165/65r14 Tire Discussion

[Mark]

I don't need additional payload, I need extra ... assurance. But I totally get what you're saying. I will certainly consider bigger tires. I prefer though not to run those huge mammoth drag-slick 175 tires though.

I don't haul heavy loads with my Mirage. I have a hitch, but I only use it for my rear bike rack.

I lost a factory Dunlop @ 15,000 miles (sidewall blow out in the rear with nothing in the back of the car). I was simply driving to town for a driving lesson that morning. In all my years of driving, I've never had a tire fail like that. I used up two of the remaining Dunlop tires, but I never trusted them after that. It made me start carrying a full size spare in my Mirage.

I am not a brand loyalty type of person.

Nexen & Kumho make a decent 165/65r14 tire for a decent price, & no one else does. It's that simple.

If the 165/65r14 Falken tire was their Sincera SN250 A/S -720AB/80,000 mile warranty tire, I would recommend that one. Sadly, it's a 320BB/no warranty tire instead.

It's possible that one of the Chinese tire brands or the Armstrong tires made in Thailand are decent tires, but I feel that's more of a gamble.

I bought Nokian Nordman 7 snow tires thinking they were made in Finland (where my oldest daughter lives), but they were made in Russia. I recently bought Vredestein tires thinking they were also made in Europe.

Search where Vredestein tires are made, & this is what you find -

"We have been manufacturing first-class tires in the Netherlands for over a century and are dedicated to preserving our European production for the next. Our tires have been manufactured in the Netherlands since Vredestein began and continue to do so from our production hub in Enschede, operating since 1952."

The Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires I received this week were made in India.

Tire Rack does share where tires are made, but I overlooked that.

If you are concerned about the Kumho Solus TA51a being made in Korea, I just found out they are made in Vietnam. Does that make me feel better about them? No!

Falken tires both the Sincera SN250 A/S & Sincera SN250A A/S are made in Thailand. Thus, the reason we probably see the cheaper one used as factory tires on the newer model Mirages.

We live in a global market. It's utterly impossible to get around that. Russia goes to war & Nokian Nordman 7 snow tires disappear.