Vehicle Suspension

Initial Review, 2,500 Miles on Tires
March 02, 2010

This is more a review of these tires on my specific car.



Great in the snow, absolutely great. The more snow the better, or so it seems. Braking is easily better than all-seasons, as is handling and acceleration. Wet snow is noticable more difficult to maintain control, however. Now for the bad news, seemingly terrible in the slush. Not sure if it is my car or the tires, but the car gets pushed around very easily by even small amounts of slush. I tend to believe it has more to do with my cars suspension, weight, and width to wheelbase ratio than the tires though. Easier to drive through 6 inches of snow than 1 inch of slush. Fun to have a car willing to rotate on dry roads, but not so much on wet winter slush.



Dry roads are mixed, as these things like to grab every little pebble and sand grain the road commission dumps on Michigan. Slip and control is well within tolerance though, and really only becomes an issue in spirited driving. It takes very little to spin the inside wheel accelerating through a tight corner if there is any sand, debris. Clean roads are great in the dry though. Some tire wandering above 65 mph, although determined mostly by road surface. Tires seem to move and stretch a noticable amount more above freezing temperatures, although this is only apparent driving back to back temperature differences.



Very quiet tire, almost as quiet as the non-OEM all-seasons that I had on before. (Coopers?) Much quieter than my father and bro-in-laws Blizzak Revo's. Stock wheels are 17", these are on 16", I notice more rebounding motion from the tires than stock, although small imperfections are slightly smoothed over versus stock. In retrospect, I should have gone with 17" as the extra sidewall can be felt in hard acceleration. Not sure on tread-wear yet.



In summary on my Mazda 6s, great on the snow, bad in slush, matches wet(rain) A/S performance, dependable dry weather performance and a very quiet ride for snow tires.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
March 02, 2013

Convinced 87 year old mother to replace 7 year old original Continental tires with 1/2 remaining tread and 35k miles with new ones as they were getting a little hard. She was happy with the Continentals so I read all the tests on the new ProEco's and they finished first in the tests. Competitively priced with all the leading sellers with better performance. Know full well these will be the last tires she will ever need on this car. She was immediately impressed with the handling and quiet of the car and new tires. I took it out in 24F crappy weather with slush and rain to see how good they were going to be. Awesome!! They are much superior to the original design in wet, slushy and dry. Light snow and ice up and down driveways with traction control is a breeze. I've been driving this car in dry, wet and light snow for the last two weeks and can find no fault with them. Modern cars with ABS and traction control with 17" alloy wheels will love these tires. Handling in the extreme under bad weather is quite amazing for a Green tire with 80k tire wear. I have autocrossed cars for 30 years so pretty much know how to road test tires for grip and steering feel in both wet and dry. These tires have it all for the average motorist at a fair price. I totally concur with Tirerack's tests. Especially when the cruise control is on at 70mph on the highway the ride is great and they are totally quiet with an original factory suspension. These are great tires for NW Ohio where the snow rarely gets over 3" deep.

Initial Review, 42,000 Miles on Tires
March 14, 2013

Our Touareg came with 255/60-17 tires from Dunlop. They were throw-aways well before 20K miles. The corners wore off quickly and they became very noisy. This is with the tires inflated to their maximum suggested cold pressure. The replacements were the same size, but from Goodyear. They, too wore the corners off in about 20K to 25K miles and became noisy. Again tire pressure was maintained at the top end of the cold pressure range. The third set was yet another manufacturer and the same size. Same story.

So, for tire set #4, I went to the alternate size 235/65-17 and bought the Generals. It was my guess that the wear problem was suspension related relative to the tire width. These narrower profile tires were better in snow, wet and hard pack/ice. They handled just fine on a 5000 pound truck, but not quite as responsive as the wider, lower profile tire. They've been more than acceptable for towing (5000# fully loaded car trailer) and fine for City/Highway driving. Further, they've been far more comfortable and quiet throughout the 40+K miles so far.

We've gotten more than twice the milage out of these Generals than we got out of any of the previous tires. The product is excellent, but the change in tire profile is what has saved these tires. They aren't as wide and haven't sheered off the corners at all. Treadwear across the entire face is very uniform.

So, if you own a Touareg and are fed up with tire wear, noise and harsh ride, consider going to the taller, narrower profile. There's not much downside and the improvement is very good. Further, the speedometer is spot-on accurate with these tires compared to the original lower profiles. I gave the Altimax Generals mostly 9s with a couple of 8s and 10s. These have by far been the best tires yet in about 120K miles of driving. They probably will see us through the Summer and Fall, but will be replaced before next Winter.

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
March 06, 2013

The only reason I would possibly buy these again is because I believe the performance is worth the extra money on the Blizzaks. These tires, though, are impressive in their own right as they have worn EXTREMELY well. I have had these exact tires mounted on a '95 //M3 as well as this '98 323 for most of the use. Believe it or not, the difference in suspension setups still provided for similar commentary:
These tires are quite noisy (expected with winter tires) but corner extremely well. They ride quite harshly as compared to a more pricey Blizzak or Vatiiva, but for the extended wear I'll take it! All in all, I still have about 6/32 of tread after literally 6 seasons of use. This is with SPIRITED driving style. The tires have shown some rot along the sidewalls, so it is now time to replace. Overall I am happy with these considering the money spent. If you have some more cash to lay down, I would recommend some Blizzaks. Beware more frequent replacement however.

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
March 15, 2013

These were great tires. Mine wore out quickly but this was not unexpected as I had the suspension setup on the car with a -1 degree camber on the rear and -.5 degree negative on the front. Caster and toe were set to factory Honda specs. These tires gave excellent dry traction and cornering stability as they were used on a sporty Civic that had been lowered 2 inches and had a fully adjustable autocross suspension setup. I am considering purchasing these tires for my 2012 Civic Si that is fully stock and has not been modified in any way just to see how many more miles I can get out of them. These are a great set of All Season tires for spirited driving or for those wanting the flexibility of an All Season but with the performance of a Max Performance Summer Tire. These Pilot Sport A/S Plus' were used in Northern Arkansas for the majority of their life and were purchased over a summer tire due to the inclement weather conditions that Arkansas receives during the winter months. Obviously I wouldn't recommend venturing out into a blizzard with these tires but they fared will on freshly snowed roads and over a few day old black ice spots along the highways. Spring and Summer times rainy and dry days are what these tires were meant for and they are made to be driven hot!

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
March 16, 2013

I purchased these as a year round alternative for my Saab. These tires are towards the bottom end price-wise so don't expect otherwise. They performed very well in all areas, except for winter, which was okay. Dry and even wet conditions they were better than I expected. This vehicle has had all new suspension installed. The tires seemed to harden up in the cold temps. Getting that initial "bite" to start off is where these lacked. I do have a manual transmission so it is tricky to get traction at times. I have had snow tires and know that all seasons will never be the best. With that said, they tracked okay in the snow once moving. There are better options out there for all season winter use. But after 10k, these tires still have 7/32" tread depth and should last me 40-50k.
They ride quietly and feel very solid, yet smooth. The steering response was sharp. Overall satisfied with these tires.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
November 03, 2010

Honestly, I think most of the reviews in here are either bias or people don’t bother and put 10 in every category in the survey. Hence the ratings are skewed to the positive side. I can't agree with most of the folks who surveyed here about the noise level and handling. It bothers the heck out of me when driving on highway. That "woooo & wannng " noises are very irritating. Trust me, it’s not the road. I have tried on both smooth tarmac and concrete roads. I had to turn up the radio to compensate for it.

Handling in the DRY is mediocre at its best. I think Continental should rename it to OWS instead (Only Wet & Snow). I am not very confident in turning the car at high speed when exiting off the ramp---the car feels like it is not responding to where I want it to point. I have set the suspension to Sport 2, so I am pretty sure it’s the tires’ problem.

I have nothing bad to say about the tire in wet and snow. Snow is where this tire shines. During the blizzard in the beginning of the year here in DC, this tire combined with the 4matic works like a snowmobile. I was passing most SUVs all day long. The only time I was stuck was when the car had no more clearance which was about 6-7 inches of snow.

I am also very happy with the warranty with Continental. Two months after the installation of the tires, the right front had 2 bubbles. I immediately contacted TireRack and asked for a replacement. Be aware that the manufacture only warrants the first 2/32” of usage. I believe I still had 10/32” (11/32” is new) at that point so I was good. The only thing I have to pay is the shipping back to TireRack.

Overall, I am happy with the tire, but don’t expect to use these tires to sprint through the slalom in the dry as they won’t be able to catch up your demand. Also, if you can ignore the road noise, I would say go for it.

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
March 08, 2013

I have driven 25,000 miles on these OEM tires. They seem to be wearing pretty well and I should get another 20,000 miles at least. They handle well on dry pavement without too much noise. Some road noise is noted on grooved pavement. Ride is smooth, although the CTS has a pretty firm suspension with the Performance package, so it is a little hard to tell. Wet handling has been good, no white knuckle moments noted. We have had a couple of snows this winter and I have been pleasantly surprised by how well the tires have done on packed snow/ice. I have not driven in deep snow very much due to the low ground clearance of the CTS. AWD certainly helps the traction in this car. Stability at high speeds (85+) is good. I run them inflated to 36 psi all around.

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
March 06, 2013

These tires replaced some terrible Michelin all-seasons which made the hatchback Mercedes basically a hockey puck in the ice/snow. The LM-60 tires are absolutely the best rubber I've found, hands down, for winter sport tires. This opinion is compared to Dunlop Wintersport M3, D3, Blizzak WS-60, and Nokian Vatiiva. I have used all of these other tires extensively on multiple cars with multiple driving styles, and I would now go with the Blizzak marque in general for ALL winter vehicles from here on out.
Cons- winter tires are always noisier, and the Blizzaks fit the mold. Mileage suffers a bit, and wear is accelerated with the softer rubber. Driving with an average style can prolong life and get you hopefully 4-5 seasons out of them. Start getting some G's on your turns frequently, and you may only get a couple seasons at best. These tires will not wear well on cars with suspension work / increased cambers. Beware.

Initial Review, 38,000 Miles on Tires
February 21, 2013

Came standard on my King Ranch - very familiar with Pirelli, we have Pirelli tires on 3 fine German automobiles, including their respective sets of winter tires. These are quiet and smooth, even at highway speeds. Handling is superb in the dry and still pretty good in the wet. Sure they spin now and again when you pull away from a standstill in the wet, but it's a truck, with a suspension that has to cover a pretty wide range of loads. They do a pretty good job of handling everything from dry pavement to ice and snow, winter tires would be better in ice and snow, performance tire better on dry pavement, but they're a pretty good compromise, performing well across the spectrum. I'm used to changing my P Zeros at 10 to 15,000 miles, so I'm delighted these are only partially worn at 38,000 miles. They're coming on for 4 years old, I might need to replace them before they wear much more, mainly because of the rubber aging and hardening. I'm a big believer in sticking with the brand that the OEM fitted, so I'll replace them with the same.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
March 25, 2011

I purchased this tire to replace a pair of worn Blizzaks on my daily driven MR2. The tires were mounted on the stock rims on a car with a refreshed and slightly upgraded suspension setup (stock height), all parts replaced and aligned. Even though the stock tire size is 185/60/14, I went to the 195/60 in hopes of getting a bit more comfort, but still great traction, with this car that I DD (highway) and still hit up the backroads with on the weekends.

Based on reviews and ratings (price wasn't bad either), I opted for these Bridgestones. I haven't really done too much serious driving, but I can say that the tires are much quieter than the old Blizzaks and just as much so as the 215/45/16 Hankook RS2s (great tire, but not much creature comforts) I had last summer. Also, these Bridgestones are predictable and direct with inputs. On the highway they ride smooth, as a new tire should but, again, they are nice and quiet.

Just this evening, I took them down one of my favorite stretches of backroads, and for a tire so comfortable, they just blew me away! Very direct, predictable, and firm. I didn't feel any squirm or "mushiness" from the front to the back, even through some interesting set of turns. They catered amazingly to my mid-engined coupe's unique handling characteristics, and had me having to throttle down a bit because of how fast I was going with the car still feeling so secured to the road... Frankly I was shocked! I look forward to making these tires last, all while getting the best use out of them. I hope to report back in the future!



A note about a previous review; perspectively good tires don't make your car lose control, but a poor alignment might. Proper alignment is important when judging how well a tire performs. Side note, I was surprised at the number of Porsche owners who commented on how well these tires performed for them, certainly in the pursuit of comfort from day to day, and performance from weekend to weekend.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
February 20, 2013

This is a very good tire I must say. I have used Kumho before on track cars, and I have to say for a street tire this is a very descend and affordable tire. They seem to be wearing very even and fair (with a good alignment of course). I admit, the tire is slightly noisier, but you can't really tell. I do appreciate the cornering characteristics on the car, the steering is very responsive, and even when loading the tires heavily, the tires allow for good steering control, and the tires still act the way you want them too. In one instance I had to make a quick dodge to the left, because a car decided to change lanes without looking. When loading the front tires and reacting with the steering, the car was able to maneuver quickly and safely, the interesting part is the tires allow you to control the car well, and in turn translate this reaction quickly to the road. I have tested tires in the past, when the car did not produce enough grip, and when you quickly turned the wheel to one side and back, it was almost just as the suspension reacted but the tires really didn't. these guys make sure your very movement is in fact translated to the road, and that is something I can appreciate. I think they are great all season tires, I have not had too much experience in the wet with them, but they hold themselves well during light rain. The Toyota Steering is very smooth, but also very loose, these tires seem to cope with that well, so you they give you good confidence when it comes to controlling the car. I am happy with the purchase.

Initial Review, 50,000 Miles on Tires
February 16, 2013

Great tire! Longest lasting tires ever purchased. Because of the larger rims/sport suspension on my fx, was looking for a very quiet & smooth riding tire. This particular tire delivers and durability was a plus. Did not seriously test in winter conditions though. Will definitely stick with this brand, well worth the premium price.

Initial Review, 3,500 Miles on Tires
February 24, 2013

Excellent street-able mud tire, good wear if you keep them rotated and monitor pressure. They cut through deep snow like they are heated. Good self-cleaning characteristics in deep mud, like most other tires, they cake up in deep/wet heavy clay.

Note regarding other reviews: Ignore idiots that can't spell, type in all CAPS and put "C" load range tires on 3/4 & 1 ton pickups. Consider the source.

I've had multiple sets of BFG M/T on vehicles and they've never let me down. If you get stuck with these you either don't know how to drive, or were doing something stupid. If you're experiencing poor wear (and are marginally smart enough to run appropriate pressure and rotate frequently), your junk vehicle probably needs suspension work. If you like Chevy's and Goodyear M/Ts... well, I can't help you, cause you can't fix stupid.

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
February 13, 2013

I've had these tires on my car for the past 2.5 yrs and 20k miles. For the first 5k miles, they were remarkable- dead quiet, smooth, sticky, responsive. After that, there was a precipitous decline. They developed this pesky vibration which multiple RoadForce balances, alignments and rotations never cured. They then became noisier and developed this strange high-pitched hum. I thought my wheel bearings or suspension was at fault first, but turns out they all checked out fine. They also need to sufficiently warm up for a few miles regardless of temperature in the morning to get the flat spots out. Despite these issues, they are wearing okay and have 7/32 left all around. These tires were pretty cheap when I bought them so I guess you get what you pay for.