Almost time for new tires for the GXP.

[donky4444]

Ok, lets hear your thoughts on what are the preferred all season tires to put on it. 235/50-18 is the size. I need something that gives me a good balance of performance, dry/wet/snow traction and price. I know there are a lot of opinions so bring them on. I have long since ditched the Goodyear Eagle RS/A's and the right now I have BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDWS. I have been happy with them but figured I would through this out there since I think there are better options that meet my needs.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

[00Beast]

You have 235/55R18 tires. I like the Kumho Ecsta ASX's we put on dads car this winter.

[donky4444]

You have 235/55R18 tires. I like the Kumho Ecsta ASX's we put on dads car this winter.

Oops, fat finger. I fixed it now.

[dpnewfie]

I went the same route as you. RSA's to BFG's and now these!

I love them! Much better than the two previous choices. Can't attest to their abilities in snow though.

[Bigerik]

I got a rip roaring deal on a pair of KDW's, so that influenced my choice. Great tires tho...

[GXPete]

Hang on guys, you've gone back and forth on the size of the tires. I think you both fat-fingered the size but donky's got it right now. For those as confused as I was, they're 235/50R18.

[dpnewfie]

Yup, I double checked the tires this morning and they are 235/50ZR18.

[viper8907]

235/55/18 doesn't make sense anyway, they would be a full inch taller then a an SSEi. I've heard lots of good things about the Ecsta ASX and SPT. I think I'm going the the Ecsta SPT in a few days, only because I don't need an all season.

[GXPete]

Interesting...got a VIP flyer in the newspaper this weekend and the front page of it shows they're having a tire supersale. It has a picture of the Goodyear Eagle RS-A (our OEM) at $79.99 (225/60R16). I had to go get a torx driver anyway, so while I was there I asked them to give me a price on the RS-A in the 235/50R18 size. The price they gave me was a few bucks under $300/tire. Yeah, right. I told them that was way high, and they said they'd do a price match, but their warehouse was only showing two of them because the model had been discontinued. So it looks like even if we wanted to replace with OEM we won't be able to much longer.

Problem is, no matter where I go looking there are good and bad reviews of every tire out there. I need to feel comfortable with my purchase because winters here can be easy or they can be real bad. We just came out of a real easy one. Didn't have any significant snowfall since January, and not too many storms prior to that. I only had to get the snowmonster out twice all winter, which is a record low for me.

But I digress...the RS-A's have done pretty well for me in the past, but I know there are better (and cheaper) tires out there. I don't care to do the summer/snow tire dance, and I know how to drive in weather so the all-seasons work fine for me. So who else is in an area of harsh winters that can give me a good tire to look for? I may have some time, my stealer said I probably have 12-15k left on these, but I don't think so. In fact, the rears look pretty close to me already, but I'm no expert.

[donky4444]

Interesting...got a VIP flyer in the newspaper this weekend and the front page of it shows they're having a tire supersale. It has a picture of the Goodyear Eagle RS-A (our OEM) at $79.99 (225/60R16). I had to go get a torx driver anyway, so while I was there I asked them to give me a price on the RS-A in the 235/50R18 size. The price they gave me was a few bucks under $300/tire. Yeah, right. I told them that was way high, and they said they'd do a price match, but their warehouse was only showing two of them because the model had been discontinued. So it looks like even if we wanted to replace with OEM we won't be able to much longer.

Problem is, no matter where I go looking there are good and bad reviews of every tire out there. I need to feel comfortable with my purchase because winters here can be easy or they can be real bad. We just came out of a real easy one. Didn't have any significant snowfall since January, and not too many storms prior to that. I only had to get the snowmonster out twice all winter, which is a record low for me.

But I digress...the RS-A's have done pretty well for me in the past, but I know there are better (and cheaper) tires out there. I don't care to do the summer/snow tire dance, and I know how to drive in weather so the all-seasons work fine for me. So who else is in an area of harsh winters that can give me a good tire to look for? I may have some time, my stealer said I probably have 12-15k left on these, but I don't think so. In fact, the rears look pretty close to me already, but I'm no expert.

Our winters can be a pain to drive in as well and I agree on just wanting one set so the all seasons are the way to go here as well. I felt very confident with my T/A's this winter and the last but I thought I would check for other options before I replace them.

[00Beast]

The stock RS-A's are terrible. They should be burned. They're $270 from tire rack, and TR is the cheapest you'll find them.

I fat fingered the size too, that's what posting from my iPod gets me...

[laxmangl]

I can second the pirelli p-zero nero tires. We do winter with some gusto around here too and I have never gotten stuck with them and its got to be a hell of a snow storm for me to lose traction.

The wet and dry performance is great as well as being pretty darn quiet too.

[GXPete]

What about the Conti ExtremeContact DWS?:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... toModClar=

They seem to review pretty high with a few exceptions, but I'm finding bad reviews on every tire, so I assume it's the overall rating that is more at issue. There are those that talk about the sidewalls being very soft. Any comments on that? The price is right for these too.

Interesting tidbit: I was volunteering at the annual MS Walk here today and one of the local LE cruisers came through the parking lot. He stopped to talk to us and as I was looking at the cruiser I was very surprised to find he was running Goodyear RS/A shoes on it. These tires on a police car? I was going to ask him what he thought of them but I didn't get a chance.

[lewis26]

Almost all police cars use RS/A tires. When I worked for the city, it was all we put on cruisers. They work much better on the rear wheel drive crown vics than they do our cars. It is strange.

[05gxp]

The Continental Extreme Contact DWS is a new tire. Tire Rack was at the Continental proving grounds in Texas the first week of March doing driving evaluations on this tire and others from Continental/General (did you know they are the same company?). I was there that week also and it is a nice tire. They didn't have them installed on a car comparable to our GXP's but I did drive on them in a new MBZ 300c and they were nice.

The Eagle RS/A's are oem on all Ford Police Interceptors. Most states (California is one) require a "Pursuit Radial" to be installed on all police cars and as of right now only 3 mfg's make one; Goodyear RS/A, Firestone PV41 & General XP2000. The General may have been discontinued along with the old BFG Pursuit T/A of years past.

I posted in another thread about my experiences with tires for my '05 and how I ended up going with a 245/50R18 Nitto Invo. (The 245's do rub slightly on full lock/compression turns at the rear of the splash shield/inner fender well such as pulling in or out of a driveway but otherwise are great).

I have had them on for about a year and 35K miles and am impressed with the overall performance they offer. Great in the rain, smooth quiet ride and very predictable. Also this turned out to be a much better rain tire than I expected.

This set will be replaced/worn out within about 10K and I will probably go with either the Yokohama Avid ENvigor or the Sumitomo HTRZ III. The Sumitomo is not branded "M&S" but has excellent wet traction in rain. Snow is not an issue for me as I drive a lot and during any real snow I just take the SUV with snow tires installed.

[GXPete]

When you drove on the Conti's did you notice any sidewall softness issues?

Also, what are you guys thoughts on the value of running summer tires/winter tires as opposed to A/S?

[05gxp]

I didn't notice any sidewall issues but remember the MBZ is rear wheel drive and I believe a bit heavier than our GXP's.

For the cost of the Continentals though I would look at other options.

Given the technology in today's tires I can't see a reason to switch them out for one season vs. another. But remember I live in Northern California which is much different than what somebody in Minnesota or other "arctic climate states" will need.

[repinS]

Also, what are you guys thoughts on the value of running summer tires/winter tires as opposed to A/S?

If you will be seeing a lot of snow, it's a good idea. Two years ago I ran all-seasons (Michelin Hydroedge, not a shabby tire at all), and last winter I had a dedicated winter set (General Altimax Arctic). Night and day difference.

But realistically speaking, if you see fairly minor snow a couple times a year, you may be able to get away with an all-season. Toronto isn't one of those places.

[GXPete]

Well, I live in Maine, and while we've been seeing some very mild winters of late, the storms the mid-atlantic saw this past winter are normal for Maine. That said, I've never had an issue driving on all-seasons. If you drive right, have traction control and StabiliTrak, there's almost no reason to have an issue, except for the idiot factor - that's the moron that's driving the pickup truck or SUV that thinks he/she's invincible.

For the cost of the Continentals though I would look at other options.

Not sure I follow your comment. The price of the Conti's isn't bad, especially compared to the GY RS/A.

[CMNTMXR57]

Goodyear Eagle F1 All Seasons here.

They look great, perform great, are quiet, and seem to wear nicely. I liked them so much, (and the performance numbers at the time on TireRack weren't too far some of the summer only tires) I put the same tire on my GTO vs. those pure summer only performance tires.