Hello all. I need your advice. I'm looking to get new tires (summer, as I have snow tires that I put on her). Every time I get stumped as to what would be the best tires for my car. I do A LOT of highway driving a week. (At least 400 miles). I have a 2009 base hatchback with 16" rims. Any advice would be appreciated. I don't need performance or any fancy tires..just something that will be good for all the highway driving I do and that will last for some time. Thank you.

 

Michelin are the best tires ever!

 

The Continental PureContact with EcoPlus rate very highly on Tirerack.com. I've installed two on my 2008 Jetta and two on my mom's 2000 Taurus. The other two tires were still good. They are grand touring all season tires and would be good for your application. They don't offer a 195/55/16 on Tirerack.com, but they do have a 205/55/16. Good grip, Long wearing, pretty quiet. Not a run flat, not gonna have that instant response go cart feel, but it's a very good tire.

 

I have Kumho on the front of my '11 JCW and Dunlop Sports on the back. Michelin MXM4 grand touring on my Acura CLS And Pirelli P7s plus on my TLS.

Michelin are the quietest for whatever reason and handle just fine.

 

I run Continental ExtremeContact DW tires on my Mini in the summer but it is a maximum performance tire so not going to last long, maybe 25,000 miles. Excellent tire for taking corners fast and a good tire overall. Many like the Continental ExtremeContact DWS Ultra High Performance All-Season tire. Will wear longer than the DW but not as long as the EcoPlus, and the DWS even handles snow better than most all season tires.

Edit: Corrected DW to DWS above.

 

To the OP: Did this info help? What summer tires did you use last and what did you think about them? Tires are hard to recommend because they have so many features and always trade off one thing for another: grip for long life, response for nice ride (handling for comfort), snow traction for dry/wet traction. The rubber compounds are designed for certain temperature ranges. Fortunately you can have good dry and wet traction in the same tire, more or less (unless you're talking about racing tires). Worn tires are always louder than new tires. Many factors.