Car Tire Store

Initial Review, 27,000 Miles on Tires
April 23, 2012

This Galant VR-4 has Full-time AWD & AWS. Check tire pressure weekly. Rotate front-to-back around every 7000 miles. Feedback from steering wheel and suspension is very sensitive so I know when something needs attention. I keep it aligned. The AWD on this car is hard on tires. These tires are lasting longer than the Falken ZE512's and ZE912's. When you consider that I live in Oklahoma, tire wear is amazing. Quieter and better ride than Yokohama Avid H4s. Yokohama took all the complaints about previous Avid's and tried to overcome those problems with this tire. Handles as good as Falken's. Handling test has consisted of coasting at 45-55mph into turns rated for 25mph--backs people off my rear bumper.


I bought these about three months after manufacturing month (3 week of May 2010). Date code on sidewall was interesting because on one side it has a raised, rubber bar-code. Manufacture warranty is ok. I think Yokohama did a good job. I checked the Yokohama site and they have a rating for these tires that closely follows my rating. (http://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/detail/avid_envigor). I bought them for $83/each. I see they are listed for $82 on 2012APR23. If I was certain that tires don't go bad while just sitting around (http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/05/tire-aging-when-to-buying-new-car-tires-based-on-age.html or http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=138), I would buy another set and just store them in the garage. I would definitely recommend these.

Initial Review, 50,000 Miles on Tires
April 12, 2012

This tire was recommended by the salesman at the store I purchased them from. He really made them sound awesome. The tire was not a good choice for my vehicle, but was a good sale commission for him. Over the life of these tires, first thing I noticed was a drastic drop in fuel efficiency. Second thing was noise. Third was how quickly the tread lost depth. For my car, the tires were so loud, that after a qualified mechanic has replaced a wheel bearing, the test drove the car, then checked all the other wheel bearings. The noise of the tires was much like the noise of a bad wheel bearing. I didn't want to be disappointed, however I was. I have replaced them with the Yokohama AVID ENVigor. Where have they been all my life!!

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
March 12, 2012

These are th OEM tires that came with the car. At first I was suspicious of the brand as being really cheap, especially since it looks like thet misspelled Hancock, however they work great. The only problem is when I got a flat as a result of hitting the curb (due to bad driving lesson) and needed a new tire right away. This tire is only carried by VW and Tire Rack, so you can just pull into a tire store and get a replacement. Thank --- for tire rack!

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
March 20, 2012

I originally bought a used set of slightly undersized Star Specs for my tC because they were convenient. I was a Bridgestone RE-11 fan. Going from 15" wheels on my old car to 17's on the tC was a shocker-RE-11's were around $50 more a tire!
With a minimal modifications, the car was competitive. When the car was replated with another tC, I bought a new set.
The only downside I had was extreme heat - a regional autocross event in 90+ degree heat. We were spraying the tires with wather between the runs. On the other hand, they excel in the cooler temps when other tires may fall off.
I have Dunlop to thank for my Regional Class Champ jacket last year. Thanks to Dunlop, I beat a Subaru 2.5 RS in the rain. Twice.
From March to October, I also daily drive this car. Good road manners. Reasonable road noise. When I store the tires over the winter, they have to be out of the house, as they smell terrible. Small price to pay for top quality tires at an affordable price!

Initial Review, 600 Miles on Tires
December 27, 2011

I had been looking at purchasing these tires for several months, I was encouraged by the design and the treadwear #'s. Thus far I am completely satisfied. I purchased 4 new tires and had them installed at a local tire store. They are definitely not as soft as the Goodyear LS2 series that were stock with my Kia Forte, but they handle slightly better, with cornering feeling much smoother. The ride quality is more like a higher profile tire then I expected. Ride noise is probably slightly better then the Goodyear Tires when they were new. I have one complaint... These tires handle horribly when the tire pressure is low. I had these at 32psi and the car felt sluggish and cornered poorly. Yet at 35psi which was recommended by the installer they are champs, Even on wet surfaces. I have yet to drive thru Deep snow. I will update this review when I have more miles on the car and have actually been thru a winter storm.

Initial Review, 2500 Miles on Tires
January 21, 2012

We finally had snow this winter in New Castle County, Delaware and I just got home from going to the grocery store in the snow. These tires are wonderful in the snow and slush - the car never slipped and I never spun the tires. They are much better in snow and slush than the OEM Continental's that came on the car. They are better than the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50's I had on my last car. The General Altimax Artic's are very impressive while driving in snow and slush - the the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50's were never this good.
The General Altimax Artic's are noisy on dry pavement because they are studded.

Initial Review, 2000 Miles on Tires
December 29, 2010

After more than 10 years driving a Porsche Boxster with Dry Weather Only Performance Tires (PZero, Michelin PS2's, Bridgestone Potenza S02, S03, and 050 Pole Positions in 18 and 19" sizes) in the West Coast and Southwest I decided to move to Chicago. Having spent the first 25 years of my life here, I knew what I was getting into in terms of driving conditions in the winter, in fact when I received my drivers license, I took the test in the snow in a rear wheel drive manual in January here. My options: 1) Sell Boxster and get something with All Wheel Drive, 2) Buy second car and store Boxster, 3) Buy 2nd set of wheels with dedicated winter tires. I went for the 3rd option and purchased the WinterContact 810S tires from Continental on a set of 17" Stock Porsche Wheels.



I waited until after Thanksgiving to do the changeover and spent a good number of days driving in the very cold and periodically wet weather with the Bridgestone 050 Potenzas Pole Positions on 19" Carrera S Wheels. VERY SCARY! Seriously, when it was colder than 35°F, I elected to take a cab rather than driving as it just was not worth the risk. After doing the swap (I suggest buying a 4-way wrench and floor jack), I am completely blown away, the car is quiet, comfortable, and well mannered on dry (cold) roads and superior on wet and snowy roads conditions. I can pull into and out of parking spots layered in 6 inches of snow/slush, cruise side streets, and alleys, and have no problem ascending or descending the 15° ramp that goes in and out of my building garage. I strongly recommend this tire over any 4 season option! Most tire shops will swap and store your other wheels for a minimal price twice a year, in my case I stick them in my storage unit. It takes about 30-45 minutes to do the complete changeover including bagging up the other wheels (to keep me clean). Best tire purchase I have ever made! I am only limited by the height of the front spoiler!

Initial Review, 200 Miles on Tires
February 25, 2011

bought these tires throgh tirerack and had them installed in PA after driving through a 4 hour heavy snow storm. Wish I had them coming INTO the storm instead of after but the tires are definately quieter than the goodyear eagle rsa which were crap for noise adn treadwear. I research the reviews of these tires here on tirerack and called my local tire store to do comparisons and so far within the first 2 hours of driving through light snow and ice, the car didn't hydroplane or slip once. I have had yokohama's before adn i believe these will be great for treadwear. Very happy with my purchase especially at this price.

Initial Review, 50 Miles on Tires
December 13, 2011

I only had these tires a week, replaced one wheel due to vibration thinking that was the problem then replaced wheel and tire which did not correct the vibration issue either, at slow speeds you could feel the car bouncing as the tires rolled out of round. Upon further inspection by my local tire store they found one tire had a bulge forming near the bead. Put my factory wheels and tires back on ride was fine.
Sent all four back under the 60 day ride guarantee. Awaiting a replacement set of Continentals to arrive, hopefully they will be better then these DWS I had.

Initial Review, 3000 Miles on Tires
November 19, 2011

First off I have to give major "kudos" to The Tire Rack. Because of the age and type of car I own, finding a tire store who carries the correct passenger car tire my car specifies was impossible. No major outlet offers them and I was not about to install a "performance" or SUV tire on this car, which is all they offer in this size. At the time I bought these The Tire Rack offered six different choices, and in stock. Service - great. The tires are sitting in my driveway less than 24 hours after ordering, with standard freight.

I picked these and I thought later I may have made a mistake because of the somewhat low price and also I had never heard of this brand, but so far I could not be happier with them. They changed the character of my car. It now rides quiet like it should and has great control in dry and wet conditions, and still dampens road noise. You will not remember every tar strip between Chicago and New York. At this time my opinion is this is about the best tire I have owned. I have not driven through a "Great Lakes" winter yet. I'll post another review to cover that next April.

Also the recommended installer, who happened to be a local Firestone store who did not have a suitable tire to offer, offered very good service.

Initial Review, 3000 Miles on Tires
November 29, 2011

Bought these to replace Yoko AVS that had been on the car for many years (I had stored car for several years). I only put a few thousand miles a year on the 750il, so I wanted to trend towards the less expensive side in replacing the tires. Overall I have been very happy with the performance of the Contis. Minimal road noise, fairly crisp handling, and good wet traction. I wouldnt call them cutting-edge performance (in the past i have run the car with Mich Pilots that probably offered a bit sharper turn-in, but werent great in the wet and rode more harshly), but they perform perfectly well for aggressive street driving. Keep in mind the 750 weighs in at over 4300, so a tire needs to be beefy to not feel mushy on this beast. I occasionally run the 750 at some pretty good rates of speed on a nice deserted stretch of highway we have around here, and with the Contis the car has felt very stable well into the triple digits. Overall, i would definitely recommend the tire, and would buy them again. Not sure about tire life as they are new, but to me longevity isnt important given my low annual miles i put on the car.