What tires (brand)?

[Draconian Guppy]

So I need to buy new 195/65 R15 tires for a Mazda 3 Sedan.

The options i have available are:

Michelin Energy Saver $488

BFG GGrip $423

Pirelli P7 $416

Kumho KH17 $652

firestone fh 900 $380

The car has some nasty bridgestone that lasted around 18K miles :/

Those are the ones available where I live ( Honduras, Central America)

[sc302 Veteran]

I would personally get the michelin's or the bfg's.

bridgestone and firestone are the same company.

http://www.bfvz.com.ve/productos/detalles/70/firestone/firehawk/900 (look at the name at the top)

[Draconian Guppy]

Oh , crappy Firestone!

Forgot to add. The prices are for four tires

[Astra.Xtreme]

My advise is to go on tirerack.com and look at the ratings. And pay close attention to how "loud" the tires are. You'll thank yourself. :)

[Draconian Guppy]

My advise is to go on tirerack.com and look at the ratings. And pay close attention to how "loud" the tires are. You'll thank yourself. :)

Thanks, checked, but they don't have all the models above, the BFG grip isn't there

[Paul Ferson Veteran]

TyreReviews.co.uk and TireRack.com together might help you find what you need. TyreReviews has the gGrips listed, and they seem to be getting good enough reviews from users. Feedback seems to vary, but one of the comments from the site is that it's a summer tire. Whether that's a good thing or not is up to you. Hopefully between those two sites you'll be able to find the information you need, but a cursory glance doesn't seem to show anyone else with a Mazda 3.

[Ph1b3r0pt1c]

You sure you cannot get your hands on some Westlake tires? I just checked and they are distributed all over the world. The are cheaper in price, but I have had this same set of 205/40/r17's for a little over 65k miles, and they are still perfect. I travel 70 miles per day also. Check into those if you can

[BGM]

Pirelli

[Spartan Erik]

What's the terrain like over there? Are you driving on smooth roads, roads with potholes, off-roading, etc.? Mix of each?

What's your driving style? Do you aggressively accelerate and brake?

Honestly, I've never had any bad experiences with any particular brand/off-brand tires, but I treat my 2009 RAV4 very well, and make sure the tires are rotated regularly so I can get even tread wear

[Draconian Guppy]

TyreReviews.co.uk and TireRack.com together might help you find what you need. TyreReviews has the gGrips listed, and they seem to be getting good enough reviews from users. Feedback seems to vary, but one of the comments from the site is that it's a summer tire. Whether that's a good thing or not is up to you. Hopefully between those two sites you'll be able to find the information you need, but a cursory glance doesn't seem to show anyone else with a Mazda 3.

Well it's mostly summer, but it does rain for 3-4 months a year... So I think I would need something more of a wet-summer mix :/

You sure you cannot get your hands on some Westlake tires? I just checked and they are distributed all over the world. The are cheaper in price, but I have had this same set of 205/40/r17's for a little over 65k miles, and they are still perfect. I travel 70 miles per day also. Check into those if you can

Third world hell Honduras Central America? NO. Sadly no :( :no:

Pirelli

What's the terrain like over there? Are you driving on smooth roads, roads with potholes, off-roading, etc.? Mix of each?

What's your driving style? Do you aggressively accelerate and brake?

Honestly, I've never had any bad experiences with any particular brand/off-brand tires, but I treat my 2009 RAV4 very well, and make sure the tires are rotated regularly so I can get even tread wear

lots of roads with potholes, very badly paved roads, the occasional of roading DUE to the repairing of the bad roads

[Draconian Guppy]

ended up getting the Michelin Energy Savers A/S. I'll post a follow up as soon as I do some serious driving :shifty:

[Liquidfox]

but I have had this same set of 205/40/r17's for a little over 65k miles

Are you sure they're actually made of rubber? The grip on those things must be horrendous to last that long! Don't think I've ever had a set of performance tyres last longer than 12K :p

[Draconian Guppy]

Are you sure they're actually made of rubber? The grip on those things must be horrendous to last that long! Don't think I've ever had a set of performance tyres last longer than 12K :p

Yeah doesn't rubber get harder with time?

[Ph1b3r0pt1c]

Pretty sure they are rubber. I smack them with a hammer, and it bounces back, and they still work perfectly. Maybe its because I rotate them when I should and check the pressure in them?

[Draconian Guppy]

LOL, it doesn't get hard as in stone hard, but rather the rubber, "toasts" or "cooks" up due to extreme temperatures (heat, cold), but i'm talking about maybe 5+ years.

[Liquidfox]

Pretty sure they are rubber. I smack them with a hammer, and it bounces back, and they still work perfectly. Maybe its because I rotate them when I should and check the pressure in them?

I could rotate tyres all I want, but i'll never get more than 12K combined out of any tyres that are on the front of my ST :p My pressures are also spot on ;)

Guess it's down to a complete lack of power going through your tyres :laugh:

[Ph1b3r0pt1c]

Possibly so, but I also get on average, 29-32mpg, so I don't care :p

[Liquidfox]

Possibly so, but I also get on average, 29-32mpg, so I don't care :p

You say as if that's a lot, I presume that's 32US Gallons, which would make it 26 UK Gallons (Pretty much what I get). If only we had your fuel prices :p

[Ph1b3r0pt1c]

Yeah no joke. I'm not sure what they expect, when fuel goes up, everything does. It's 2.80 usd per gallon where I live now.

[44MLX]

Michelin or Pirelli