Help me pick tires

[FLaccord]

Guys, the Michelin A/S's come factory on quite a bit of cars. After looking at non LRR tires pricing and all the GY FM are a good bang for the buck. Here is the list of tires and prices for a set of 4 delivered to my door.

OEM Engery MXV4 S8's: $811.96/set (Baseline)
A/S's: $718.56 (-$93.40)
Conti's: $698.56 (-$113.40)
GY: $654.56 (-$157.40)
Conti DWS's: $573.70 (-$238.26)


From a business point of view I can pretty much telly ou with 100% certainty I will not be spending $812+install on a set of tires for a high mileage 5yr old car I use for work and put about 30k miles/yr. I'm going to run the OEM's down to 2 or 3/32" and call it good. Conti's dont make sense for that price b/c you might as well get the A/S's. The DWS's don't make sense b/c they are not LRR and are not that much cheaper than GYFM's. So it comes down to go cheap with GY FM's or pay more and get the A/S's.

On a side note I run my tire pressure at 35psi cold front and rear. Door jamb calls for 32. I've been having great results from 35psi and a good rotation pattern now for about 5+yrs on multiple cars.

[msirach]

In the last year, I have purchased 3 new sets: Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 on the Honda Insight, Fuel Max on the 2010 Prius, and just put a set of Bridgestone Ecopia EL422 on the 2008 Prius. Of the 3 sets, I like the EL422 the best so far. Less mpg hit when installed and the cabin noise seem less even when at "normal" operating pressure.

One set came from Tire Rack, one from Discount Tire Direct, and the last set came from a local tire store. The 2008 Prius is the touring with the 195/55/16 size. Discount Tire Direct was hard to beat since there is no shipping charge, but I talked to the manager of a local tire store and asked if he would consider price matching. They matched the online price of $107 per tire which was a great savings over their original price of $140 per tire. Installed, out the door around the door post psi of 29, 31, 33, 33 the total cost was $532.

[xcel]

Hi Mike:

Of all the OEM tires available, the EP422's are my second best choice.

Wayne

[FLaccord]

After running the dollars and donuts again I'm down to the GY Fuel Max or the Dunlop Signature II's. Both are light weight (22# and 21# for the Dunlops!), both have 580 tread wear, both have A A rating, both have 10/32" tread. FM is a a/s passenger car tire, the Signature II's are a Grand touring. Dunlops are about 9/ea tire cheaper. Really like how the Dunlops are 21#'s. that's the lightest weight tire I've been able to find. Leaning toward the Dunlops b/c they are a grand touring and cheaper and 1 # lighter.

[xcel]

Hi FLaccord:

I would be very careful choosing a tire on its weight. I have not heard anything about the Dunlop Signatures but have of course the Goodyear FuelMax. The latter are low RRc tires. The former? You could burn that $9/tire savings up in the first few tanks!

Wayne