OK, I fell for a Consumer Reports article that rated the Falken as tops and bought a set a year ago. Good ride, low noise, terrific hydroplane resistance, but TERRIBLE tread wear. After about 15k miles the outer edges are worn below the wear bars, but the center is fine. And I am diligent about inflation (actually over inflated slightly in an attempt to reverse the wear problem), rotate every 4-5K, keep it aligned, etc. My winter Arctic Alpines wear like iron on the same car, so it is definitely the tires.

I do a lot of freeway driving, use these tires until the snow flies, then switch to snow tires. I don't push hard around corners or practice other hard-on-tires habits. I have a 96 850 Turbo with 104K miles (original owner), sport suspension, original struts. I'm looking for decent performance, comfortable quiet ride, reasonable mileage, good grip wet or dry--comments?

I have had the same wear problem on my 95 850 turbo wagon. Most brands I bought wore TERRIBLY fast! I purchased a set of 205/55/HR16 BFGoodrich Traction T/A H from TireRack.com. I’ve had the tires just over a year and they are awesome. TireRack gives outstanding reviews for these tires and the price is great ($89 each).

I cannot recommend these tires with any more enthusiasm. I like them so much; I have put them on our other two cars. (Accord and 240 DL). I even bought a second set for my 850 because I was afraid they might not re-stock.

These tires handle great in wet weather – we live in the Portland Oregon area. Wear is very good with rotations at every 4K miles. I ordered through TireRack.com and they were installed within 48 hours of placing the order. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Rick
1995 850 Turbo Wagon 122K

Thanks for the input from everybody. Interestingly, my winter snows, Michelin Artic Alpins wear like iron--five seasons so far. I think I'm down to a decision between the Yokohama Avid H4s and the Goodrich Traction T/A H...

Look at Michelin's new HydroEdge, which comes in a 205-55-16. Warranted for 90K, supposed to be very smooth and quiet, super on wet. Only Goodyear's Assurance beats them out as being number one on tirerack.com's panel. However, Costco has them listed for $107 each balanced and mounted, and IF you get them before this Sunday (June 26th) you get $60 dollars off on a set of four. If they don't have them in stock you can order with free shipping from costco.com if you do it on or before the 26th. The tires have to be in stock at Costco if you want the discount at the store. Since few Costco stores carry this size, you will probably have to go to the net to order them in order to qualify for the discount. I'm in the Willamette Valley, I love my quiet, music, and the fact that I'm wet most of the year. Never read anything negative yet about them. Check them out. Only Michelin I've come across with this high a mileage warranty and supposedly so quiet and great on wet and light snow. Dick

205-50-ZR16 is the recommended tire size for the '95 850T.

Does that Hydro-edge com in a Z rated? Edited to answer my own question...NO, they are T rated. Maybe that is okay for a regularly aspirated 850...then the size is usually a 195-..-15 or something like that. ....
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'95 854T 125,000

True but if you want to keep your rims (esp. if you have alum. alloys), I'd recommend 205/55/16. The 50's tend to cause bent rims if you live in a place with a lot of pot holes. I have Michelin Energy X (the one that says "GREEN" on them) on the S70 right now and they seem to be very good tires for Michelin...can get them at them for about $126 at the Tire store at the Mall (used to be owned by Sears)...Tire America? Anyway, these are decent if you need them fast. Otherwise, I recommend Bridgestone Turanza HL (I believe they're called HL...anyway, look for the "H" after "Turanza") which you can get at TireRack.com and they are just at $100 each. These by far were the best tires I ever ran on the 850 turbo wagon we used to own. Good luck
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1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic, 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red, Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon

I bought 4 GoodYear Assurance Triple Treads about 2 months ago. They handle great in both dry and wet, are supposed to be great in snow too, and they are rated as 80K mile tires. tirerack.com feedback is outstanding, so I splurged and went for them @$125 each. So far so good.

I also bought the Assurance Triple Treds--they have served me very well after one year in Colorado--quiet, and good in snow and rain. I'd highly recommend these tires. I believe they've also gotten very high consumer rankings on Tirerack.com.

What speed rating do you want/use? The higher rated and softer (H,V,Z) tires are in my experience quite a bit shorter wearing than the lower rated (T, S). I have not got much more than 30K miles out of an H-rated tire of any brand.

Maybe some survey data, like those on www.tirerack.com, would be of help.

That said, I have had good experience with BFGoodrich Traction T/A (H). To me the claim of superior wet traction seems justified. This is a 4-season tire so maybe not as high performing as you want. But it does come in a V rating too. I was unhappy with Toyo Proxes (H) which are very squirmy and uncertain.

Add another vote for the Bridgestone Potenza's.
Armie
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'94 850 154000kms '86 760GLE 272000kms 95 Silverado4x4

I've got 205/55/16 bridgestone potenza re950's. Had them for almost 30,000 miles, no problems except one time i had to get a plug because i ran over a drill bit. otherwise they've been great tires.

--ben

I use Michelin Pilot A/S 205-55-Z16 all year round. They are great, superb wet and dry handling, ok in the rare snow. With proper rotation they last about 33k as my last set did, but the latest set I have on seem to have more rubber in the center tread where the weak point in the tire was. So they may last even longer than 33K. They are however pricey, upwards of $140 per tire.

Lunchman
'95 Turbo, 140K, Bilstein All-around

Agreed, a great performance oriented tire with some snow traction. I love mine. I think that the poster wants a summer only tire though.

205-55's rubbed off the inner rubber liner in the wheel well on my '95 854T. I always use 205-50-ZR16's.

Has anyone tried the Cooper Zeon 2XS's? I've seen them online priced at about $79 a piece.

I've tried Toyo Proxis, Yokohama, Fulda, BF Goodrich, Michelin Pilot Sport - all Z rated. Haven't yet tried Falken.

I currently have the BF Goodrich....just okay...

As far as ride, the feel...I preferred the Michelin's. But they cost lots and only lasted about 25K. That is what my car came with.

Many of my tires would get those bubbles inside or outside requiring replacement (probably from speed bumps, I was told)...or some other road hazard. Other's just wore out...lots of times alignment became a problem so they'd wear unevenly...usually shoulders would wear quicker.
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'95 854T 125,000