unless you rotate them on regular basis (how many people do, I wonder) therefore the height of the wheels is different even when you don’t replace tires.
I’m not saying there’s no benefit in replacing more then one tire. I merely suspect that the benefit is greatly exaggerated and this costs a consumer a fortune. We end up paying twice or four times as much as we could.
It would be interesting to hear the Consumer Report opinion on this. How bad is it to replace just one tire? Is there a limit of wear before which you can replace only one tire (say, if an old tire was around 30% worn-out, it’s OK)? If replacing just one tire is OK, does it have to be exactly the same brand and model or could it any tire of similar characteristics?

[Gene Petersen]

Thanks Alex for the comment and please do share your experience and point of views on TireTalk forum. As for tire replacement, its best to replace four tires at a time and sometimes required by certain car makers of all wheel drive vehicles. Two tire can be replaced on the same axle on front and rear wheel drive cars, but the new tires should be placed in the rear for stable handling. Replacing one tire on these cars is permissible but not worth the effort if the other(s) are nearly worn out and will be in need of replacing soon.

[Barry Martin]

We own a 2004 Honda Pilot. Looking for new comfortable riding tires that are good in ice and snow. Any ideas?

[Sarah]

looking to replace tires on 2001 Escape, replaced 2 originals in 02 due to damage, and then 03 same situation (nail/screw), but those tires are no longer available. anyone have high recommendations?

[Reed]

I too was looking for tires for my newly purchased, albeit used, Pontiac Vibe. (P205-55R16). I purchased a set of (4) Kumho Solus KH16 tires which came highly recommended by Consumer Reports and Tire Rack. Much to my surprise the tires were poor at best in snow traction. On 3 different occasions the vehicle was sliding sideways down our neighborhood hill. NOTE: I am a cautious and slow driver in snow/ice here in Michigan, with 30+ years of driving experience. So back to Discount tire to have siping done. An additional cost, but only assisted in straight line traction. Once again sideways down the hill. So back to Discount Tire to trade them all in for Dominator tires. They are made by Cooper and we have had very good luck with them. The ride is slightly improved but the handling is less responsive, but the price is the best "bang for your buck" out there for tires. Dominator by Cooper = B+ Discount Tire = A+ I hope this helps. Reed

[Frank E Parker]

Best winter tire I've had in over 50 years of northern driving is the Pirelli Ice and Snow. I leave them on year-around because of wet-road traction. Wear more quickly in temperatures over 70 degF, and fuel mileage slips a bit (<10%) over a harder compounded tire but worth it for me, for safety. Good sidewall stability in cornering, very low noise. Have them on a 2003 Landrover Freelander, and a 2002 Mazda Tribute. Live in foothills of Adirondacks...snow, ice, slush, rain; dirt, gravel and paved roads. Replace at 30,000 to 40,000 miles for good performance, depending on temperature and driving style variables.

[Jeff n]

Any comments on Fuzion ZRi ( a bargain) and also Goodyear F1 gs d3(anymore letters they can fit in?)...worth 2 times the $$?

[Sue]

I have a 2002 Mazda Tribute AWD with the original Continental summer tires. I put 4 studded tires on each winter for about 7 months. Car has about 46K miles so the "summer tires" probably have about 20-23K. One of the tires is damagaged due to a road hazard and is not fixable. The tire place said they do not have a comperable tire and want to sell me 4 new ones even though the tread on the other 3 is "not Bad" in the words of the tire guy.

Question: do I have to get an exact make and model tire or will any 235/70R16 tire be OK? Ohter forums have indicated that even buying the SAME exact make and model of tire could hurt my car because it is an AWC....all tires must have the same amount of tread. I don't know if I can trust any of these people (including the dealer) and assume that they won't tell me the straight truth in order to get me to buy 4 new tires.....

Uggh!

[Mack Daddy]

As much as it might be perfect world to replace all 4 tires, I think that's mostly a sales pitch. I am a believer that both tires on an axle should be replaced together so you don't have a right to left mismatch. But the front end and rear ends of cars are built different, and have different characteristics anyway, so to me it's not mandatory for front tires to match rear tires. Owning a front wheel drive car, I always put the new set on the front. Now if all 4 tires do need replacing at the same time then I do it!

[David Luck]

The Pirelli Snow Ice Tire does a great job for my Mercedes GL450. For Canadian winters, it handles the ice and snow much better than any other tire I have used.

I have the Pirelli Scorpian tires on my Ford F-150; they also handle above average.

Why are the Pirelli's not rated by Consumer Reports? It should be about the same as the Michelin Snow Ice tires or better!