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so whilst walking the back lot I was looking at a rather tasty Black Focus with a wheel/ tire upgrade....COOPER tiires...NEVER have I seen them utilized before.... so I started looking around, Hankook, Kuhmo, Michelin, Continental, Pirelli.....how does ford decide...I sure as hell hope its not the beancounters...always been a Michelin/ B F Goodrich man myself, the Hankooks on the Fiesta seem to wear a little quick...

Edited by Deanh
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I have the Continental 18" jobs on my Focus and man they are pricey. I had to buy 1 2 weeks back because a screw found its way into the tire thereby screwing me out of $178. Michelins are awesome but also literally the most expensive tires you can get. Had them on my '97 SVT and they were probably the best tires I've ever ridden on.

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I have the Continental 18" jobs on my Focus and man they are pricey. I had to buy 1 2 weeks back because a screw found its way into the tire thereby screwing me out of $178. Michelins are awesome but also literally the most expensive tires you can get. Had them on my '97 SVT and they were probably the best tires I've ever ridden on.

so, it wasnt pluggable?....not that sold on Contis either, our Expedition went through them relatively quickly....

Edited by Deanh
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Dean: Have asked myself the same question, and I assume it has to deal with those individuals you speak of. Otherwise, like you I am partial to Michelins & BFG. You pay for what you get IMO, so I hate buying cheaper brand tires. Same with brakes. Only thing really stopping you and touch the ground are the brakes/tires, so no need on being cheap.

Edited by V8-X
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Dean: Have asked myself the same question, and I assume it has to deal with those individuals you speak of. Otherwise, like you I am partial to Michelins & BFG. You pay for what you get IMO, so I hate buying cheaper brand tires. Same with brakes. Only thing really stopping you and touch the ground are the brakes/tires, so no need on being cheap.

funny, here I am bitching yet I ride the bike most of the time, and THOSE Michelins only last 12000 or so...and they arent cheap either...$375 for both.....

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I'm a Michelin man but I got the Hankooks on my '11 Explorer Limited and I think they are the best riding and handling tire I've ever had on a vehicle. I don't rotate my tires anymore and it looks like I will get 50,000 miles on the front and about 90,000 miles on the back. I'm staying with the Hankooks for a replacement. I run 55psi in both the Michelins on my '09 FEH and the same in the Hankooks. Ford put some crappy tires on my '12 Focus SEL, so they don't always put good tires or LRR on their vehicles.

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so whilst walking the back lot I was looking at a rather tasty Black Focus with a wheel/ tire upgrade....COOPER tiires...NEVER have I seen them utilized before.... so I started looking around, Hankook, Kuhmo, Michelin, Continental, Pirelli.....how does ford decide...I sure as hell hope its not the beancounters...always been a Michelin/ B F Goodrich man myself, the Hankooks on the Fiesta seem to wear a little quick...

 

Deanh... It's driven me crazy for years that the original Pony Car, in particular, the new Mustang GT is shipped with Pirelli tires rather than Goodyear Eagle tires which have a performance history going back for decades.

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Got a chance to test drive and compare the Pirelli tires on a '12 Explorer Limited with the 2.0L EB and the rims were the same as my Explorer Limited V6. The Pirelli's road terrible compared to the Hankook tires. A good point to make here is just test drive a new vehicle with the tires you want to check out. What a difference in ride with the two different tire makes.

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I have purchased many (~10) sets of Cooper tires as a family friend is a Cooper dealer. They have all performed very well, but I have purchased mostly their light truck radials. Have never had a problem, except for a couple of well deserved flats, and they perform and wear pretty well. Cooper Tire and Rubber is an American based, publicly traded company and has been in business almost 100 years.

 

http://coopertire.com/About-Us/Our-Company.aspx

 

They do a great deal of manufacturing here in the US, but have expanded globally in recent years. Since I try to buy made in the USA products whenever possible, I feel good about buying from them. I also hear that Hankook makes decent tires for the price, but they are a Korean based company so I don't even consider them.

 

 

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I would just like to know who and why the decision is made to go certain routes, because unless there would be an OBVIOUS reason...ie, low rolling resistance ( hybrids ) GVW ( trucks ) higher performance ( Mustangs, Sho's ST's ) logically I can only come up with ONE reason.....and I for one would rather spend a few extra bucks for a quality product.....is savinga few THAT important, or is it something a majority of customers dont care about and thus the usage "off brands" ?

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I'm sure Ford has a set of standards that must be met and any tire company that can meet those standards is allowed to bid on a tire contract. It does make sense to have more than one tire supplier. If one company has problems for whatever reason, another company can pick up the slack.

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so, it wasnt pluggable?....

If it's too close to the sidewall, tire shops won't repair them. My LS has been the worst about that; I can't tell you how many irreparable punctures I've gotten in its tires. It's almost been like I was back in college driving on Maypop tires...

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so whilst walking the back lot I was looking at a rather tasty Black Focus with a wheel/ tire upgrade....COOPER tiires...NEVER have I seen them utilized before.... so I started looking around, Hankook, Kuhmo, Michelin, Continental, Pirelli.....how does ford decide...I sure as hell hope its not the beancounters...always been a Michelin/ B F Goodrich man myself, the Hankooks on the Fiesta seem to wear a little quick...

 

Ford Focus models with 17" wheels are Cooper Tires' first OE application. The specific tire model in this case is the ultra high performance all season Zeon RS3-A.

 

The Zeon RS3-A is an excellent tire, performing very well in all attributes relevant to the UHPAS category.

 

Here is the press release on the Cooper - Ford deal: http://coopertire.com/News/Corporate-News-Releases/Cooper-Zeon-RS3-A-Tire-Selected-as-Original-Equipm.aspx

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It's a little frustrating because I drive A LOT (I may have mentioned this) and picking a tire is a super hard process (to me, anyway). My OE tires were Michelin Pilots. They were great--perfectly fine in the snow and I ended up getting 75,000 miles out of them. When it was time to replace, Ford was offering the $100 back on selected brands (which didn't include Michelins). I ended up with Conti ContiPros. I'm sure the dealer said they were warrantied for 40k, but I'm at 30k now and I'm very close to the wear bars "showing", so I'll probably be lucky to make 35k. The worst was with mounting/balance, it still cost me $700 AFTER the rebate. This just isn't reasonable (to me).

So now I'm trying to figure out how to go. I might go to a non-dealer. Always wary of picking something non-Michelin/Bridgestone/Conti...but heard lots of good things about Coopers and are American made.

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Deanh... It's driven me crazy for years that the original Pony Car, in particular, the new Mustang GT is shipped with Pirelli tires rather than Goodyear Eagle tires which have a performance history going back for decades.

IMO Goodyears suck. I had them on my 1998 Mustang GT and I have F1 Super Zeros on My SHO, which so far seem decent outside of the very short tredlife they have.

 

My favorite brand of tire is Contential, I've had two sets on my 2006 Mustang GT and they last long, have great grip and are decent for when I do get caught in the snow with the Mustang. I'm going to replace the Goodyears on the SHO with the same tire.

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We had an '08 Lariat with 18'' BFs and an '04 with 18'' Wrangler. The Wrangler were 10x times a better tire.

 

 

My '11 Ranger came with Wrangler SRA. 15 000 kms (9 500 miles approx.) and are full of bumps. They're the crappiest tire I ever had.

Edited by 92LX302
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My GT500 came with Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar summer tires, and they're pretty good - lots of people complain about them, but I've had no issue, other than the obvious one that they turn to stone below 40 deg F! I bought a second set of OEM rims and four Goodyear Eagle F1 All-Season tires for the winter, and aside from some cupping (directional, can't rotate), they're great too.

 

I think when these wear out I'm going to try the Continental ExtremeContact DWS - people who have put them on their Shelbys have been raving about them, and use them year-round.

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Remember when ALL Fords rode out of the factory on Firestones??

 

 

Well the Explorer tire debacle ruined that!

 

Yup...the tire should've been "Extra Load" rated with a third ply....still plenty of ride comfort yet able to withstand higher load ratings and heat build up. Ford, like all manufacturers during that time wanted tires that were round, black and cheap...and the first two didn't really matter.

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I think when these wear out I'm going to try the Continental ExtremeContact DWS - people who have put them on their Shelbys have been raving about them, and use them year-round.

 

I'm on my second set on my 06 Mustang GT...great tire...they are going on the SHO when I wear out the Goodyear tires...since I need an all season tire

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We had an '08 Lariat with 18'' BFs and an '04 with 18'' Wrangler. The Wrangler were 10x times a better tire.

 

 

My '11 Ranger came with Wrangler SRA. 15 000 kms (9 500 miles approx.) and are full of bumps. They're the crappiest tire I ever had.

What's the warranty on OEM tires?

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