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Car: passenger or performance tires??

J

.JahJahwarrior.

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 1, 2007
438
0
I've got a question for car people...


My girlfriend drives a 2005 Chevy Aveo. The tires are way worn out and will be replaced soon, like, this week.

Should I get her to buy "passenger" tires, or "performance" tires? There are some that are similarly priced (73-75) and similar mileage (70k-65k) warranty.

It's not a sporty car, but she does have a lead foot.
 
-JahJahwarrior

What are the typical driving conditions? If there is possibility of snow, I'd go Multiseasonal.

If you don't have to worry about that, you could get something with a bit less tread siping.

Look at the expected lifetime of the tire, try for 44,000 miles or something.

Disclosure: I have two sets of wheels, one with heavy snow tires for winter, and one set with very high speed-rated (but very little tread siping) for summer. Each with about 20,000 miles lifetime.

<edit> Saw your warranty information - don't know how I missed it. Ok, then just consider the driving conditions. I'm biased toward performance :)
 
Florida...if it snowed here, I think we'd all keel over and die, without ever thinking about driving in the stuff :D (especially her, I have roots in Atlanta and the Carolinas, so I have driven in snow, but she's never even seen the stuff) It rains, alot.

What does "performance" mean compared to passenger tires? I have passenger tires on my ford ranger, and was going to just get her to buy some good passenger tires, but then the lady at tires plus was trying to sell me some performance tires that were $5 more and 5k less mileage warranty...I think she'd be fine with whatever, I just wondered if it makes a difference.
 
.JahJahwarrior. said:
Florida...if it snowed here, I think we'd all keel over and die, without ever thinking about driving in the stuff :D (especially her, I have roots in Atlanta and the Carolinas, so I have driven in snow, but she's never even seen the stuff) It rains, alot.

What does "performance" mean compared to passenger tires? I have passenger tires on my ford ranger, and was going to just get her to buy some good passenger tires, but then the lady at tires plus was trying to sell me some performance tires that were $5 more and 5k less mileage warranty...I think she'd be fine with whatever, I just wondered if it makes a difference.
Click to expand...

keep in mind that performance tires are usually wider so they will hurt gas mileage for the benefit of increased response and also that their tread life tends to be much lower....as in they are soft

buy your tires from tirerack.com or discounttire.com or 1010tires

thats what i have done
 
How does she drive? Performance tires have rubber that is a little softer than say all season tires. You pay for better grip w/ increased tread wear. Personally, all seasons don't cut it for me, I do alot of spirited driving lol
 
eldy said:
it's a pos probably with 155 width tires.. get the cheapest tire available.
Click to expand...

A car touches the road in four spots: where the rubber meets the pavement. The last thing you want to do is buy crappy tires. :rolleyes:

Performance tires will offer increased handling in the dry - wet-road grip will suffer. They also may be louder than passenger tires, and produce a firmer ride. Emergency manoeuvres may become a little crisper, but overall, I wouldn't bother with performance tires on an Aveo unless she's really a driver. I put performance tires on my Civic, but I value the benefits... for someone driving A to B, no point really.
 
Aren't all 185/60r14 tires going to be the same size?

I think the passenger tires are going to be what goes on the car, good thoughts on the performance in the rain.

She's pretty new at driving, and she drives pretty aggressively, as in she brakes late and hard most of the time. She's 19 but only got her license a year ago.

I'll take her to TiresPlus or Firestone or ActionGator/Goodyear...I've had good experiences at all of those places, and her tires literally are at 2/32", and I finally got her to call her dad to get her to say it's ok for her to buy the tires (she lives away from home at college), and so I'm taking her to get new tires as soon as possible.
 
Go for the passenger tires.

Passenger tires have a more comfortable ride, the grip of those tires is better in all weather but when it is dry.

Performance tires have a stiffer side wall which makes the ride rougher but gives better handling. Performance tires are great when it is dry and warm but when it gets wet and/or cold they suck.

My car has low profile performance tires so I do know about the handling when it gets wet and./or cold out side. If it is snow and ice well it takes a lot of extra effort to drive the car compared to cars with all season.

It safe to assume since you are asking these question the passenger tire it the way to go. This car is used to get from point A to point B. Comfort is more important than performance. What little you would loss handling wise with the passenger tires woudl be completely out weight by the benefits.

.JahJahwarrior. said:
1. Aren't all 185/60r14 tires going to be the same size?

2. I think the passenger tires are going to be what goes on the car, good thoughts on the performance in the rain.
Click to expand...

1. For the most part yes

2. Performance tires suck in the rain. (speaking from experience)
 
Rodimus Prime said:
Go for the passenger tires.

Passenger tires have a more comfortable ride, the grip of those tires is better in all weather but when it is dry.

Performance tires have a stiffer side wall which makes the ride rougher but gives better handling. Performance tires are great when it is dry and warm but when it gets wet and/or cold they suck.

My car has low profile performance tires so I do know about the handling when it gets wet and./or cold out side. If it is snow and ice well it takes a lot of extra effort to drive the car compared to cars with all season.

1. For the most part yes

2. Performance tires suck in the rain. (speaking from experience)
Click to expand...

I had the same question and was trying to get bridgestone tires for my toyota camry and find opposite description for passenger vs performance. The performance tire shows better all season (wet/dry/snow) performance but has lower ratings in fuel efficiency, quiet ride and ride comfort. I was comparing bridgestone ecopia ep100 vs potenza g019 on bridgestonetire.com

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/productdetails/TireSubBrand/Ecopia_EP100
http://www.bridgestonetire.com/productdetails/TireSubBrand/Potenza_G019_Grid
 
If the prices are the same, it's just marketing. You're not looking at real performance tires if the prices are close to the cost of regular.

I'd look at the actual performance characteristics. It might be helpful to post the specific tires you are looking at as well.
 
If it's just an everyday 4-banger econobox daily driver, just get the passenger tires.

It's an oxymoron to put "performance" tires on that kind of car.

And, as has been said, any "performance" tire being sold for $5 more than the comparable passenger tire, is no performance tire, and is just the product of marketing.

There's no such thing as a performance tire that lasts 65k+ miles. Real performance tires are very lucky to ever see 30k miles, because they are soft.

Really on a car like that, I'd just get the stock replacement, middle-of-the-road basic tire. Don't get the cheapest of the cheap, but just get something basic since it's a basic car.
 
Get the one with the lower rolling resistance. You could save hundreds of dollars over the lifetime of the tires in fuel cost. That's more than enough to pay for the extra cost of those tires.
 
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