Budget tires in 225/60/R16 - what and where?

DD#2 says she needs tires for her 2006 Impala LS / LT.

I believe stock size is 225/60/R16.  She will need the most cost-effective all seasons commonly available, and a place to go.  She's not a car person so tread life and wet / light snow traction are going to take priority over feel or dry handling.  If possible I'd like to stay around $500 installed for a set of 4

Tire Rack unfortunately doesn't offer on-site installation in her area, though they have a couple shops like Mr. Tire or Tires Plus near her that will accept delivery.

TR shows the following:

• General Altimax 365W - about $136 each - severe snow rated
  I would say that this is about the upper end of her budget.
   
• General Altimax RT45 - about $129 each
   
• Vredenstein HiTrac - about $88 each on closeout with a 2020 build date; $140 with a more current date code
   
• Cooper Endeavor - about $122 each
   

• Sumitomo HTR Enhance LX2 - about $122 each

• Hankook Kinergy GT - only $88 each, but only 3 / 5 stars on review

Ordinarily I would go straight to the Conti DWS 06+, but they're out of her budget, I expect.

What does the hive like for budget-oriented daily beater tires?

I have personally had bad luck with Goodyear and Firestone, so I prefer to avoid them.  I also prefer to avoid super-cheapo-Chinesium stuff (unless specifically recommended here), with the understanding that lots of tires are made in China anyway.

Wal*Mart has the following:

• Cooper Endeavor - about $111 each so cheaper than TR
   
• Kumho LX KU27 - about $69 each

Over the years, I have bought more than 6 pairs full sets of Falken 201's for my Prius fleet.  The 201's are a 65k rating.  Falken also makes a 250 that is a 75k rating but generally the same tread design.  In years past, these tires were a tremendous price/value.  Now the prices (like many things) have increased to be much closer to their peers.  TR has the 250 for $125 each.  A Grand Touring tire returning pleasent, quiet road manners.  Okay for winter...not specifically designed for winter or severe.   

I just looked at TRack and they have discount and rebate on Goodyears making four 65k rated tires just $386 ($96.50 each, down from $129 each)

In reply to John Welsh :

Great, thank you.

I'm generally suspicious of the super-high mileage ratings.  I figure they are hard as rocks, and in most typical use cases, tires age out long before they wear out anyway.

If you recommend the Falkens, I will recommend the Falkens.

I'd have to consider those $69 Kuhmos from Walmart.  I had some Kuhmo Platinums on the ole Mazda5 years ago.  They were good.  

I hated the one and only pair of Coopers I had in the past.  Biggest complaint...noisy!

My preferred buying site in years past has been www.tirebuyer.com

Be sure to compare what their installers charge.  Around me, the installers have really jacked the prices up for instals via TBuyer.  

See page 2 of this old thread for more words about TBuyer and American Tire Distributors.

John Welsh said:

I'd have to consider those $69 Kuhmos from Walmart.  I had some Kuhmo Platinums on the ole Mazda5 years ago.  They were good.  

I hated the one and only pair of Coopers I had in the past.  Biggest complaint...noisy!

 

I looked up the Walmart $69 Kuhmos.  I see that they are only a 50k mile rated tire.  Will they last 50k?  Who knows but I'm confident that they will wear down quicker than 65k or 75k rated tires.  

I wish TR would review the cheapest all seasons in a comparison so we all knew the answer to this question. Maybe they have actually. 
 

I had good luck with Nexens when I had this question. Can't remember the name but if you look up their all season, you should be able to find it. But they may have gone up in price since then. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Even at 50k that makes them a 6 or 7 year tire for her, so that's fine. Thanks!

• Kumho LX KU27 - about $69 each

I have these on my 320i (the cheapest bmw should have cheap-E36 M3 tires, no?) and have been surprisingly happy. I only have maybe 10k miles on them so far, but they are not showing any signs of wear. Primary use is my 80 mile per day commute with the occasional long, twisty, back road route home. Wet weather behavior is good and they did well in the one light snow we had after mounting. They are predictable when I push them. I have no complaints at all. 

Here's the tire rack test for those. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=227

I remember reading that test for the Laufenns. 

"What We’d Improve: Wet traction is the worst we have tested.

Conclusion: Only a value if you don’t drive in the wet."

I believe my wife's Accent came with the Hankook H426s. They were not good.

SaxyHero got some Riken Raptor ZR in almost that size that seem to work well 

I wanna say $83 a tire?

There are places to be cheep with cars. Tires are not that place.  I would strongly recommend the continentals. I use them on all my non suv/cuv/trucks.  They just work. Good in snow. Very good in the wet and don't give up much in noise and dry handling.  I would call them a all season aggressive touring tire. 
 

What / who is a DD?  I always thought that was short for daily driver. 

In reply to dean1484 :

While I agree, sometimes budget does not allow.  I told her to stick with the Kumho LXs as she was unlikely to do better until she got to twice the price.

"DD#2" is "Duke Daughter #2".

On your original list you had General Altimax RT45. I had RT43s on my Elantra and put them on the minivan we used to have. 

I pickled them because of the wet weather performance and light snow performance. They handled the early and late season light snows well (I ran Altimax artic on both Nov-Apr). They also rated near the top for wet performance in any comparisons they were included in on TR

Not the cheapest, but the price difference is less than deductible or body work. 

In reply to No Time :

Yeah, I recommended the RT43s to her if she can afford them, based on the TR test results at the link above.  They are $124 at Wallyworld.  Thanks.

[edit]  Huh.  Walmart says that it looks like the RT43 in 225 / 60 / R16 won't fit my vehicle, because the manufacturer recommends a tire size of 225 / 60 / R16.

I have rt43s on my DD. They are great in the wet, light snow, and have decent road feel/feedback. I highly recommend