I have a 2003 Malibu with tire size 15". My mechanic says the tires I have (Michelin hydroedge) are so old they’re starting to tear. I drive about 30-35,000 miles per year and live in Georgia, where wet weather and DOT debris are a bigger problem than snow. I don’t mind spending a lot of money on tires, but don’t want to sacrifice comfort for protection. Can anybody suggest a brand? I’ve liked the hydroedge and Goodyear’s Aquatread.
The highest rated tire that Consumer reports tested for hydroplaning was the Yokohama Avid TRZ. It also does well in wet and dry braking and has good tread life. They’ve tested virtually every popular tire on the market, so you can be assured you’re not missing much else out there.
The Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S is a more performance oriented tire with an “H” speed rating that was also rated as excellent for hydroplaning, but I would guess it is more expensive than the Yokohama.
Here are survey results from Tire Rack for passenger all-season tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=AS
Anything from #8 up seems to fit your requirements. The Aquatread seems to be obsolete; the respondants liek the Goodyear Assurance Triple-Tred. You can buy from them or find a local dealer with the tires you like.
The car is 5 years old, and these can’t be your original tires if you are putting 30K-35K miles per year on the car. Therefore, I would take the mechanic’s “diagnosis” with a full shaker of salt. How is the tread on the tires? Starting to tear where??
The problem with survey results at the Tire Rack is that’s all they are-just opinions. Also the scores are not adjusted for miles driven and reported. If five people really love a tire that tire is ranked higher than a slightly poorer scoring tire with 5000 responses. When it comes to safety I prefer tests and science.
I bought a full set of the Yokohama Avid TRZs about 3 months ago. I have been very impressed with them and glad I made that choice.
Read the revues suggested here and see if you could test drive someone’s car with the proposed tire brand on it. Tread is not the only difference in tires, there are differing rubber componds used in tire production too. You almost can’t tell without driving on them if they perform to your needs which makes tire shopping hard as most places will not return tires that have seen the pavement. My experience with tire types goes back to the Ford/Firestone recall.( 1992 explorer 4x4 )When I took off the stones that I liked ( I had bought a second set before they recalled them cuz they’re such good tires if inflated properly ) I chose the goodyear AT/S from the list of replacements. MY GOD did those things SKATE horribly in the rain on a tight right handed, negative slope corner that never ever before seemed like a problem corner in two years previous driving the same road. Upon discovering this horrible atribute of these tires, I instantly made the dealer take them back off and chose BFG allterrain T/A in their place. BIG DIFFERENCE in wet weather traction just between tire types. . . If there’s any way you might test drive the tires you’re shopping for it can bennefit your long term satisfaction immensely.
The crowd did seem to like the Hydroedge and updated Goodyear rain tire the best. Must be good luck. I assume that the several million miles reported on those two tires were not among 5 or 10 people.
I bought a set of Yokohama Avid TRZ for my Maxima almost 2 years ago, and they’ve given excellent performance in both wet and dry conditions. They’ve also performed very well in the infrequent snow that we get here in Arkansas. The ride is quiet and the tread is wearing very well. In fact, we liked them so much that we bought a set for my wife’s Camry last month. Please check them out.