Hear from a blowout, hydroplaning survivor: a complete guide to buying tires
Aug 31 '02
The Bottom Line Try tireracks.com. Excellent information, price and selection with plenty of installers. What else do you want?
About myself
Like most car owners, I changed my last set of tires a long time ago (2.5 years exactly). My family owns a car and a SUV, and I don’t drive other cars - so I don’t get to test a lot of tires. What I have to offer are my mistakes, so you don’t have to repeat them. Some are so obvious that I want to hit my own head. In contrast to what the title may suggest, I did a lot of research on tires and always opted for safe and quality tires.
The basics
To be complete, let’s cover the basics first. The first thing you need is the size of your tire, e.g. 195/65/15. If you go to any auto shop, they will always look at your car and get the right size for you. So you don’t even have to look up your owner’s manual. Quality tires are mostly radial design so the R is always there. In your manual, your car manufacturer should have a recommendation on load index, e.g., 91, and speed rating, e.g., H. You may need to go loose on this requirement. Indeed the popular tires in this size often come with a load index of 89, which means a reduced maximum load compared to 91. On closer inspection, all the passenger cars of my manufacturer got the same recommendation of 91 (1356 pounds). But some are much heavier than the others! So I believe that tire manufacturers have a better sense of proportion – the load index offered should have a pretty good match to the tire size. I also did some calculations on the maximum weight of the car, both front and back, based on the data on the manual. 89 (1279 lbs) should be sufficient. In addition, I’ll never pack 5 heavy adults in the car and put some heavy metal in the trunk and on the roof. Similarly, the speed rating is overkill. Are we not supposed to drive over 75 mph? Most decent tires have a speed rating of over 100 mph. I only achieved the H speed (130 mph) for once in my live, that’s somewhere between Luxemberg and Germany with no limits.
What type of tires do you need then?
This is a difficult question. Firstly, the new designs that won’t puncture, or can run with a flat, are known to be expensive. I guess there will be performance and durability trade-offs too. So I don’t think you should insure in something you can afford not to. You can't win if you buy the insurance. But if you don't you may beat the odds. If you don’t live and commute in a very rural area, have a cell phone, bring a decent spare tire, and carry the owner’s manual, you are OK. I broke my tires twice in my lifetime. Both times I follow the manual, jack up my car and change the tire. I never done that before and I did pretty well both times, several years apart. Also from my blowout experience, tires are pretty safe even if you don’t know when to stop.
For the majority of tires, the usual answer to the question of choice is a trade-off between several factors – Price, Handling (traction, cornering performance), Comfort (smooth ride, low noise), Durability (tread life) and Safety (traction, strength). If you are interested in research, you can go to sites like tirerack.com, which have comprehensive information on the tires offered. The latest models are usually on offered. What I don’t look at is the manufacturers’ promotion of their brand of technology, which doesn’t translate into something that I can buy into. You can look at the specifications instead. The tread wear rating gives you an idea how long lasting your tire is before going bold. A 300 tire will last longer than a 100 tire (which is rare). A 400 last somewhat longer than a 300. The traction grade gives you an idea of the handling and safety in wet and dry conditions. However, most tires have a traction grade of A, except for newer tires, which can have an AA (better) rating. The same goes with temperature grade, most tires score an A.
What’s the difference between Performance tires, Touring tires and Grand Touring tires? I am confused. Even more now that tires come labeled with Performance Touring. I don’t rely on this classification much. In general, performance means good handling, traction, and touring means comfort and longer tread life.
The alternative to overloading yourself with information is to go to an auto shop and ask. They will respect your priority on tread life, comfort versus handling, and they will find something that goes with your type of car. You can’t go too wrong, but it is also likely that you get what they have left in stock, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
The other way is to shop by brand. It’s much easier if you narrow your choice to one or two brand you trust and then find the latest models. However, do you have an idea what brands are good? Who to ask? How much does your parents or friends know?
What I do is go to tireracks.com, give them the size of my wheels and they come up with a list of tires. From the best sellers list and their prices, I have an idea what brands people buy. Also, I know what brand of tires comes with what brand of new cars. That will sort out the image problems – say putting on an overkill sporty tires on a compact commuting car, or downing sizing on the tires too much for an otherwise respectable car. Also they have their own test results on tires, and buyers’ opinions. These results are very comprehensive; in terms of very specific things that I wouldn’t think I will manage to test, like handling, noise and comfort. They even have the track lap times in wet and dry conditions. You may not believe their experts, nor the buyers, who may not know more than you do. But you have good idea about the perceptions of different brands by the general public.
The manufacturers' warranty also help you to pick. Continental is unbeatable for a guaranteed tread life of 60,000 (within 4 years). The Michelin Pilot I had lasted less than 37,000 miles in less than 2.5 years. (The quick fitting and uneven wear may have something to do with it though.) Except for Michelin with no tread life guarantee, a few other popular manufacturers offer 40,000 tread life guarantee and above, which could be useful for me. But even if I had 40,000 mile guarantee, I will get a discount only on the remaining 3,000 miles when I get a new tire. So 60,000 miles from Continental is tempting for me. In addition, Continental seems to be the only one offering road hazard for 1st year. That means you have free insurance on you new tires for the 1st year. But that only cost you $8 each tire at Sears, I think that's for the life of the tire. Before I told you my choice, let's hear my stories first.
The hydroplaning
My car came with Michelin. So when the time comes, I first thought of Michelin. At the time the latest model are designated Pilots. I did a lot of research on tireracks (or could be etires that I didn't remember) and picked a balance of price and position in the performance ladder. But they are expensive, so I thought they are the most durable.
Since my Michelin's came with a 6 year warranty certificate, I went to a local shop and ask whether the premature boldness were covered by the warranty. I was known to get a plane ride when I missed the boat. No, the tread life wasn't covered at all. So I didn't know that the tread life is covered with a lot of other manufacturers. I asked for the latest Pilot but they don't have that and try to sell me some older models.
The price of tireracks is a lot less than brick and mortar shops. But the problem is delivery and installation. When I look up installers in my town, there are very few. Some looked like very specialized high performance car shops who may not be interested in my car. Some looked like small shops that may not have qualified technicians and expensive equipments. And it looked like that I have to receive 4 tires at home and carry them to the shops to install. So instead I called Michelin's list of dealers to ask for my Pilot. I found one. Since the price is a lot more than tireracks, I asked for a discount. That was a mistake. They gave me a symbolic one. I think they even didn't bother to ask me whether I would like to change the stem ($2.5 @). I ended up paying $90 for each tire, probably using the old stems. The only advantage is that they offer free tire rotation every 5,000 miles.
So my car keep pulling to one side as before the new tires. I didn't know what is wheel alignment at the time. I thought my car dealer is taking care of that. Two years on, the steering degraded gradually, and I thought the problem is with the car, after all, I had a Michelin. Once I15 is blocked. I took the long detour from LV via Needles back to LA. Whenever my car ran through some potholes or bad service, my car seemed to be almost thrown out of the road. I had to slow down to below 60 to complete the long journey. It grew darked. The road was narrow and a long queue always formed behind me. I had difficulty finding space to let others to pass me. That was very painful.
It was time to bring my car back to the dealer for a big overhaul. But I waited for the next service. One day when was leaving the ATM drive through, the car behind kept horning at me. I was far away but I turned back. For all her hassle, she just wanted to let me know that one of my front tire was pretty flat. Too flat that she was alarmed. I was very grateful. It wasn't long after 9/11 and people were unusually nice to each other. I pumped my tires when I went home. There wasn't any steering problems anymore.
Then one rainy day, when I was entering a ramp with a 360 deg turn, I hydroplaned. I was already very slow and I drove pass that place almost everyday. But I still managed to hydroplane. With years of bicycle training, I knew which direction to turn the wheel. But then I would go into the traffic, which would be very dangerous. So I turn away and try to run off the road instead. Unfortunately, that was a bridge and the side of the road is a concrete wall. I was going to have a side frontal impact with the concrete, making a mess of my car. So I turned the wheel the opposite direction as far as possible. The car turned before hitting the wall but it recoiled like a spring and shoot straight across 3 lanes to the other side of the road. That would be a full frontal impact so I turned the wheels again. I thought I was going to trash both side doors on the driver side, but the car stopped and parked itself parallel to the concrete wall, just two feet away. I drove off with a lot of drivers watching me, who had to stop to avoid me.
The tires were leaking slowly all the time. Pumping often became a nuisance. This time I went to a big auto shop, Sears, to see what they can do. I never thought I would throw away the Michelin for only two years. I was very impressed by their service. It was about tires so the technician starting measuring the tire tread. Inside, outside and middle, all 4 tires. Then I realized that the tires were wearing unevenly. It was still sort of even since the tires got rotated after regular servicing. But the tread were almost gone. It was marginally legal to drive away. I was surprised because it had been a little more than two years, a little more than 35,000 miles. I didn't change the tires then because I needed time to research again. I asked and they said they could repair it. And they did, for about $15. I was impressed. But that was another mistake.
Now everything came together. My tires were poorly fitted, under inflated. It lasted less than 37,000 miles in less than 2.5 years. Maybe the Michelins wasn't that good. Maybe they saved my life. Couldn't tell. But certainly next time I would expect a longer tread life if I paid that much money. I wouldn't care that much about performance if that cost me that much. And some tread life guarantee would be good.
The blowout
I parked the SUV next to some houses by the beach and took my kid for a short walk on the beach. When we drove off, we noticed something was wrong. We blame it on the road surface as our SUV is less than a year old, very low mileage and the Bridgestone tires appeared to be solid like a rock. I found out that the tires were a little bit overinflated to look good in the dealer's lot, and the pressure was the same as the day it left the dealer. Things got worse. The noise get louder and the ride got rocky. But I still couldn't imagine anything could go wrong so I didn't stop. I even enter the freeway to get home. But I was careful not to go too fast. Then the car became like a horse and I had to slow down gradually and stop on the shoulders.
It was a total blowout. I had to change the tire myself totally unprepared, for the 2nd time in my life. Worse still, I never jack up so heavy an SUV before. And I almost couldn't turn the nuts with the wrench. The Sears technician was surprised when I told him that it was a total blowout. Looking at the other 3 almost new tires, he thought whatever happened to my tire could be repaired, until he saw the almost bare alloy wheel in my trunk. But that tire was known to hit the kerb sometimes by my wife and I also contribute a little bit. Another possibility is that the beach residents, who hatred outsiders occupying their parking spaces, slashed the tires. Believe me parking is a huge deal there.
So again the Bridgestone could be not as good as I thought, but it could also have saved my life. But then the SUV could have been designed to survive on 3 wheels, you never know. Again I was impressed by the Sears technicians. Because of the Firestone drama, I thought of changing brands. I hate to throw away 3 almost new tires. But at least I have to get a pair of new tires – the normal recommendation. But one technician suggested to use the brand new spare tire and get only one new Bridgestone, and store the old one as the spare tire. So I stayed with Bridgestone for all 5 tires.
My new tires
First I thought it would be a Bridgestone or a Continental. But I ended up with a Dunlop Sport A2. The Continental warranty is hard to beat and it is the original equipment of a lot of import cars. The price is good. However the test results and user survey are not as good as the others. The Bridgestone is the performer and the priciest of the 3, but still a lot cheaper than Michelin. However, the Dunlop is the cheapest at $57. The performance approaches that of the Bridgestone and beat it sometimes. The tread rating at 420 is the highest and the traction grade is unbeatable at AA. According to tirerack's data, the Dunlop should outlast the Continental. My last Pilot has a tread rating at 320 I think. I could go for something with 600 but people may think that I'm driving on 4 stones. So Dunlop may not be the wisest choice but it must be a respectable choice. That's good enough for me as long as it will last more than 40,000 miles. The next big question is:
Where do I get the tires?
I went to Sears for the tires because I was impressed by their service. They are in major malls so you have something to do while they are working on your car. After all the hydroplaning and blowout, going to the self proclaimed American's No. 1 in tires can't go much wrong. And I would make good use of their computerized wheel alignment. But I was wrong.
A technician came over and asked me what I wanted at my ear before the car was completely stationary. Sears is good, but just too pricey. The price with price matching in effect is reduced to $84 versus $57 at tirerack. I can live with that because of the hassle of delivery and finding an installer. I paid $90 for my last Pilots even thought I knew that the tirerack price was a lot less. The installation is $11 each and stems $2.5, pretty average. But they slipped in labor cost at $130. I hope that was fairly standard. But no, I checked the bill and they didn't charge me labor when I last installed my Pilots. And tirerack gave you installation estimates but no mention of labor costs. The alignment cost $85 extra but promised a computerized printout of before and after results, and complete check up on the steering and suspension. They didn't give me any printouts and I didn't ask. They also didn't mention anything wrong with the steering and suspension. The labor cost could amount to more than two A2 tires from Tirerack!
After I came back from Sears I checked Tirerack again. I clicked on installation out of curiosity and what a difference two years made. Before the installers were few and far between. Now everybody accept delivery at their shop and installs for you, with or without appointments. That wasn't some unknown small shops or specialized shops, but big tire dealers, import car specialist, and alignment specialist. I could have got everything I wanted for $57 a tire and save $130 on labor. I can wait for the tires as I went illegally bold briefly anyway. But perhaps things were not that different two years ago. Last time I might have checked the installer for Etires, or I checked the installer for the town I lived rather than the town I worked.
I really don't know who still goes to Sears like me. They have deals for 4 tires under $100. But if they still charge $130 for labor, tires much cheaper than $80 doesn't seem to worth it. Too much labor component in the total cost. I just hope that Tirerack and the like would be still around 3 or 4 years ahead, or after another 60,000 miles on my odometer.
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