How do I choose new tires for a Cadillac STS (2005)? The car is a V-8 and has 32,000 miles on it. I got a quote for $1200 for replacing all four tires, but I think this is too high. I know I can choose other tires, but what should base this choice on (e.g. cost, size, width, brand, etc)?
go to tirerack.com, answer the questions and see what their inventory brings up. Take a look at the reviews provided there. Even if you don’t buy from them, they are a good source of information to assist in your buying decision.
You can also look at Sam’s Club and Costco on line to see what their selection provides. Many of the type of tires you have are special order, and they provide good pricing info, but virtually no tire review/performance information.
Much depends on how you drive the car, what road conditions the tires must deal with. Today, tires are grouped in various categories. Performance, Touring, All Season. Are you happy with your original tires? If so, stick with a similar tire. If this car never sees slick roads, a “Touring” type tire (basically a dry road tire that performs well, is quiet running and lasts a long time) would be a good choice. If wet road or winter driving must be considered, an “All Season” type tire might be a better choice. Just stick with the size that originally came on the car.
By playing with www.tirerack.com you can learn a lot, see what is available at what price and avoid a lot of salesmen’s mumbo-jumbo. Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by “speed ratings”, especially if someone tells you “This car MUST have “V” rated tires.” S,T, or H rated tires will be fine unless you routinely drive over 100 mph.
Don’t worry about changing size, just match what came on the car. Check out Sams and Costco’s web sites, you can see what the price will be for your car’s tires. By the way, your car does require some pretty pricy tires, don’t expect much less that $800 out the door, and some tires will be at th $1200 level, even at Sams.
Some places will flat out refuse to mount tires that are less than the OEM spec speed rating. It’s a liability issue. The way I see it, your car was designed with certain tires in mind, and since they are the only things connecting you to the road, it would be folly to second-guess the engineers who spec’d a certain type of tire.
That price may not be that out of line for an 18" wheel and size. Some Caddy’s have some large wheels that are low profile. Ask for proper size and get quotes from multiple tire dealers and even (gasp) chains. Ask for low end and high end of prices from each.
THe downsides of “premium” car. The good part is tire makers are making cheaper larger size tires as the market is more interested in them.
I think however its crazy when people equip $50k+ vehicles with cheapo tires.
It has either 17" or 18" wheels. Which do you have? Also, read the tire size on the side of the tire and let us know what it is. The front tires should be 235/50-17 or 235/50-18 and the rear should be 255/45-17 or 255/45-18. Lastly, what brand and model of tire was on it when yo bought it?
Why do they do that?? (different size tires front and rear) A Detroit sled pretending it’s a race car… They get a couple of tenths of a second improvement on a skid pad to impress a magazine editor and owners are saddled nightmare tire replacement problems. If I owned this car I would certainly equalize the wheel and tire sizes front and rear and make tire shopping much easier and less expensive.
My guess is to appeal to certain buyers who like “bling” Cadillac was after they installed 18" rims.
The 17" rims are likely to clear the large front rotors likely used to stop this heavy vehicle quickly. I found out the hard way my wife’s 2005 Subaru Wagon(turbo version) had upgraded brakes so you could not install cheaper 16" steels rims and cheap 16" higher profile winter tires. 16" rims will not clear the brake rotors.
What can I do my life loves the turbo engine but yes shocked about tires prices from her old Honda which cost about $500 for 50k+ tires. The Subaru wagon is close to $800 to equip it with 17" low profile tires that only last 40k tops.
Caddyman you are so correct. The difference of 16" vs 17" rims is neglible on the skidpad with the same tires. 18"+ rims actually seem to make vehicles slower I have found in friends who auto cross(race around cones in parking lots).
I wanted to thank everyone for your comments - they are much appreciated.
I should note that this car is not mine but my 70 year old mother’s, and she asked me to look into new tires. The STS came with Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 235/50R17 95V on the back and I think 16 inch on the front. She wanted to replace them with the same tire, but she is not a racer (normally drives w/i 10 mph of the speed limit on long car trips) and she doesn’t drive it too much - 30K miles in 4 years of ownership. This STS replaced a Cadillac Seville (1995) she and my dad purchased.
I would suggest looking for a Falken( www.falkentire.com ) dealer. They likely offer a decent tire at about half the price of a Michelin with decent performance. Another decent choice is Cooper tires in the past.
You can put the P235/50/17 “H” rated (130 mph) tires all around and your Mom will be safe and happy as a clam. Normal people don’t need the expensive “V” rated (149 mph) tires. People who read Road & Track magazine THINK they need them…
Then why do automotive engineers have such tires on cars in the first place? There’s more to a tire than its speed rating. V,Z,W, etc. rated tires tend to be stickier, the provide superior traction. A lesser speed rated tire may not offer the same level of adhesion to the road. A quick glance at tirerack.com revealed that Bridgestone Potenza G 019 Grids can be had for $149-$157 a tire. They are all-season, V speed rated and have an unusually high 460 tread wear rating.
Let me introduce you the the Cadillac, Caddyman. Their intent is to be as much a sport sedan as any car built anywhere.
Have you met the CTS? While Cadillac says they want to contend with the 3-series BMW, the CTS is really more the size of the 5-series - and a whole lot less expensive. It handles as well and is as quick as the 5-series. The CTS is as fast as the 3-series, but doesn’t handle quite as well since it’s larger.
Have you met the CTS-V? It is faster and handles better than any BMW M-car. Ever. It’s the only sedan to lap Nurburgring in less than 8 minutes. With an automatic transmission. In fully automatic mode. Astonishing.
As an aside, I think that Captain Slow had such a good time in the CTS-V that he wet his pants. (sorry James…)
Don’t forget about mystique… 
Actually, I’m quite a fan of the CTS, though I’m sure you find it hard to believe. LoL
The owner of THIS CTS is 70 years old. I doubt she explores the limits of traction, especially in the rarefied environment over 100 miles per hour… I just pointed out the fact there ARE other less expensive options when it comes to replacing tires.
Wow, everyone has been very helpful and this information will be useful to me as I look to help mom buy new tires. I think I realized that I could’ve purchase similar, less expensive tires, but because the existing ones were high-performance ones I wanted to make sure I wasn’t giving her bad information. I saw Cooper and Falken at the store and online, but I didn’t know if there was a problem with them and I was unfamiliar with their high-performance line (I have Coopers on my 10 y.o. Honda). Thanks again.