Tires

[GTRS Fiero]

Last year, the tires on my truck were replaced with new tires all around.  Now, those tires are getting down to the indicators.  I had run Michelins on my vehicles for maybe 20 years, but was talked into Toyos, due to the $900 price difference.  The last 2 sets of tires on this truck have been Toyo.

My impression of the ride quality is that they're generally about the same as the Michelin.  The Toyos feel a bit better over certain road irregularities, but otherwise very similar.  Where they differ, is that the Michelins appear to be in the road, where the Toyos appear to be on the road.  This is particularly evident when braking and on wet surfaces.  The Toyos do not seem to want to stop.  I can lock up the wheels far more readily with the Toyos than with the Michelins.  On wet surfaces, the Toyos are scary when making the turn exiting one highway and getting onto another.  In the dry, I can hold the turn at 70MPH with either tires; in the wet, the Michelins seem to hold the turn at both ends, but the Toyos lose the rear end, followed by the front, just under 60MPH.

Oddly, not all 4 of my Toyos are worn the same.  I do rotate every 3,000 miles, but the left rear and right front are worn more than the other 2.  So, I went tire testing.  I tested Continentals, Coopers, Firestones, Michelins, Pirellis, and Toyos.  All that was changed was the tires.  We didn't mess with the alignment.  Note that today is a rainy day, so optimal for tire testing.

The Continentals seem to be the poor man's tire.  They wander, are noisy, and don't ride smoothly.

The Coopers seemed fine, at first.  They were quiet and rode smoothly.  The braking and turning was adequate.  On the highway, they seemed to ride well, until I got to one particular section of road, where maybe the road was graded differently.  Anyway, the truck suddenly took a mind of its own.  I fought for control, then everything was OK.  I made 2 more passes through that section, with the same results, but only in that section.

The Firestones rode fine.  No complaints or issues.  I was trying to get them to hydroplane, but they were very nice, although perhaps a bit louder.  I think these are a soft tire, although they look nice on the truck.

The Michelins, by comparison, are a really nice tire, across the board.  After the Firestones, the Michelins looked low on air.

GoodYear tires were supposed to be next, but they didn't show up.  I waited around for a bit after the other tests, but they didn't show.

I don't like Pirellis.  Having said that, they weren't terrible.  I think perhaps they do hydroplane a bit more than they should.  I really think they gave me a tire that wasn't comparable to the others.  I did not feel secure in the turns at highway speeds.  After completing the planned run, I returned for the next set of tires.  I've run Viper and Pirelli tires on various sports cars, and the tires were fine.  Maybe they don't make good truck tires.

I had planned to test something other than the Toyos, but Toyos is what they had for me, so I gave them a run.  The new Toyos felt exactly like the used Toyos I already had.  I couldn't feel a difference between them.

I guess I'll either go with Firestone or Michelin.  I was disappointed that GoodYear didn't show up.

[TopNotch]

Have you tried Bridgestones? I think the now own, or are at least partners with, Firestone. And Firestone had a pretty bad reputation back in the old days before Bridgestone.

[GTRS Fiero]

No, I haven't tried Bridgestones.  I don't remember if Bridgestone owns Firestone or vise versa.

Firestone made a good tire.  The Explorers were using the wrong tire, and it was inflated incorrectly, if that's the bad rep to which you are referring.  At the time, I worked part time at a tire place that is now NTB.  That wasn't Firestone's fault.  I don't recall the details.  Bridgestone wasn't part of this program.  Honestly, I've never tried Bridgestone-branded tires.

I have other issues with Firestone, but some of their tires seem to be OK.

[GTRS Fiero]

I have been running a set of Toyos for about 60K miles.  I'm not to the wear indicator, yet, but probably only have about 5K of tread until I am.  The last 12K miles or so, the balance of the truck has changed.  The tires still feel as if they're on the road, rather than in the road, which I find disturbing, but the issue seems to be more exaggerated than previously.  When making turns, the front won't hold the turn.  It is tight, or plows.

I had an alignment, recently, but that didn't seem to change anything, although I did replace 2 ball joints at that time.

It feels as if the tire maybe has something internal wrong with it, like no sidewall support.  I experienced a similar thing with Yokohama tires, where the radial belts separated from the tires.  I used to go through Yokohamas every 15K miles or so, because of this.  The company finally decided it was less expensive to buy quality tires.

[Raydar]

I have Toyos on my truck and on my G6. I will probably never buy another set.

The G6 can spin the tires (235/45-18) on dry pavement, even with the traction control turned on. It's downright frightening in the rain. (The car is not that powerful.)
The tires are also a 320 treadwear, so should be fairly soft and sticky. They're rock hard, and will not "go away". They are also noisy.

The truck is a similar experience. Although empty pickups are not known for their rear wheel traction, I can also spin the rear wheel (open diff) without even trying. If I was into doing burnouts, I would absolutely kill it with this truck.
Driving in the rain is even more "eye opening". 

I don't seem to have any trouble stopping, however. Both vehicles have directional tires. Maybe I ought to mount them backwards.

I have Kumhos on both Fieros and used to have them on the G6. Although the G6 used to wear them out fairly quickly (260-280 treadwear) they stuck like glue.
I had Coopers on the back of the Fiero, once. (Didn't have my size in the Kumhos.) They worked fine until one day when I drove it to work in the winter. Pulled out of the parking garage and instantly went sideways. They had very poor cold traction. They also didn't last that long.   
 

[GTRS Fiero]

Well, at least someone else has a similar experience to mine.  Usually, I feel like the odd man out.

[GTRS Fiero]

This week, I am testing Nitto tires.   This is a new brand for me.  So far, about 500 miles on them.  They look good, but the wear may not be that great.  I'm going to have my truck re-aligned, because it feels as if the truck wanders a bit.  No pulling, but constant adjustments must be made.

My main impression is that these tires do not hook up well.  No grip on acceleration or braking, which makes me worry about steering.  Oddly, it seems to corner well.