Recommendations - New Tires in 2015

**CDot** · 08-26-2015, 09:11 PM

Hello All,

Looking for a good budget (preferably ~$100 or less) all-season tire recommendation for 2011 Toyota Camry SE (4cyl). I live in NC, so we have hot/humid summers and "ehhh" winters that have a habit of dealing out 1 or 2 surprise heavy snow falls or ice storms. I'm a "spirited" driver; nothing serious though--I got kids to keep safe. I rotate my tires religiously every 5k

Looking for a tire to last 40-50K miles, solid wet/dry traction that rides well, and isn't super noisy. I've been reading up on Falken Ziex 950 A/S and the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring--anyone have experience with either? Tirerack doesn't rate Cooper/Falken and the Falken 912's I had on my last car did very well.

Size: 215/55/R17 V-rated (OEM), but will take H-rated.

**builthatch** · 08-26-2015, 09:23 PM

i don't know much about tires in that class, but i can tell you for a fact that the Pirelli P7 Cinturato all seasons are superb. i had them for a few months on a temporary vehicle whilst a car was being delivered and i could not believe how good they were for regular all seasons. and i have bad experiences with Pirelli, haha, but these were outstanding.

**asianisafish** · 08-26-2015, 09:51 PM

If your winter months aren't very "wintery" then all seasons will be fine. If you have some strong winters, all seasons are pointless are your best bet is to have separate summer and winter tires. Now since this is a family car and not a track car, most tires will be fine. Don't over think it too much, the tires you listed are pretty decent, continental extreme contacts are great too if you want to spend more money. Goodluc!

**CDot** · 08-27-2015, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by builthatch

i don't know much about tires in that class, but i can tell you for a fact that the Pirelli P7 Cinturato all seasons are superb.

I hear those are the best thing since sliced bread; if I can find them on sale I will snatch them up!

Originally Posted by asianisafish

Don't over think it too much, the tires you listed are pretty decent, continental extreme contacts are great too if you want to spend more money. Goodluc!

I hear good things about those as well. Any experience/hearsay about the True Contacts or Pure Contacts?

**Desertnate** · 08-27-2015, 07:43 AM

I'm not sure how they will price out for your Camry, but I'm running a set of Continental PureContact on the car my daughter drives and they are amazing.

Very quiet, fantastic in rain, and very good in the light snowy/slushy conditions we get in this area. For a V rated grand touring tire, they are very responsive too.

**Setec Astronomy** · 08-27-2015, 07:53 AM

Ha ha, you guys are killing me, I was just pondering P7's, PureContacts, and Michelin Premier...it was a tough choice but I weighed everything at tire rack and decided on the Premier...now you guys go and praise the other two...and by the way--what's the best wax?

PS No review yet I haven't had them put on.

Mike Phillips · 08-27-2015, 08:03 AM

One word...

Boggers!

They sound cool as you drive down the road. I think the smallest you can get them are either 31" or 33" so you might have to lift you car.

**wdmaccord** · 08-27-2015, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by Desertnate

I'm not sure how they will price out for your Camry, but I'm running a set of Continental PureContact on the car my daughter drives and they are amazing.

Very quiet, fantastic in rain, and very good in the light snowy/slushy conditions we get in this area. For a V rated grand touring tire, they are very responsive too.

Same here on my daughters car (03 Accord V6). They are a little noisy (so we differ a little there), but its a fair trade-off for the traction in all weather and a long tread life (I believe they are 800 tread life?). I am looking at TrueContact's for my CRV this fall.

I use the tirerack comparison charts every time I buy tires and try to get the top choice if they are decently priced. So far all choices with this method have been good.

**Desertnate** · 08-27-2015, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by wdmaccord

Same here on my daughters car (03 Accord V6). They are a little noisy (so we differ a little there), but its a fair trade-off for the traction in all weather and a long tread life (I believe they are 800 tread life?).

Noise is relative. The set we're running are on a 2010 Mazda3 hatchback. Mazda apparently decided sound deadening material was not important when they designed the car, so it's loud no matter what. The Conti's are the third set of tires I've mounted on the car and it was noticeably quieter...probably the most lowest noise levels ever in the car which we bought new.

I can say the PureContacts are substantially better than the Kuhmo 4X's previously installed in all aspects. Those tires were extremely noisy after only 10K miles and wore out very quickly.

**hollerstiltner** · 08-27-2015, 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Autogeek

One word...

Boggers!

They sound cool as you drive down the road. I think the smallest you can get them are either 31" or 33" so you might have to lift you car.

Ahhh...boggers. I've heard they ride like taking a shopping cart down stairs and are able to hit 100+ dB on the road.

On a relevant note, we had contact dws on my wife's TL that I enjoyed. They seemed to handle rain and light snow very well. I can't comment on the tread life much as we traded it with about 20k on them. They were still looking good though.