Best Tires for 2003 Camry?

I put Michelin Hydroedge tires on my 2002 Camry LE and I couldn't be happier. I'm in BC, north okanagan, and winters in the valley are mostly wet streets, not deep snow.

Slim

Whatever you come up with, search

for them... If you haven't made up your mind yet, go for all season tires with a 4.5 to 5 star rating and you should be very happy. IMHO of course and worth every penny you paid for the advice if I'm wrong. :)

I put Nokian WR's on my 2002 LE, best all around tire I have ever had. Great on dry, wet, Excellent on snow and ice.

2003 Camry. The old tires are not worn out but have terrible traction and stopping ability wet. i've had several near accidents with them. Which in your opinion would be the best replacement? I'm considering Goodyear Assurance tires or Michelin Pilot or weatherwise. Any suggestions will be helpful. My car has ABS and that doesn't even help in the wet or snow.

I can't speak for the wet or snowy weather handling (living in So. Cal.) but I replaced the Michelins on my '97 with Goodyear ..."Weatherhandler"s (as I recall), and the tires are wearing like iron, and handle perfectly in dry weather. Never had any trouble in rain (which we get so seldom) and I never took them into snow country.

mwebsurfer opin'd thus:

Goodrich Traction T/A. I got a set from Tire Rack for my commuter Scion xB and couldn't be happier. When I need new tires for my Camry that's what I'm getting . . . .

-Don

Consider the newest member of the Michelin MXV series: the new Michelin Primacy offers 60K miles tread wear rating. Lifetime balance, flat repair, rotation and installed for $113.99 each (before coupon). The excellent Michelin HydroEdge is up to T rating only, IIRC.

The thing with the energy-efficient MXV is that they have lower roll resistance and give you up to 3% MPG improvement. But some drivers complained that they don't grab the road as well. No problems in my typical driving. YMMV.

Go check out the Bridgestone tires while you're there. Notice the generally cheap construction and how thin the sidewalls are? Cheap tires are cheap for a reason. I personally would stay away from those.

If you are looking for all-season tires that are decent-priced and perform well in all conditions, I suggest the Korean-made Hancook (sp?) all-seasons. We have the higher mileage-rated ones on our Camry wagon, and had them on our Volvo 240. A good combination of price, wear and performance. We dumped Goodyear when they outsourced to Turkey, because the tires started then to literally crumble on us...

I have had very good results with the Toyo tires on my wife's 95 Camry LE, and plan to put them on my 99 Camry LE when it needs new tires this spring. Used to be a very loyal Goodyear customer until too many recent disappointments.

Why not read opinions at tirerack.com . They usually have lots of responses for common tire sizes. See

for results for tires similar to your OE tires. The Tire Rack Surveys back your opinion of the OE Continentals. They are the near the bottom of the "Standard Touring All Season" category. The Michelin Pilots are in a more expensive category (see and are highly rated. Ed

I know owners who are happy about Toyo tires. But these may be kinda hard to find in some places. I personally just go to Costco and get Michelins. Fix flats, rotate and balance tires at any Costco.

I second this recommendation for the Michelin Hydroedge. Awesome tires on all surfaces. I have also had good luck with premium Bridgestone tires. As indicated,

is a greatplace to get some ideas, maybe even buy and have installed locally.You can buy the road hazard warranty through Tirerack as well to behonored locally.

Oh, gosh, people get a bit wacky over oil and tires.....If you want to spend a buncha of bucks, the Goodyears originally mentioned are GREAT tires, according to several folks I know that have them....The tripletred or the comfortred are the best.

BUT, as my wife pointed out when I went to buy tires for my 03 CAM, I can buy two sets of the KUMHO for the price of one set of the tripletred/comforttred.

Do I get exactly the same noise reduction....probably not. Do I get exactly the same traction. Probably not. Would I get the same miles, maybe, maybe not, but probably pretty close.

Do I have any trouble in light snow and ice with the KUMHO. No.

Would I have any problems with the Goodyears in light snow and ice...Probably not.....Do I have money to waste...FOR SURE NOT.

So, instead of the Goodyear Comfort/Tripletred I was considering, I went with the KUMHO>>>>....is that the solution for you....Maybe not...but you could buy at least two sets of the KUMHO for the same $$ $ as one set of the Goodyear....The KUMHO work for me...check out their ratings on TIRERACK.COM

Pirelli P6.

I just got a set of Kumhos. Had good reviews but I only have a couple hundred miles on them.

One thing to remember about Tirerack.com -- they do not sell every brand.

You sound like my Father. He always bought the cheapest tires he could find. And he ruined the ride and handling of every vehicle he owned. Nothing like buying cheap tires that bump and whine for 30k miles. Tires are the single most important element in acheiving good ride and handling. You have to love someone who will spend $20+k on a car and then slap on crappy tires.

Ed

Well, Ed, usually I agree with you. You are pretty straight forward and tell it like it is.

But it is like this. I generally agree with the Michelin ads that say "you have so much riding on your tires." So, I try to buy good tires. For the most part have been with Toyos lately, good tires, pricey, but not too pricey.

But, I kept hearing good things from my local, independent tire dealer (who I really trust), as well as Tire Rack, about Kumhos....So put them on my wife's Corolla. Excellent traction, handling etc. A slight bit nosier than the Toyo Spectrums, but hardly....So far, some

40K on them and a lot of that is on dirt and gravel, which really tear up tires. They are holding well.

So, I went with Kumhos on my Camry....Only 10 months on them, so don't want to commit too much, but no problems.

But, Ed, if I really wanted to go cheap, I have LOTS of options that are half the price of Kumhos.....Marshall, Defender, Westlake, etc. But, I wanted a reasonable price on a reasonable tire. I think, at least for my driving in the heavy rains of the Pacific Northwest, Kumhos are it. Hate the name....love the price and handling....and again, if I wanted to put the cheapest junk on my cars, I could have done it at half the price of the Kumhos. Heck with the Marshalls I have been seeing I could buy FOUR sets for the price of one set of the Goodyear. LOL>

To add to the above, we used to buy Goodyear. Then our tires started to get crumbling sealing surfaces at only a year or so old. I checked the sidewalls, and the great Regatta IIs that used to be made in the USA were now being made in Turkey. I Freecycled them with 95% of the tread left on them and got Hankooks, because they seemed to have a good rep. They are quiet, ride well, handle well, and don't crumble. Bottom line: go by the actual quality of the tire, not by what brand they are or how much they cost. In these days of "outsourcing" and cost-cutting, the big names aren't necessarily the best.

BTW, the Michelins that came OEM on my '86 Civic Si were Utter Crap.

I was thinking bout trying Toyos myself on my truck.

Kumhos would have been too good for my Father. He always ended up with "Country Squire" or "Multi Mile" or Farm Bureau tires. In later years my Mother started buying tires for her car and she usually avoided the sorts of tires my Father bought. I just drove his truck the other day - the tires are horrible. Here is the worst thing - The truck is a Ford Ranger that had the infamous Firestone tires. The tire store would have installed any tire in that size for free - my Father let them put on the cheap crappy tires when he could have gotten Goodyears or BF Goodrich for free......

Ed

Yeah, the experiences below mirror mine. Good performance and word of mouth -- what more does a company need? FWIW, Car-X is carrying them now, and they'll be standard on Fords, in '08 I believe.

After a measly few 100 miles I can say only one thing -- I'm getting good feedback from the road surface.