Santa Fe tires

any suggestions! Many people on this forum check this site out

Thanks, Robert

Regards Anthony Giorgianni

For everyone's benefit, please reply to the group.

'I have a firend who needs new tires for her 2003 Santa Fe. What do folks here recommend, based on their experiences? Is there agreement in this group on which tire(s) are best? We're talking about a 4x4 in the New York metro area. Some snow driving, but no off-roading. Thanks for any suggestions! Regards, Anthony Giorgianni'

REPLY: I have a full set of LongTrails that came with my 2002 SantaFe which im trying to sell. They have approx. 5,000 miles on them . Excellent condition. Had no problems with them except just wanted wider ones for maximum road grip. If youre friend is interested, Ill sell them cheap and can send them thru the USPO like ive done before with tires. Im in Northern Illinois. Email me if interested.... Dave.

While they may be a little too new to draw any conclusions, Goodyear has three new tires, all of which look like they may be some of the better ones ever made (something that previously could never be said of Goodyear SUV tires - good and safe, but never the best ones made).

For all-season type tires, both the Goodyear Fortera TripleTred and Fortera SilentArmor are worth a long look. You would need to decide which features you value more to decide between those two, though overall, I would give the edge to the TripleTred.

For all-terrain tires, the Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor is definitely the best tire ever made under the Wrangler moniker. And the best set of tires I have ever had on any of my vehicles is the Bridgestone Dueler APT III, which is available at Sears. If you want those kinds of tires, look long and hard at these.

Do not know which (if any) of these are available in your size, but assume that you should be able to get at least two or three of the four.

By the way, considering that a number of new auto tires are coming on the market, almost all of which have moved to the leading edge of tire technology, I am disappointed that so many of the truck and SUV tires (outside of these Goodyears) are getting so long in the tooth. Some more new choices would be welcome.

I've been very happy with the tire selector and opinions from consumers on

I've bought both for my ownSonata and my wife's Toyota and the comparison between performance weget versus what people on the site said they got was fairly accurate.I'd have your friend do some research there first. Although I can'tsay much about the OEM 2003 Santa Fe tires or the way a Santa Fedrives as compared to my 02 Sonata, I've been VERY happy with theYokohama brand I have on there now. My OEMs Michelins were garbage. According to Tirerack the OEMs on the Santa Fe (4WD) were BFGoodrich Radial Longtrail T/A (Highway All-Season) and consumers rate them a

6.6 overall. That's slightly above average but not terrible. Here's a listing of the top rated tires in the Highway All-Season category for a Santa Fe 2003 4WD: The OEMs rank 25th in that category. I'd say that listing is a good starting place and then have your friend narrow it down based on price and performance. Good luck.

- Thee Chicago Wolf