PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

So I'm looking for new tires for the LeSabre. We're getting married in May in Miami, and will be driving the Buick down there from GA, roughly 2000 miles round trip, and my front tires are getting bald.

I'm looking for a really good tire, with a high mileage warrantee, and a decently high speed rating, (112-118 just to be safe), and a great ride/handling quality. I know there are a ton of tire topics out here, but with the market constantly changing, and most tires being in the 16" size for the ssei's and up, I don't really see or hear too many reviews about 15" tires. I'm looking on Tiremonkey for some deals right now, and found a good deal on these Khumos, http://tiremonkey.com/Tires/Size/205/70 ... &ci=0%2C9#

But feel free to give me some suggestions. Price isn't too much of a concern, but of course the lower the better. Probably looking in the 80-120/tire range, but that can fluctuate a bit.

Also looking for more of a performance tire.

Bridgestone Turanza EL400. Well within all your requirements.

I might catch hell for this, but from personal experience, I can't recommend the Kumhos, especially their Solus line. Kumhos Solus tires were on my Bonneville when I bought it, and still with around 50% tread, those things couldn't get traction on dry pavement (especially going from a stop on a hill, with light acceleration). My brother and his girlfriend (at the time) had the same line of tires on each of their vehicles, and they had nothing but trouble.

Anyway, my mom is looking at getting new tires for her '97 LeSabre, so I'm going to keep an eye on this thread so I give her some options when it's time to buy.

dpnewfie wrote:Bridgestone Turanza EL400. Well within all your requirements.

This for sure.

The Turanza is what's on it now, and I do like them (they were on it when I bought the car at 87,000).

what are the other options as far as sizes I can run without changing to a larger rim? I'm not too educated on tires yet as I've never bought them haha

I have also seen 215/70R15 on them.

I fancy a 16" rim myself, 205/70R15 is not very conducive to the way I want to drive

I've definitely toyed the idea of putting 16" rims on it. It depends on how much I get back for taxes to put towards tires and such to determine if I can put some rims on it. I really like the way the gtp rims look, especially the ones on gwegb's Lesabre, but I'm just not sure what I would put on it that would really look good. The Lesabre is kind of a hard car to put rims on without looking "ghetto" (Sorry, not trying to offend anyone, but I'm just probably the farthest person from "gangster" and liking my cars to look like that, I want the more aggressive and angry look out of my cars). Any rim suggestions, and tires to go with if I were to go with 16's?

I'm a Goodyear man, but there are many on the forum that don't like them. I've had really good experiences with them. Michelin has by far the best customer service, but I'm not much on passenger car tires that have nylon in them. The youngest son and his wife put Kumho's on her Explorer - they said never again Kumho. I would say read the customer reviews on the tires you like on the discounttire web site and any other site that allows customers to leave reviews of tires. I've found that if there are a large number of reviews on a tire and the vast majority are favorable, the tire is probably good to buy. jmho - good luck and let us know how you make out with your choice. - BC

And I could tell you how Kumho was the best I had on my GTI.

Even tires in the same line can be wildly different in terms of quality.

I only found 2 wheels that I thought looked good (on my LeSabre at least). One were 17" American Racing rims that have long been out of production, and I cannot remember the name (should have bought them when I had the chance). The other are the GTP rims I have now. The are 16" and I think one inch (or maybe 1.5) wider than the stock wheels. I like the aggressive look they add to the car (and handling has improved a tad), I just wish I was able to score the chrome versions (but I can't complain as I got those for $20 a wheel).

My personal opinion is I think any 5-spoke rim, 18" or less can add an aggressive look to these cars, without being "gangster".

I'm currently running 3 BF Goodrich Touring T/A 215/60R16's on those rims (1 was replaced with a Douglas due to a sidewall puncture), and I've never owned an all season tire that had that much tread depth, and could plow through snow and slush like it wasn't there. Unfortunately, they are no longer manufactured (hence the reason I only have 3).


P.S.: If I remember correctly, I think I remember doing a quick Photoshop of the GTP rims on Dan's (UltraLeSabre) LeSabre sometime back. If I could find those, I could post them for you if you wanted reference.

The Turanza EL400 is an OE tire on quite a few cars, including my mom’s 2006 Civic (205/55/16). I cannot wait to get rid of them, and may do so this spring, even though the tires have only 10,000 miles. They’re noisy, traction sucks, and I don’t expect good treadlife out of them. At $101 on Tire Rack, it isn’t cheap and the consumer ratings agree with how I feel about them. You can easily get better all-season tires for less money. Also keep in mind that Turanza is a very broad model range, there are multiple tires in this lineup – some good, some terrible. The only tire in the Turanza range that I can suggest is the Serenity, which doesn’t come in 205/70/15.

Have a look at the Hankook Optimo H727 and General Altimax RT. Both come in your size and are cheaper (and better) than the Bridgestone. Some may chime in with more, but those two are clear better choices in my quick search while I'm here at work.

repinS wrote: Have a look at the Hankook Optimo H727 and General Altimax RT. Both come in your size and are cheaper (and better) than the Bridgestone. Some may chime in with more, but those two are clear better choices in my quick search while I'm here at work.

Yes, I have 3 friends with the Hankook H727, and I had them on my wife's former car, an '02 Sonata. Quiet on the highway, good traction in wet/snow, great mileage rating. Probably the best bang for the buck you can get. If they offered the Cooper Zeon RS3-A in smaller sizes, I'd recommend that as well, as I've been very pleased with them on our Fusion.

Jfridge92 wrote:I've definitely toyed the idea of putting 16" rims on it. It depends on how much I get back for taxes to put towards tires and such to determine if I can put some rims on it. I really like the way the gtp rims look, especially the ones on gwegb's Lesabre, but I'm just not sure what I would put on it that would really look good. The Lesabre is kind of a hard car to put rims on without looking "ghetto" (Sorry, not trying to offend anyone, but I'm just probably the farthest person from "gangster" and liking my cars to look like that, I want the more aggressive and angry look out of my cars). Any rim suggestions, and tires to go with if I were to go with 16's?

I have been thinking about some silver crosslace rims myself.

You also have a fair amount of options on the Park Avenues, and newer Buicks as well.

I'm definitely going to look into the hankooks. I like the Turanza's, but I'm looking for a more aggressive and sturdy feel. The turanza's feel really soft to me.

I was also thinking about the crosslaces, but I photoshopped them on there and I'm just not sure how I feel about them. The five star GTP rims look great, as do GXP rims (of course they do), but I'm sure the crosslaces might look better if they were actually mounted so I could see them in person.

Jeff, toss your factory specs and this 215-65 R15 into the calculator...

If you are going to stay with the 15's I'd say go a bit wider and the 215 65 15 should be pretty easy to find... This will give you more tread on the road, and with the right tires a bit of a stiffer sidewall... Look for a Tire with at least a T or H rating...

Like stated some tires are hit or miss... I have Sumitomo on the 95 SE and the Van, Toyo Touring on the 03... I like them both... All of them H rated...

I definitely like the idea of a wider tire, I feel that would probably handle a bit better than the 205s. I've heard good things about the General Altimax's, which come in a 215 65 15. Are those pretty recommended?

IIRC We have Turanza's on the Passat OEM, 235/45R18, not great in snow, but everywhere else they've been great and worn well.

Well, I made my appointment to get some 215/65/15s put on Wednesday. I went with the General Altimax Rt's based on warantee, reviews, and price. I'm getting them installed, mounted, and balanced for $360, plus alignment. That's a pretty good deal to me, and should handle a bit better than the 205s I believe. I'll let you guys know how they handle once they're installed.

I've been running the General's since Wednesday, and so far I love this tire! It's got a smooth ride with TONS of grip, even with the torrential rain we've been getting the last few days here. I'd highly recommend them thus far.