ticopowell

tire buying thread...
hey all,
I realized this weekend that my tires are at the wear indicators, so I figure I better get new ones here pretty soon. I have a 2013 GT AT and no mods except the sound system. The car has the stock pirelli tires and 32k on the odo.
I am not sure what to get for multiple reasons, so I will consider any advice you feel like giving. Ill list what I want out of a tire, what I plan on doing with it, and I will worry about prices later... but price will be a big factor in the actual buying process so cheaper will be better.

Firstly, I need a tire that has good all year round performance. I have the car and a harley, and I might be selling the harley. I need something that can handle snow a few times a year(driving to/from utah for holidays, I currently am living in norther cali), but will not hold me back if I decide to race.
I have taken the car to a drag strip once, and I would like to try and autox track this summer, so something grippy, but still very streetable. I am new to both sports so I dont need drag radials(even if they would be fun) or other track tires yet. I don't plan on getting a spare set of race tires anytime soon so this set has to work for everything, but I don't expect it to be perfect at anything.
I don't really care about the 70,000 mile tire warranties, or the 30k ones because I don't think I will keep the car that long... the 2015 is very tempting, as well as the fact that I have never had a vehicle (except this one at 1.5 years) for more than a year and a half.
I have shopped around, and it seems like anywhere between $500 and $1500 for tires is normal, but I expect somewhere around $750 for a good all around tire that will last until I get another vehicle.
So the places I have looked, and some of the tires they offer are: Les Schwab wants to sell me Toro tires of varying quality, Sam's club has a lot, Michelin pilot sports, Goodyear eagle F1 asymmetrics, Goodyear eagle sport all seasons, and the Pirelli nero zeros, the local ford stealership has all of those as well, and Midas offered a Velozza ZXV... and the guy looked at my front tire and said "Oh yeah, you definitely need an alignment done... we include those when you buy new tires anyways" and proceeded to include the $70 alignment on the bid price...
I am currently thinking I will keep the stock tire size, 235/50ZR18, but if a wider tire will fit onto my stock rim and offer better performance I am not opposed to doing that.
Also feel free to offer tire/wheel combos that will serve my purposes and not break the bank. I would want a black rim, I don't care the size as long as it will fit without issues.

So there it is, I'm sure I am missing something you all want to know so ask away and Thanks for the help!

ticopowell

So after more research I am looking at the Nitto NT555 or the INVO tires... I am leaning more towards the 555. I decided that I can save up enough by winter to buy a second set of winter tires so I won't have to worry about that aspect.
Also I can fit the 255/45ZR18's on my rims (Stock rims are 18x8 I believe) so I am going to go with that.
I guess I thought I would get more help on this...

ticopowell

Ok, got new tires, 255/45zr18 BFGoodrich G-Force sport comp-2's. so far they are pretty nice... $620 for tires and install and tpms rebuild. Pretty good price I think, and decent tires too.