[hellofargis]

first of all, this forum is the BEST. THING. EVER. just like my new CWP hatch (arrives tuesday).

I have a really simple question: just how bad are the stock tires? should getting new tires be the first thing I do? I live in a 4-season state, and the car kind of lightened my wallet. so, is there a decent, not-too-expensive set that I need to get? or can I ride the stock set for a while?

thanks!

 

[ionorick]

dont even worry for awhile. The thread for most seemed to die quickly. Same for me only cuz I bought mines with a broken axle and shot out shocks =P

 

[mickberna]

Honestly, the way people talk about the RSA's on this forum you'd think they were made out of hard plastic drenched in grease. They're really not THAT bad. I had mine on for four months before I put snow tires on for the winter, and while they weren't great, they weren't horrendous. They're just noisy and a little slick in the rain.

Keep in mind, however, that the RSA's are not designed to handle snow and ice. If you have to deal with any icy roads over the next month or so, you might want to consider all-seasons or a separate set of snow tires/rims.

My opinion? You already have four tires. Use those first, and then get new, better ones. There's no reason to spend nearly four bills on new tires just so you can corner a bit faster.

 

[isjoining]

RSA's are all season tires...so they can handle some snow and ice, but are probably not very good with snow and ice traction.

If you don't want to have 2 separate sets of tires (summer tires, and winter tires) then you can get Kumho ECSTA ASX tires. The Kumho's are $89 per tire on tirerack.com

 

[the415]

the stock tires are fine for stock tires. they aren't the best for any kind of agressive driving but replacing them when they are brand new is pointless.

 

[Midnight_Speeder]

Keep an eye on them, say about every 3000 miles (depending on the way you drive) and try to rotate them every oil change. That should keep them decent. Infrequent rotation is what got me.

 

[plazma]

I would agree with everyone here... i wouldnt worry about new tires now... cause its not like you are buying a Speed3 with all the extra HP and Torque. You dont need performance, unless you are wanting to lean that way. Plus its winter time right now, stick with your originals for now.

I would say if you wanted to get new tires.. just get a set of wheels and tires later on in the year for late spring to early fall use then throw the originals back on for winter. Thats just my opinion... do what you need to do, especially if money is tight.

 

[zobx]

Hellofargis! I got about 26,000 miles out of my RSAs but for the first two years I had the car I didn't have to drive if it snowed. Then I moved where I couldn't walk to the bus stop for work.... A couple months ago, with the impending snow in PA and my previous experience with the RSAs I decided to spend the cash to get better all season tires. People around here say the RSAs aren't too bad, and I did love them in the summer, but I actually got stuck in my mother's driveway with little more than an inch of snow. I also think they got way too hard if the temp dropped below 30* in the beginning of this season.

I'd say get your own experience, especially since there are such varied opinions around here. The winter is nearly done (here anyway - you should post your location in your profile) and they ARE brand new tires you have. It is a shame to get rid of them, especially since you can get good use out of them in the summer. Wait until there's a dusting of snow out there, and carefully see how the car handles.... then decide what you want to do. You can have Kumho Ecsta ASX on your car in less than a week - tirerack shipped them to me in one day!

 

[dread]

I switched to kuhmo's recently and wished I had done it when I bought the car, the ride is better and much quieter and the car handles better in all weather conditions, I never new what a difference tires could make until I got rid of the overpriced POS goodyears. I will never buy a goodyear tire again. Even my wife noticed the difference and she doesn't give a shit about cars.

 

[hellofargis]

wow. you all are amazing with your info.

so what's the right play here? I live in Minnesota, and we're going to have another month of snow. I pick the car up this week. the Kuhmo's sound like the right solution, but I feel silly just burying the RSA's without ever using them. but it sounds like that's what most of you would recommend, right?

thx!

 

[isjoining]

well according to tire rack, the goodyear RS-A's are horrible in snow and ice, so if you're going to get some snow and have to drive through it, I highly suggest using different tires.

 

[mickberna]

[quote author=hellofargis link=topic=70305.msg1229310#msg1229310 date=1172334825]
wow. you all are amazing with your info.

so what's the right play here? I live in Minnesota, and we're going to have another month of snow. I pick the car up this week. the Kuhmo's sound like the right solution, but I feel silly just burying the RSA's without ever using them. but it sounds like that's what most of you would recommend, right?

thx!
[/quote]

You're in Minnesota? In that case, the best option is to buy a set of snow tires and cheap rims, and use your RSAs on your stock rims for the rest of the year until they wear out. Changing wheels is easy, and when you live as far north as you do, putting snows on is probably a very good idea.

In my opinion, your should spend your money on safety, not a mild increase in handling performance.

 

[hellofargis]

really? okay. but I've never used snows (only all-season) in MN and never had a problem (on my civic, for example).

 

[mickberna]

Don't buy tires because I or anyone else said so... do what you think is best for your car, your safety and your budget. What works best for me might not work best for you.

That being said, we've only had one snowfall in metro NY this year, but when that one inch of snow turned to solid ice on every road, and all the highways were coated with salt and sand, I was VERY glad to have a set of winter tires on cheapo rims.

 

[jackattack]

The Eagle RS-A's are fairly well built tires. Keep them rotated and balanced every 6-9k miles and check your tire pressure often and they'll do fine. If I lived up where you lived, I'd buy a rim/snow tire combo from tirerack.com to save your stock rims and tires from the salt, potholes etc.

 

[BoostThat3]

[quote author=mickberna link=topic=70305.msg1229669#msg1229669 date=1172347119]
Don't buy tires because I or anyone else said so... do what you think is best for your car, your safety and your budget. What works best for me might not work best for you.

That being said, we've only had one snowfall in metro NY this year, but when that one inch of snow turned to solid ice on every road, and all the highways were coated with salt and sand, I was VERY glad to have a set of winter tires on cheapo rims.
[/quote]

I dont live in a "4 season state", but I do agree with this guy..

If you do happen to purchase snow tires, I would take the car out to a large parking lot with no parking curbs or anything, just flat asfault. This is where to test the vehicle to see how the car manuevers differently with the tires that you are unfamiliar with. Sounds like I'm sending you into a death trap, but it's actually really useful when you know exactly how to manuever your car in a situation where you need to properly brake/turn/accelerate...

 

[shenon]

with the foot of snow that just dumped on Minneapolis, I'd say you'll find out real fast how bad the RSA's are in snow.....you might not even get off the dealer lot Seriously, MN is snow tire country. The improvement in traction over any all-season tire is the biggest safety boost you can do. I've had Michelin Arctic Alpin P/S2's for the past 3 winters and never looked back.

 

[zoom_craigy_zoom]

I agree with what some people are saying here.... the RSA's aren't the greatest tire in the world, especially in wet or snowy weather. However, if you get a set of cheap winter rims/tires, this would probably make the most sense. You are only going to use them a few months out of every year, and therefore they will last you quite a while. Put the stock rims with the RSA's back on in the warmer months, and you should be able to get about 20,000 miles out of them. The thing that happened with my RSA's though, were the outer wall became dry-rotted and cracked, so you'll want to keep an eye on that. As soon as you see any wear like that, replace them. Its dangerous to be driving on a tire that could explode or rip apart at any second. I replaced my tires with Pirelli P6 FourSeasons, and I love them. Much better than the RSA's.

 

[hellofargis]

thanks guys. I really appreciate the advice. I'm leaning toward the snows now. any advice on a cheap rim/tire combo? tirerack can't give me options online. should I just go to a local tire dealer? and what's a good price range for this combo on a 3?

thanks again.

 

[BoostThat3]

I'd try to find some steelies as that's what pretty much everyone else that has snowy weather gets for their snow rims. On the steelies they'd have a nice set of snow tires.