Tire recommendations ?

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by bigdog

I'm in the market to buy tires for my Outback Suburu.
Current tires are General Alti-Max, that supposedly have a 70k mile warranty, but for me only got about 50k. Won't buy Generals' again

Interestingly, Consumer Reports says the mileage on the General Alti-Max is realistic. I had them on my previous car and liked them (sold car before the tires wore out). However, I've never gotten more than about 30,000 miles out of any tire. (Clearly I'm doing something wrong.) I believe the best expert reviews are at Tire Rack. They rated the General Alti-Max best in its category. Personally, if I got 50,000 miles out of a tire I would buy it again.

[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Interestingly, Consumer Reports says the mileage on the General Alti-Max is realistic. I had them on my previous car and liked them (sold car before the tires wore out). However, I've never gotten more than about 30,000 miles out of any tire. (Clearly I'm doing something wrong.) I believe the best expert reviews are at Tire Rack. They rated the General Alti-Max best in its category. Personally, if I got 50,000 miles out of a tire I would buy it again.

There are so many variables to buying a tire it's not as simple as pick a brand, a size, throw it on and ignore.

What are you putting them on and are the specs of the tire well within the tire ratings or just barely adequate? The latter is usually the case as it reduces the upfront cost.

What's the UTGQ rating?
What's the load range\index?
What is the speed rating?
What is the temp and traction ratings?
Are the tires properly kept in balance?
Is the car kept aligned?
Are the tired rotated frequently? Very important on AWD vehicles!
How is the vehicle driven?
Are the tires kept properly inflated?

To compare I have had 3 sets of General Alti-Max tires replaced after buying new, all were on AWD vehicles which notoriously are hard on tires, two set I got a little over 70K an one set (on my commuter car) I got a 100K but that is all highway driving. I am not a hard driver, tires are rotated every oil change (5K) and I get the tires road force balanced, checked annually when inspected and nitrogen filled.

Many of these popular tires are available with differing load index, speed ratings even with a tire that is the same make, model and size. The huge mistake most customers make when buying a tire is looking at the upfront cost and always opting for the cheapest price. The sellers to accommodate this will install tires are are borderline adequate for the application. The result is the cost savings up front will translate to shorter overall tread life.

Generally speaking you get what you pay for, a good quality tire properly spec'd for the application and properly maintained should easily be able to meet whatever the advertised tread life as advertised. If you are falling short of that then any one of the aforementioned is probably wrong or not being done.