Today on a whim I entered a free set of tires raffle that was closing entries as I was awaiting my car to be inspected. They drew my name & I won lol ?! I was about due for tires so I told them go ahead & mount them for the inspection.

Enter : Ohtsu FP7000 All-Season Radial Tire - 225/60R16 98H. I gather they're entry level tires being they're free & I've never heard of them. Rated all season for 30,000 miles.

https://simpletire.com/ohtsu-225-60r16-30421623-tires


First impression was not a good one as I drove off everything was hard & bumpy but that was due to over inflation by the very young installer. I lowered them all down to 28 front & 31 rear PSI(US) as those are the #'s I've found the best ride for my liking. With the corrected pressure they seem as of now excellent, very quiet w/ excellent response. The tread pattern & sidewall look sturdy & to be of quality.

This is day 1 & I will update as the mileage progresses. I'm usually a stickler for the major brands I've known through the years. But these were free, minus the $30 install so I figured I'd guinea pig them for the X308 owners here. I will upload pics when I clean the car tomm.

To be continued.

 

looking forward to your thoughts on these. You could always put on a bumper sticker "My other tires are Michelin Pilot Super Sport". LOL

 

They actually don't look out of place @ all lol.

 

Generally when buying tyres I don't tend to go in for the whole designer brand name thing, although I do exercise some discretion with what I buy. Currently my XJ has a set of Nexen tyres on which I've used on other cars and found to be quite all right. I find Pirelli tyres to be noisy and Continental tyres susceptible to tram lining on motorways.
In the UK the roads are in such a bad state I will resist spending mega money on tyres because chances are they will be ruined and in need of replacing before their natural life has run it's course. Other brands I use are Falken, Kumho, Uniroyal and my personal favourite Firestone.

Good Luck with your tyres and well done on winning the competition.

 

I remember many years ago when Kumho tires were introduced. The thought of using an odd-brand tire on a Jaguar left most owners appalled. Shocked and appalled. The very thought was...was....was abhorrent.

Fast forward a few years. Turns out that Kumho was a decent tire and people were happy with them.

Cheers
DD

 

Congrats on the win!
And Ohtsu tires are part of Falken, a well respected Japanese brand on this side of the world.

 

Yes upon visually inspecting I could't really fault them. I plan on doing some spirited freeway driving this weekend, so I may discover more about these mysteries lol.

 

I've bought cheaper off brand tires, usually they just don't last as long as a quality brand. If they have good traction characteristics, ride and most importantly don't squeal when you go round corners they are good to go. I remember buying a set of Goodyear Eagles for my Seville, but they weren't the Z rated tire I had as OEM. They would really squeal in hard cornering. No wonder they were priced so much lower. Still tires are like toilet paper, your going to use up the roll eventually! And in your case the price was right!

I've had Falkens on my Z's and Mustang. Kuhmos too, Hankook on my F150. All these have been great. Would like a set of Kuhmos on my XJ6.

 

Yes truth be told, when I was in my big rim Infiniti/Mazda/Lexus phase I had Kuhmos & Coopers w/ zero complaints. In fact I've grown really fond of Coopers low profile offerings lol. With Jaguar I was always a Pirelli zealot.

 

Both Falken and Ohtsu are part of Sumitomo tire also, so Ohtsu has good Japanese "parentage". Will be following this thread with interest.

 

Coworker of mine has over 20000 miles on a set of Ohtsu cheapies from a local tire chain. No complaints! For how dirt cheap they are, I'm curious your opinion on a sportier car (old Subaru wagon is what he has).

 

11-05-2017
Day 2

1st spirited freeway driving experience, I chose the route with the most curves @ 3 am for low traffic/LEO etc. Average speed was 80 MPH & the curves were handled w/ no traction breaks nor tire squeal. I had no audio on as to maximize sound perception. I did feel a small roll/bounce effect on one sharper curve, but I haven't ruled that out as being attributed to my back shocks which are due to be replaced soon.

So far thumbs up !

 

11-09-2017
Day 6

First drive in torrential rains w/ 1-3 inch accumulation on most road surfaces. The tires did exceptionally well I even made a point to hit corners a little more aggressively. I think the story behind the tires will be on how they hold up w/ time/mileage. I mean performance wise, I haven't experienced anything detrimental & unless the structural integrity of the tire is compromised via wear I don't foresee anything happening to change that.

 

I just reinstalled my winter wheels and tires this week. My tire guy hit a homerun by suggesting Minerva Polar Ice tires last spring to replace the Blizzaks that were on there. Only had one storm and only have them on the rear right now but were just as good as the Blizzaks or the Mich. Alpines I had previously, don't expect 'em to last as long but at 1/3 of the price I'll still see 4 years out of 'em I'd suspect.

 

Yes I think w/ modern day technology it just boils down to longevity w/ tires these days. @ the rate my car's driven if these last 30,000 miles or even just 20,000, that will be a decade lol. Seriously though my annual mileage will go up for sure now that I've sold one of my other vehicles & addressed all the known hot spots in my X308.

 

Booked a 3 day snowboarding escapade in West Va./Snowshoe Mountain for February. That equates to a 7 hour/420+(800+ round trip) mile drive in wintry conditions w/ winding mountain roads, we shall see what the Ohtsus have in store lol !

 

The X308 is perfectly capable in the snow, I've driven them in various snowy conditions. In fact the day I bought my first one I drove it home in the snow over a mountain pass that was actually closed to traffic, but I missed the sign because it was covered with snow. Although on one occasion a year later I found it necessary to switch off the traction control because it was preventing me pulling away in the snow on a hill.

 

Yes I've ran my previous XJ8L in snowy conditions w/ zero problems, mind you I had newer Pirellis on that though. Curious as to how these Ohtsu offerings will perform on my current smaller wheelbase/base unit.

 

I favour Nokian (a Finnish brand) for Winter use, and Bridgestone for Summer.
Michelin last for ages, but grip like molybdenum disulphide, Continental are mediocre in every way but price, Dunlop reasonable pricewise, but nothing special, life, or gripwise. The worst I have ever encountered is Accelera; positively dangerous on anything faster than a garden wheelbarrow, apart from Vredesteins which launched sections of tread at 120 + mph, damaging the bodywork, as well as scaring me witless.

 

Those have an H speed rating which is not recommended for our cars