The 50$ tire question.

Looking at 50$ tires. (Each). Nothing for autocross. Daily driven, but sporty, and summer. Currently eyeing the hankook Ventus 2’s. 

Anyone find anything else, better, for around 50$ a tire?

edit: whoops! 195/50r15

A $50 185/70 14 is a pretty good tire.  A $50 245/40 17 is junk.

Streetwiseguy said:

A $50 185/70 14 is a pretty good tire.  A $50 245/40 17 is junk.

Couldn't have said it better myself

In the $50 tire range in sizes that modern cars use, there is no "better." There is only "mediocre," "bad," and "awful," IMO.

Size needed or at least what car!!!  

I put on some Westlake brand bought via Amazon and they have met their need. 

I have bought two sets of Falken Sincera (some number like 205 or 225 also in the name.)  They have a 75 or 80k mile rating. 

Whoops! Sorry guys! 195/50r15

That’s a pretty good price for Hankooks in that size. I put Nexens of the same size and price on the SWMBO’s car and they’re fine. 

+1 for the Falken Sincera. I put those on my wifes car and they have been amazing for 20K plus so far. 

I've got a pair of Ventuses Venti? on my Buick. They're ok but seem to be wearing a bit faster than I'd like.

I like the website www.tirebuyer.com  This is the consumer website of American Tire Distributors (ATD).  Around here, ATD is the warehouse delivering to many independent shops and dealers.  Check out their site.  They deliver the tires on their own trucks so if you have them delivered to one of their shops they charge $0 for shipping which can be a $60 savings over The Rack.  When compared to Amazon Prime, ATD will often ship next day and if you order early you can even get many Same Day!  

The shops/installers have their mounting prices listed right on the website so that helps with choosing where to have the tires sent.  My install price options range from $16-$21.  

Sign up for their emails and you also get a 5% discount off your first order

I always like to hit craigslist and see what's avail.  I find that the best deals are buying wheels with like-new tires as you can often buy a set for less than the price of good new tires and have wheels to sell or keep.  Sometimes you can sell the wheels for the same that you bought the wheels/tires for so the only cost is mount/balance

In reply to jfryjfry :

The problem I’ve had with that is showing up to find tires that are WAY past due. Tires have a shelf life and idiots on Craigslist have ZERO idea how to show you. No matter how many times you ask them for “the other numbers”. 

The Ventus V2 is a pretty decent tire.

In a cheap tire I've have real good luck with Riken Raptors as well but didn't see them in a cursory look at eBay.

$50 seems like not quite enough for tires even in that size. I can recommend these if the budget isn't firm. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ExtremeContact+Sport&partnum=055WR5ECS&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

In reply to Tk8398 :

I’ve heard really good things about those. But, with my driving style, and my pocket book, they are off the table for this car. 

I've bought $39 Douglas Xtra Trac 2s, and loved them. 

In another thread here someone mentioned the Simple Tire store on ebay.  They did have some sweet deals on a few different setups.  Might be worth a looksy.

I always wonder about that website. When I researched it, simple tire is apparently ran by one guy out of his garage. Which I’m ok with, I know everyone starts somewhere. However, some internet folks mentioned getting wrong orders or old tires, which I REALLY want to avoid. Wrong tires happen. Old tires, or tires nearing end date, bother me. It’ll be the first thing I check on my new ventus 2’s I just ordered from America’s tire. 

I would fully expect “old tires” vs wrong tires.  Assuming they get used immediately and are not more than 5 years old I’m moderately ok with.  Darn near all the fleabay deals are for old stock.