165/65r14 Tire Discussion

[jdollatari]

I assume you got the Dunlop Winter Maxx 2, & I think those are a great choice. Those & the Nokian Nordman 7 are the most common ones I see available. Nordman 7 can be had with or without studs, but I live in an area where studs are not allowed. I think either snow tires is a decent choice (which is good, because there's not much else beside a few lesser known Chinese brands).

Correct winter maxx 2 is what I purchased

[Dookaughs]

I have bought four new Falken Sincera SN250A A/S and have had one side wall bubble, and one puncture (from a block of wood). They may indeed be inferior e.g. replaced two tires in a matter of months when compared to the SN250 A/S

[Mark]

I have bought four new Falken Sincera SN250A A/S and have had one side wall bubble, and one puncture (from a block of wood). They may indeed be inferior e.g. replaced two tires in a matter of months when compared to the SN250 A/S

Pairs of 165/65r14 all-season tires I have tried so far.

Dunlop Enasave (past) - wore better than expected, but lost one within 8 months (sidewall issue)
Federal SS-657 (past) - no longer available, but they were decent for $40 each
Since I lost a Dunlop, I used the Dunlop & Federal pairs of tires together for a few years.

Nexen N'Priz AH5 (current) - favorite so far!
Kumho Solus TA31 (current) - 2nd favorite!

So far I like the Nexen tires the best. I was discussing tires (my driving school car is in need of them) with my local mechanic the other day, & he brought up Nexen tires, too. I like picking the brains of a guy like him. He does a good number of tires, because he's one of the only guys in town (in our entire county) that has a tire alignment set up.

Nexen tires are $80-85 most of the time, but I see them on sale at times. I bought a pair for $50/tire from tires-easy.com a few years ago. Walmart has them for $67.10/tire today, which is cheaper than the Dunlop, Falken, or Kumho. The Kumho tires are usually cheaper. Tire prices jump up & down all the time now.

[inuvik]

I have the Nexen AH5 165/65r14 on my Mirage also and they are great. Previous two sets were Federal SS-657's which replaced the OEM Dun-pop Everfails which I had repeated punctures and 2 of the 4 had sidewall bubbles before 20k miles.

[7milesout]

OEM Dun-pop Everfails...

Had a good chuckle on that! Your tires sound like a set of Maypops I used to run. What are Maypops a friend asked me one time. "You know ... you be ridin' round town and them sumbiches maypop at ANY time."

[mirthmobile]

Anyone ever run an Imperial Snow Dragon tire?



What about a Kumho Solus HA31 in winter? I know they're "all weather" but in my experience anything that's not a dedicated winter tire is awful on snow and ice. Just curious if that's the case with these.

[BigMW]

Anyone ever run an Imperial Snow Dragon tire?



What about a Kumho Solus HA31 in winter? I know they're "all weather" but in my experience anything that's not a dedicated winter tire is awful on snow and ice. Just curious if that's the case with these.

I have kumho solus ha 32, does that count?

I drove the kumho tires on the same day as my slightly used studded, dedicated winter tires (I forget the brand)
Conditions were packed snow, cold (around -20 c). The All-weather tires, to my surprise, clearly outperformed the studded winter tires.

So that will be the last set of studded tires I will ever buy.

[mirthmobile]

That DOES help, thanks! I see plenty of review saying they're good in winter but some people consider light flurries to be a snowstorm.

[BigMW]

That DOES help, thanks! I see plenty of review saying they're good in winter but some people consider light flurries to be a snowstorm.

The all weather kumho tires were brand new at the time, but they were better.

Having driven only 4wd or awd vehicles for a number of years, I had a hard time with the little 2wd mirage, lol. On snow, ice and slush, it is very easy to spin the front tires in first gear, from a stop. I'm not used to that feeling, and it surprised me with such a tiny engine.
But that spin was worse with my studded tires, I thought it would be completely eliminated, but no.

[mirthmobile]

The all weather kumho tires were brand new at the time, but they were better.

Having driven only 4wd or awd vehicles for a number of years, I had a hard time with the little 2wd mirage, lol. On snow, ice and slush, it is very easy to spin the front tires in first gear, from a stop. I'm not used to that feeling, and it surprised me with such a tiny engine.
But that spin was worse with my studded tires, I thought it would be completely eliminated, but no.

I've daily driven a Grand Marquis or Crown Vic in one form or another for the past 20 years, winters included. They can be a lot of fun in snow but you can barely breathe on the throttle without it spinning. I have a feeling the Mirage will be night and day different, though it'll be interesting to see how the little pizza cutter tires on the Mirage do.

I love that we use the same size tire as a Can Am Spyder