Goodyear Assurance 26k mile update

[Glazeworld]

Well, it's been over 26,000 miles since I put on my Goodyear Assurance tires last October (because the BFG's were on back order for ever, and my Contis had no tread left). Needless to say, they SUCK in the rain. We had a very mild rain today, and I couldn't get traction to save my life. I was at a stop light (not trying to race) and I couldn't even keep up with the old 3 cylinder Geo Metro that was next to me. I just couldn't get hooked up. It took me about 5 seconds before I could get solid traction at every stop light today. I think that I may be swaping tires before that nasty, cold, white stuff starts landing on the streets.

At 20k miles, the dry traction was OK and the wet traction was pretty crappy at best. 6k miles later, the dry traction has tanked to crappy and the wet traction feels pretty much unsafe. I don't want to keep these tires any longer than I have to.

Anyone have better luck with their non-oem tires? I pretty much put on about 25k miles per year, and I'd like to get my next set of tires to last at least 2 years. So far, I've gotten about 10k miles of good traction out of each set of tires I've owned, and that just doesn't cut it for me anymore.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[BrilliantBlackHemi]

Wow. I had 12K on mine when I sold my 5.7L and I only had issues with traction at the drag strip. Sorry to hear they get bad over time.

[ratman1648]

hun. I've had a TOTALLY different experience with them. Traction kicks @ss but they are wearing too quickly.

[Displaced Hokie]

The GY's are not as tacky as the Conti's. I spin over the painted strip at every stoplight in the rain. Never happened with the Conti's. Otherwise, they seem to go well in the rain. So far, so good.

Hokie

[Scott]

Glazeworld, that's quite a vivid description.

I'm thinking that the Hemi LX's might get better life out SUV class tires. Those 255/55's come to mind. They have huge load ratings, 2200 lb vs 1700, to tolerate the stresses from hard cornering with our heavy LX's. 255's are an inch wider to distribute the load across more rubber and reduce slippage and the high wear that results.

[cadzilla74]

Glazeworld, don't get left out on the BFG's this time around. It doesn't snow here so I don't use KDWS but the KDW2's in 255-55-18 I put on are magical in the rain (the stock Conti's weren't bad but nothing like these). Even playing on a wet road I almost never see ESP blink at me unless I really force the issue.

[Scott]

Alas, the KDWS's don't have the reputation for durability like that of the mighty KDW2's

[Glazeworld]

Traction control. Heh. I wish that worked better. Tonight, I'd get about a second of wheel spin (maybe longer) before esp light kicked in. I'm hoping that the BFGs are no longer on back order. I may have to try a wider tire. I read another thread about Toyos that were wider. Has anyone here had any good or bad experiences with the wider tire on a stock 18" rim?

[cadzilla74]

No bad experience here. I believe 255 is as wide as you want to go on the stock 18" wheel (that may even be the max). Dry or wet the KDW2's blow away the OEM Conti's. Car handles and stops much better and like I said before, I really have to force the car to get ESP to kick in. I have been warned that the tread compound will get very hard and not be as grippy when the temperatures drop. But we don't see much below 40-45 F around here all winter. In the summer heat when it was 105 F these tires hung on like they were glued to the road and made very little noise.

[Scott]

Traction control. Heh. I wish that worked better. Tonight, I'd get about a second of wheel spin (maybe longer) before esp light kicked in. I'm hoping that the BFGs are no longer on back order. I may have to try a wider tire. I read another thread about Toyos that were wider. Has anyone here had any good or bad experiences with the wider tire on a stock 18" rim?

Your tires sound frightening. Must take all the fun out of driving.

I read all the tire threads I can and the only problem I've seen reported with 255's (stock rims) is where the "craddle shift" procedure was performed to solve the right pull problem of early 05' RTs. That resulted in some minor rubbing for a few cars.

Edit: I no sooner write this post, then I read Do I need spacers for 255/55 18? that a few folks have had rubbing with 255's and no mention of craddle shift. But that has to be a tiny minority, because so many people report no problemo.

[Todd RT]

I LOVE my BFG KDW2's. 255/55/18. AWESOME in the rain. VERY STICKY at all other times.

[moparman53]

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I love my KDWS 245/55-18's. They aren't much bigger around, so they won't affect the speedo very much , but they are about 1" wider. Not as cool looking as the KDW2's, but they grip quite well, even in the rain. They shouldn't be bad in snow either.

[cadzilla74]

Scott, no rubbing here at all, lock to lock turns of the steering are no problem.

[MikeEast]

No rubbing on my KDW2's - and like was mentioned earlier, they are a 3 season tire. Get them cold and they are like stones.

I would say they are noiser than the conti's were, but after I started running 38-40 psi they got darn near silent.

Mike

[cmdycrzr]

Are the Assurances the Triple Treads? I had some on my PT Cruiser and they were great in the wet and were sticky enough for me in dry weather. They're a great all season even here in WNY.