I would get the kuhmo asx. Tirerack has em for 80 per tire in 225/45/17 (assuming you have 17s).

Go to americas tire, have them match that price. So its 320, had 80 for mounting and balancing and tax

The 512s are 5 less per tire, its worth it to spend the extra 5 bucks and get the kuhmos

 

Tire warranties are something I've never really understood, nor have I ever looked into.

How does it work? What kind of "pop" is actually covered under warranty? Are you talking about the manufactures or the road hazzard from america's tire co.? I'm not sure where your logic of getting credit for the other tires come from. I would be interested to know.

 

I would also look at an SRT-4 if you're looking into one of these. Test drive them back to back and see how they compare against each other. I don't think you can go wrong with either one really, but it's definitely worth looking at both.

 

riding asx right now on my 00rs and my 98protege... it's pretty cheap and rides okay, good all season... but can't compare to summar tires...

 

+1 for kumho mx's

got em cheap, $86\tire, 225\40\18 mounted and balanced about 7k miles ago. tires still have a bunch of tread left after a summer of spirited driving. Grip well when warmed up and seem to hold up well in the rain even though they're a summer tire. pretty good for the money.

 

The Kumho Ecsta MX and other 'summer' tires with a similar tread pattern (based on the old Goodyear 'Gatorback' pattern) are designed to evacuate water from the tread surface. Look at current Formula One full wets and you'll see that they still use the same basic pattern. The deep grooving allows a path for the water to reduce hydroplaning, although it's a compromise because the tire contact patch won't be as good as a pure track or competition tire.

Previously I was using the Goodrich KDWs which are supposed to offer decent dry and wet performance and the tread pattern was similar to the MXs I'm using now. I suspect the KDWs can outperform the MXs at the track but the cost savings vs bargain performance helped me make my decision. Probably better than 90% of the performance while saving at least $50 per tire. I'm using the OEM tire size of 205/55-16".

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Hankook RS2. Pretty cheap, a little loud, handle well. $99/tire at America's on price match for 225/45/17. Got them to use as everyday tires plus autocrossing.

 

Only problem with the Kumho MX is they are noisy bastards.

 

Yes. + infinity.

It's stupid for "tires on a budget" imo. RS2's are so cheap, azenis are cheap too... you are like saving not that much money by going uber crap tires that are the same or worse than stock.

 

I like my.....potenza re050a's

they are on sale because bridgestone released a new version with a better compound. Ive said it before and I'll say it again. If you dont mind having last years technology, you can save a lot of money

they are on closeout through tirerack.com for $79 each for 16s. I'm debating ordering a backup set soon just to have. I wouldnt do the road hazard protection though since soon there will be no tire to replace it with

 

I like my Toyo's and they didn't cost that much.

 

also, dont let anyone tell you (and places like discount tire co. will try to tell you this) that tirerack.com prices even out with theirs once you pay for mounting. Its just not true. By ordering my tires from tirerack.com with the road hazard protection, shipping, and 69.95 for mounting, it was still less than 4 of the same tires from discount tire co.

edit: ok, looks like some are cheaper through discount tire, but I know mine were cheaper the way I did it, so dont forget to do your research

 

You haven't driven on (my former) Goodrich KDWs, LOL! I used to wear earplugs on longer freeway drives like Hwy 80 to Reno because the road was beaten up by snow and ice. By comparison, I breathed a sigh of relief the first time I drove on the freeway with the MXs - not silent by any means, but way quieter than the KDWs.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

This is a manufacturers warranty, which shows that they believe your tires will hit 30,000 miles or you will get the portion that you didn't get to back.

How a tire warranty works is they take (the mileage of the warranty - the mileage you used) divided by (the mileage warranty) = some %. They take that % multiplied by the price of your tire and subtract that total out of your next tire purchase from the same company.

So, an example. Let's say, on the Falken you used 20,000 miles, so you have (30,000 - 20,000) / (30,000) = 33.3%. If you bought the tires for $70/tire, you'd get $23.33/tire.

This is different from the America's Tire cert because that only covers your tire if it's not repairable (not from wear) and only the tire which is damaged is replaced.

So to sum it up, with a mileage warranty, whether it pops or it just wears fast, you get some money back towards your next purchase of the same brand of tires. With a America's Tire cert, it replaces one tire if it can't be repaired.

 

Are they available at an America's Tire store or online?