Need expert advice

[vbbuilt01]

I've been on this forum for a while now and noticed a couple of you guys have a pretty good background in tires and performance. I need to make a decision.

My current tires are the OEM Goodyear Eagle RS-A, 235/60-18. They have 30K miles on 'em and are starting to show wear. Dealership scored them in the yellow category last week. I can't complain about the Eagle's but I've been exploring TireRack.com and the surveys for that tire aren't encouraging. So, I'll try something else.

I'm interested in going up to 20", new rims and tires. I've no interest in having both all-season and winter tires, as I live in a condo and have no place to store tires.

Northern VA gets a fair amount of snow, occasionally. So the new tires have to be able to handle that when needed.

I want to maintain the same level of performance and handling that I currently get with my stock tires.

So, what are the recommendations? If I go up to 20", what are the pitfalls? Advantages? If my heart is set on 20", what are the things that I should look for? Is there such a thing as a tire "too big" for the CX-7?

I know I could've done a search, but my questions are so many, that I'd literally have to digest dozens of forum posts and I simply don't have the time.

Thanks, Vince.

[CX-7owner]

Not as it seems, people are putting 22's on their CX-7's with no problems, but as for an all seasons, I would get the Kuhmo Ecsta STX (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+STX) or
Parada Spec-X (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=Parada+Spec-X)

And of course if you don't need snow capability's at all the best tire hands down for me would be the Continenal CrossContact Ultra High Performance (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=CrossContact+UHP).

Nearly any thing is better than the OEM tires.

The only real pitfalls are if you get a set up that weighs more, it will slow the CX-7 down, and more rolling mass.

But I wouldn't even worry about that.

[CX-7owner]

A comparo with the Michelin 4X4 And the Pirelli's (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/TireTestServlet?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=CrossContact+UHP)

Oh yeah and just to add, you will notice the wheels following the road more, and twitchier steering, increased road noise, and a harder ride.

[mikey1981]

The RDX has michellin Pilots...alot less road noise and seem stickier than the RS-A's, from what I remember

[CX-7owner]

Those are overpriced for what they offer, which is poor wear and poor performance, at 225 dollars? Move on to a different tire, they have very poor ratings.

[mikey1981]

well since they were stock, i didnt pay for them. but so far for stocks, better than the R-SA's, which is fine with me

[mikey1981]

on consumer reports (just checked), michellins pilots (v rated) MXM4 are their #1 all weather tire...thats whats on my car

id be open to viewing the information you've looked at regarding wear and poor performance, perhaps maybe ill change once needed

[DeadGeneration]

In my expert opinion, it really doesn't matter. Tires are pretty much all the same from brand to brand. I say price matters more than the reviews (opinions of who the hell knows who)

[mikey1981]

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(copied from consumer...just the ranks the little circles and graphics didnt work)

Cars


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Cars > Tires > Performance all-season tires 11/06




In this report
· Overview
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· Ratings
· Types
· How to choose
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Get advice, give advice on car buying, car care, and tires.



November 2006
Ratings Performance all-season tires

Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S Michelin Pilot HX MXM4


Within types, in performance order.
indicates Quick Picks.
Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor
Brand & model Overall score Three-season driving Winter driving Comfort

V-Rated

Michelin Pilot HX MXM4
85.
Yokohama Avid V4s
83.
Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S
80.
Continental ContiProContact
79.
Falken Ziex ZE 512
76.
Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus
74.
Bridgestone Potenza RE950
74.
BFGoodrich Traction T/A
73.
Hankook Ventus V4 ES H105
65.
Sumitomo HTR+
63.
Pirelli P6 Four Seasons
55.
Continental ContiExtremeContact
50.
Cooper Lifeliner Touring SLE
50.
Available at Sam's Club. Available at Sears. Cooper Lifeliner Touring SLE H and V rated models are discontinued.



Guide to the Ratings

Overall score emphasizes safety-related tests, including braking, handling, and resistance to hydroplaning. We scored performance on snow and ice more heavily for winter tires. Scores and ratings are held to a comparative standard within a tire category. For instance, H speed rated, V speed rated, and performance winter tire ratings in this report are not comparable to one another or to previously tested tires. Dry braking was from 60 mph, and wet braking was from 40 mph with the antilock brake system engaged. Handling includes how well the tires gripped in an avoidance maneuver involving a swerve into the left lane and back into the right lane; dry and wet cornering grip; and subjective steering feel. Hydroplaning reflects how quickly we could drive through standing water before the tires begin to lose contact with the pavement. Rolling resistance, measured on a dynamometer, is a factor in fuel economy. (We didn’t test the winter tires for rolling resistance and tread wear.) Snow traction reflects the distance our test car needed to accelerate from 5 to 20 mph on moderately packed snow. We tested ice braking on a skating rink from 10 mph with the ABS disengaged. Ride and noise reflect our onroad judgments. Price is retail we paid in late 2005. Performance all-season tires either don’t have a tread-wear warranty or it ranges between 30,000 to 80,000 miles. Tread life is the indicator of wear potential from CR’s 16,000-mile mixed-driving test and is not part of the overall score.








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[mikey1981]

i know alotta people dont necessarily agree with consumer reports on some things, but as a regular consumer and not a tire expert, ill bank my money on their recommendations to be more correct than incorrect

[mikey1981]

also, im not trying in any way to push a "mine is better than yours" type thing here. i was just trying to help vince with his tire decision and posting my experience. i had no idea how much the michellins are and/or how they rated prior to looking on consumer.

[CX-7owner]

Well it sure seems like it, you lack creditability though. Those Michelin's are over 225, for the price of the General Grabber UHP, at 130, they are the all around better choice not just because of price but because they are better performers. And Thousands of Consumer reviews, people who have had the tires much longer than these people. Compared to cr is much better than anything they have to say.

PS they know jackshit about tires.

[Killer]

Those are overpriced for what they offer, which is poor wear and poor performance, at 225 dollars? Move on to a different tire, they have very poor ratings.

actually they rate right up with the best...


http://www.safercar.gov/tires/pages/Tires2.cfm

but to your defense so does the General


http://www.safercar.gov/tires/pages/Tires2.cfm

[CX-7owner]

Michelin TireRack Ratings. (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+HX+MXM4)
For Two Hundred dollars you can get a much better tire, for one hundred twenty five dollars you can. They might be a good tire, but not at this price point.
General TireRack Ratings (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Grabber+UHP)

[Killer]

valid point. :)

[vbbuilt01]

Hey guys, thanks for all of your responses! This weekend, I start reading up about this and asking questions. Sorry if I ramble on in this post, but I've received so much info, I'm basically going to talk my way to a conclusion here, so please bear with me!

Thru tirerack.com, found a really good tire store in Leesburg, Tire Shop and they're a bigger operation than Merchant's. Talked to a guy named Rusty, who said he's been in tires for over 30 years.

Basically, he said I could go up to 20", but with the make/model taken into consideration, that larger size tire only comes with performance grades. He said the trade-off is that for the CX-7 and 20" rims/tires, they don't do well in snow. With the current 235/60-18, Eagle RS-A, 102H, that combination stock rim and Eagle RS-A tires gives a good balance between performance and traction. The trade-off is that performance tires are a softer grade of rubber, so tires don't last nearly as long as those found on passenger cars. The Eagle RS-A is considered a performance tire and naturally will wear out sooner. Which seems to make sense, since my stock tires at 30K miles, are showing tread loss. Rusty said I had another 5K miles left and in they're current condition, won't do well in snow. Winter weather is still a couple months away, so I have time.

So, he said I had a choice. If I go up to 20", I'd have to have two sets of tires. The original stock rims outfitted with standard 235/60-18 tires for winter and another set in the 20" range for the other seasons. I told him that's not an option for me, as I live in a condo and have no place to store 4 tires/rims.

So, he told me, that my really only choice is to stick with 18". Perhaps replace the stock rims with something newer and flashier, etc. But, there are a lot more choices in tires, such as the all-season tires that do well in snow and still have a performance edge.

Made sense to me, but then tirerack.com has a slightly different angle. In answering the questions on the tirerack.com automated adviser, I specified 20", which returned a result of 245/45-20 for the CX-7. Next, it asked me if I would be driving in snow. I answered yes so Tirerack.com came up with 4 choices:

Kumho ECSTA ASX, 245/45 ZR20 99W for $167

Avon Tech M550 A/S, 245/45 ZR20 99W for $158

Goodyear Eagle RS-A, 245/45 VR20, 99v for $143 and 99Y for $209.

So these results from tirerack.com seem to contradict Rusty's advice. I read the reviews for each tire. Those reviews are all over the place! Some raved about each tire and some had horror stories. So, I'm a bit confused, as I don't know which way to go. I'm going to take the results of tirerack's analysis to Rusty and see what he says.

So, what do y'all think? If I go up to 20" rims and go with the Eagle 245/45 VR20, will I be ok? or Should I stick with the 18".

Vince.

All of that seems to agree with what I've found on Tirerack.com

[CX-7owner]

Please for the love of god don't go back to the stock OEM tires, pick the Kumho. The reviews speak for themselves, the Kumho is a great tire for the money. The reason why I'm sticking/Would is because I don't want huge rims, and I wanted to be able to go much wider without risking anything, or heavily impacting Ride Comfort, Road noise etc.. and from what I've found the summer tires I have perform better than the Eagle ever could in every aspect.

Don't buy the Eagle RS-A's!
ECSTA ASX FTW.

[mikey1981]

Well it sure seems like it, you lack creditability though.

Ive been one of the biggest advocates of the 7 on this board from the day i bought it, you can research my posts, i really didnt have any other choice but to move away from Mazda given the situation i was in.

Um.......if you just assumed i came here to gloat, on a TIRE THREAD no less, then ur an idiot. I replied to this guys post because i wanted to share my experience, and it just so happens that the tires i wrote about are on the RDX, would you care as much if they were on some murano or something?..i could care less how much they are, what they were, or how they rate, and i actually had no idea until i researched them last nite after you started telling me they werent good (which now does not seem to be the case) and that they were overpriced (price is steep). Im not in this thread to tout my car or say its better....christ i bought the cx-7 to start, and if mine wasnt a piece of shit, i still would have it and sing its praises. but facts are facts and so are the numbers regarding our vehicles.

I lack credibility? what r u talking about? credibility about what? i posted about the tire with supportive evidence from consumer reports and from what i remembered about my mazda in comparison to the rdx tire. If you dont agree with consumer reports, thats cool, but they are objective ( 5. not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased: an objective opinion.)

i am digressing to the other thread, but, every reply you made in the thread about turbo lag was more or less subjective. If you want to argue, present at least some fact and or objective opinion/basis ...at least you did in this thread with some reviews of the tires; thats a start. You want to say go watch a video and that "your" cx-7 is some kind of standard with no lag or something (which is misleading to unsuspecting buyers) - the numbers dont lie & videos dont show a damn thing other than a tach moving and a car moving. (ugh) and, i would say, until you obtain the dashhawk, i think people will be relying on professional hard stats and not your video and estimates.

I posted the most widely used consumer resource in the country, i think it at least deserves some consideration in terms of what tire is good and what is bad. Personal reviews are excellent too, and yes i will agree, im sure there are some other tires for 1/2 the price that are close to if not as good as the michellin. Its just when it comes to tires, you dont get a test drive. The problem with personal reviews, as in the case of the cars we buy etc, they are mostly biased and fail to represent the negatives or bad sides (who wants to admit what they bought may be shit?? lol)

[CX-7owner]

I have had the dash hawk, and it clearly said the 7.0 when I tested it, I need to get it back in my hands again then I will post up what I logged on it, and The CX-7 has turbo-lag that is smaller than the RDX, and nearly all the reviews site the RDX for having lag 0-20, and whats so different from my CX-7(in that video)? An Intake that gains 8whp? It's clear that the CX-7 takes no time to get up and spool from the video, the Tach indicates when Boost kicks in. And I will post ALL the data logs like boost PSI etc.. just to "prove" it, the CX-7's lag is little to none.

And you lack creditability because your Mazda relationship was not good to say the least. Everyone that looked at the video agreed that it had almost NO lag. My video is a GREAT visual experience as to if the CX-7 has lag, if it had major lag it would move like a snail until the turbo kicked in, following the tach racing through the RPM range, and it kicked in nearly instantly, as shown in the video. But I'm glad you brought it over to this thread instead of replying to the other one. Please note how you say the "rdx tire" as if it's superior over the other because its the "rdx tire". And don't worry once I can get the hawk again, it will all be objective, even from reading someones dash hawk chart from another CX-7 forum, you can see the CX takes no time to spool. I'm sure the fact that it produces full torque at 2500RPM's is no indication, either.

I'm clearly the idiot that spells you're like "ur". But you took the time to make sure that we did not confuse you for thinking your RDX was superior. CR knows tires like they know cars, and that is not a compliment. Most of the reviews state what they don't like about the tire as well, not all of them say "OMG BEST TIRE EVAR MUST BUY NO BAD THINGS WHAT SO EVAR". I would take the tirerack reviews over CR's, anytime. They would want to admit it, if they bought shit why would they tell people that could be buying the tire that its good if its a shit tire?
Nearly all the numbers for the RDX are with brake torque, read the TOV RDX thingy! They got 7.8 seconds without BT, and 6.8 WITH BT! WTF?! Right.

I would love to put my CX-7 against your RDX, and lets see who would pull faster, and stop faster.

[CX-7owner]

http://www.redcx7.com/images/data-1.jpg (http://www.redcx7.com/images/data-1.jpg)

[DeadGeneration]

you guys suck. let's race our mini vans and see who wins.

Tires are tires, get a good deal on some new ones from a place you are comfortable with.

[Killer]

you guys suck. let's race our mini vans and see who wins.

Tires are tires, get a good deal on some new ones from a place you are comfortable with.


Thank you. :)

[vbbuilt01]

Killer,

You're one of the guys I've noticed that seems to have fair knowledge about tires (flash) CX-7=Love and Mikey had some nice comments, too!

So, any comments about my post #16? If you were in my shoes, which way would you go?

Vince.

[mikey1981]

race our minivans, hahahaha

hey cx love, instead of saying what vehicle my tire was on, should i of left it a mystery for vince to figure out? lol

my mazda experience other than the actual vehicle was fantastic, they paid me back, in cash, fully, PLUS more money - no complaints with the company id still recommend a mazda, just not the cx-7

ur is right up there with "omg" and "evar" <-- i like that one(drunk)

the passion you have for YOUR cx-7 is of earthly proportions...you may just be driving the best cx-7 out of everyone! lol

trust me im not in the business of gloating a car that i paid only 31k for (the rdx) compared to the 28k i paid for the mazda. if i wanted to gloat, id at least do it with something alot more expensive

[Mazda3]

Lets stay on topic guys. No more personal attacks.

[astraelraen]

Don't ever buy oem RS-A's, especially if you upgrade. They suck ass, period. My wife's 130hp automatic transmission Vibe came with them from the factory. She could chirp the tires if there was any amount of rain, etc on the roads. A 130hp automatic transmission car shouldn't be able to break any tires lose.

I would suggest 255/45/20, according to tire calculators they are .25% off, where as 245/45/20 are 1.46% off from stock. Whether it makes a big difference? I dunno.

Depending on the type of snow you get, you could do fine with all-season tires, which they do make in 20" sizes. Now, if you consistently get inches upon inches of snow that stay on the road for days/weeks at a time. 20" tires probably aren't the best for you unless you can keep the stock 18"s.

We get 1-4 inches at worse here, usually the buildup on the roads is like 2 at most though. And that is either melted off or scooped off within a day or two. The biggest concern here is the roads getting icy from snow melt-off. So I feel confident that all season 20" tires would run ok during the winter. But I don't plan on taking any trips up mountains, etc.

[Killer]

Killer,

You're one of the guys I've noticed that seems to have fair knowledge about tires (flash) CX-7=Love and Mikey had some nice comments, too!

So, any comments about my post #16? If you were in my shoes, which way would you go?

Vince.

Kumhos...I had them on my Acura and loved them. Priced fair and rated well.

[vbbuilt01]

Thanks Killer!

Went back to Tire Shop and spoke to the GM this time. Gave me a mini lesson on tire specs, etc. He confirmed what I had found on Tire Rack.com, there are indeed several choices available, for all season in the 245/45-20 size. If I deal directly with Tire Shop, they can get the same products that Tirerack.com sells, but it'll be cheaper for me, as TireShop won't charge for installation and of course, I'd save on shipping, too.

Tire Shop recommended the Cooper Zeon Sport A/S, 245/45ZR20 99 W (I also found out that Cooper also makes the Avon tires). These tires have fairly long tread life for performance tires and should do fairly well, with the snow we get in northern VA. From the Cooper website:

"The Cooper Zeon Sport A/S is a premium W-speed-rated, ultra-high performance all-season line designed for drivers who want year-round traction with very good handling and high-speed capabilities. The Cooper Zeon Sport A/S is an excellent original equipment replacement for a wide range of vehicles including luxury touring cars, performance cars and crossovers (CUV)."

The GM did caution me, though, that this tire is not "as forgiving" as the Eagle RS/A, meaning, I'd feel every bump in the road. (cabpatch)

Add in a set of wheels similar to the Panther Badge (EMR709). Tire Shop told me I'd have everything installed for about $1700.00. Seems like a fair package to me!

I'm going to hang tight for a bit. There's still about 5K miles left on the OEM tires, so there's no sense in buying new tire/wheels when there still some usable tread left. I figure I'll get these tires/wheels in mid-November.

Of course, I'll post pics when I do get them installed.

Later, Vince.

[astraelraen]

Thanks Killer!
The GM did caution me, though, that this tire is not "as forgiving" as the Eagle RS/A, meaning, I'd feel every bump in the road. (cabpatch)

Add in a set of wheels similar to the Panther Badge (EMR709). Tire Shop told me I'd have everything installed for about $1700.00. Seems like a fair package to me!


The difference in ride really isn't that large. On 255/45/20, you can tell a little more on rough/bumpy roads, but the CX-7 has fairly stiff suspension to begin with and I could feel a lot of the road with the 18" wheel/tires.

1700 seems pretty good installed. I paid a little over 2k for my 20" package.