With 32k on them and being two years old, the Firestone FR710 tires were in poor shape with lots of dry rot/weather cracking... mostly likely due to the fact that it's an ex-rental that never spent a day in a garage. Tread was still at 5/32" but the cracking helped me decide to replace them before a blow-out. Also, one tire was missing a chunk out of the sidewall, not something I was comfortable driving 80mph with...
The factory size of 215/55/17 leaves the sidewall of the tire about even with the rim... which means every time you bump into something the rim is going to get a lot of the damage. A couple of the rims on mine have some pretty bad curb rash thanks to this, too.
Turns out the tires I wanted weren't available in that size, but one step up in a 225/55/17 - 10 mm wider tread and just a little bit taller overall. Now the tires are a little wider than the rims and should help to protect them a little bit if we happen to get a little to close to a curb.
I have a set of FR710 on the minivan, and I can say that when they are new that they are an OK tire. The only reason I have them on the minivan is because it came with two of them already new when I bought it so I went ahead and put the other pair on - easier to pay for half a set of tires than a full set! Having said that, the FR710 on the car had 32k on them and were 2 years old... and they were noisy! Also it seemed like every crack in the road could be felt or heard in the car.
I replaced those with Cooper CS4 Touring T-rated tires that have ratings of: treadwear 780, traction A, temperature A and have an 80k treadlife warranty. I had CS4's on my older minivan and was very pleased with them, had about 30k and 3 years on them when I sold the van and looked nearly new yet with 8/32" tread and no visible cracking. We have run a lot of Cooper tires on vehicles over the years and have been pleased with their treadlife and warranty service - everything from off-road tires with aggressive tread to the low-dollar basic tire to the top of the line touring tire has been good for us.
No more "howl" on rough pavement and the cracks are hardly noticeable. It is much quieter in the car now with the CS4. I can't say yet if it handles better, but it's just nicer to drive without all the road noise. Total cost for all 4 mounted and balanced: $530 out the door.
In other news, I love the smell of new tires in the garage!
The factory size of 215/55/17 leaves the sidewall of the tire about even with the rim... which means every time you bump into something the rim is going to get a lot of the damage. A couple of the rims on mine have some pretty bad curb rash thanks to this, too.
Turns out the tires I wanted weren't available in that size, but one step up in a 225/55/17 - 10 mm wider tread and just a little bit taller overall. Now the tires are a little wider than the rims and should help to protect them a little bit if we happen to get a little to close to a curb.
I have a set of FR710 on the minivan, and I can say that when they are new that they are an OK tire. The only reason I have them on the minivan is because it came with two of them already new when I bought it so I went ahead and put the other pair on - easier to pay for half a set of tires than a full set! Having said that, the FR710 on the car had 32k on them and were 2 years old... and they were noisy! Also it seemed like every crack in the road could be felt or heard in the car.
I replaced those with Cooper CS4 Touring T-rated tires that have ratings of: treadwear 780, traction A, temperature A and have an 80k treadlife warranty. I had CS4's on my older minivan and was very pleased with them, had about 30k and 3 years on them when I sold the van and looked nearly new yet with 8/32" tread and no visible cracking. We have run a lot of Cooper tires on vehicles over the years and have been pleased with their treadlife and warranty service - everything from off-road tires with aggressive tread to the low-dollar basic tire to the top of the line touring tire has been good for us.
No more "howl" on rough pavement and the cracks are hardly noticeable. It is much quieter in the car now with the CS4. I can't say yet if it handles better, but it's just nicer to drive without all the road noise. Total cost for all 4 mounted and balanced: $530 out the door.
In other news, I love the smell of new tires in the garage!