Fellow Canadians,

This has been discussed before, but here's my 2 cents based on recent experience:

I needed new front tires. Like many, I have Conti SportContacts on all around.

Even though my backs are still good, I was faced with the decision of whether to replace the fronts only (with Contis) or buy a 4 wheel package of similar or cheaper tires- what an odyssey this turned out to be ! :-)

I looked at pricing and availability of the following brands (summer H.Performance tires, not All-Season), in Canada and in the US: Continental, Falken, General, Hankook, Yokohama, Goodyear, Pirelli, BF Goodrich, General, Dunlop, Michelin, Nexen, Toyo.

Needless to say, the availability of all the brands seems better in the US, or at least, I should say, it's easier to find sites online that quote the price for 18s,19s and sets for our vehicle. With limited exception (TireTrends) trying to get this info from Canadian tire vendors is like pulling teeth. When I was able to find suitable tires/tire sets (finding 255/35/19s was difficult), most places have ridiculous pricing. The best price locally that I could find for a similar/better tire package was for Goodyear F1s, quoted at around CDN$1550.00 before tax and installation. Cheaper tire brands were available but in most cases 255/35/19s weren't , even by special order.

I eventually ended up comparing the door-to-door TireRack (US) price for 225/40/ZR18s ContiSport Contact 3s with TireTrends (CDN) with the following result: TireRack = $CDN489.01 TireTrends= $CDN622.55

Bottom line is, the US online vendor beat the Canadian vendor by $CDN133.54 for these 2 tires !!!
I should add that for those that don't realize it, TireRack's shipping price includes all duties and taxes. The TireRack price for shipping, etc in this case was USD$54.00 - probably not worth the trouble of having them shipped to a US address and driving across the border to pick them up and have them installed. If you are planning to do this, know that there are several other sites that offer even cheaper tire combinations than TireRack.

We continue to get raped on tire prices (and many other things) in Canada despite recent decreases in the exchange rates. I want to support Canadian companies as much as the next guy, however, not when there is such a price discrepancy!!!

If Canadian vendors insist on picking our pockets, the very least they can do is refrain from crushing the "family jewels" in the process...

 

Welcome to the world of Canadian Crossfire Owners,tires are the start wait till the stealership rapes you

 

After buying my rear tires for the crossfire from tire rack and saveing a bundle, I don't think I will buy tires from Canada again unless they can came close to the US prices. Which I can't see happening any time soon

 

I wonder about the bulk places like Costco. I know they have tires for our fronts, but the 19s might be a special order. The Pilots are on for $325 + $15 to mount on their website.


Edit: Whoops, just saw they have the rears listed too. they're going for more in the $425 range each. Scratch the good deal part.

 

yep, just checked Costco the other day. The best price I've found on the eagle F1 a/s was 934 for all 4 mounted and balanced. It's the 19's that will kill you. Costco wanted about 1000 for the tires, then add 60 for the m/b, so was not out of the realm, but still. Sears was good on the regular Michelin XC for the explorer, and those are by far the best SUV tire I have ever owned.

 

I'm on my 4th set of tires, and I agree that buying in the U.S. is cheaper if you're buying at retail. However, if you can buy tires in Canada at wholesale prices then it works out to be a little cheaper than Tire rack.

On that note, here's what I can tell you about the tires I've had...


Stock Conti's
Dry: Decent grip
Wet: OK grip
Noise: Moderate
Braking grip: Decent
Mileage:29,000km

BFG G-Force T/A KDW2
Dry: Sticks like glue
Wet: Worse than Conti's slightly
Noise: LOUD.. like truck tires
Braking grip: Excellent in dry, not so much in wet
Mileage:27,000km

Kumho Ecsta SPT
Dry: Decent grip
Wet: Worse than Conti's
Noise: Quiet when new, louder than Conti's when half worn
Braking grip: Slightly better than Conti in dry, about same as BFG in wet
Mileage:23,000km

Sumitomo HTRZ III
Dry: Almost as good as the BFG
Wet: Really good... Better than the other 3
Noise: Extremely quiet
Braking grip: Excellent in dry like the BFG, Slightly better than the Conti in wet
Mileage:8,000km so far, and not much wear

Honestly, if you are looking for a 3 season tire, the Sumitomo's are the way to go... I purchased mine from CCW in abbottsford (they ordered them in for me), but TireTrends also carries them in Canada as well.

I have a lot of camber (3 degrees in rear, 1.8 in the front), and trips on winding hot roads to the okanagan/Winthrop in the USA for the weekend aren't easy on the tires... That being said, the Sumitomo's are wearing more evenly than the other 3 tire brands I have tried, since they are designed for cambered suspension.

Hope that helps someone....

 

Try this web site they are very reasonable www.1010tires.com and its a canadian site.

Adrian

 

Try out 275/35/19 they are cheaper
got a pair of Hankooks Evos for 620.00 installed balanced and taxes in
They fit better then 255's