Inexpensive but Safe Tire Recommendations?
 

My girlfriend will need new tires for her car soon. She's very independant, so she'll probably want to buy them herself, which means she'll want cheap ones. But I want her to have safe ones. I'm always fine with the idea of paying $200+ per tire, so I'm not familiar with what's the best in the the $80-130 range.

It rains an average to above average amount where we live, so dry grip is most important, but wet grip is a priority too. A high speed rating would be nice, but isn't that important. Tread life is irrelevant.

I thiiiink her stock tire size is 195/55r16. I'm giving her my OEM FR-S wheels, so I guess the equivalent outer diameter equivalent would be about 215/45r17? If not, feel free to correct me on that too.

Why dont you get her a set of FRS/BRZ stock Michelin Primacy HPs to go with the stock wheels? They have good wet grip and are safe and ok on the pavement (especially if your GFs car doesn't have tons of power). The fitment is already perfect and they can be had for less than $100 per tire (even as little as $50 each) on this forum, Craigslist, and Ebay. They go for a lot more new on Tirerack.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....m=145WR7ECDWXL

probably the best wet tire in the price range you specified

I second the Continental DW. A well balanced tire (handling, ride, noise) at at very reasonable price.

BTW Anthony, great quote in your signature.

I can also recommend this tire. Awesome wet grip, and still excellent dry grip. I had a set on my Civic Si of the all season version the Continental ExtremeContact DWS and the only complaint I had was steering feel, which wasn't fantastic on center.

Ideal opportunity to get rid of the Michelin Primacy HP as well as the wheels!

They be the perfect tire for your GF. Just because they are crapola on the BRZ doesn't mean they aren't a great tire for other applications, they are. Good wet or dry. Just not great.

I'd = rid?

If that's what you're saying, I don't actually have the tires. Just some nekkid wheels.

From what I've read the Continental DW are a really good tire, but for under $100 a tire you can not beat the Kumho Ecsta LE Sports....awesome in the wet (we get downpours all the time here - have them on my Tacoma and it fly through standing water at highway speeds like it's nothing, wet cornering is above any other tire I've had too.) better in the dry than stock Michelins... all for ~$90 a tire. The LE Sport is the best wet handling street tire Kumho has made, for dry handling it comes in a little below their older RS-2...

Driven in rain => wet grip and hydroplaning resistance should be top priority, not dry grip. For one thing, more likely to lose grip in the wet, for another, any tire with great wet grip will have at least very good dry grip, while there are tires with great dry grip that aren't so great in the wet.

Go to TireRack website and compare Max Perf and Ultra High Perf tires, pay particular attention to test results if available, and customer survey results. Look for high ratings on wet grip and hydroplaning resistance. I'm sure you can find something for $100 or so

Everyone I talk to who buys Kumho is a happy customer. Just get advice about which Kumho you need.

Also, don't forget Cooper Tires, a great US tire company now owners of Avon Tires from the UK. They may be small relative to the big boys but they are actually number 6 or something like that. Great innovative tire company with some good product for not a lot of money.

I've always heralded the Hankook Ventus V12 EVO as the best bang for the buck tire in my book.

I probably won't buy anything other than Michelin Pilot Super Sports after trying them though.

Don't put blinders on regarding tire manufacturers, all the top names make some great (or at least very good) tires, and they also make some tires that are utter CRAP! So anytime you hear "I've always run Brand X (or Y) and they're fantastic!", forget it. It's not that simple. You have to do research about the specific model of tire in question. And "Goodyear Eagle", Kumho Ecsta", and "Bridgestone Potenza" are *not* specific tire models.

We just put tires on my wife's Mazda3, and I basically had the same interests: Maximum grip in the worst conditions expected, for minimum $$$. We wound up going with the General G-Max AS-03, 2nd choice would have been the Kumho Ecsta 4X. These are all-season tires even though we're in Atlanta GA. OK with me because we *might* end up taking a trip into cold/snowy areas, and also because they tested very well, posting similar times in the same car as some very highly-regarded Max Performance Summer tires.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=151
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=149

Anyway, for a good SAFE tire for DD usage in dry and wet conditions, no track usage, in 215/45-17, for reasonable $$$, the General GMax AS-03 ($96/)and Kumho Ecsta 4X ($94/) would still be my top two choices.

But anyway, judge for yourself:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...45&diameter=17

General is Continental, the Germans bought the American company years ago.

If "General is Continental", so what? BFG is Michelin, and Dunlop is Goodyear too (except when it's Sumitomo). Doesn't change the fact that they all make MANY different tires and that some are very good and others are not so good. All the more reason not to place false hope in the idea that one brand or line is always going to be "good" as that simply isn't the case. You have to investigate the *specific tire model*.