ES 330 tires
01-19-12, 06:04 AM
#17
You can't lump Korea and China together. Korean manufacturing is much more similar to Japan, and China is decades behind both. I have dealt with Chinese tire and wheel manufacturers in the off-road industry, and I would not put Chinese tires on my car. The last 100,000 miles on our car have been on Korean tires that have held their uniformity throughout their tread life.
01-19-12, 06:31 AM
#18
What makes Nexen tires trash? Is it only because they're not a recognized brand that you see on TV? The reviews are very good.
I have a '97 ES with 267k miles on it, so I've gone through some tires. You may scoff if you like, but the best tires I've had on it were Kumho. I'm on the third set now. I started with two sets of KH16's then moved to the Ecsta LX Platinum when they became available. I have also had Michelin Energy MXV4, Pirelli P6000 SV, and Bridgestone Turanza LS-V. The worst tires were the Michelins. The were the only tires I've ever owned - in over 700,000 miles of driving - that experienced tread separation, and it happened on two of them. The second-worst were the Pirelli's. The more they wore, the louder they got, and they were done in under 30k miles.
I'm an engineer in the auto industry and I used to work for one of the tires companies above. If you form your opinions strictly based on advertising and perception, I can guarantee you're not getting your money's worth when you buy tires.
I have a '97 ES with 267k miles on it, so I've gone through some tires. You may scoff if you like, but the best tires I've had on it were Kumho. I'm on the third set now. I started with two sets of KH16's then moved to the Ecsta LX Platinum when they became available. I have also had Michelin Energy MXV4, Pirelli P6000 SV, and Bridgestone Turanza LS-V. The worst tires were the Michelins. The were the only tires I've ever owned - in over 700,000 miles of driving - that experienced tread separation, and it happened on two of them. The second-worst were the Pirelli's. The more they wore, the louder they got, and they were done in under 30k miles.
I'm an engineer in the auto industry and I used to work for one of the tires companies above. If you form your opinions strictly based on advertising and perception, I can guarantee you're not getting your money's worth when you buy tires.
The problem with smaller tire manufacturers is that they are worlds behind the industry leaders in terms of technology. They just don't perform as well, on average, as the larger names... That being said, there are some great, cheap tires out there, but not a lot.
Most cheap tires get great reviews because of perception. When new, even the cheapest tire is better than the best tire that is worn out. Then the driver sees they saved some amount of money... Perception is great... Great tires similarly get bad reviews because they are generally more critical because more money was spent...
01-19-12, 07:57 AM
#19
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Finally some reasonable perspective from mitsuguy... and korea has only caught up in the last decade if not less.. Im still not sure Id buy a Hyundai quite yet... I bought my Honda from a KIA dealer... the Optimas had Nexens and Hankooks as oem rubber. Sales manager said tire noise and poor wear are common complaints and wishes they would put anything non Korean on them lol. I took it with a grain of salt but the SX I drove was loud as hell.
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