Please Help a Newbie with Tires
 

Hi all,

I have been lurking around here for a while and just wanted to say what a great forum this is.

I currently have a 2002 Protege5 and seeing that I don't know too much about cars I have a couple of questions. I need to purchase some new all season tires to replace the ones that came with the car. I understand that we have "V-rated" tires? Is it necessary to replace the current set with another "V-rated" set or is it not worth the cost? Can anyone reccomend a good valued set of all seasons?

Thanks.

Hi there MBIZ, my understanding is that the "V" on your tires is just a speed rating and I do not believe that you need to replace them with anoth "V" rated tire. You will quickly find that your choices of all season tire for this car (195/50/R16) are very limited. I currently ride Dunlop SP SPort FM 901 and they are terrible, I mean terrible. Don't even come close to them. They stick on dry pavement but extremely noisy and dangerous in the rain and snow.(you will see similar comments on the "tirerack.com" website. That being said, I have done a lot of research and will probably put a set of Toyo TPT on my 2002 protege GT sedan. Not cheap ($700 canadian) for four but hopefully better than the OE and the DUnlop I currently have. Hope that helps, maybe someone else has a better tire to recommend?

mbiz, funny you should ask.. i'm planning to replace my set of tires with the BF Goodrich Traction T/A in a couple of weeks, my o2 p5s' stock tires are almost shot and don't really do well during rain..

the traction t/a are about >=$85, you can check the reviews on them as well on tirerack.com, right now i'm in a cross between either the BF goodrich traction t/a's, or the Continental ContiExtremeContact tires, but ive heard that the continental has a faster treadwear,.

a buddy of mine has a celica gts and he just put on the traction t/a, and he noticed a much imporved performance vs. the yokohama avs 1000.

bottom line, i think traction t/a is probably a good tire, the size i'm going to load is the 205/55/16.

hope this helps.
-Denham

To Mrompre

Keep in mind "SP SPort FM 901 " is summer tire, NOT all-season tire

I agree completely with the V speed rating-The main difference between most H an V is the type of reinforcement used over the edge of the steel belts. A great example is the Traction T/A in the H and V. Same compound, design, and internal construction ASIDE from the type of reinforcement over the steel belts on the edge. Changes nothing on the handling or performance of the tire other than it will spin faster. Yep, no changes other than this.

There ARE a few exceptions to this, but 95% of the time this will be the case. Which, for me, makes it a fairly good assumption to make.

In terms of a tire, I like the BFG VERY well. Good response, decent in the snow and wet, but it is a little on the loud side, or can be, on long trips over freeway expansion joints (Gives a bit too much the rubber ping sound). But the tire feels very good and lasts.

The Conti's I just don't recommend anymore. I had so many problems quality-wise with those, that I gave up on them. THey are great in the snow, but I never really liked them in the wet. When I drove them through the wet slalom, it felt like I was driving on glass.

Hope this helps a bit!

Wes

Agree...they were sold to my brother (from whom I bought the car ) as an all season tire probably because this was the only tire the dealer had available and my bro insisted on all season...anyhow, new ones are on order...thanks

Thanks for all the help. I think I am going to go with BFG. Which model do you guys reccomend. Please keep in mind that I am only going to be riding them for another 20,000km or so or another 1.5 years because that's when my lease is up. Therefore I don't need the best model, jsut something decent and value priced to survive for the next little bit. Also what size should I be mounting?

Based on what you are saying, I would tell the the Traction T/A. In the 205/50-16, they only make the V, however.

Whatever engineer decided to put a 195/50R16 tire was an idiot - the only car that tire is on is ours and the newer Neon R/Ts. I don't understand why manufacturers like to put odd-ball size tires on cars. Definitely the 205/50R16. 205/55R16 would change the handling too much I think - way too spongy for me (and the dealer might bitch when you turn the car in, depending in their policies). I would say go with the Traction T/A (to the average driver the H or V speed rating on the Traction T/A won't make a difference - only difference is the V is slightly more expensive - but who is honestly going to get up to 149 mph in our cars!). Although, the Pirelli PZero Nero (all-season version) is a sweet looking tire for about the same price, and will give you better handling but will likely have a little less snow traction than the BFG. Either way - they don't make cheap tires in our sizes, unfortunately.

Lots of tires are available in 205/45-16. A tiny bit smaller in overall diameter, but just as wide and lower profile too. This would gear you down just a tad, not a bad thing considering we aren't the fastest things on the block.

tire question
 

Cant complain about the price of my Falken Ziex 512, also look into Azenis.

Reason I've never really looked into a lower profile tire is the change in gas mileage. It will be slightly less in a tire with a smaller overall diameter because you won't be going as far for every revolution. I'd rather go slightly bigger than slightly smaller. You wouldn't notice much of a difference in acceleration. just a thought...

Has anyone tried the Toyo TPT? I hear it's a decent tire that would also provide a quieter ride than my Dunlop.

I have not tried the TPT, but I have purchased many sets of Toyos and have no complaints about their quality.

Thanks for the info. I will comment on the TPT as soon as I get them on the car.