Tire Shopping

That car will outlive you . Especially living in California you get to drive it all year long. Us guys up here with collector's cars get to drive them 6 months then put them away for the winter.
 
Like you say its your every day car. keep it looking good, nothing I like better than a good looking vehicle all shined up with no scratches and no dents. that's the way I keep mine. I park ten miles away when I park in a lot, I don't mind walking, to find when I come back to drive away my Suv is in good shape. Nothing disappoints me more than disrespectful people who could care less about someone else's property. I will stop now before I get into a rant.
 
Ok, so having a motorsports background, i tend to liok at things in a unconventional way.

With tires, i concentrate on the ratings first, then find the least expensive tire having those ratings.

I started out with a $400/each Pirelli P7 and recorded its specs.

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The Pirelli is a 4 ply tread, 2 ply sidewall rated for 78db noise generation.

Looks like a great tire, but i want similar specs, with a lower than $400 price per tire.

I used to tune and fabricate for a Norwegian drift driver named Frederick Aasbo. Through my association with him, i met other drivers and some i am still in contact with.

One suggested i check out Cosmo tires, who is his current sponsor.

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The Zhongce Rubber (Thailand) Co. LTD produces tires for many manufacturers. Although they’ve been in the Semi truck and trailer tire business since 1994, Cosmo finally expanded to the passenger and light truck market first in Europe in 2018 and in the United States in 2019.

I got a kick out of their coloring book tiger mascot.

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So, i took at look at their performance tire, the "Mucho Macho" in 275/35/20:

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Same 4 ply construction, but 8db quieter. All other specs equal with the Pirelli, but longer treadwear, which appealed to my inner Scrooge.

So, i ordered a pair to replace my 44,000 mile existing rear rubber.

$135 per tire...
 
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Wow, these tires are so quiet its unbelievable. 1,000 times better than my old Pirelli P7's at 4 x's the cost.

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I put some Michelin X-Ice Snow tires on my car. We need at least M+S rating with 4mm of tread to be legal after Oct 1. They are very noisy but they work great in the snow and on icy roads. The weather is unseasonably warm though. I’m worried with the high temperatures they will wear quickly. My wife’s car has some Pirelli all seasons (which are technically legal but useless in the snow) so we mostly use her car until the weather changes.
 
Kerry Brown said:
I put some Michelin X-Ice Snow tires on my car. We need at least M+S rating with 4mm of tread to be legal after Oct 1. They are very noisy but they work great in the snow and on icy roads. The weather is unseasonably warm though. I’m worried with the high temperatures they will wear quickly. My wife’s car has some Pirelli all seasons (which are technically legal but useless in the snow) so we mostly use her car until the weather changes.
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I'm not sure the heat will cause accelerated wear. In general, wear is generally a byproduct of road surface friction and mis-alignment.

Sever overheating, as you get with underinflation is another matter entirely.
 
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