175 65R 14's on stock 14 inch steelies

[dragon2knight]

Man...that's pretty good service from Carvanna. You can't ask for more that that!

That's good news that the original Dunlops were evenly worn. Sounds like this car doesn't have any funky alignment issues. Those Potenzas are expensive ($115/each on Tire Rack) but the replacement Dunlops would have been even more.

Other than the cold hard fact this Mirage was a replacement for my original 2018 Mirage I bought from them a few months ago (registration/title issues on their part), Carvana has been a pretty pleasant experience. I still recommend them despite all the issues.
As for tires, if I stick with the original tire size, and I actually had a choice, I'd have tried out the Federal's everyone seems to like, at less than half the price of the Re'92's and even more so for the Dunlops, it seems like the best deal going.

[Dirk Diggler]

Federals from Walmart are solid according to owners on here. I'm a big fan of the Barum Brillantis2 175 65 r14 I got on both our Mirages. The tread is robust and chunky. In my mind it grips better too in the rain but mpg is down for both our cars since putting them on. I drive fast so I'm most often around 2500 to 3000 rpms daily avg only 33 city & 37 hwy. I'll take it though, my last car, a 2004 Outback 3.0 H6 ate gas like a truck. I only avg 19 mpg in that wagon.

[Mark]

Other than the cold hard fact this Mirage was a replacement for my original 2018 Mirage I bought from them a few months ago (registration/title issues on their part), Carvana has been a pretty pleasant experience. I still recommend them despite all the issues.
As for tires, if I stick with the original tire size, and I actually had a choice, I'd have tried out the Federal's everyone seems to like, at less than half the price of the Re'92's and even more so for the Dunlops, it seems like the best deal going.

Federal tires are not a bad value. I wouldn't expect them to way outperform (traction) the brand new Bridgestone tires you already have. When you are considering 165/65r14 tires, you are stuck looking at certain brands like Federal, Nexen, Kumho, Dunlop, & Bridgestone. If you decide to go with 175/65r14, you have many, many, more options.

No one that I am aware of is telling you a $45 Federal tire is going to give you more or less traction than a $115 Bridgestone tire. If traction is a real concern, I would keep the tires you already have. They are somewhat expensive LRR tires, & I suspect you will gain nothing by going with a cheaper Federal tire. I've been using a pair of Dunlop up front & Federal on the rear all summer. They are both quite worn, but they do the job for the summer months. I am more impressed by the Federal tires, because they are less than half the price. They are not superior tires.

If you are not happy with your traction going into the winter, I would put some Dunlop Winter Maxx 2 (winter tire), Nokian Nordman 7 (winter tire), or Vredestein Quatrac 5 (all-weather tire) on some steel rims. Or buy some nice alloy rims for your existing tires & steel rims for new winter tires.

Buying $45 Federal tires to replace brand new $115 Bridgestone tires is just a waste of money in my mind.

[Cobrajet]

I am quite happy with the Federals. IMHO, they do almost everything better than the original Dunlops, though I have never run a set of Potenzas. Have a buddy who ran Potenzas on his Mirage...and he hated them.

Ride comfort, road noise, wet grip, dry grip...all better. There seems to have been a slight mileage penalty with them, but I also put them on right when the weather started to get cooler and wetter. I put the Federals on about six weeks ago so I can't speak to tread life. However, I used to run Federals on my Metro and they were always good for a little more tread life than they were rated for.

The Dunlops were good for about 35k. Period. Federals are a great tire for the money, and if I ever have to put on another set (car will have over 200,000 miles by then) I will get more Federals. I think I got mine in 165/65-14 for right around $40 each from either SimpleTire.com or TireRack.com.

[dragon2knight]

Federal tires are not a bad value. I wouldn't expect them to way outperform (traction) the brand new Bridgestone tires you already have. When you are considering 165/65r14 tires, you are stuck looking at certain brands like Federal, Nexen, Kumho, Dunlop, & Bridgestone. If you decide to go with 175/65r14, you have many, many, more options.

No one that I am aware of is telling you a $45 Federal tire is going to give you more or less traction than a $115 Bridgestone tire. If traction is a real concern, I would keep the tires you already have. They are somewhat expensive LRR tires, & I suspect you will gain nothing by going with a cheaper Federal tire. I've been using a pair of Dunlop up front & Federal on the rear all summer. They are both quite worn, but they do the job for the summer months. I am more impressed by the Federal tires, because they are less than half the price. They are not superior tires.

If you are not happy with your traction going into the winter, I would put some Dunlop Winter Maxx 2 (winter tire), Nokian Nordman 7 (winter tire), or Vredestein Quatrac 5 (all-weather tire) on some steel rims. Or buy some nice alloy rims for your existing tires & steel rims for new winter tires.

Buying $45 Federal tires to replace brand new $115 Bridgestone tires is just a waste of money in my mind.

You missed what I said there, I wouldn't want to replace the RE92's with the Federals, but that I would have went with the Federals over the RE92's if I was the one paying for them this time out. I wouldn't replace these until they are worn out or I wanted better in terms of size performance. But from what I've been reading on this thread so far it looks like I'm going to stick with the RE92's till they're worn out. They must be better than I saw in the rain yesterday if so many folks actually like them.

[Eggman]

If only there was some sort of forum that owners could use to swap wheels for a test drive before buying some new tires...

[dragon2knight]

If only there was some sort of forum that owners could use to swap wheels for a test drive before buying some new tires...

Right, we should all meet up in some abandoned Sears parking lot to do this
I'll bring the jack, you bring the beer

[Mark]

I am quite happy with the Federals. IMHO, they do almost everything better than the original Dunlops, though I have never run a set of Potenzas. Have a buddy who ran Potenzas on his Mirage...and he hated them.

Ride comfort, road noise, wet grip, dry grip...all better. There seems to have been a slight mileage penalty with them, but I also put them on right when the weather started to get cooler and wetter. I put the Federals on about six weeks ago so I can't speak to tread life. However, I used to run Federals on my Metro and they were always good for a little more tread life than they were rated for.

The Dunlops were good for about 35k. Period. Federals are a great tire for the money, and if I ever have to put on another set (car will have over 200,000 miles by then) I will get more Federals. I think I got mine in 165/65-14 for right around $40 each from either SimpleTire.com or TireRack.com.

If the Federal SS657 ($45 *) & Dunlop Enasaves ($124 *) were the same price, I would buy the Federal tires.
* - current price on walmart.com

Federal SS657 tires are typically in that $40-50 range most of the time. I've seen them as low as $38/tire once. All these prices included free-shipping. Walmart.com, simpletire.com, & tires-easy.com are good places to shop for them. I bought my pair from simpletire.com, because they were the cheapest at the time. My local mechanic mounted/balanced the pair for $20 cash.

I have never seen 165/65r14 Federal tires carried by tirerack.com, but Tire Rack carries a couple good options that most other vendors don't. The Kumho Solus TA31 (60,000 mile warranty) & Vredestein Quatrac 5 (all-weather tire from Europe that has a good reputation) are the two. Tirerack.com usually has the typical Dunlop Enasave, Dunlop Winter Maxx 2, and the Bridgestone tires, too.

Since 165/65r14 Federal tires are carried by multiple vendors & they are quite affordable ($40-50 usually), I don't see the need to spend more than twice that for the Dunlop or Bridgestone. I tried to say that on a Federal tire review on the Walmart site once, but they chopped out my comment.

A new tire (verses an old worn one) may have a little less mpg rating at first regardless of the brand.

Since Federal tires are affordable, I also don't see the need to buy unproven Chinese brand tires. I appreciate members like Dirk & Cobrajet sharing their tire experience. The Barum tires that Dirk (is happy with) come from Europe (Czech Republic). Barum is based there at least.

Companies like Federal made an effort to enter new markets like the States through the racing industry. Federal & Falken (owned by the Japanese company Sumitomo Rubber Industries) have developed a decent reputation in the States. Dunlop may be owned by Goodyear, but read the fine print on any Dunlop Enasave tire and you will see they are made by Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) of Thailand.

Federal tires has become more of an independent company in recent years, & the SS657 tires are made in Taiwan. Federal has former connections with both SRI & Dunlop.

Quote: "In 1954, Federal Tire was founded in Taiwan by Ma Chi San. Federal Tires partnered with the Bridgestone Corporation for almost twenty years, followed by the Sumitomo Rubber Industries for twenty more."

I sort of went down a rabbit hole here. Sorry! Federal tires are a good value. Since 165/65r14 tire options are few, they are a good tire to consider.

If a good deal can be found on them, I wouldn't rule out 165/65r14 Nexen or Kumho tires (Korean tires). As we all know, Hyundai/KIA (also Korean companies) have made their presence known here in North America, too!

[dragon2knight]

Wow. If I ever have a tire question/issue/thought, I'm passing it by you first!! And for the record, I've decided to run these RE92's down before bothering with another tire. Might as well. As long as snow doesn't upset them too much they'll stay put. Thanks for all of the great advice on this thread, it's very much appreciated here