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SUVs Ford Freestyle Ford Freestyle Tires
160 messages, Last post on Aug 04, 2009 at 12:14 PM
You are in the Ford Freestyle Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Replying to: bobw3 (Jun 14, 2007 3:53 am)
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Replying to: stevedebi (Jun 14, 2007 12:13 pm) I think you may misunderstand how the term 'profile' is used in reference to tires. The 18" Pirellis are actually a lower profile tire than the 17" Continentals. Profile refers to the height of the sidewall on any given tire. The bigger the wheel size for any given vehicle the lower the tire profile needs to be by necessity to keep the same tire circumference. That is why as wheels get bigger the sidewalls get smaller. Also, the profile of a tire has nothing to do with how long they will last. That is mainly a function of the rubber compound used to manufacture the tire. Typically lower profile tires are more performance oriented and therefore a softer rubber compound is used. This soft rubber affords more cornering grip, shorter braking distances, and better overall performance, but will wear at a faster rate than a tire with a harder compound rubber. This is an area of one of the biggest misunderstandings about tires. Many people believe that the longer a tire is designed to last the better the tire. Many people pay huge premiums to buy tires that are advertised to last 60 or 80 thousand miles. What they fail to realize is that in order for a tire to last that long a very hard rubber compound is used making the tire LESS SAFE. A hard rubber compound will not only offer less cornering grip, but it will slip much sooner and will not allow a vehicle to stop as quickly in hard braking situations. These characteristics are amplified in cold weather and as the tires age. Both cause the rubber to harden even further. Just some food for thought. |
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Replying to: saabturboid (Jun 14, 2007 1:20 pm) Maybe you should drive with snow tires all of the time  All you have to do is look at the test results with the standard tires, but low mile tires does not equal to higher quality or safer tires...they could just be poor quality tires so they don't last as long. The lifetime miles of a tire does not indicate safety or quality necessarily. So if you think the 50,000 mile tire is safer than the 90,000 tire just because of the shorter life that's a mistake.
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Replying to: bobw3 (Jun 14, 2007 3:32 pm)
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Replying to: freealfas (Jun 14, 2007 5:24 pm) Lower mileage rating doesn't equal to a better or safer tire even from the same manufacturer. |
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Replying to: saabturboid (Jun 14, 2007 1:20 pm) Sorry, I meant lower. You are correct of course. I was basing my observations on what I have seen about lower profile tires not lasting as long as higher profile. Maybe it is because low profile tires are built for performance, and thus the rubber is softer... but this is what my research indicates for tire longevity. I am glad I don't have the 18", due to the fact that the owner's manual states that the 18" tires cannot be used with tire cables in the winter. |
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The Federal Government actually made it easy for non experts to compare different tires for the features that matter to them. You need to read this brief article. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=48 Mark.
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Replying to: mschmal (Jun 17, 2007 8:13 am) Maybe they changed the process? q45man, "Replacing Tires" #95, 20 Feb 2000 5:53 pm tireguy, "Tires, tires, tires" #31, 24 Apr 2000 8:51 am I went over to Tires, Tires, Tires and asked for an update. (link)
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Replying to: steve_ (Jun 17, 2007 9:21 am) You may notice that most performance tires do not have a mileage warranty. This is because the manufacturers know that a performance tire using a softer rubber compound is not going to last a terribly long time, so no warranties are offered. The Pirellis on the Freestyle Limited are a mild performance tire so they are by their very nature not going to last a long time. The Continentals on the other Freestyles are not really performance tires, but their tread life seems to be on the low side anyway. |
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I have a 2005 sel front wheel drive with oem continentals that need to be changed I have 40 000 km on them. I live in Canada but close to us border so I am planning on buying my tires in the us. My car is the second year of a 3 year lease and we are considering keeping it after or at least buying another freestyle so the tires would last me more than 1 year. We have a fair bit of snow and these tires will be used in the winter. we dont have far to go for work and only travel about 20 000 km a year.Here are the models I am looking at. I dont know much about tires and your imput will be greatly appreciated. good year assurance tred toyo versado lx yokohama trz falken 912 michelin hydroedge and lastly the continentals oem that I can get for way cheap but that are average on a good day, what do you think?
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