Recommendations for Tires in Seattle

[Dopke]

So I've searched and gone through a few threads, including this heated one here.

From that, I know that two sets are better than one. I know that I won't get the best performance from any one set of tires. But, for a casual driver who's looking to just get best bang for buck, anyone have recommendations for 16"? We're up to 60k miles on our 2003 6s, and we've ran the original tires that came with it to the end of its life basically.

I'm looking for something with great traction in rain (will not hydroplane), and in dry conditions, it does its job. As far as snow, we don't drive in snow at all. The hills around our neighborhood makes it treacherous to even consider it.

[triplejumper18]

A bunch of people like running the Goodyear Eagle GT. A good place for Portland/Seattle questions is mazdasnw.com

[Discount Tire Direct]

QUOTE (triplejumper18 @ Oct 12 2009, 08:53 PM)

A bunch of people like running the Goodyear Eagle GT. A good place for Portland/Seattle questions is mazdasnw.com[/b]

That was going to be my suggestion as well. I would also recommend looking at the Yokohama YK520 and the Falken 912. Let us know if we can help Dopke.

[posttosh]

QUOTE (Discount Tire Direct @ Oct 13 2009, 10:02 AM)

I would also recommend looking at the Yokohama YK520 and the Falken 912. Let us know if we can help Dopke.[/b]

For Seattle? Where it rains 150 days or more per year, and very rarely snows? Surely, you are making a cruel joke. Like recommending roller skates for rock climbing.

Within the Discount Tire Direct inventory, a good recommendation for a tire suited for Seattle conditions would be the Falken FK 452 in the 225/55R16 size.

[Discount Tire Direct]

QUOTE (posttosh @ Oct 19 2009, 01:08 AM)

For Seattle? Where it rains 150 days or more per year, and very rarely snows? Surely, you are making a cruel joke. Like recommending roller skates for rock climbing.

Within the Discount Tire Direct inventory, a good recommendation for a tire suited for Seattle conditions would be the Falken FK 452 in the 225/55R16 size.[/b]

Actually, the 452 is an excellent tire but it's an ultra high performance summer tire. Both the YK520 and the Falken 912 are performance all season tires. These tires are better equipped everyday unpredictable seattle conditions due to the extra siping not found in UHP summer tires like the FK452.

[posttosh]

QUOTE (Discount Tire Direct @ Oct 19 2009, 04:18 PM)

Actually, the 452 is an excellent tire but it's an ultra high performance summer tire. Both the YK520 and the Falken 912 are performance all season tires. These tires are better equipped for wet conditions since they have siping unlike UHP summer tires like the FK452.[/b]

The very worst tires for wet conditions are all-season tires, as shown in test after test. The siping is a band-aid to attempt to compensate for the inherent weakness of the chemical composition of the tread compounds of all-season tires which are formulated to retain water on the tread (in order to grant some snow traction), in contrast to the tread compounds of other tires which inherently shed water from the tread. On wet pavement, the FK 452 will stop several car lengths shorter from highway speeds than the 912 will.

[Discount Tire Direct]

QUOTE (posttosh @ Oct 20 2009, 10:26 AM)

The very worst tires for wet conditions are all-season tires, as shown in test after test. The siping is a band-aid to attempt to compensate for the inherent weakness of the chemical composition of the tread compounds of all-season tires which are formulated to retain water on the tread (in order to grant some snow traction), in contrast to the tread compounds of other tires which inherently shed water from the tread. On wet pavement, the FK 452 will stop several car lengths shorter from highway speeds than the 912 will.[/b]

Let me clarify. First, any tire can and will hydroplane at some point. If you don't want to hydroplane, slow down.

Here's some factual information you may find interesting about siping. Tire Siping

I base my recommendation on a number of things for the OP, rain being one of them. I considering His/Her wants, the miles they drive per year and the year round road conditions where they live. Seattle gets plenty of rain, some may say too much, they have plenty of days where temperatures fall below 45 degrees and they get freak weather bursts from the ocean to the west and mountains to the east almost daily. Seattle also has plenty of hills and uneven roads.

Based on the OP's diverse wants and number of miles he drives, I recommend an All Season but not just any all season. The two all season tires I recommend have wide circumferential groves for channeling water, nice siping for extra biting edges and excellent tread wear ratings for life. This combination of tread design and rubber compound would be a great balance for an everyday Seattle driver. (except in temps below 45 degrees) These two tires are also very comfortable on the road and were both designed with performance in mind.

[posttosh]

QUOTE (Discount Tire Direct @ Oct 20 2009, 02:41 PM)

Let me clarify. First, any tire can and will hydroplane at some point. If you don't want to hydroplane, slow down.[/b]

Hydroplaning comprises a very small part of the obstacles to good wet traction. You are absolutely correct that the complete solution to hydroplaning is to slow down, but hydroplaning -- as commonly described -- is nonexistent when there is no standing water on (or flowing water running across) the pavement. But the traction of all season tires is significantly compromised even when there is no standing or flowing water on the pavement, when the road is just wet.

QUOTE (Discount Tire Direct @ Oct 20 2009, 02:41 PM)

Here's some factual information you may find interesting about siping. Tire Siping[/b]

Having worked as a professional consultant to the tire industry for three and a half decades, I am well aware of the pluses (and minuses, also) of siping. Siping cannot completely make up for a bad tread compound.

QUOTE (Discount Tire Direct @ Oct 20 2009, 02:41 PM)

I base my recommendation on a number of things for the OP, rain being one of them. I considering His/Her wants, the miles they drive per year and the year round road conditions where they live. Seattle gets plenty of rain, some may say too much, they have plenty of days where temperatures fall below 45 degrees and they get freak weather bursts from the ocean to the west and mountains to the east almost daily. Seattle also has plenty of hills and uneven roads.[/b]

Yes, the conditions in Seattle are very similar to the conditions in Portland (Oregon), where we have lived most of our lives. And if you consider the specific needs and desires of the OP, then maybe you should consider this that he wrote:

QUOTE

As far as snow, we don't drive in snow at all. The hills around our neighborhood makes it treacherous to even consider it.[/b]

QUOTE (Discount Tire Direct @ Oct 20 2009, 02:41 PM)

Based on the OP's diverse wants and number of miles he drives, I recommend an All Season[/b]

In that case, you owe it to yourself and to your customers to take the initiative to educate yourself further -- and not just by reading promotional materials of your employers or of the tire companies' advertising departments -- about the different properties of different kinds of tires; because the recommendation above is about the worst possible recommendation for conditions in Seattle.

[Dopke]

I appreciate the recommendations on both ends and will do a little more hw on these tires and see what I come up with. And yes, when it snows, I don't drive at all.

So my question for Discount Direct Tire is, based on that, does posttosh's recommendation, Falken FK 452, make more sense for my case?

Also, back to the snow thing. As mentioned above, sometimes Seattle weather can be tricky-- for those days where you commute to work and nothing is happening, but while at work, it starts snowing. How will an all-season fair against the summer tire in that light snow, where it isn't packed in yet, and isn't ice, just basically cold temps with snow that quickly turns water on the ground.

[posttosh]

QUOTE (Dopke @ Oct 20 2009, 10:48 PM)

Also, back to the snow thing. As mentioned above, sometimes Seattle weather can be tricky-- for those days where you commute to work and nothing is happening, but while at work, it starts snowing. How will an all-season fair against the summer tire in that light snow, where it isn't packed in yet, and isn't ice, just basically cold temps with snow that quickly turns water on the ground.[/b]

In that specific situation, a car fitted with three-season tires will have almost zero motive traction, and will just sit there spinning its wheels, whereas a car fitted with all-season tires will have some motive traction. The all-season tire operates on the physical property of snow that it sticks together when compacted, and the all-season tire needs the sticking-together to work; if the substance on the ground will not make a snowball, at the very least a slushy snowball, then the advantage of the all-season tire is gone. The preceding two sentences are about "go," the ability to start the car moving and propel it forward; there also would be a slight difference, here much less of a difference, in the stopping performance between the two (assuming that the three-season tire has been made somehow to get the car moving) in light compactable snow, with the advantage to all-season tires; for adequate stopping in snow, both three season tires and all-season tires are contraindicated; you need winter tires. (You probably know all too well about the macho guys in their SUVs who bound about in the snow proclaiming that they have all-wheel-drive and can go anywhere, only to learn that all-wheel-drive contributes diddly-squat when the foot is on the brake pedal; the same principle pretty much applies to all-season tires.) When the pavement conditions turn to non-snow plain wet (i.e., you cannot make a snowball out of the stuff on the pavement) the advantage goes back to the three-season tire vs. the all-season tire; true winter tires are superior in cold wet, though they wear rapidly in moderate temperatures.