Opinion on tires for 2002-2005

[350xfire]

Anyone have any opinion on a set of decent tires for 11th gens? Have an 02 that needs a set. Not looking to spend a bunch of cash and not looking for high performance just nice solid street tires.
Thanks

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[Rickyboy]

Anyone have any opinion on a set of decent tires for 11th gens? Have an 02 that needs a set. Not looking to spend a bunch of cash and not looking for high performance just nice solid street tires.
Thanks

I just replaced the Michelins on my 2005 with Continental Control Contact Sport SRS and they seem to be good tires. They were about $150 each plus mounting and balancing at Discount Tire. I went with 235/55/17 after reading several posts recommending the 55s over the recommended 50s. Personally, I think I like the look of the 50s better.

 

[FANZ]

My 05 has 235/50 Bridgestone on it. I drove from San Diego to Phoenix with a smooth quite ride.I am very satisfied with these Bridgestones.

 

[Tomstoy]

I just replaced the Michelins on my 2005 with Continental Control Contact Sport SRS and they seem to be good tires. They were about $150 each plus mounting and balancing at Discount Tire. I went with 235/55/17 after reading several posts recommending the 55s over the recommended 50s. Personally, I think I like the look of the 50s better.

I got the same tires. Cheaper than the Michelin’s. Got them at TireRack.com and Firestone did the install. Real nice tire!!

 

[Pcrpete]

Couple of years ago I replaced the Michelins with Cooper Zeon RS3-G1 after reading excellent reviews of the tire. Good, quiet ride, handle very well, look good too. I would replace these with the same tire again. Also reasonably priced.
I went with the 235/55/17's, after reading here that was the originally spec tire by Ford. They look good and handle very well.

 

[The Flash]

I have been using Continental extremes DWS06 on all my cars, great tire

 

[Bark624]

Just my opinion, but I would suggest going with a "touring" tire rather than a "sport/performance" tire. The ride is quieter and smoother on my daily driver. There are some good, reasonably priced ones out there. I put Hercules RoadTour 855's on mine two years ago and I have been very happy with them. Much quieter and smoother ride than the Michelins. If I remember correctly they were about $90 each installed. Please note I only drive the 'Bird around 700 miles per year.

 

[The Flash]

Herculles? you don't care what you put on your cars. here are all the BAD re-views on a shoot tire. https://tirereviews.co/hercules-roadtour-855-spe-12864/

 

[Ken Tx]

In todays market what are the best tires for my 2003.

 

[RDH]

I put Michelin Pilot Sport AS/E on my 03 and they been on about 2-3 years, not dry rotten, corner like a beast, run it 2-3 times a week and some long trips when this covad goes away like I use too

 

[350xfire]

Been happy with my BFGs... And no I don't corner it like a beast or anything. An almost 20 year old car with 250hp doesn't really fit my definition of a beast but what the heck... 😀

 

[FStJ]

Anyone have any opinion on a set of decent tires for 11th gens? Have an 02 that needs a set. Not looking to spend a bunch of cash and not looking for high performance just nice solid street tires.
Thanks

I replaced the Michelins with white walled Toyo tires (see photo). Vendor no longer available, try a Toyo tire distributer. Feedback on tires: smooth ride after tires heat up, but soft tires "bump" a bit initially. Size is up one but fits fine. Formula 409 is the best cleaner for the white walls.

 

[Tuckers Baby]

Haven’t had enough wear yet to warrant new treads on my bird. She came with a set of Hankook Roadhandlers in 225/55R17. Personality I’d probably go with either Cooper or General as far as picking out a brand for a future set.

 

[Warrbucks]

My 05 has 235/50 Bridgestone on it. I drove from San Diego to Phoenix with a smooth quite ride.I am very satisfied with these Bridgestones.

The Bridgestones I have rude like rocks, plus one is bad & wont balance, giving a wobble at 70. Can’t wait to replace with Michelin pilots, but they won’t wear out! 720 tread rating.:-

 

[medurham]

Pardon Our Interruption...

Anyone have any experience with these white wall add ons??

 

[Uccello Tuono]

Just my opinion, but I would suggest going with a "touring" tire rather than a "sport/performance" tire. The ride is quieter and smoother on my daily driver. There are some good, reasonably priced ones out there. I put Hercules RoadTour 855's on mine two years ago and I have been very happy with them. Much quieter and smoother ride than the Michelins. If I remember correctly they were about $90 each installed. Please note I only drive the 'Bird around 700 miles per year.

This is the info I've been searching for as need to replace the tires on my 2004. I bought it in 2016 and it had brand-new Sumitomo HTR A/S which I believe to be an entry-level performance tire. The 2004 replaced my 1960 Thunderbird and since I've never driven the '04 on any tires other than what it now has, not really sure what difference I may find - but the current tires are fairly noisy. It handles very well (22K when purchased, 37K now so current tires have a bit more life in them) but don't want to risk giving up more sure-footed handling by going to a touring tire, if there is much difference between the two types. I'm a fairly conservative driver but do regularly take the car out on rural east Texas winding roads to put her through her paces, and routinely up to 80 on the Interstate. Any brands you might recommend? I used to run Pirelli years ago on other cars and am wondering if the Cinturato P7 might be a good option. Open to any suggestions, but will read through the scores of old posts on the site. Thanks!

 

[stevedaphotoman]

I am running Continental Extremecontact DWS 06 that are now 4 years old and has about 6000 mile on them,.. Very good cornering performance and relatively quiet ride.. I feel they IMHO really look great. My only negative is I experience flat spots after not driving the bird in a week.. (Ours is a weekend driver) During winter storage I inflate to 45 psi and that cures the long storage inflation flat spots, but having the tire inflated to 31 or 32 psi for regular summer driving i get the flat spot.. The flat spot does go away in about 5-10 miles but it is annoying.. These replaced the OEM Michelin Pilots that were on the car when I bought it 4 years ago.. With 16.5K miles on the clock when I bought the 2002 the pilots were 14-15 years old and had dry rot so they had to be replaced.. I think the next time I need tires I will opt for the Michelin's.. I have always had good luck with Michelins over my many vehicles.. I also had a set of Pirelli Cinturato P6 (if i remember correctly) and loved them.. The Focus was a daily driver but they were quite responsive very good in snow for all seasons and because the Focus was a daily driver there was no issue with flat spots.

Good luck on your selection and purchase.

 

[DennisC]

Anyone have any opinion on a set of decent tires for 11th gens? Have an 02 that needs a set. Not looking to spend a bunch of cash and not looking for high performance just nice solid street tires.
Thanks

Earlier this year I replaced my 15 year old Miche

Anyone have any opinion on a set of decent tires for 11th gens? Have an 02 that needs a set. Not looking to spend a bunch of cash and not looking for high performance just nice solid street tires.
Thanks

Earlier this year I replaced my 15 year old original Michelin’s with Goodyear’. The Michelin’s still looked great with over 50% treadlife but I never liked them as they always had flat spots from sitting for weeks or months when I am at one of my other homes. The Goodyear tires ride great, never a flat spot from sitting and are priced very fairly. I went to my local Goodyear store in Naples where I garage that vehicle.

 

[Uccello Tuono]

I am running Continental Extremecontact DWS 06 that are now 4 years old and has about 6000 mile on them,.. Very good cornering performance and relatively quiet ride.. I feel they IMHO really look great. My only negative is I experience flat spots after not driving the bird in a week.. (Ours is a weekend driver) During winter storage I inflate to 45 psi and that cures the long storage inflation flat spots, but having the tire inflated to 31 or 32 psi for regular summer driving i get the flat spot.. The flat spot does go away in about 5-10 miles but it is annoying.. These replaced the OEM Michelin Pilots that were on the car when I bought it 4 years ago.. With 16.5K miles on the clock when I bought the 2002 the pilots were 14-15 years old and had dry rot so they had to be replaced.. I think the next time I need tires I will opt for the Michelin's.. I have always had good luck with Michelins over my many vehicles.. I also had a set of Pirelli Cinturato P6 (if i remember correctly) and loved them.. The Focus was a daily driver but they were quite responsive very good in snow for all seasons and because the Focus was a daily driver there was no issue with flat spots.

Good luck on your selection and purchase.

Thank you, and the Continentals you mention are on the list for consideration, so the info is very much appreciated, especially regarding the flat spots as I saw that in one or two reviews on an online tire store. Sounds like your solution would be what I need since my 2004 is really only a weekend or twice per month driver.

 

[The Flash]

I run Continental extremes contact DWS 06 for over 6 years I have put them on the Tbird first and the ride and handling was better than the Mich.

my Cadillac ATS that came with run-flat Mich. I took them off the first week I got the ATS and put on Conty Ex.
4 years ago I got a Cadillac CTS with PZ0 and put on Conty Ex. after I ran the PZ0 for 10,000 miles.
I put on Conty Ex and they lasted 40,000 miles. I have staggered 19" tires on the caddy, the rear tires are bigger than the front, so they can not be rotated.
I just put on new Conty Ex. last month with new shocks from Cadillac all around. Love my caddy.