Goodyear Eagle LS - Pricey Tires With Short Life
Written: Jul 12 '02 (Updated Aug 19 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Decent handling
Cons: High treadwear - short life, noise, high price
The Bottom Line: Pricey tires with short life - there are better choices.
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| dkozin's Full Review: Goodyear Eagle LS Passenger/Performance Tire |
My Mitsubishi Galant ES came with Goodyear Eagle LS in size 195/65HR15. They are speed-rated H (up to 130 mph). Below is the result of 33,000 miles of somewhat aggressive driving.
Treadwear
I drive aggressively sometimes for a short period of time, but most mileage has been spend on the freeway. I don’t tailgate and, because of this, don’t use brakes often during freeway driving. However, occasionally I drive in the mountains and slide a car around a bit. Because of this, the outside edge of the tire is wearing more than the rest of the tire.
It is time for me to replace these tires because the tread wear bars are almost exposed. Honestly I believe that my dealer service department didn’t rotate them when I requested it (as a part of the service) because the front tires are worn more than the rears (and they were supposed to be rotated recently). Maybe they rotated them left to right?
In any case the tires have about 3-4 /32” left in front and about 5/32” in the rear after 33,000 miles. The Goodyear doesn’t provide any kind of treadwear warranty on OEM tires.
Hydrolaning
I noticed that the medium-force braking in the wet conditions causes the tires to lock at around 26,000 miles but now it got worse. I am sure the tires behaved better in the wet when they were new (and had more tread), but now I would rather not drive in the wet until I replace them.
Here, in LA area, it doesn’t rain often. But when it does, I have to be able to drive at somewhat reasonable speed on the freeway and not hydroplane. This was my main motivation for tire replacement (I replaced them with 205/60-HR15 Kumho Ecsta 716 HP4).
Comfort and Noise
The ride was noisy on the freeway and the comfort level is somewhat low. My car is quiet by itself during freeway driving, so the only noise I hear is tire noise. The Kumhos are quieter and seem to be softer yet provide better steering response at the same time.
General Handling
The handling is quite good and predictable, but the grip level is not high. This size (195 mm) is not really a suitable test for grip ability, but the Pirelli tires on my Volvo (185 mm width on 14" rim) seem to provide better braking. However, the cornering is better on the Mitsu. Of course, a lot has to do with the suspension and brake hardware of the car.
In any case, I was happy to replace Eagle LS with 205mm Kumhos and feel that they are better in all respects.
Conclusion
This pretty much sums it. Pricey tires with short life - I checked some survey results at TireRack and many people agree with me here. Cannot recommend these tires because they are overpriced and get worse in terms of wet weather performance as they wear.
The Kumho Ecsta 716 HP4 seems to be better in all respects so far and cost less for a larger size. Plus they carry 50,000-mile treadwear warranty.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): OEM
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dkozin
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