Author Topic: Mustachian All Season Tires  (Read 3174 times)

Prairie Moustache

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Mustachian All Season Tires
« on: March 26, 2019, 07:34:47 AM »
Hello!

It is time to put more money into my money sucking internal combustion wheel chair. I have a 2012 Ford Focus Hatchback (yes, before you ask, I Found it On the side of the Road Dead). Anecdotally, it's actually been a decent vehicle for me, requiring very little cash and Mr. Ford has covered all the nonsense with the dual clutch transmission.

I'm looking for some all season tires, 215/55R16 93/97H would be the ideal size. Thus far I've been tending towards:

-Pirelli P4 All Season Plus https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Pirelli&tireModel=P4+Four+Seasons+Plus
-Nokian Entyre 2.0 https://www.nokiantires.com/all-season-tires/nokian-entyre-20/

I've read that the Pirelli's have poor handling in rainy conditions while the Nokian's have a much shorter life than they claim. Any input or other suggestions would be appreciated!

GuitarStv

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2019, 08:17:29 AM »
Handling in poor conditions shouldn't really matter too much . . . because you should be adjusting your speed significantly, leaving much greater following distance, and driving more carefully when the weather is bad.  It's not like the winter where you might hit an invisible patch of ice.  Just get the cheapest long lasting tires you can find.  You're driving a Focus, not an F1 car.  No need to agonize over the performance of your tires.  :P

Prairie Moustache

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2019, 08:26:47 AM »
I assure you I do indeed drive like a Grandpa in a Buick on a Sunday afternoon, much to my SO's chagrin. I'll go with the Pirelli's, but install a spoiler for good measure. ;)

Askel

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2019, 08:29:44 AM »
Yeah- those are some pretty pricey shoes for a Focus. 

FWIW, I've had good luck with several different models of Kumhos from Tire Rack. Not the bottom of the barrel, but still pretty cheap. 

You mention "all season". 

Depending on the conditions you see, there's really no such thing as an "all season" tire. There's snow tires and not snow tires.  Not snow tires are terrible snow tires.   

I'm debating just leaving the winterforces on my car over the summer. I drive a lot less in the summer in favor of biking and our snow season is pretty much Oct-April anyway....   

Holyoak

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2019, 01:49:30 PM »
Surprised how well these are performing:

https://generaltire.com/tires/passenger/altimax-rt43

Have them on my 06 Matrix, 5 sp in 205/55/R16.  Nice smooth quiet ride, and wearing very nice and even.  Have Altimax Artic snow tires from General too, and they are very nice...  Made in Germany too.

Prairie Moustache

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2019, 03:57:31 PM »
Surprised how well these are performing:

https://generaltire.com/tires/passenger/altimax-rt43

Have them on my 06 Matrix, 5 sp in 205/55/R16.  Nice smooth quiet ride, and wearing very nice and even.  Have Altimax Artic snow tires from General too, and they are very nice...  Made in Germany too.

Awesome, thanks! I will give these a closer look. I just had another recommendation for these as well.

IanVS

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2019, 03:56:39 PM »
FWIW I've had good experiences buying tires used from https://www.bestusedtires.com/ and having them installed at Costco. Might be worth checking there.

HipGnosis

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2019, 09:25:16 AM »
You should also look into Fuzion (brand) tires.   Their All Season tires are Touring (model name).
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Fuzion&tireModel=Touring+%28T-Speed+Rated%29

eostache

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2019, 06:06:59 PM »
When I was tire shopping for my 2001 Subaru Outback I found some Nexen Aria tires on the Discount Tire Outlet website. They are 80,000 mile all season tires. They were on sale for $75/each. I went to my local Discount Tire and they ordered then in for me. I've had them about 2 years and have been happy with them. I only drive about 3000 miles per year so I don't expect to have to buy tires for this car again.

js82

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2019, 08:22:27 PM »
Depending on the conditions you see, there's really no such thing as an "all season" tire. There's snow tires and not snow tires.  Not snow tires are terrible snow tires.   

This is probably the most meaningful advice on this thread.

As far as wet traction goes, there are "better" and "worse tires", but a lot of of it is marketing.  The two most important things to avoid hydroplaning are:

1) Adjust your speed/following distance to the conditions (sounds like the this won't be an issue)
2) Don't try to save a few bucks by driving tires past a safe/reasonable tread depth.  You WILL hydroplane on tires that are bald/have too little tread.  Other than that it's not worth sweating if you have safe driving habits.

If you're not going the snow tire route for winter, get a general purpose tire where the economics(cost vs. tread life) make sense.

Prairie Moustache

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2019, 08:28:16 PM »
Thanks for all the feedback folks, and don't worry, I live in the Prairies where winter is give or take 8 months of the year so I understand the difference between "All Season" tires and winter tires!

HipGnosis

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #11 on: April 15, 2019, 11:50:30 AM »
When I was tire shopping for my 2001 Subaru Outback I found some Nexen Aria tires on the Discount Tire Outlet website. They are 80,000 mile all season tires. They were on sale for $75/each. I went to my local Discount Tire and they ordered then in for me. I've had them about 2 years and have been happy with them. I only drive about 3000 miles per year so I don't expect to have to buy tires for this car again.
Actually, tires should be replaced about every 6 years.  The rubber hardens over time which reduces it's traction (and therefore safety).   
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15339994/how-long-should-a-new-set-of-tires-last/

RWD

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2019, 11:54:49 AM »
When I was tire shopping for my 2001 Subaru Outback I found some Nexen Aria tires on the Discount Tire Outlet website. They are 80,000 mile all season tires. They were on sale for $75/each. I went to my local Discount Tire and they ordered then in for me. I've had them about 2 years and have been happy with them. I only drive about 3000 miles per year so I don't expect to have to buy tires for this car again.
Actually, tires should be replaced about every 6 years.  The rubber hardens over time which reduces it's traction (and therefore safety).   
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15339994/how-long-should-a-new-set-of-tires-last/
Yeah, an old tire can also catastrophically delaminate which is very dangerous. You can't go by tread depth alone, learn how to read the date code on your sidewalls.

HipGnosis

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Re: Mustachian All Season Tires
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2019, 06:02:53 PM »