New tire question

[master7045]

As the title states, I need new tires. Will be going on a 2010 Hyundai Genesis 3.8, size is 235/50/18. I have read way too many reviews on tirerack and have pretty much settled on three tires, all at the top of their respective category. I do mostly highway driving and around town, probably evenly split 50/50 w/ about 20K miles a year. These will be on year round so winter traction is important as well as a smooth comfortable drive. I will not be tracking this so I'm not overly concerned about uber high performance, but don't want to rock a piece of junk set of tires either. Without further ado, please vote on the following tires and include the ever important "why" All prices below include installation/tax

Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 - $867

Continental PureContact with EcoPlus - $953

Kumho Ecsta PA31 - $764

 

[JulesMaximus]

I have zero experience with any of those tires.

I recommend throwing a dart at a board... or just go with the cheapest one.

 

[crashtech]

Continental is the best brand of the three. Although they are the most expensive, they can be expected to last the longest, and be least likely to suffer from "tire pull" in my experience.

 

[toronado97]

Those continentals come to 636 on site...where the hell are you getting them mounted that you're adding an additional 300 bucks to that total?

That being said...I'm a fan of the Conti DWS personally. If you're putting them on a Genesis 3.8, you don't want eco tires (the ones you linked are low rolling resistance tires) you want a more performance oriented tire. Since you indicated that all-weather and snow traction was a must, you cannot beat the DWS imho.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...WR8ECDWS&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Edit: The DWS are definitely the best looking of those options as well, if you care about that sort of thing.

 

[master7045]

@Toronado, shipping is 60, NTB install price is 88 for all 4 and an alignment is another 80. Tack on tax and total is about 900. I actually calculated tax on the tire + install price which was incorrect as i would only be paying it on shop fees

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Mi luv Kumho Ecsta long time

 

[Midwayman]

I've had really good luck with continentals. Don't know that model, but all the others have been great.

 

[michal1980]

the only comparison I personally have is that conti dws is >>> better then kumho 4x tires.

 

[ViviTheMage]

those all suck for year round, especially on Ill, get something like a conti DWS, or michilin's pilot A/S 3's.

 

[Rallispec]

Another write in vote for the DWS.

 

[Jimzz]

The Continental PureContact you are looking at are a newer tire compared to the DWS so I would go for the Continental PureContact.

The hankook are my 2nd choice.

 

[master7045]

Looks like the contis are taking a lead. Not sure if everyone realized, but the Conti listed is a DWS variant, they are the grand touring model vs the extreme or pro contacts which are ultra high performance

 

[kitatech]

There are more than 1 version of the Contis AND the Ventus....I think the Contis DWS get the most positive reviews of that brand....

 

[phucheneh]

The Hankook's are pretty much targetted as the budget version of the Michelin AS3's. Both are supposedly 50k tires (I'd say 40k is more likely in most cases). The Contis are probably the best deal if you can actually put 60k or more on a set of tires within the 2-3 years it typically takes for the rubber to start degrading. Most of the tires like that seem to end up getting replaced somewhere in the 3-5 year range for pretty bad dry rotting, well before the tread is actually close to the wearbars. I've never seen a bald set of Avid TRZ's. Ever. ~80k tire. Rides pretty good. For rubberized iron. I imagine the Contis would be similar- it's not a bad tire, but you can get both better performance and a better ride if you're willing to with a tire 'only' rate for 40-50k miles.

And no idea on the Kumhos. I'd bet they're decent for the money. But Kumho's quality control seems to be like 90% great and like 10% really terrible (as opposed to Hankook's 99% 'good enough'). If you get an egg-shaped tire that causes noise and/or vibration even when properly balanced, getting someone to warranty it out can be a pain in the ass.

 

[michal1980]

The Continental PureContact you are looking at are a newer tire compared to the DWS so I would go for the Continental PureContact.

The hankook are my 2nd choice.

I looked at the tire tests on tirerack.

If I'm stuck between tires I pick based on stopping distance

1) Conti 92dry/102wet
2) Hank 84dry/112wet
3) kumho 87dry/131wet

The kumhos are terrible wet.
nearly 30 feet longer then the conti, that's what 2 to 3 car lengths?

The Hankooks deserve a closer look. I'd still lean towards conti

 

[kitatech]

The Ventus V4 ES tires on the Camry are fantastic in the rain...very stable...makes me feel very secure....

 

[Railgun]

Summer tires. Then winter tires. No such thing as an all season tire unless you're in the south west with a summer tire or Iceland with a winter tire.

 

[sze5003]

My lancer has kumho ecsta tires on it now. I got two put on at 30k miles and another two put on at around 44k. Reason I did this was because my stock tires were still good. I paid about $600 total. They are better in the rain and alright in the snow.

 

[Midwayman]

I looked at the tire tests on tirerack.

If I'm stuck between tires I pick based on stopping distance

1) Conti 92dry/102wet
2) Hank 84dry/112wet
3) kumho 87dry/131wet

The kumhos are terrible wet.
nearly 30 feet longer then the conti, that's what 2 to 3 car lengths?

The Hankooks deserve a closer look. I'd still lean towards conti

Handling in your worst driving conditions has priority over best case conditions IMHO. Conti seems to understand this and they usually have better wet/snow traction than other tires in their class at the expense of a little dry traction.

 

[Meghan54]

Well, having never owned those specific tires, it's hard to give recommendations, but I have owned some Conti and Kumho tires and would NOT put another set of Kumho tires on anything I owned unless it was a little red wagon or maybe my mower.

The Contis, on the other hand, ranked right up there with the Michelins I currently own, which I bought over the comparable Contis simply because the Michelins were, unbelievably, cheaper at the time. Wouldn't hesitate to buy Continentals again, tho.

 

[michal1980]

Handling in your worst driving conditions has priority over best case conditions IMHO. Conti seems to understand this and they usually have better wet/snow traction than other tires in their class at the expense of a little dry traction.

yup. had a friend looking at two different tires. pulled up the tirerack tests. sure enough one stopped 20-30 feet shorter in the rain... he went with that one.

 

[vshah]

Very happy with the conti dws extreme contact here as well. 10k miles in and I still see all three letters in the wear indicator

 

[Midwayman]

Had to get a new set of front this weekend after a sidewall blowout. Got Yokohama s.drive up there now. Not my first choice, but I have an odd tire size apparently and needed something in stock.

 

[master7045]

Well yesterday I ordered a set of the Hankooks through a local tire shop. They were the only place that was willing to order any tire I asked and gave me a quote on the spot for. I went this route instead of ordering through tirerack so I could keep the lifetime balance & rotation service. OTD price was quoted at $886.48. Getting them installed on Tuesday!