Tires Toyo or Cooper
Recommend a switch to "Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring" tires. I have a 2011 Tiguan SE. Replaced my stock 17-inch Continentals after 7,500 miles because they were too noisy and I had 2 flats within a month. Did considerable research on all-weather tires before I settled on the Cooper CS5 . . a new unique tread design and rubber compounds. There was a 100% improvement in my SUV's handling, as well as a soft, quiet ride. Now have 54k on this SUV, and my W-rated tires remain almost like new.
I bought [Toyo Observe GSi5](http://www.toyotires.ca/tire/pattern/observe-gsi5) for my car, I've no problems with them after three winters, driven country roads without slippage either.
I just saw a sedan with this package and it looked like quite an upgrade compared to a regular Focus. Playing around with the configurator it doesn't seem like it is available on the hatch for some reason, but it really changed the character of the sedan. The tires are wide and it looks hunkered down with a restrained body kit.
I've been exceptionally happy with the Cooper RS3 tires on my Focus - I'd take a serious look for your car. They are sticky, quiet and good in the rain.
I am in St. John's, Newfoundland and have Cooper Weather-Master WSC in a 235/55r17. I didn't stud them and they are excellent.
Just replaced the crappy Bridgestones at 37k miles with Cooper CS4 touring, very nice and stable ride, excellent in wet and a good looking tire to boot.
I wanted a cool looking and well working tire. Read several reviews and decided to go a mid-way in price/performance depending on weather conditions in Latvia in summer, so today I got a new set of Toyo Proxes T1R for the summer season
I have about 10K on my '13 TTS. Just changed over to my snows and the original Toyos still look near brand new. Front and back looked about the same in wear.
Sorry if my comments offended you. With the Toyo T1-S, I've run 195/55R14's on both a Miata and a Rabbit GTI. I've used 3 different wheel sizes with those tires (and I've had two sets over the years). On 5.5" wheels (stock Miata wheels), they are a little too vague on turn in for my taste. But they have gobs of grip once you get it turned in. On 6" wheels, they are a bit sharper, and the grip is about the same as on the 5.5" wheels. On 7" wheels, they get even sharper, but seem a little harsh, and they have noticeably less grip for cornering and for braking. And when they get to the limit on that wheel, they tend to let go a little abruptly. I've also seen some lap time test results for other sizes of the T1-S (Speed Touring and GT cars ran those tires a few years ago), and it was pretty consistent. At the widest end of the recommended wheel widths, they were already losing a significant amount of grip and were very unforgiving. They seemed to perform best toward the middle of the specified range of rim widths.
they stretch like doody. the lip protector is huge on them
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