[E_Net_Rider]

I've never been very happy that mine came with Firestone tires. After purchase I noticed which model, FR710. This vehicle supposedly went through a total redesign maybe a year earlier. Did they design it around a 10 year old tire was my thought.
Just past breakin, 500 miles, I traveled about 130 miles on I-95 and became quite unhappy with handling. Major point is play in steering, still unresolved, but feel a better tire would help overall with handling, ride, and noise. I've voiced that opinion to dealer as well. I've even checked on some new tires, but also had nagging feeling that I've finally figured out.
My window sticker, just below the wheels on vehicle, clearly states "touring tires". Firestone FR710 are NOT "Touring Tires".

I've checked the Firestone/Bridgestone website and other sellers of this tire and it shows up as "passenger tire, all-season". It is definitely not listed as a touring tire of any type.
I also learned that in the size needed there are few touring tires available.
One of the few available unless you wish to go to a much higher speed rating is the Michelin Primacy MXV4, grand touring all season.

Did GM think no one would notice that the tires they installed did not meet the window sticker?
I suspect GM owes many of us a new set of tires.

 

[KenM10759]

The Hankooks on my 2009 Malibu (company) car are noticeably better than the Firerocks that were on a rental Malibu I had for a time. However, if the car were mine and I wanted a really nice tire, I wouldn't hesitate to put the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S on it. I have them on my other car and simply love the smooth quiet ride with amazing traction and long life. I have 60,000 miles on a set right now, and they're just beginning to show signs of not being as sticky as new. Of course, the car itself also has 60,000 more miles on it so that is a factor in the decreased ride quality too.

 

[E_Net_Rider]

The Hankooks on my 2009 Malibu (company) car are noticeably better than the Firerocks that were on a rental Malibu I had for a time. However, if the car were mine and I wanted a really nice tire, I wouldn't hesitate to put the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S on it. I have them on my other car and simply love the smooth quiet ride with amazing traction and long life. I have 60,000 miles on a set right now, and they're just beginning to show signs of not being as sticky as new. Of course, the car itself also has 60,000 more miles on it so that is a factor in the decreased ride quality too.

This is not the point of the thread.
That GM substituted a poorer quality tire, passenger tire for what the window sticker clearly states should have been a touring tire.
My OE size is 215-55R17 with a 93S rating. Tires available in that size are rare even allowing for a higher speed rating such as H. I have moved from S or T to H without negative impact or even went up a little on weight rating.

To expand tire availability, even the one you mention, I'd have to move to 225-50R17.

 

[Macleod52]

What is the definition of a touring tire? You sure do like to complain a lot. You should go sue GM for false advertising. Stick it to the man!

 

[slls]

I bet GM got a good deal on them tires, my Hankook retail for $118 each, good tire.

 

[E_Net_Rider]

"A touring tire is one built to offer a comfortable ride, like a regular passenger tire, but also offer some high-performance features too.
Touring tires are designed to provide a smoother ride than standard tires on the open road, and provide better control and handling. "

Maybe this car is aimed at those who don't know the difference between a YUGO and a Chevy, or touring tire and passenger tire.

 

[E_Net_Rider]

I bet GM got a good deal on them tires, my Hankook retail for $118 each, good tire.

What Hankook shows as OE on Malibu is Optimo H725A, P225/50R17S. It was either a special production or no longer available and maybe replaced by H727, but is not available in that size or even 215/55R17.

Michelin that were used as OE are over $200 each locally. So GM probably shorted me between $400 and $600.

 

[bballr4567]

"A touring tire is one built to offer a comfortable ride, like a regular passenger tire, but also offer some high-performance features too. Touring tires are designed to provide a smoother ride than standard tires on the open road, and provide better control and handling. "

So a passenger tire cant be a touring tire but a touring tire can be a passenger tire?

Regardless, tires are tires. Unless you are buying summer only or winter tires they are all pretty much just all season. There really is no touring, passenger and the like anymore with car tires. Our LTZ has CRAPPY Goodyear LS2 tires on it and they arent considered a good tire by many yet they are on the LTZ, the top tier model.

Want good tires then spend the cash to get them. Most cars these days come with substandard stock tires.

EDIT: Also if you never go away from the OE tires then you will never have a car on good tires. Very, very, very few cars come with good tires stock. The only one that comes to mind is the new Camaro with its Bridgestone tires.

 

[E_Net_Rider]

So a passenger tire cant be a touring tire but a touring tire can be a passenger tire?

Regardless, tires are tires. Unless you are buying summer only or winter tires they are all pretty much just all season. There really is no touring, passenger and the like anymore with car tires. Our LTZ has CRAPPY Goodyear LS2 tires on it and they arent considered a good tire by many yet they are on the LTZ, the top tier model.

Want good tires then spend the cash to get them. Most cars these days come with substandard stock tires.

EDIT: Also if you never go away from the OE tires then you will never have a car on good tires. Very, very, very few cars come with good tires stock. The only one that comes to mind is the new Camaro with its Bridgestone tires.

I'm sure that by now you got my point that the sticker said the vehicle was equipped with touring tires and that is a lie because it is not!

You talk as if parafin based, petroleum based, synthetic, and remanufactured motor oils are all the same.

I and probably many others, after reading many of your posts, now suspect you are a GM Trojan or whatever the proper terminology is. Hopefully everyone takes the word in forums with as much caution as I do.

 

[bballr4567]

What?

Im saying that even though you say the Firestones are passenger tires that they could be in fact be classified as touring tires because there is no quantifiable way to classify all season tires. Thats it.

Just so you want to know, our sticker says it comes with performance tires. Goodyear LS2s are anything BUT performance tires.

http://www.camryforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8363

People complaining about the Camry stock crappy tires. Bridgestone turanza el400

On the Fusion they majority of the cars come with Goodyear LSAs which are just as bad.

The FR170 has a wear rating of 560!!! If you buy them they are guareenteed to go 65k miles! That right there means they SUCK. Hard as a rock and no doubt a horrible handling tire as well.

If you want to complain, Id try the dealer and see what they say. I doubt you will get anywhere because like I said there is no real way to quantify what is actually a touring tire unless you look at the tire manufacture webpages themselves. However, then each company has a different meaning. Also, the "touring" tires that should of came on your car could of very well been back ordered and the FR170 was substituted.

FACT: Stock tires on family sedans BLOW.



Sidenote: Ive yet to see a post where you arent bitching about something. So maybe you are the GM "trojan".

 

[BillD64]

My 08 LTZ came with the Firestone FR170s. They don't seem to be to bad of a tire. I push them pretty hard and they seem to be able to corner quite well (I am a firm believer in the statement a squealing tire is a happy tire and a squaling tire is an unhappy tire so people hear my tires squealing on corners a lot). The only issue I have with them is they have no snow traction at all. So when it snows we take the Tahoe with Blizzak snow tires on all 4 wheels. The sticker doesn't say the car came with touring tires but it does say the 18 inch wheels and tires were replaced with 17 inch chrome wheels w tires at a discount of $825.

Bill

 

[JWW]

I agree 100% with BillD64. The FR710's are a much better over-all tire for 3-seasons use than most tires I've had come OEM on a car. I also agree they aren't the best for snow, so I went to the Tire Rack for a set of Continental ExtremeWinter Contact on steel rims for December - March for my 'Bu. I was able to go with the 16" size, thanks to the base 'Bu's coming with the smaller wheel, which saved me a bunch of cash.

4 brand new wheels and tires, mounted and balanced and shipped to my door, for $664.

 

[Silver LTZ]

All season tires are touring tires....All season tires are far from performance tires, and touring tires fit that bill too. If you want better handling no touring or all season tire is gonna really make any improvement. If you want better handling you need to get summer performance tires that have a stiffer sidewall and a ZR rating.

 

[Malo83]

I have the Goodyear 18" LS tires on my 08 Ltz with 12K miles and am very happy with them, why all the negativity towards this tire ???

 

[bballr4567]

I have the Goodyear 18" LS tires on my 08 Ltz with 12K miles and am very happy with them, why all the negativity towards this tire ???

Give it another 6k miles. They become very noisy and loose traction in any type of wet weather. Only reason our LTZ doesnt have new tires is because it will possibly be traded in on a new car in a couple months.

 

[E_Net_Rider]

What?

Im saying that even though you say the Firestones are passenger tires that they could be in fact be classified as touring tires because there is no quantifiable way to classify all season tires. Thats it.

Just so you want to know, our sticker says it comes with performance tires. Goodyear LS2s are anything BUT performance tires.

http://www.camryforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8363

People complaining about the Camry stock crappy tires. Bridgestone turanza el400

On the Fusion they majority of the cars come with Goodyear LSAs which are just as bad.

The FR170 has a wear rating of 560!!! If you buy them they are guareenteed to go 65k miles! That right there means they SUCK. Hard as a rock and no doubt a horrible handling tire as well.

If you want to complain, Id try the dealer and see what they say. I doubt you will get anywhere because like I said there is no real way to quantify what is actually a touring tire unless you look at the tire manufacture webpages themselves. However, then each company has a different meaning. Also, the "touring" tires that should of came on your car could of very well been back ordered and the FR170 was substituted.

FACT: Stock tires on family sedans BLOW.



Sidenote: Ive yet to see a post where you arent bitching about something. So maybe you are the GM "trojan".

If the manufacture of the tire is unable to class the tire, then who is? Certainly not GM.
I took my info from manufacturer site and tire rack. Sorry, but Bad Year says the LS2 is a "sport performance tire". Tire Rack has it as a ""Luxury Sport" Grand Touring all season".
Some tires just will not perform up to name because they are vehicle dependant. Suspension, vehicle weight, etc. make a difference.
Better high mileage tires use special compounding and tread to try to get around the rubber hardness. Unless you are a real high mileage driver I probably would not suggest buying such a tire because of the aging process. Time alone allows oxidizing of compound, greatly accelerated by sunlight. Ozone is quite rough on tires that sit because a tire that is driven is hot enough to destroy that. How much air you have to replenish regularly because of seepage is a good indication of the quality of the tire liner. And that oxygen migrating through the rubber from the inside is also not good. Part of the reasoning for using Nitrogen, which is a bigger molecule than oxygen, is that it is not damaging like oxygen.

 

[slls]

What Hankook shows as OE on Malibu is Optimo H725A, P225/50R17S. It was either a special production or no longer available and maybe replaced by H727, but is not available in that size or even 15/55R17.
Michelin that were used as OE are over $200 each locally. So GM probably shorted me between $400 and $600.

Go here $6 cheaper, wait longer, they will be cheaper.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?make=Hankook&model=Optimo+H725A

 

[Macleod52]

I really don't see why you're bitching. Should I be bitching at Dunlop because I only got 17,000 miles out of a tire with a treadwear rating greater han my GoodYear RSA's which got 30,000 miles? According to the goodyear store not all tires are made equal, and the treadwear is not an industry standard, it's standard against said manufacturer's own product line..

My point is that Firestone may say their tire is a "All Season" and GM may say it's a touring tire. Maybe GM doesn't want to have to classify each and every tire that they put on a car and just to make people who are as anal retentive as yourself happy. For all we know GM has 3 classifications Touring (cheap, low-end/low-performance), Sport (mid price, mid range/mid performance) and High Performance (expensive, high-end/high-performance).

I'm sorry but at this point, you're just looking for every little thing you can bitch about on your car.

 

[E_Net_Rider]

I have the Goodyear 18" LS tires on my 08 Ltz with 12K miles and am very happy with them, why all the negativity towards this tire ???

Quoting dealer mechanic on the LS2, "They're real bad about cupping if the pressure is not kept high enough."

Many other complaints it seems and maybe that will help someone.

I have personal experience as of yesterday. I brought an Impala home with me yesterday and it has them. I was almost home before the flat spots went away. I figured out the TPMS and saw that pressures were down to 22 warm.
I aired them up and went for a jaunt where I could get up to 70.
That tire is listed as a Sport Performance or something like that. Not the tire I'd want on an LT2. Maybe the SS if the suspension is different.
Tire is a bit harsh and does not do a good job of absorbing minor road imperfections, passing too much of it to wheel.
But, OMG, what a world of difference when it comes to steering. And having the 4 link H on the rear seems much better as well.
Down side, it has 3.9L. Sure this is a bigger car, but it does not seem a lot peppier than 2.4 with 6 speed at slower speeds. And if the DIC is dependable for MPG, this one eats too much gas. Around 55 it is not bad, or even at 60. But at 65 it was down around 24-25 and at 70 it was 21-22. Far from the rated 27 highway, unless you hold it to around 60 or less.

 

[E_Net_Rider]

Go here $6 cheaper, wait longer, they will be cheaper.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?make=Hankook&model=Optimo+H725A

I looked closer at the specs and reviews of 725A. It is at least a touring tire. Reviews range a bit wide.
The mileage number is a bit low, but I'd rather have a fantastic tire that wears out a bit early.
And a plus for me in dealing with Tire Rack is they have a warehouse about 50 miles from me so I would not have to pay shipping.
I will have to check if any local dealers carry them and have maybe a "love them or leave them policy." That is a no risk way of finding if the tire is what you want.