Topic: Motomaster tires on sale. Should I?

[yugrus]

My stock Yokogama Geolandars will be shot in about 10k km, and I'm looking for 3-season replacement. The car has somewhat not very common tire size- 195x55R15, and I'd like to stay within the stock dimensions. My driving style could be described as overly conservative: about 60% highway, almost never over the speed limit, and quite often- under the limit. I don't take corners pretending that I know how to do that at high speed, I never race, etc. Despite the bad reviews for the stock Geolandars by many owners, I actually like these tires very much. They are quiet and are very good on wet surfaces; I wish they lasted a bit longer. This would probably give you a better idea on my preferences.
 So the most valuable tire characteristics for me are the quietness and longevity.

There are not very many options in touring category for this tire size. My favorites so far are Yokogama Avid T4 and BFGoodrich Traction T/A. Active Green & Ross offers T4 for $125 installed, and Costco will have T/As on sale for about $135 installed at the end of the month. I hope they both can provide the thread life I'm hoping for, although T/As might be too sporty (not soft enough) for me.

Yesterday I picked a rain check from Canadian Tire for Motomaster SE in my size. They sell these for $69 plus whatever they charge for balancing. Although I'd rather pick up tires and go to the trusted shop to mount them. So the total cost would be around $84 plus tax. That brings the total savings of $189 for the set over T4.

I realize that SEs will probably not last as long as T4, although it is off-set by 30% savings. The question now is how much worse are Motomaster SE compared to T4 and T/A in terms of quietness and comfort? What about performance in the rain? Has anyone had any experience with these? Any problems with balancing and going out of round? Are SEs a good idea at all?

Thanks everyone!

[weebl]

Depends on a lot.

First off, how do you drive your car?  If you are very mild mannered (little old lady on Sunday style), then the Motomasters would probably work fine for you.

If you enjoy driving, then those are a poor choice of tires.  You will need to make sure you match at least what the OEM equipped speed rating was.  I suspect it will be H-rated or higher.  Of your two favourites, I would personally pick the BFG Traction T/A.  They come in T, H and V ratings, make sure you match to your car.

[yugrus]

I really enjoy driving, but I guess in my own manner.  Very relaxing and smooth, really close to the old lady style.
My stock tires are V-rated, as well as BFG T/As and Motomaster SEs in my size. Yoks T4 come in T rating.

[weebl]

Double check those Motomaster SE's, I've always thought they came in S-rated, and don't come in low profile sizes like a 55 series.  They seem to be geared towards older cars or family vehicles like minvans, both of which aren't as likely to be driven hard.  If they are both V-rated and available in a 55 series, they might be fine for you.  If it matters to you, they are made by Goodyear's economy division - Kelly Springfield.

For almost the same price as the BFG Traction T/A-V's, I'd ditch the Yokohama Avid T4's.

[yugrus]

That's what I thought about SEs when I came to Canadian Tire to double-check. I was looking for Motomaster LXR, but they don't come in 55 sidewall. Surprisingly, they had SE in that size, and it was definitely V-rated. Strange thing happen, I guess.

So, BFGs are by far superior to anything in this price/performance category, eh? Would you say they will last about 30% longer then Motomaster SE? Will they be quieter? How about rolling resistance difference?

Thanks a lot!

[weebl]

I couldn't tell you which would be quieter.  As for rolling resistance, I doubt you'd notice enough of a difference from one tire to the next as far as fuel economy goes.

Real life treadwear is anyone's guess.

Maybe Morty can chime in here?

[Giant Dwarf]

I'm the furthest thing from any sort of tire expert, but I can share this one experience I had:

A number of years ago I bought a '93 Civic Si coupe.  Loved that car.  The previous owner had thrown on some crappy Motomaster tires that within a few months had driven me nuts.  They were noisy and handled horribly.  I replaced them with some very affordable Michelins I bought on sale at Sears.  The difference was like night and day. 

The moral of the story is this:  you don't need to spend a lot to get a decent set of tires... but the cheapest ones out there are probably the cheapest ones out there for a reason. 

[initial_D]

A $200 saving over 4 years is an average of $50 a year, works out to less than $5 a month. Pack lunch for 2 extra days, don't go out to dinner once a month, or no movie rental, whatever. A $5 savings a month is a very easy thing to do.

On the other hand, driving a car with so-so tires for 4 long years is the schits.  Definitely not enjoyable.

[yugrus]

Thank you very much guys!
In fact, this is the first time I'm looking for value vs better quality in something for my car. I know for sure that I will not utilize higher performance potential of the better tires, although I do realize that it is very important to have some margin for extreme situations.
I'm sure I make things overly complicated and I should have taken this shopping experience easier. But this is so much fun after all!

[safristi]

I had Motormaster LXR tourings on my OLD Mitsu GTX 2000.......gave great service (4 season use..yeah Yeah !!! ) free rotation and about 100,000thousands K's fer about $70 a tyre...hardly a crappy TYRE DEAL IMHO...Yeah yeah Goodyear yada yadas are better...drove it to Texas,Florida,NewFoundland and back and forth to work............a decent ...option    NO.... though....

[Trainman]

and Costco will have T/As on sale for about $135 installed at the end of the month.

Just beware of the possible issues with Costco tires.  They may be a Costco only tire (like a Motomaster idea) that can only be serviced at Costco.

I was in my regular tire shop one day when a lady in a VW van pulls up with a flat.  She has Michelins on the van, the tire shop is the authorized Michelin dealer in town.  They look at the tires and note that they have not seen them before.  They phone Michelin and it turns out they are a Costco only tire and can only be serviced at Costco.  So the poor lady ended up driving the 80 km to the nearest Costco just to get a flat repair.

You should check to see if the T/A's are the same, if you think this will be an issue.
.

[yugrus]

Thank you Trainman, I read your story before on this board. I looked at BFG T/As at Costco, and the protector pattern is the same with BFG T/As at Canadian Tire. I'm pretty sure they're not Costco- specific.
Saf, 100k km, no kidding? Wow, that's a lot for el'cheapo tire. I wish they had LXR in my size!

[morty]

Cant offer any comparison to the Motomaster. Traction T/A is a very good tire and has gotten great reviews.

[Minou]

I had LXR's on my '99 Accord to replace the horrible OEM Dunlops.  The tread was less than 50% used after about 50K km but I ditched them when I found out they had become noisier than my winter tires (Motomaster Icetracs).  The winter tires also rode better and that was confirmed when I could manipulate the dis-mounted LXR's.  The carcass was mostly shot and as soft as an inflation tube.

So good tire when new and fairly longlasting but dynamically deteriorates fairly rapidly.

My brother has gone through several sets of SE's on their TDI's and reports similar comments.     

[yugrus]

Thank you very much guys, this is very good to know!
The more I think about it, the more I lean towards a compromise like Kumho ASX... Still have to complete a research.
Went into GM stealership in Mississauga today to check Goodwrench summer tire sale event that they burn so much money advertizing. Well, as expected, the monkeys there knew squat about tires in general and about the event in particular. Well, might be a bad dealership, will check in Burlington this evening.

[Gardiner Westbound]

A favorable Consumer Reports rating prompted us to put BFG T/As on both our cars. They were good running tires, but tread life was disappointing. We replaced them with Michelin Harmonys. We are pleased with the Michelins so far, but it's too early to know how long they will last.

I avoid Canadian Tire private label products because there is no way of determining value for dollar. CTC changes the styles and names so frequently nobody tests and reports on them. It's hard to pay a little and get a lot!

[yugrus]

A favorable Consumer Reports rating prompted us to put BFG T/As on both our cars. They were good running tires, but tread life was disappointing.

Oh, that's interesting. Traction T/As have UTQG of 440, but that's within BFG category. I thought they should have better then average wear rate... Thanks a lot!

[keithb]

  The last time I  checked CTC was using Kelly Springfield/Kelly Tire as a source for some its Motomaster tires( alos BFG and others) -this may or may not still be the case. Even if the Kelly tires are reasonable quality without being upper end , there is no way to determine (except by forums such as this) the quality of the production runs made for CTC. My own experience with CTC has indicated a reasonable tire for the price- nothing more or less. If you want something like a really strong rain tire or performance tire then look to the name manufacturers.
   To check who makes the tires , you would need the manufacturers code from the sidewall . A lot of websites will tell how to read the DOT code but do not give the  cross reference -so check here

http://www.tirelitigation.com/html/tirecodelist.html

and

http://www.tirelitigation.com/html/plantcrossrefer2.html

[morty]

Many of the BFG tires carry the T/A branding, This doesnt mean they are the Traction T/A. Double check the exact tire that you had. It may have been the Radial T/A or another tire from BFG.

[odman]

I put Traction T/As on my '98 Odyssey in December (replacing Michelins that were crap in the winter) and have been very happy with them. They are too new to evaluate treadwear (got 80k out of the Michelins) but they handle well and are comfortable. I recall someone saying that there are different versions of the Traction T/As, with OE-spec T/As having much shorter lifespans than aftermarket.