Please Help Me Pick New Tires.

saoirse · Joined: 21 Aug 2008 Posts: 2

I need some help in picking what tires to put on my Scion XB. The ones they came with are Goodyear Eagle and they already need to be replaced (just over 36,000). Anyway, I am not at all an expert on the subject, so I've been trying to figure out online what to get. I have read that your ride can vary quite a bit depending on the tire you choose. I don't want anything that will make the ride less safe. Idealy, I'd like more thread life. I don't care how they look (not too much anyway). Also, I'd like them to be able to stand heat (thinking of moving from South Bay Area to Arizona in a year or so) and perform well in the wet. I don't completely understand what the speed ratings mean. OK I'll try to stop rambling and post which ones I'm considering. As you can probably tell, price is a factor too.

Dunlop Signature - P185/60R15

Falken ZE-912 - 185/60HR15

BFGoodrich Traction T/A

Anyway, are any of these good options or should I just stick with the kind I have and accept having to replace them every few years? Also, is there any benefit in doing this through Toyota or would it be just as good to go to Sears Auto? Any experiences? Thanks to everyone who responds. I appreciate it very much.

SR20DE_MAN · Posted: 8/23/08 7:26AM Post subject:

Well, I have been using Falken tires for years. I used the ZE-512s on the box & now I use the ZE-912s. Both of them have been good tires for me. I want to say that Grassroots Motorsports recently did an all-weather tire test & the Falken Ziex ZE-912s came up on top. So yeah. I would recommend those.

Besides the 185/60-15, you can also put 205/55-15 tires on the stock wheels. They are a little wider & pretty much the same outside diameter as the original tire.

If I were you, I would buy them online & have them shipped to your house.

www.discounttiredirect.com

www.onlinetires.com

www.edgeracing.com

Then I would go to a tire shop to get them mounted. I would stay away from the dealers since they charge an arm & a leg for the same service that an independent shop can do for a lot less money.

Now, if you happen to live in or near Los Angeles, California, I know of a couple of shops that can sell you a set of 185/60-15 Falken Ziez ZE-512 tires with mounting, balancing, & everything for about $280 to $300. The 205/55-15 would be about $328 to $348.

But yeah. If you don't live in California, then buying online would probably be the cheapest, unless you can find a shop near your house.

Sciond · Posted: 8/24/08 7:23AM Post subject:

Kumho ASX on a budget,,Michelin's otherwise

saoirse · Joined: 21 Aug 2008 Posts: 2

Thanks for the advice. I'm now leaning towards Falken. I will call around today and see what the pricing is like. Thanks again. If anyone else wants to chime in, I'd be happy to hear more. Thanks again.

bB2NER · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 11048 Location: God help us now

Go for the Falkens for sure. Here's a link for the 195/60/15s for 49 bucks each. The slightly bigger tire will make your speedo more accurate cause it's set for 185/65s. They will also give a nicer ride!
http://www.vulcantire.com/cgi-bin/tiresearch.cgi?stock=856&f=ze912hp_t.htm

Super-Stormtrooper07 · Posted: 10/6/08 7:33PM Post subject:

saoirse wrote: Thanks for the advice. I'm now leaning towards Falken. I will call around today and see what the pricing is like. Thanks again. If anyone else wants to chime in, I'd be happy to hear more. Thanks again.

Yes , those are good.
You can also go with a 195-55-15 tire- given the tire size calculator, this size is suppose to yield the same dimentional/rotational size as stock- (on this size, the Yokahama S-drive tires come to mind.. they have gotten rave reviews.. possibly my next tire).

greybox · Joined: 17 Jun 2007 Posts: 680 Location: lake oswego

Those Falken 912s get great reviews. Kumho or hankook k106/406 are good too.

Michelins (other than the HMX) are really good.

Super-Stormtrooper07 · Posted: 10/6/08 7:52PM Post subject:

greybox wrote:

Michelins (other than the HMX) are really good.

No doubt!
The Energy series is sweet.. I'm not so sure I can justify the $110 ish per tire expense though, vs. a good dry weather tire for say $60. Am I really going to get about twice the milage/life out of the Michelin ? Maybe 30-35K out of the $60 tire if rotated properly. Michelin might yield 50K if rotated properly..... hmmmmmmmm

VIP_CAMO · Posted: 10/7/08 8:39PM Post subject:

what ever you do make sure its for were ya live like ya said heat light rain....i was in mo and i was sold a set of tires that are for summer not good in rain and has 0 traction in snow...i had toyo proxy and were pretty dam good ..i got a set of fusion zri and not that great imo ...ive also had a set of dunlops and were pretty good to..as long as ya go witha a name brand you should be just fine and like he said id go to a store and get em or online cheaper....

greybox · Joined: 17 Jun 2007 Posts: 680 Location: lake oswego

Or better yet find a tire shop locally that sells good used tires-here are some of the deals I have found through 2 different local les schwabs-all prices are for a pair

Michelin Pilot sports 215/45-17 $120 mounted and bal
Toyo Proxes 215/45-17 $90 pr mtd and bal
Toyo R1 205/50-17 $120 mtd and bal
Michelin HMX 205/50-17 $50 mtd and bal

Plus free flat fixes and they rebalanced one set that weren't done right the first time

Romanova · Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 448 Location: Cypress, TX

bB2NER wrote: Go for the Falkens for sure. Here's a link for the 195/60/15s for 49 bucks each. The slightly bigger tire will make your speedo more accurate cause it's set for 185/65s. They will also give a nicer ride!
http://www.vulcantire.com/cgi-bin/tiresearch.cgi?stock=856&f=ze912hp_t.htm

No problems rubbing with 195/60/15s with a DF210 drop on stock wheels? I need to bite the bullet on some new tires here and I want to get the 195/60s due to the wider selection as opposed to 185/60s where there is no selection. Thanks.

Super-Stormtrooper07 · Posted: 10/18/08 8:08AM Post subject:

You might want to go to the suspension section of the forums, and go to the DF210 drop threads... and ask the members who use those springs, as I'm sure someone in there would know for sure. Many/most might not even check this thread out.