[musicman1]

Believe it or not I have put 46,000 miles on the stock Goodyear tires in 2 1/2 years. Funny thing is, they still hold their air great and ride nice on smooth roads but they are rapidly turning into baloney skins and the fall and winter are approaching.

If anyone has a opinion on the following tires, Id appreciate the good bad and the ugly as i need to get the E re-shoe'd this week.

Goodyear Fortera Silent Armor (my forerunner right now)70,000 mile, 10 rated quiet ride, 8 for dry and wet, 7 for snow, 10 for off road??

Goodyear Fortera Triple Tred ( may be too aggressive)60,000 mile, 10 for dry, wet, snow, 8 for off road and quiet ride.

Bridgestone Dualer HT or HL ( HL may be too aggressive)

Cooper Discoverer

Continental Track (or is it Trak?)

Thanks in advance...Joe

 

[dorienc]

I replaced my OEM tires at about 60,000 miles, and they were still serviceable, but not too much tread left.
I bought GY Fortera Triple Tred in the stock size. Ride and noise seem about the same as stock, rain and snow traction are definitely better. I get a little afraid in rain, because I think I drive too fast because it feels so solid to the road. I've had them on for about a year, about 15,000 miles and they seem to be wearing evenly and still look good.
I don't pay much attention to gas mileage, but if there was a decrease, it was pretty minor. We get a fair amount of rain, freezing rain and snow, so that's more important to me than gas mileage.
Right after I put them on, a co-worker complemented me on my tires! That's the first time anyone has ever noticed tires on a car of mine. I think that's funny.
So, I guess you'd say I'm happy with these tires.

 

[insane_sc]

I had the Bridgestone Dueler HT's on my silverado and hated them, I switched to Yokohama Geolander Off Roads from summit racing for $105 a tire and loved them, they went thru 2 years of bad winters and heavy working in the summer for my landscaping, lots of heavy weight and hauling. I rotated them every oil change and they weared perfectly even, the duelers only last 1 summer of hauling and the tread was gone. Now you have to realize that I was doing a lot of off pavement driving when moving around yards and big landscapes that were in new housing developments, which in my parts is very rocky and hard clay, I spun a lot in the rain hauling a 16ft 2 axle trailer filled with trees, mulch, dirt, stone, rock, and other stuff. I highly recommend the geolanders, I dont know much about the others, but I hate goodyear, so I would say do more research on tire rack and tirereviews.com or .org(i think).

 

[ApriliaGuy]

From the list you provide.....

(You didn't specify the Cooper Discoverer version)

The Cooper Discoverer ATR are great (I liked 'em very much) and the HTRs are good too if you want something less aggressive....not that the ATRs are especially "agressive."

I'd buy the ATRs over the GoodYears you mentioned because of my positive experience with several different Cooper "sets" on a variety of vehicles....and my less than positive experiences with several sets of GoodYears. The Cooper prices are just icing on the cake.

Good luck.

Will

 

[musicman1]

Thanks everyone for the replies and comments. It seems to really be a 3 way split regarding the brands. I do agree that I like Cooper tires myself. I have a set on my wife's MPV and they have been the best on there so far amoungst Yokohama, Dunlop and Firestone.

For my needs, I do seem to like the Goodyears the best so far and Ive done a forum search and it really seems like a split. Either love/hate for the GYs. Very little in between.

I have to consider the fact that I live in my E in both good and bad weather as well as on beautiful smooth roads and the worst most horrible road surfaces including industrial.

I average around 22,000 miles a year and feel that I would like to go ahead with the pricier GYs at this point. The local independent tire distributor can get them installed for about $100.00 lower than a GY store can.

In 2 or 3 years the E will become a hand me down car to my oldest who is 15 this year so I can always re-shoe with a less expensive tire as he will not be driving nearly the same amount as I do nor in the same conditions.

Ill update this with a review once I have the new tires installed later this week.

 

[Sprunch]

Funny you should post this...I too will be in the market for new sneakers soon and I've been looking at these, a true all season tire:

 

[paulj]

...

Cooper Discoverer
...

Which Cooper do you have in mind. 'Discoverer' is the generic name for most of their
SUV tires.

I just replaced a set of ATRs after 25000 miles, because they'd worn down too much, especially in the center tread. I chose H/T as the replacement. I've had the Mastercraft HTR (equivalent to the H/T) on my RAV for some 30000 miles, and been happy with the wear.

The new H/Ts are noticeably quieter than the (worn) ATRs.

My experience with the ATRs suggests that aggressive, square shoulder tires are not the best choice on the Element. Keeping them at stock pressures puts too much of the shoulder tread on the ground, making too much noise. Raising the pressure risks putting too much wear on the center tread.

 

[ApriliaGuy]

I average around 22,000 miles a year and feel that I would like to go ahead with the pricier GYs at this point...

Or you could go with the General Grabber HTS like me. :wink: I do the same type of mileage on the same types of roads. (PA & NJ)

The HTSs wear well, ride nice, are great in the rain & snow, and were very reasonably priced.

Will

 

[04EXE]

don't forget about the Cooper Discover CTS... which we just recently got & love so far... $500 total for all 4 installed. Can't go wrong with Cooper IMO...;-)
good luck with your search... i was in same boat as you 2 months ago.

 

[atomic l]

Cooper

I just bought the Cooper HT's. I wasn't sure if the CTS was too noisy. You can't beat the price on these tires. Buy 3 get one free plus $75 rebate. Do you get alignment after new tires?

 

[woosterpuss]

nokians should really be on that list, too!!

 

[04EXE]

I just bought the Cooper HT's. I wasn't sure if the CTS was too noisy. You can't beat the price on these tires. Buy 3 get one free plus $75 rebate. Do you get alignment after new tires?

alignment..? yes. it doesn't make sense to spend hundreds of dollars and not go the 1 extra step. just my .02 though...

 

[fredmertz]

No alignment unless the tires are showing uneven wear. If the wear is normal no reason for an alignment.

Take a look at Toyo Open Country H/T's or there A/Ts. Goodyears are way overpriced for the quality you get for any of there tires.

If you can afford it the best tires out there are Michelins.

I don't trust Tire Rack and never will. The reviews are worthless unless the reviewer has a clue and describe the difference between having a push and being loose!

Fred

 

[paulj]

I don't trust Tire Rack and never will. The reviews are worthless unless the reviewer has a clue and describe the difference between having a push and being loose!

Individually the owner reviews have limited value, not unlike the opinions expressed on this forum. As an aggregate, though, those reviews have some value, especially when comparing tires of the same category. TR also has inhouse reviews, which are, I think, good. However they only look at 3-4 tires at time, so not many tires are covered.

If anything the inhouse reviews show how little real difference exists between comparable tires. That is, characteristics that can be measured, such as noise level, and stopping distances, usually don't differ that much across the set.

 

[Bowzer]

Well since you guys started introducing tires outside of the OP's original list: Here's my obligatory vote for Michelins. I've never had a regret with any of the many sets I've bought.

Only other good performing tire I have experience with is Bridgestone. I have a great set on my old Accord but I had to be very specific about which model to purchase. Some very similar ones had horrid consumer reviews.

And I agree, as a general aggregate measure, the Discount Tire reviews are valuable.

Interesting remarks regarding the more square shouldered performance on the E. I'm looking to increase tread width on my next set and will keep this in mind.

 

[paulj]

Even in the highway tread, Cooper (and Mastercraft) has a noticeably wider tread than the original Wranglers. That was apparent when I brought the Element home and parked it next to the RAV4 with Mastercrafte HTRs of the same size.

I think the Wranglers are particularly 'soft shouldered', which may contribute to their extra shoulder wear.

 

[bmerge]

Funny you should post this...I too will be in the market for new sneakers soon and I've been looking at these, a true all season tire:

Sprunch, I've been looking a lot at these but the dealer talked me out of them and into the Nokian WR SUV's. He said the one you are looking at has been wearing out very fast on one side but that the WR's have done really well.....he has them on all his cars. Tread depth is 14 mm as opposed to 12mm on the ones your looking at. Problem is, Nokian has discontinued them but there are still some in their warehouses. Putting mine on tomorrow...138 a piece.

 

[musicman1]

The new tires are on the E

Thanks to everyone for your comments and responses. I went with the Goodyear Fortera Silent Armors. From yesterday to today I put on about 100 miles. Here's my initial impression:

They are a physically wider and much more aggressive looking tire than the stock GYs especially the shoulders. They are fairly quiet and I feel they are MUCH quieter than the stock GYs especially over choppy, concrete road surfaces. To me the E itself feels "heavier" and slower in acceleration than it did before. (This is kind of hard to explain). The SA's feel ALOT grippier and I need to steer the E more than with the stock GYs. I kind of understand now what a "harder" ride is; these tires do make the E ride a bit harder. Its not really that big a deal and not necessarily a turn off. As the driver, I probably feel it more than anyone else would.

I almost cant wait for the rainy and even snowy weather to start as I think these tires will really show their value and justify their cost. They are rated for 70,000 miles and if I get anything over the 46,000 miles I got on the stock GYS than I will be a happy camper. The stock tires were essentially baloney skins. I was well into eating up the tread life indicators. The shoulders were gone and there were barely just the three center channels left.

The SAs appear to be a well made, high quality, well rounded tire. They only needed one balance weight each to come up to spec. I didnt get an alignment as I didnt have alignment problems prior to the re-shoe. I hope they hold air as well as the stock GYs did.

BTW no problem with the TPM sensors. The tire mechanic showed me one of my rims before a new tire went on and I was quite surprized that they are as big as they are. I thought they were tiny little breakable things. LOL. Ill update this again after I get a few thousand miles and some bad weather under the tires.

 

[Sprunch]

Sprunch, I've been looking a lot at these but the dealer talked me out of them and into the Nokian WR SUV's. He said the one you are looking at has been wearing out very fast on one side but that the WR's have done really well.....he has them on all his cars. Tread depth is 14 mm as opposed to 12mm on the ones your looking at. Problem is, Nokian has discontinued them but there are still some in their warehouses. Putting mine on tomorrow...138 a piece.

Thanks!
I guess I have to start searching for the WR SUV's, wish me luck!

 

[jtispoindexter]

Just put a set of Falken Ziex S/TZ04s on my E
http://nouglytire.com/stx04.html
I will let you know how they do