I agree, but this can also be an issue with tires from well-known brand names.
The OEM Continentals that came on my 2011 Outback consistently produced a high-speed shake in the steering wheel, until the dealership finally got a road force balancing machine.
However, even with road force balancing, those Contis wouldn’t “hold” a balance for more than a few months. At many of my oil change intervals, I paid to have them re-balanced on the road force balancing machine, and again they would be good for a few months, but would then need to be balanced again. As a result of that experience, I have resolved to never again use Continental tires–unless they are OEM equipment about which I have no choice.
And, in case anyone thinks that the problem was the vehicle, rather than the tires, the replacement Michelin Defenders were as smooth as silk right from the beginning, and they have never required rebalancing in the two years or so that I have owned them.
@VDCDriver Agree! After the infamous Marshalls I switched to Michelin X for 3 season and Michelin X-Ice for winter driving. After 20 years or so I have only had to rebalance one tire.
My sister in law has a Hankook dealership and I can get those at a good price, but I’ll settle for Michelins any time.
ASE, I would have stayed with the ones I liked if they’d have been able to get some in… but they had none available yesterday and I was stuck with two blown tires, the LF and LR (from road debris). I needed tires on the spot. Four, actually, since my RF was down to about 4/32" anyway… I had planned to replace the fronts in the coming weeks anyway. It’s my only vehicle. So I took a chance and chose from what they had in stock. They’re a “W” speed rating, and, of course, fully D.O.T. compliant, so what the heck. I’ll live with them, and if when they wear out I want to go back to my others, I will at that time.
I should add that the only other choices were Continentals (I’ve had very poor luck with Contis and won’t ever put them on a vehicle again) and Michelins (too expensive for my budget).
This was an emergency situation. When you’re “up against it” you do what you need to and figure out the details later. Life happens, not always to plan.
I share your concern. If this were my car, I’d replace these tires and sell them on Craigslist to make up a bit of the cost.
As for the winter tire question, given that you can work at home and avoid the worst conditions, I think you can get by safely with all-season tires that have good ratings for snow and ice. In snow, always remember to leave extra room in front of you, as the car ahead might have winter tires, meaning that it can stop in a much shorter distance than you can.
When you say that winter tires are so expensive, are you keeping in mind that you’ll get more miles out of your all-season tires because they’ll only be used part of the year? In fact, you can take the all-season tires down to 4/32 or 3/32 when you might have had to replace them at 6/32 for snow, so that can actually save money there. On the other hand, you obviously do have the cost of buying extra wheels or mounting tires every spring and fall.
As for the chains, first make sure that your owner’s manual says that they’re allowed. If so, you really want them only for absolute emergencies, as you’ll get very wet and dirty when putting them on and you’ll damage your car if they come loose while you’re using them.
You guys would give up on the tires without even trying them . . . ?!
That’s like when my nephew says “I don’t like it!” because there’s something new on his plate at dinner time. And then when actually does try it, it’s not the end of the world.
Actually I would give up on them, if I had the choice. I have no interest in testing the absolute cheapest tires on the market, with no history to go on except for a bad reputation, when I’m driving in the rain, say.
“That’s like when my nephew says “I don’t like it!” because there’s something new on his plate at dinner time.”
I usually agree with you, db4690, but I think that your analogy is not a good one.
The consequences of something distasteful on one’s plate is nowhere near the consequences of finding out–when it is too late–that tires have poor traction in wet weather, or that they have very long stopping distances–even on dry pavement.
When you consider how much is riding on your tires (both literally and figuratively), I don’t think that it is a good bargain to ignore poor test results and an overall bad reputation for those tires.
@db4690 I’ll take the tire with tread regardless of the brand. I rode a lot of miles on recapped tires back in the early 1960s. I drove conservatively and had no problems. Today, I run Melichelin tires on both my Touota, Sienna and my Toyota 4Runner. I have as not happy that the Firestone tires that came on the Sienna only lasted 35,000 miles before they needed to be replaced. However, the Michelin that I bought for replacement have now gone 35,000 miles and are now at the point they need to be replaced. While at this point I can afford the Michelin tires and will have Michelin installed, if I were low on finances, I would put on the less expensive Sumitoma tires rather than ride on bald Michelins.
Who among us wouldn’t be suspicious about tires (or any other important item for that matter) with a Chinese name we’ve never heard of before? (I’m thinking about the recent thread about Chinese made cars.) They’ve got a reputation for cheap poor quality stuff. Not to mention the seemingly endless news stories about recalls of defective Chinese made products, lead in the toothpaste and dogfood, and all the cheap Chinese made crap most of us have bought at Walmart that fell apart after a few uses. One could be forgiven for thinking that the Chinese want to kill us discreetly.
That being said, my cheapskate side is inclined to agree with @“the same mountainbike” ; if I were mostly going just back and forth to work and the store, I’d give 'em a chance. Of course, if my daily commute involved 70 mph on the beltway with those Jersey barriers and no shoulders on either side I might not be so cavalier in my opinion.
My Jeep has Michelins. They were already on it when I acquired the vehicle, I’ve put about 50,000 miles on them, and there is still plenty of tread. I’ll probably get rid of the vehicle before I have to replace the tires. I guess there’s a good reason why the Michelins cost more.
I don’t set foot in Walmart, but I’ve bought plenty of that garbage you mentioned at other stores
I assume the linglongs are really cheap. If that is the case, those might be the kind of tires you throw on a car, if you just want to quickly flip it
Over the years, I’ve had very good experiences with Michelins. Expensive, but worth the money, IMO
When I bought a used car for my mom a few years ago, it had a fresh set of Firestones on it. And the guy had clearly maintained the car very well. Anyways, the Firestones were definitely not top of the line. I did some research, and they’re clearly mediocre. But they handle acceptably, and don’t compromise the car in any way.
I’m actually biased against Firestones, but I wasn’t about to discard them, just because I would have preferred something else.
The car did have a kind of tramp when rolling down the road, though. It was because the guy that mounted the tires may have been incompetent. He was clearly concentrating on having the balancer say zero on both sides, but it had runout. I matchmarked all the tires, and got it just about perfect. I suppose it’s also possible the tire guys don’t get paid enough to properly mount tires, so that there is no runout, or bring it within an acceptable level. I’m leaning towards incompetence, though
I think I might hold off long enough to get another rainstorm or snow under the tires and push them in a parking lot or back road somewhere and see how they perform.
I’ve done a lot more research on this company in the past day. After inspecting the tire in the daylight, I noticed that they have a manufacture date of March 2015, and also were manufactured in Thailand, not China (though the company is certainly Chinese). From my research, it seems that they have recently been focusing on putting out quality tires that can compete in the US market. They have built a modern factory in Thailand (where my Crosswinds came from) and actually have a tire in the works that is more premium than the Crosswind: the Atlas. They even appear to have hired away the VP of Kumho USA in March of this year. I found what appears to be the entire Crosswind catalog on the website of Horizon Tire, here… My tire is the ultra-high performance one at the bottom of the page. Lastly, I found a few reviews of the tire here , which seem to indicate average or perhaps mediocre performance.
I think all of this considered, I should probably at least give them a more thorough test in inclement weather, though at the same time, I can get a good deal on some BFGoodrich g-Force COMP-2’s right now, which look to be a fantastic tire, and plenty sufficient for light medium snow duty…
Triedaq makes an excellent point. For my first few decades of driving we all drove on bias ply tires much, much worse than even the least expensive radials nowadays, and we all lived. Well, those of us that drove safely did.
I still think they’re worth trying. If they turn out to have poor foul-weather traction, the decision is reversible.
I’m curious to see how my trial with my new tires goes. I might even like them.
No no no, that’s Long Ling that is in the movies, not Linglong.
Chinese tires made in Thailand? Say it ain’t so Joe. Like I said though, the no names that I got from Goodyear were very good tires and cheap and I drove them at 70 plus for 120 miles every day, rain, snow, sleet, and heat.
"I guess there's a good reason why the Michelins cost more."
Yup!
Although they initially cost more than most other brands, their longevity actually makes most Michelin models less expensive per driven mile than other brands, which makes them-relatively speaking–a bargain, as long as you plan to keep the vehicle for the long-term.
If I was putting replacement tires on a vehicle that I planned on getting rid of in a couple of years or less, I wouldn’t spend the extra money for Michelins, and would probably opt for BF Goodys or Yokohamas. However, since I plan to keep my current vehicle for another 4-5 years, I felt that I could justify the extra cost of the Michelins.
Are the tires the correct size for the car? Check the sticker inside the door jamb for tire specifications and inflation PSI.
If they’re the right size and are running smoothly I’d give them a try. Test them out in snow. If you decide you like the car enough to invest more in it, but don’t like the on-snow performance, get 4 Michelin winter tires mounted on steel rims. Every fall and spring do the switchover. In the long run you’ll have a car that works well year-round and your only additional cost was 4 steel rims and the time or $$ it costs to switch over twice per year,
