1998 Camry Tires

Hey, I own a 1998 Camry V-6. My wife drives it. I need tires soon and wanted to ask the group what brands and types people recommend, please?

I have Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus 205/65R/15 Sears has them for $122.54 right now.

Does anyone have any comments on these or others and pricing for me? thanks, bill

Reply to
Fathergoose
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I have the mxv4 go for it they are good .

Reply to
m Ransley

Is that price plus all the extras - mtg, bal, hazzard, disposal, new stems? If so - you can do better. Do you have a CostCo, Sam's or BJ's near by? I've found they beet other local tire sources. Bridgstone is also a good -- and much less expensive tire. Michillin is top top though.

Reply to
Wolfgang

Reply to
Fathergoose

Have michelin Harmony tires on my 97 camry, they are lasting well and ride smooth and quiet.

Reply to
Rob

I personally would avoid the Micheline Harmony since they are only S or T rated - hence probably why the soft ride as the sidewalls flex and build up heat. Stick which same speed/load rating as your current tires unless its only for short trips with little load.

Reply to
Wolfgang

check Yokohama at tirerack.com, or yokohamatire.com

generally represent very good value and quality

Reply to
Daniel

Wolfgang wrote: "S or T rated - hence probably why the soft ride as the sidewalls flex and build up heat. =A0Stick which same speed/load rating as your current tires unless its only for short trips with little load. " ~~~~~~~~ Been using the "S" speed rated Yokohama AVID Touring for some time now, very pleased with the ride, handling, low noise and long wear, plus reasonable pricing. Usually don't drive the car over 112 mph. Have checked repeatedly after long highway runs on hot summer days, and tires are never hot. I suspect the greater danger is failing to check pressures regularly. IMHO, underinflation is much more likely to cause overheating. My tires always seemed surprisingly cool. Because this topic comes up so frequently, and mine is the minority opinion, I copied and saved the following from another group: (not my words but I agree with the sentiment) "What frickin' amazes ME is that so many people firmly believe that tires will magically disintegrate if taken briefly above their speed rating. Its no wonder the economy is in such a mess with people spending their money to buy stupidly overrated tires for their cars. =A0The speed rating

is related to heat dissipation, and is intended to represent the maximum SUSTAINED speed that will not damage the tires under any foreseeable conditions. I'd be much more worried about getting tires with excellent

traction, good durability, and a good quiet ride than worrying about the stupid speed rating.

Of course you're right, when it comes to legalese. Accidents happen, and should high speed and a blown tire be involved, the lawyer brigade would try to pin it on an "under rated" tire and whoever sold it, even if the

tire still had a railroad spike sticking out of the sidewall.

Dan wrote:

And some lower speed-rated tires will provide MUCH better handling and traction than higher speed rated tires.

There's no "rule of thumb" here at all. It depends on the quality, design, and construction, not the speed rating, of the tire." (end quote)

Reply to
Daniel

Never heard of a blow out issue on Michelins and I know we never will, who drives 112 ++

Reply to
m Ransley

Thanks to all who have commented to help decide for the tires for our 1998 Camry. I have been following the thread and shall continue to do so. I am doing shopping research. Thanks again. Bill WV USA

Reply to
Fathergoose

It's a speed and load rating designation - its determined by how the tire is internally constructed and the material used. If Toyota could put black donuts on a car and save $100 per car don't you think they would -- vice using a more expensive higher rated tire? Look at the minimal Firestone tires that Ford put on the Exploder! Many reputable tire dealers will refuse to install a lesser rated tire - why? Because they could be sued and would probably lose the case. I can see saving a $ on a car stereo but not tires, brakes and oil.

Reply to
Wolfgang

So you say Michelin Harmony is a compromise, post a link to facts to prove your fears.

Reply to
m Ransley

Since we are on the subject of speed rating, let's discuss those briefly, as well. First, speed ratings are no longer called speed ratings. How they get tested still remains the same, but there was so much negative feedback from consumers about speed ratings and what they represented, they are now called performance ratings. See, a car equipped with a V-rated tire will stop, handle and steer better than a car not equipped with performance tires, even at regular driving speeds. By changing a cars performance rated tires to a lower, (or high) will dramatically alter the way the car drives and feels. The average sedan owner might not think he "needs" performance tires, but he does, even at regular driving speeds. High speed driving or racing has nothing to do with it.

The truth is we are all performance drivers. Everyone benefits from performance tires. They are safer, stop better, react quicker, steer better and stand less of a chance blowing out on the highway. They react and work much better with modern ABS systems and today's sensitive steering and suspension systems.

Reply to
Wolfgang

Perhaps true but when I purchased the Michelin Harmony I seem to remember something the dealer said about not being able to rotate a badly worn performance tire because of tread design, or something to that effect that was a negative.

Reply to
m Ransley

Wolfgang wrote: " Everyone benefits from performance tires." which was quoted from the autoexpert article, which also said: "Performance tires made the car ride stiffer and harder. They cost a lot more and they wore out very quickly." The WalMart link demonstrates that load ratings and speed ratings are distinct. Load rating will be something like "92". Speed rating is a letter like "S" or "T" or "Z". I definitely agree that the required load rating should be maintained. I think I mentioned previously, overloaded or underinflated tires can be dangerous. Imho, keeping the tires at the correct pressure is one of the simplest and most effective performance enhancements available. I check mine each weekend and usually adjust slightly primarily due to temperature variations. (weather a bit colder or warmer first thing Saturday morning.) Use a brass dial type gauge with an air bleed valve and an inexpensive pump that plugs into the cigarette lighter. The pencil type gauges are generally so inaccurate that they don't really accomplish a great deal. Haven't found the digital gauges to necessarily offer improved accuracy either.

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used to spend $125 per tire and tried Michelin, and Pirelli amongothers. Here's another quote from someone named "Brother One" at a different newsgroup some time back: (again not my words, but I agree with the sentiment) "As a former manager of a performance auto service center, [snip part about alignment and rotation] A good bit of the problem we had with radial and other tire faults were the brand of tires themselves. Of the major tire brands, we had many problems with Firestones, Pirellis, and Goodyear - they just always seemed to have problems with them, no matter what price tire we had. I inherited a 78 Caddy with Goodyear

tires, and two tires blew out on me because of radial belts flaws which

caused the outer rubber to separate from the belts and go out-of-round.

We never had any problems with customers who came in with tires (sold and/or installed by us or not) by Michelin, BF Goodrich, Dunlop, Yokohama, secondary brands like Hankooks and the former Western Auto store-brand tires and Sears store-brands (which, except for the Sears tires made by

Goodyear I have run on various personal family cars) which I've heard of no problems with any of those brands. However, I would not recommend the NTB stores for any work even though they are owned by Sears, because of a bad experience with them. They screwed-up and missed two items on

my car, causing potential safety problems and a great loss of time. (end quote)

Reply to
Daniel

Wolfgang said: I personally would avoid the Micheline Harmony since they are only S or T rated - hence probably why the soft ride as the sidewalls flex and build up heat. Stick which same speed/load rating as your current tires unless its only for short trips with little load.

I see you came up with some info that the higher rated tires do everything so much better, bet it was written by a tire company. I even tow a light boat with my Camry. These are good tires and will not explode at 113 MPH. Nowadays if I drive 80, its rare. BTW, its the 4th highest rated passenger car tire on

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with over 4 million miles of use in the real world just by tirerack folks. Thats good enough for me.
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how I survived driving a hot rod 1970 plymouth at 140mph+on the tires we had back then.

Reply to
Rob

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