The 5 needs some new tires. Three of the four tires are shot and I think I have it narrowed down to these two. The back tires were Uniroyals that came with the vehicle and the fronts were replaced with Kumho Solus tires. One of the front tires is toast due to a pothole. My two options are get three Kumhos or get four Generals and keep the good Solus as a spare tire. The Kumhos were okay but wet traction was sometimes a little spotty. The Altimaxes seem to get good reviews. What do thee hive say? Snow tires are not an option either.
I've been very happy with the K21&K25 Kumho Solus.
No experience with the generals.
You know that there is the Altimax RT and the Altimax Artic (which is a snow tire), so it could be a touch confusing.
I have the Altimax snow tire as my winter setup for my miata. They are snow tires... squirmy, but I dont get stuck.
I'm on my second set of Altimax HP's on the MPV. Didn't get the kind of mileage I was hoping for on the first set, but I did have a tendency to let them get a little low on air. Also, I tend to corner at fairly high speeds. Did I mention that the MPV handles just like a Miata?
Seriously, the Altimax is a great tire. Comfy, quiet, and with very good grip.
considering there's about 3,221 versions of the Kumho Solus, I can't say. Some are great. Some decent. Some suck. I've never had a good experience with a General tire, and have had dozens of good experiences with Kumho tires so I know where my money would go.
Put a set of General Altimax HP on the girlfriend's Corolla about a month ago. Compared to the stock tires they transformed the car. Handles so much better now. The wet traction is good as is the dry traction. They ride nice and quiet. I'm happy with them. Girlfriend is happy with them too.
general gmax as03?
I have 25k on a set and they have been great for DD duty, and still have a ton of tread left. will exceed 50k miles with ease at this rate. way way way way way better than the kumho solus kh16's i had (oem tires for this car). i cannot express that enough. the kumhos were awful on several levels. notably not great in wet and snow as they wore and i didnt even get 30k miles out of the set
I've never been unhappy with Kumhos. I got 60k out of a set of K21s on my wife's Sentra, and about 50k out of a set of the same on our Murano. Both vehicles were sold before the tires were replaced. No problems.
I don't have any experience with General.
In reply to iadr:
Correct KR21 & KH25. Sorry for not posting the correct names. Both have been very good for me.
Sorry I made the same oops.
There are four different Solus tires, and four different Altimax tires. Which are you looking at?
In reply to 92dxman:
Your first post says just "The 5" but I know that you too are in the Mazda5 Maffia so that helps to clarify the car.
My wife's '10 Mazda5 now wears Kuhmo Ecast LX Platinums.
http://www.tirebuyer.com/tires/kumho/ecsta-lx-platinum-ku27/p/tv193000541
I have been happy with www.tirebuyer.com too (which is the online sales arm of American Tire Wholesalers.)
$113 each and they will be delivered next day on a ATW truck at no charge to a tire store who already has deliveries from ATW. I then pay $16 per tire to that store to have them mounted and balanced. The free shipping results in as much as $50 savings over Tire Rack.
Edit: I just checked tirerack and with shipping added in for a set of 4, it would cost me (at my house) $33.52 more from tirerack for a set of 4.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+PA31&partnum=05VR7PA31XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes
I just put a set of these on the Forte. When I purchased them a month ago they were #1 in their catagory. Looks like they've been surpassed by the michelin which they don't even offer in the size I chose (205/50/17) and it runs about 50% more.
I've run non-OE KH16's (completely different compound than the cheaper OE crap) for 50+k miles, Platinum LX, KR21's, KL51's etc. All have been great.
I ended up going with a set of Maxxis tires. I was pressed for time to get a set of tires. I went to Pep Boys and I got a really good deal out the door on the set.
