SUV Wheels

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
October 18, 2012

I bought this car with only 13000 miles on the original Michelins which were so mushy and squealy when driven quickly on back roads that I had to make a change or sell the car. I upgraded the wheels to 18x9's all around and put Toyo Proxes S/T's, which transformed the car into a sports car. The Toyos lasted 45000 miles and were incredible in all weather, including snow, but rode a bit rough and made a bit of noise. I put the Firestones on due to their Tire rack rating, as Toyo discontinued the tires I had. The Firestones handle wet driving as good as the Toyos, which is outstanding, are very good in the dry, with just a bit less crispness on turn in, but ride and noise are the best combination I've found yet in a tire which drives this well in all conditions. For a 5000 lb vehicle to drive this well takes a really great tire. I'm looking to buy a new Grand Cherokee Overland and I asked the dealer if they would swap out the OEM Goodyear Forteras for the Firestone S/T's - they laughed of course. You can't beat these for an all-weather SUV ... at any price

Initial Review, 46,000 Miles on Tires
October 11, 2012

Tires have performed very well on my suburban, lasting much longer than any other tire I've owned. Only the fronts are being replaced at 46,000 mi due to poor alignment, rears look like they'll last another 10,000 mi. SUV is 4 wheel drive, perhaps that accelerated the wear on the front, plus I never got around to rotating.

Initial Review, 2,500 Miles on Tires
July 21, 2012

In Cleveland Ohio we have a weather oddity called a "Snow Belt", one of only five places in the World.Half of the city can get 2 or 3 inch's of snow, while the other side in the snow can
easily reach 2 to 5 feet very fast!.Being a Master Volvo Technician, I drive a Volvo Cross
Country with all wheel drive.Sure, All Season's work good, but to put the car to use like it was made for driving through Sweden in the winter, Volvo recommend's Blizzak's on all four corners.With these tires on driving through deep, heavy snow with a layer of Ice under the snow,the SUV drives like there was no snow at all!I will wait to go shopping until we get a heavy snow, just when it builds up with no traffic you would not believe just how good you feel knowing you are using a very safe car and the best winter tires on the planet.

Initial Review, 51,000 Miles on Tires
August 19, 2012

I have just over 51,000 miles on the BFG Long Trail Tour tires at this point. I can certainly get another 10-15k miles out of them before they hit the wear bars, but will replace them before winter as the tread depth is getting to low for snow. Compared to the OEM Continental ContiTrac SUV they are amazing, but the BFG's are a touch louder. The Conti's were just barely adequate and were out of round from day 1, but did last 81k miles before the wet traction became unsafe. The BFG's, as expected, reduced fuel economy by 1-1.5 mpg, but the handling improved exponentially. Dry traction is very good, wet traction is amazing and surprisingly snow/ice traction is pretty dang good. I drove through 20"+ of snow with them and decided to go to 2WD just to have some fun on the un-plowed back roads in WV. I could not believe they handled the snow almost as well BFG All-Terrains. In hard packed snow I could use near full throttle to accelerate from a stand still before spinning all 4 tires. I go to work regardless of the weather so they were well tested and I was truly surprised.

I push these tires in turns very hard and they have never disappointed me no matter the road conditions.

I'll be getting another set later this year since nothing else available seems to be as good to me. If I could afford to though I would absolutely mount up some BFG AT's, but they are almost double the price for 17" wheels.

I run the tires at 41psi front and 39 rear. The ride a bit stiffer this way, but with air suspension it's negligible, but the handling improvement is amazing. I monitor tire pressure and tire wear very closely and have never worn a set of tires out in the center due to exceeding the vehicle manufacturers recommended air pressure, but before I ran higher pressure I did wear out the shoulders of the tire tread. I also only tend to rotate tires only 1 time during their life span, these were rotated at around 40k miles and that's it.

Initial Review, 18,000 Miles on Tires
July 09, 2012

First off, if you drive a front wheel drive econo-box, a truck, or an SUV than go buy a cheap A+S passenger tire. These are performance minded tires for performance vehicles, and are expected to be aggressive, loud and stiff. They deliver! The grip is awesome on both the track and the street (highway and in-town). My favorite aspect is the sidewall strength, it really stays strong in AGGRESSIVE cornering. Only tire I would rate higher would be Michelin Pilot Super Sports - which cost almost 2x as much. I have run them on my IS and M3.

Don't expect more than 20k out of the tires...

Initial Review, 24,000 Miles on Tires
July 03, 2012

Incredible traction in snow. As good or better than snow tires. Trade off was high noise level and a 2mpg drop in mileage. The Kia mechanic thought there was a wheel bearing going bad but it was only the tires. (only?) Replaced at 24k miles with something less aggressive (Michelin) but kept these in case I move back north. At 24k miles the Yokohamas still look brand new. If you don't mind the noise, these are great tires for SUV's or off road vehicles.

Initial Review, 52,000 Miles on Tires
July 02, 2012

Overall, I was pleased with the tire. I went with the A/T to get a bit more traction in winter. The Jeep Liberty traction overall isnt as good as my Pilot or Explorer was with Michelin Cross Terrain SUVs on it - but am thinking that was the vehicle size and shape more. I did love my Cross Terrains - 70k miles out of two sets - awesome winter traction in those vehicles. Overall the A/T is a cheaper buy and performs well. I rotated regularly and got 52k miles from them. Never got stuck in snow, although the Liberty slipped more in light snow coverage than I would like. Maybe a wheel-base to height issue more than tires though. Am buying them again so they cant be that bad!

Initial Review, 30,000 Miles on Tires
June 26, 2012

I have put these tires through the worst conditions a driver could possibly drive in, and they keep on trucking. I drove my Yukon through ice and white out conditions up Bluit pass in WA towing 3000 # trailer without 4 wheel drive and didn't have any problems.
I have 100's of dirt road and wash board miles on these tires and haven't haven't had any loss of traction.
I plowed through 2 feet of snow up mountain roads and these tires stick like cat claws. I have 30,000 miles on these tires and they have barely have any signs of ware. I will be switching all my vehicles over to Yokohama tires if the rest of the models perform as well as these.
My only complaint with these tires is they don't handle as well in the corners as the stock tires, but I also went one size taller than stock and its a SUV not a Porsche.

Initial Review, 80,000 Miles on Tires
June 18, 2012

I had to check my records to confirm these were still my original tires with over 80,000 miles on them! They have just reached their wear bars, and have delivered excellent traction in all seasons, including deep snow, except this past season where we only had a couple light snows here in Southern New England. I don't know why other reviewers are getting less miles on theirs, but it might be specific to the model of SUV. Possibly the all-wheel drive Escape has better wear characteristics?

Initial Review, 22,000 Miles on Tires
March 13, 2012

I am a pharmaceutical industry scientist and I write test reports for a living, so excuse me if try to depart from my normal dry and mundane style of writing.

I was hesitant to by A/Ts for my Honda Pilot, this SUV is principally front wheel drive and the rear wheel drive kicks in if the front axle traction slips. I don’t think I have ever seen any Pilot with these tires. Most SUV owners go with the LEs. I really had no good reason to buy A/Ts. I never go off roading, but it is nice to know I can if I want to. I bought these in Nov-2010. We had several blizzards that winter. I noticed that in deep snow and ice the AWD sign did not light up as often on my dashboard as it did with the factory tires, which means the front wheel drive mode was enough for traction even in the worst conditions. I drove my SUV to several places to familiarize myself with the limitations of these tires both in winter conditions and normal conditions. I have driven them to test their limits in all forms of surfaces from ice, snow, gravel, marsh, grass, uphill, downhill and highways.

These tires are by far the best tires I have ever owned. They grab the road like the devil himself. Cornering is exceptional and the overall stability is insane. Braking is on the dime.
I have 22,000 miles on this set and they look about 40% worn so I am guessing I will get a good 40K miles on them. I rotate and balance them every 4K miles without fail. Off course I have to say that the Honda Pilot is an exceptional vehicle and these tires do it justice.
I did go up one size and that may have caused my mileage to drop by about 1 to 3 miles per gallon, but then again higher traction has a price. I ask myself if I had to absolutely stop my vehicle in a hurry what would matter more?

Initial Review, 30000 Miles on Tires
February 08, 2012

This is my 4th vehicle that I've purchased these tires for. Ive been using this tire since the mid 90's! I swear by it. You won't get better high speed traction and cornering performance combined with wet/snow and ice traction. I currently have them on my 2006 mazda speed 6. These tires, combined with all wheel drive are unstopable! There is no need to mention dry / wet traction and cornering.... Top of the line. Whats great about these is the traction in the ice / snow! Iv'e driven through New England winter weather and New York Blizzards and ice storms, as long as the car is not bottoming out in the snow, I can make it, with minimal effort! Ive made it up steep icy inclines with no slippage, while 4 wheel SUV's slid down the hill. This tire is by far the best all season ultra high performance tire for under $200. While in the Army, I even had these tires shipped to Germany, while I was stationed there.

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
March 04, 2012

I downsized in diameter and width for these tires, and it is a good combination for the Audi Quattro. Tire Rack shipped quickly with the wheels I ordered.
Within a month of putting these tires on I got a chance to put them to the test. Calgary was hit with a sudden, disastrous snow storm at evening rush hour, with all city roads freezing over and not a sanding truck in sight. Unfortunately I had to go out in this---to pick up my wife who was stranded in her car with its all-seasons. Major arteries heading north out of the downtown core were closed due to wrecks and stalled vehicles, so I had to try a hill on a side street. An AWD SUV had slipped sideways about ¼ of the way up this hill so I had to wait until bystanders got it turned around. I was a little apprehensive as this hill is quite steep, and usually closed with any kind of ice or snow. It starts out fairly flat but then the grade increases sharply about halfway up. I gave the car some gas and....it climbed right up the hill without the traction control even coming on! I couldn't believe it. Felt a bit like the Audi commercial on the ski ramp (which I might almost believe now). Spent the next 2 hours winding through back alleys and dodging wrecked vehicles getting to my wife, and then back home. I immediately concluded that these were the best snow tires I have ever owned.
I followed this trial with a run through a deep snow drift about two weeks later in one of Calgary's unplowed industrial parks. I thought for sure I was going to hang right up in it, but the Audi clawed right through for almost a half block. I measured the snow at 20" deep afterwards!

Initial Review, 1000 Miles on Tires
January 12, 2010

This is the worst winter I've seen in my over 40 years of driving. After missing two days of work not being able to get out my driveway in my rear wheel drive car, it was necessary to buy a 4-wheel drive. I was happy that Kia was using Michelin as original equipment, but I have to say that I was worried that the all season highway tread on this tire would not do well in the record snowfall that we've had. I was very surprised at how well this tire does in the snow, even in 2-wheel drive. The tires just seem to dig in and go. It's a blast to accelerate up a snow-packed hill in 4-wheel drive with a lot of confidence. I don't drive like a nut, and I realize that any tire has its limits, but I don't see a situation in which I would drive that I wouldn't have confidence in this tire. Besides being happy with its performance in the snow, it is a smooth riding, very quiet tire. I'm very happy with the way this small SUV rides and handles and I find it hard to imagine that there is another tire that would be an improvement for the way I drive. I don't do any serious off-roading, but considering the way the tires have handled this weather, I wouldn't worry about using them for an occasional trip off the pavement. I've only driven 1,000 miles so I can't comment on tread wear, but I wanted to comment on its capabilities while it's still winter. As of this writing, I'd definitely buy this tire again.

Initial Review, 400 Miles on Tires
November 20, 2011

Fantastic snow tires! I've owned Blizzak tires in the past and I've owned Dunlop snow tires as well, but these new Blizzak tires were day and night better than any snow tire I've ever tried. Yesterday I drove through our first snow fall in Minnesota. We had ice and then a layer of snow above it. These tires gripped the ice as if it was dry. Everyone else was driving in the right lane where the lane was a little more clear and doing about 20 - while I was able to just coast at 60 in the left lane on the snow/ice... When we got off the highway there was deeper snow in the town - these tires just rips and grips the snow like nothing I've seen... honnestly really impressed. I was undecided between these or a performance snow because I didn't want a tire that was too "soft" but even in the dry they felt quite stable, not all squirly like my other set of blizzaks were. Deff will buy these again. Heck - I easily out accellerated suv's off the line in the snow... love it! I do have all wheel drive which helps... stoping grip is superior and cruising stability in the snow is just solid as it could be.