Tire Options

[Redwolf]

My current tires are extremely old and start looking into tire options but there seem to be fewer and fewer every year. Current tires are Sumitomo 185/70/R13s - the rims are Cromodora Iron Cross. Prior to the Sumitomos, I had Pirellis on the Fiat and Michelin on other cars.

I'm having trouble finding Pirellis or Michelins and not familiar with a lot of brands that I'm seeing for the size. Has anyone been able to find some good Pirellis, Michelins, or have other recommendations on a specific tire? I'll hand up listen - Thanks in advance.

[rridge]

Stick with 185/70/13. It is a good size for the 5" Iron Cross rims. Kumho, Falken, and Cooper are three decent quality brands that you can find at many online sellers sites. Kumho is Korean, Falken is a subsidiary of Sumitomo and Cooper tires are made in the U.S. If you must have Michelin tires with OE looks Corker will make reproductions for you but they are expensive.

[hayesbd]

I recently got a set of the Kuhmos and really like how they handle. I went from a 155 width to these 185s and the steering is no stiffer, even while maneuvering at slow speed.

[Redwolf]

Went with the 185/70/13 Kumhos and pleased so far.

[SanJoseSteve]

If you or a friend are visiting Mexico, you can pick up 13" tires easily. Costco has them..... my friend is going to pick me up 5 Bridgestone Potenzas in 185-70-13 on her next trip at the Costco in Ensenada. You can find all the name brands...... Michelin, Goodyear, Continental...... in Mexico. Yeah, you can forget about the warranty, but when you are only paying $60 for a Pirelli P4 do you really care? -Steve (The Fiat Driving) Ferrari

Check out this online tire shop...... over 50 different 185-70-13 tires to choose from. https://www.misterllantas.com/185-70-r13.html?p=1

[aj81spider]

I'd be a little worried about getting counterfeit tires (which is also a problem in the US). If the tires are much cheaper than normal you have to ask yourself why.

http://www.tractionnews.com/be-aware-of ... eit-tires/

[SanJoseSteve]

If memory serves, when I last bought 13" tires in 2011 (Falken Sincera) I only paid $50 each for them at America's Tire. At the time, it was a toss up between those and a set of General Altimax for the same money. I mean, they -are- really small tires right?

The market for 13" tires in Central and South America is substantial, hence the huge variety of tires available. I think the volume is so minuscule in the U.S. that it's not worth the effort from manufactures to distribute them here. Those that do know it's a limited market and so price accordingly. I was going to buy some Pirelli Cinturatos or Vredstein Sprint Classics, but at $150 a pop I think I'll gamble on a set of Bridgestone Potenzas from the Ensenada Costco.

Tire sizes have grown like crazy in the past 20 years. 911's used to come with 15" wheels and I thought they were HUGE back in the day Ha! -SF

[SteinOnkel]

I run Falken SS-595 on both my 13" cars. They are fantastic tires, nice and grippy on and off the racetrack. Wet traction could be better though, but for that I have my daily driver anyways.

[baltobernie]

The market for 13" tires in Central and South America is substantial, hence the huge variety of tires available. I think the volume is so minuscule in the U.S. that it's not worth the effort from manufactures to distribute them here. Those that do know it's a limited market and so price accordingly. I was going to buy some Pirelli Cinturatos or Vredstein Sprint Classics, but at $150 a pop I think I'll gamble on a set of Bridgestone Potenzas from the Ensenada Costco.

Eight years ago, I had a buddy in San Diego send me some Pirelli P4's from Mexico http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=9341 for the same reasons Steve mentioned. They worked fine, but my contact has retired. You'd think there would be a large enough number of early Spiders to warrant some entrepreneur buying a couple of sets on spec.

Last year, I got some Pirelli CN36 from Lucas, but they were really expensive.

[PhillySpider]

Just ordered a set of Kumho 185/70r13's from Amazon for $52.99 ea.! As soon as the paint dries on the BWA sportstars I got from Joe D they'll be mounted up...

[RRoller123]

I used those,they were very good.

[DieselSpider]

Just ordered a set of Kumho 185/70r13's from Amazon for $52.99 ea.! As soon as the paint dries on the BWA sportstars I got from Joe D they'll be mounted up...

Were those the Solus TA11?

I can get those at the local Sams Club for $61 each plus $15 mounting with lifetime balancing, rotating, road hazard and flat repair.

My daughter had a chance to test them out on the lifetime services and had multiple flat repairs at no charge and eventually after a few years a full set of tires due to a road hazard incident where she drove over a bunch of scrap metal that had been dropped in the middle of the road.

BJ's can get the Toyo Extensa AS 185/70r13's for $66.99 each plus $15 for mounting and lifetime services too.

Sometimes the local wholesale clubs will surprise you and there is no shipping charge when sent directly to the club plus if you find them to be old stock its much easier to refuse them and arrange to get a fresher set. Too many "Bargain" on-line tires are such old stock that a reputable tire shop might refuse to mount them. Lets face it tires are basically only safe for 5 years from the date stamped on them so why would you put a tire that has already lost a year or so of safe useful life on a car where they will age out before you drive far enough to wear them out?

For example a $52.99 tire that is already 2 years old only has another 3 safe years left in it so its annual coast is basically $18 per year while the locally purchased fresh tire with with 5 safe years comes to around $12 per year and that does not factor in shipping on the internet tire which is somewhere around $8 per tire which raises the cost of the $52.99 tire to about $61 which comes out to almost double the cost of ownership based on 3 years of safe usage which comes to around $20 per year. Some on-line tires may be newer and some older however with shipping the price advantage most often evaporates and the potential loss of useful life can greatly reduce their value so buyer beware.

I know some may argue that modern tires should last longer however the reality is with strife and rubber tree forests being destroyed there is not enough virgin rubber so they are bonding virgin to synthetic which as it ages starts to separate. When repairing tires today you need to grind away the synthetic rubber to bond your patch to the virgin rubber in the inner casing and then add a synthetic membrane over the patch once your done in order to get a longer lasting safe repair.

[PhillySpider]

Wow that's a mouthful!
1. Prime member, free shipping
2. Ever dealt with amazon on a problem? $480 refund, no questions asked, on a chainsaw recieved with a cracked casing and they didn't want it back. I'm still using it today.
3. Nobody will gaurantee you a recent date code. It's illegal to sell a "new tire" that's 5 years old in all 50 states.
4. Free mounting and balancing as I was owed a favor from the shop.
5. They're Solus TA11.

If you're good to amazon, they're good to you. I get coffee, paper towels, dog/cat food and supplies, household cleaners, napkins, granola bars...TONS of things, all on auto delivery with free shipping. I haven't been to a Target or Walmart in 6 years, or left my house for that item i "forgot in the store" once.

Do the math on my time, fuel savings, wear and tear and depreciation on my vehicles. On top of those savings throw in prime video and music on all my family's TVs and mobile devices.

One last thing, what does that club membership where you get the privilege to OVERPAY on items in bulk cost you? Lol.

[DieselSpider]

Wow that's a mouthful!
1. Prime member, free shipping
2. Ever dealt with amazon on a problem? $480 refund, no questions asked, on a chainsaw recieved with a cracked casing and they didn't want it back. I'm still using it today.
3. Nobody will gaurantee you a recent date code. It's illegal to sell a "new tire" that's 5 years old in all 50 states.
4. Free mounting and balancing as I was owed a favor from the shop.
5. They're Solus TA11.

If you're good to amazon, they're good to you. I get coffee, paper towels, dog/cat food and supplies, household cleaners, napkins, granola bars...TONS of things, all on auto delivery with free shipping. I haven't been to a Target or Walmart in 6 years, or left my house for that item i "forgot in the store" once.

Do the math on my time, fuel savings, wear and tear and depreciation on my vehicles. On top of those savings throw in prime video and music on all my family's TVs and mobile devices.

One last thing, what does that club membership where you get the privilege to OVERPAY on items in bulk cost you? Lol.

Less than an Amazon Prime membership and I am supporting local businesses helping keep my property taxes in the $500 per year range. Not much benefit to pulling the plug on your communities finances by purchasing everything on-line. I purchase less too and make fewer impulse buys lowering my annual costs and I get to see how fresh/appropriate every thing is before I put it in my shopping cart. Some of my neighbors as so entrenched in on-line shopping that they are on a first name basis with the delivery drivers whom they see just about every day yet they do not know who their next door neighbor is or a cashier at any of the local stores.

I am paying 20 to 25 cents for k-cups, 2/3rds the grocery store prices for yogurt/eggs/milk, about 1/2 the grocery store prices on frozen vegetables, more economical fresh produce, etc, etc. Televisions are 20% less than even the local Best Buy best sales and have double the warranty too. About the best car battery prices in town too. Yes some items do cost more however I don't use those items and only purchase what costs less. Haven't had to run back for a forgotten item in many years.

The club is something I drive by almost every time I drive so no extra wear and tear on any vehicle to go there plus since I optimize trips when I do go for a drive I only put a few thousand miles per year on my daily driver making it so I replace tires due to age and not wear. I chose to live in an area where I don't have to drive long distances to get to stores, schools, hospitals, etc so I can make a run to the hardware store, wholesale club, parts store, park, etc and only drive a few miles or even ride a bicycle if its appropriate.

No refusing shipments at the door or waiting for RMA's and no runs to UPS or FedX for insured return shipments, no having to be at home waiting for expensive shipments or running out to pick up something the delivery driver felt was inappropriate to leave at the door when nobody was there and rushing to get there before they lock the doors. No stolen deliveries that were left out in plain sight either. I don't pay for video, music or cable and get it for free already on all my devices anyway so no draw or any type of savings there either.

Savings, thrift, great ease, less running around and finagling along with supporting my community and meeting more people in my community. It couldn't get much better.

The last item I ordered on Amazon was OBDII extension cables for a Blue Tooth computer interface and they sent Glock 9mm gun magazine extenders instead. Really messed up my schedule and it would have cost less in wasted time if I had bought the cables locally making it so I would have had the job done a week earlier.

Oh and yes they will guarantee the tires and batteries will be no more than 3 months old and accept that I will refuse them if they are.

[PhillySpider]

Sorry to break it to you, but buying from Costco, Walmart and the like is the opposite of supporting local businesses. I have 0 issues with delivery or concern about stolen packages in our community. Multi million$ homes on dozens of acres surround us. I support all of our local businesses, as they're farmers markets, restaurants, galleries, bars, local artists and theaters. Quite an evolved community actually with a "no chain stores in our area" policy... would take me half an hour to get to a big box store, yet one hour to NYC. My taxes are admittedly much higher than yours, but likely well worth it with the #2 ranked school system in the state, and not having to worry if my mail will get stolen lol.