I am new to this board, so bear with me. I will have owned my 2001 ES for 2 years come March have put just under 40,000 miles on it (using a modified cross rotation [Rear tires crossed upward and front tires straight back] every other oil change...changing oil every 3000 miles). The reason for the high miles is I drive over 100 miles a day on the inter-state to work in East Tennessee. My ES is sand colored and drives great and I love it! (I'll have to post some pictures soon) My tires are the stock Dunlap 5000s and they are pretty worn now and so I will need new tires real soon.

I have bought from TireRack over the years with great results, especially on a hard to fit Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon (my other car....oops...my wife's car LOL). When I go to their site, there are only 4 options...and that's with dropping the search down to H and even lower rated tires. Of course I am willing to go elsewhere for tires, but here is what I am after:

Since most of my driving is to work and back and highway, I need a good durable tire that is dependable and with long tread life. I do like the sporty edge of this car and would like to maintain that to some degree too. In fact, I didn't get the ABS breaking package on this car because I felt it was nimble enough and I trust my own judgment as to breaking and quick accelerating in emergency driving situations (I really don't like breaking straight forward while I brace myslef). I don't need some really high performance tire that grips the road like a vice but wears out in 15-20K miles. Should I stay with the stock Dunlaps (they are the ones recommended by TireRack) or go with another Dunlap, the SP Sport FM901, or with the Kumho ECSTA Supra 712, or is there a recommendation of another option? The other tires on TireRack are Good Year tires, and I won't even consider them after my horrible past experience (not to mention the poor rating on TR) with this company. I would really appreciate your suggestions on this board. Keep in mind that we don't get much snow at all in E. Tenn but do get some rain. I should also add that I love the audio in this car and listen to a lot of CDs to and from work, so a really noisey ride would be out of the question.
Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

What about (from a quick look at 1010tires.com):
Dunlop SP9000
Toyo T1-S (Tire Rack doesn't sell Toyo tires for some reason)

FM901 will probably wear too quickly for you. The SP9000 and Toyo T1-S both have a higher treadwear rating, and are very good in wet weather. The Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 has the same tread rating and a similar tread pattern as the T1-S and SP9000 but is cheaper ...

Remember all of those tires are directional so your normal left-right rotation will not work without re-mounting the tires inside-out.

 

Hello MadeInJapan and Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to our Club. There are TWO BIG fridge'S in the corner with anything you can think of in them...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have.

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom don't care....and take it easy.

oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!!

I am totally amazed that you have 40K miles on the original Dunlop's!!! man when you say they are getting thin....you must be able to just about SEE through the tread! lol

to give your self more options....you COULD consider sneeking up one size to 205's.....the downside to that it will give you a 1 MPH error at 60.....you will be really going 61 when it reads 60.....

as for the speed rating.....certainly an H tire would get you buy....and its certain that the higher the speed rating on the tire.....the faster its going to wear...as the handling characteristics of tires go hand in hand with the speed rating...and these tires TYPICALLY have softer compounds....the cost goes up....and the time they last goes down...

happy hunting.

 

Thanks rjakobs and Sir Nuke. I've considered what you guys have said and am now leaning towards the Kumhos, although in my size they becomes H's...strange it's the only H of these tires...all the rest of the sizes are Vs. I just had to buy tires for the Volvo (Bridgestone LSH) and being right after Christmas I'm sort of low on cash. Just out of curiosity though, if I did go up a size (205s), what would the total size look like 205/50/16?....and would those tires fit my stock wheels? If I did that how would handling change? Do they fit the wheel well okay? Sorry for the many questions.

 

YES they will fit your rims....yes they will fit under the wheel wells....no rubbing.....the wheel is only .4 inches in DIAMETER larger.....handling....well that has more to do with the actual compound that the tire is made out of...since the tiny bit of width difference won't make that much difference.....

 

Really Cool! Will look for some tires then in the 205/50/16 size! Really appreciate it.

 

get 215/50ZR16 kuhmo 712
100 bucks apiece

 

Sorry, can't use the 215s. the 205/50/16 Kumho 712s are at TireRack for $75 US. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...tButtonName=Go
The 195/50/16s are $62 US!

 

yes you can!!!

 

My understanding from Sir Nuke was that on my 2001 ES stock wheels, the size up is 205/50/16. Am I wrong or is what you're saying another option? Tell me that if I can, what are the pros and the cons of using another size? The owners manual specifically says not to use another size.

 

the wider tire gives alittle(can't describe little)more traction and braking ability, but its mostly for looks.

 

So, Walight, you like your Kumho's? How many miles have you put on them and how are they holding up? I notice that the 205/50/16 size is the only one of the 712's that are H rated. The rest, including the size you speak of are V rated. Do you think the H in the same tire will make a huge difference in the handling? In the tread wear?

 

i've put 15000 miles on them adn they look pretty new still. H rated tires would last a bit longer but they won't handle near as good as the v rated will. wierd thing is, they say that the 215/40s are w rated but on the tire it clearly says z rated. I love kuhmo's, esp the price for a z-rated tire. handles well in the rain and with discounttire, i have a no-questions asked warranty, if the tire blows up b/c of a nail or whatnot, no crap, just a new tire.

 

oh and the 100 bucks a tire includes lifetime mounting and balancing. they are 89 shipped from www.discounttiredirect.com

 

Thanks for the link...been trying to find that site for awhile. I see your tires there. Funny thing, I don't see the 195/50/16 size with the Kumho's there at all, although they are over at TireRack. Anyway, I'm still debating what to do. Actually, I'm thinking that the H rating is fine with me. More than the road clutching Z control, I'm more interested in the long life of the tire. As you can see I will probably get 40K out of the stock Dunlaps...I take care of my tires rotating religiously! The only concern I have is that I won't be able to cross rotate with these tires unless I take them off the wheels...But then again, doing this to each tire every 10,000 miles (cross rotating 2 every 5000 as 2 wheels stay on the same side of the car) might not be so bad.