Help Dawg180 pick new tires!

[Dawg180]

Howdy all,

Been a loooooooooong time since I have posted or lurked here, but I could use some input from you all. Here is the deal:

The POS OEM Goodyear GA's on my 2000 V6 have finally run out of tread and need to be replaced. I currently have a set of Bridgestone Blizzaks for the rough Chicago winters so mainly I am looking for a good three season tire with limited snow performance (i.e. I never get the blizzaks on till AFTER the first two snows cause I am lazy )

I have done some research on the Tire Rack and Discount Tire site along with consulting with my brother who is a gearhead extraordinare (though the poor boy drives a Chevy Cavalier Z24, may he see the light someday!) and have narrowed it down to a few tires. Here are my requirements and what I have narrowed it down to:

1. Must be no more than $80 per tire, preferably $65 or less
2. Must avoid "wallowing" through corners that OEM's currently do
3. Absolutely must give good traction in wet weather (I live in a river valley and have gotten stuck on a steeeeep hill twice due to lack of traction)
4. decent snow performance a plus
5. I am not as concerned about a stiffer ride, OEM's seeme to be a soft ride
6. Has to fit on stock 15" rims as I cannot afford to upgrade to 16"

And here are the candidates:

BFGoodrich T/A H or T/A V series
Bridgestone Potenza RE950 series
Falken (I believe these are the RE512 series?)

Any experience with these or other tires you have had good experiences with would be greatly appreciated. One caveat: After my experiences with the Goodyear OEM's, I refuse to buy another set of Goodyears. If anyone wants my reasons I will certainly be willing to list them.

Thanks,

Dawg

 

[szer0]

I don't know if my rims are 15" or 16", but I have these http://www.sumitomotire.com/theline/product.asp?c=per&id=3 and they have survived a very nasty winter here, I drove fine through inches of snow. Only got stuck once going up a very steep hill but was able to get out with a little playing around (turning off traction control and playing with lower gears [automatic]). I don't think any tire is going to prevent you from EVER getting stuck in that situation in a rear wheel drive car.

I love the tires though.

*edit* Hmm..yeah I guess my wheels are 16" sorry :|

 

[77sleeper]

you want a great tire that is very inexpensive then you have got to get the http://www.pepboys.com/tires_wheels/high_performance/ultra_z.html don't laugh, they are great tires, you owe it to yourself to at least, go check them out in person