Tires for Florida driving

[rrounds]

This is the tire I have now and I'm very happy with the handling and wear so far.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... s&place=40
The Ecsta LX Platinum has a higher load rating(103 vs 99) or (1929lbs vs 1709lbs) so it handles the weight of our cars better than the stock load rated tires. Stays cooler in the heat of summer so you don't put as much stress on the sidewalls.
I paid $116 a tire at America's Tire. The total bill was $538 + $37.20 tax with lifetime spin balancing. That all so gave me FREE Prorated Road Hazard that got my wife a new tire, after 2500 miles she hit a piece of cement on the freeway and cut the sidewall but did not blow out. America's Tire warranty got me a new tire with no out of pocket expense $0.00

ROD

[girlbonne]

So I've taken Greyhare's advice and tried to identify my priorities after going through all the responses. It took me awhile as there was a wealth of information to absorb. Thanks to everyone who responded!

Seems as if my preferences put me in the Grand Touring category. Having read all the recommendations I thought the Kumho Ecsta LX platinum might be a good choice, but the test results for traction have me a bit concerned.

rrounds - Can you comment on your traction experience with this tire?

Anyone else familiar with it? Or suggest another that would fulfill the info below?

Tire wish list: comfortable ride
quiet
responsive
good wet and dry traction (wet weather handling important in FL!)
30000 - 35000 mile treadlife

Although at this time I don't anticipate ever driving the car in snow/ice I think I still should have an all weather tire "just in case".

Thanks in advance to all who take the time to respond!

[00Beast]

Honestly, the TripleTreds meet all of those standards, with 80k treadwear warranty. They also had good enough traction to give me 2.159 60' times at the track, when heated up. I absolutely love them.

[Greyhare]

How are the roads there? They were quite good 20 years ago.

You may not notice the ride difference with a higher performance category.

Look at the Performance All-Season, High Performance All-Season and, Ultra High Performance All-Season tires.

Most tires in these categories are 400+ tread wear; I get 18 to 20k on 180 tread wear tires. I am not gentle on my tires and make as many lapping days as I can afford on the 1.9 mile road course at PIR.

[girlbonne]

Thx 00beast. It's great that you are so happy with the tires. But I am a creature of comfort, pretty much drive in a straight line and these days I'm not so quick off the line, so I'm not sure if the triple treds would work for me.

I'm trying to learn tires so pls bear with what is probably a naive question. Is it correct that: the greater the tread life the firmer the tire? And the firmer the tire, the more noise and less traction? Because this line of thinking is why I thought a shorter tread life was more along the lines of what I need.

Thanks for your help.

[girlbonne]

Greyhare, the roads are still really good here as is the weather! I hear what you're saying about not feeling the ride difference too much. That will help me figure this out. I don't think I want to go too far on the performance side of this as the long road trips are to NY where the roads are for the most part.......challenging and not in a good way!

[Greyhare]

Thx 00beast. It's great that you are so happy with the tires. But I am a creature of comfort, pretty much drive in a straight line and these days I'm not so quick off the line, so I'm not sure if the triple treds would work for me.

I'm trying to learn tires so pls bear with what is probably a naive question. Is it correct that: the greater the tread life the firmer the tire? And the firmer the tire, the more noise and less traction? Because this line of thinking is why I thought a shorter tread life was more along the lines of what I need.

Thanks for your help.

The tread wear rating is an indication of tread compound abrasion/wear resistance and is generally proportional to compound hardness. In general a higher wear rating will have less grip but not as much as you would think. My observation is you will loose more wet grip than dry.

Firmness, as it affects ride comfort, is determined by the tire body construction. In general the higher up on the performance scale the more firm and less comfortable the tire.

Noise is almost entirely from the tread pattern. Tire companies actually run simulations on super computers to optimize the tread pattern for less noise.

Any of the quality brands in the Grand touring, Performance touring, performance/high performance all season classes should do well for you.

[swampthing]

i wouldn't suggest geting a super soft tire because bonne's are heavy anyways and i know mine is a little rough on tires. also remember you don't have to worry much about cold temps you need to worry more about wet traction.

[kts0347]

I have a 2002 SSEi and had real bad luck with the factory Goodyears. They never held their round, and I was force balancing them every 4 -6 months. Luckily they're long gone.

I switched out to Kuhmos at 35 K after my son drove a timber through one of the Goodyears. (I got a free detail/polish job out of that). The Kuhmos rode a lot stiffer than the Goodyears, which are soft, and I could feel a lot more road imperfections. They wear longer, but one unfortunately developed a tread twist, and thumped down the road quite badly.

I went to Costco and got the correct Michelin speed rated tire for the car. They always are having specials for $80 off a set of 4. The Michelins are perfect, and don't thump at all. I live in SW Florida and they are great for both the heat and for the summer rains. No complaints.

[00Beast]

Factory Tires are Goodyear RS-A's. These are a completely different tire.

[rrounds]

Kumho Ecsta LX platinum might be a good choice, but the test results for traction have me a bit concerned.

rrounds - Can you comment on your traction experience with this tire?

The traction is very good, wet or dry. Here is the survey, they came in 4th and is still in the Superior column for wet or dry traction.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... =40#Survey

These tires are the smoothest tires I have had on the car so far(we have over 185k on this car). Don't be afraid to dicker over the price, tell them you found the "SAME" tire down the road at the mom & pop shop for less but you would like to go with the bigger shop for the better warranty.

ROD