Tires

What are the absolute best tires I can purchase for my 2007 Toyota Camry SE (4 cyl). Tire size is 215/55/17.

the more money you spend the better your tires will be.

Look at the reviews on tirerack.com. You can search tires by size or application and read reviews from the folks at tirerack and also people who bought the tires. It’s an excellent resource for just this sort of thing.

I’ve bought tires that were half the cost of their “better” counterparts that ended up being twice as good in terms of their longevity, handling, and comfort, so cost isn’t everything. Depends on what your needs are and what kinds of conditions you’ll do most of your driving in.

I second the tirerack.com recommendation.

Thank you very much. Never heard of tirerack.com. Is it new, and if not how long has this website been in operation.

“best” according to whom? And by what criteria? The question cannot be answered as if there is one answer.

Use the Tire Rack site for the reviews as suggested. Then you can judge according to those kinds of things that matter to you.

I remember ads for Tire Rack as far back as 1983. I bought 4 Yokohamas from them and I will not hesitate to do business with them again.

Ed B.

Their site says they’ve been around since '79 and started the website in '96. I’ve bought 4 sets of tires from them over the years and have never had a problem with the service, quality, or delivery.

Tirerack has been around for years and is an excellent resource for information like you seek. www.1010tires.com also has a great consumer rating system in place.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a higher price automatically means a better tire. More important than price is to get a tire that has the proper ratings and tread type for your car and your driving environment. A “better” tire for Florida will not be a “better” tire for Vermont. And “better” tire for a 'Vette will not be a “better” tire for a Camry.

Besides, in my experience Michelin charges a premium just for the name alone. There are less expensive tires that are just as good. Use the website consumer feedback ratings as the best indicator of a good tire for your car.

Exactly!

One person’s best tire might be the one that is the most quiet, even if it is mediocre in other respects.

Another person’s best tire might be one that is superb in dry road traction, even if it is downright dangerous on wintery surfaces.

Someone else’s best tire might be the one that has the lowest rolling resistance (translation: likely to yield the best gas mileage), even if it had poor traction on all types of roads.

And so on, and so on…

As was suggested, only the OP knows what qualities are most important to him, and by carefully reviewing all of the aspects of all of the tires that will fit his car, he can decide which tire is “the best”. Tire design is filled with compromises, and as a result, no one tire does everything better than other tires.

Tirerack is an incredibly valuable resource, even if you don’t buy your tires from them. However, as a satisfied customer of Tirerack, I can recommend them highly for purchasing your tires.

Did you actualy buy and use the set of the tires that you decided not to get. If you did not do so then how do you know that your half price tires were “twice as good”? Sounds like pure speculation to me.

Your in a mostly higher performance type tire in that size.

Do you need winter(ice/snow) capability? If yes I would recommend the Continental Extreme Contact DWS or Nokian WR G2’s.

If winter driving is limited or not needed happy hunting. Your choices widen up considerably.

I was replacing the stock tires that came with the cars, all of which came with “good” tires. Their cheaper replacements that I got from tirerack.com have been better in all four instances. Does that sound like pure speculation to you?

from tirerack’s website, i’d say the Tripletreads from goodyear would be a great buy