Need opinions on Continental HDR Tires

[buddydawg]

I am shopping for tires and wanted to see if anyone had any experience/opinion on Continental HDR.  I am having a hard time finding and deals on 12R22.5 sizes around here and have come across this tire at a pretty good price.

[johns4104s]

I have a set on a 04, the ride is  not as good as the Michelins but for $200 each I can live with that

John

[buddydawg]

The tires I have now are old and one has started to split so they must be changed before i make a trip in 6 weeks.  I only travel a few thousand miles a year and did not want to spend big bucks on tires.  I have had little luck finding used tires and such and I stumbled across these Continentals.  I can deal with the ride and the price seems affordable.

[belfert]

Two concerns I would have with this tire: 1. Listed as a regional tire, not a highway tire.  2. Listed as drive tire only, not steer or all postion.

That said, I saw someone selling these new on Ebay for $189 plus shipping.  (Maybe shipping kills deal.)  I found some comments about smaller trucks with this tire having serious issues with winter traction

[buddydawg]

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/us/en/continental/transport/themes/people/regional/hidden/regional_hdr_en.html

I don't think the tire being a regional tire is an issue for me since I am using the bus for 8-12 trips a year rarely more than 500 miles round trip.

I am also planning to buy these for drives right now.  I did notice that on the Continental website for buses they list this tire as all-position but if you download the brochure it shows them as a drive position tire on a truck.

[Sean]

The HDR is a high-traction drive tire.  This is the type of tire that we choose to run on our drivers (we looked at HDRs, but ended up with Bridgestone 711s), because we spend a lot of time off the pavement.

Unless you intend to drive off-road or in the snow, you might reconsider this.  There are several disadvantages:

• Traction tires are much noisier.  You will hear a "whine" as you drive on pavement, especially at highway speeds.
• On dry pavement, you will see a decrease in fuel mileage, possibly as much as 3%-5%.
• If, like me, you are the sort of driver who actually wears tires out (rather than having to replace them every 5-7 years due to age), you will find that these tires do not last as long.  This tire will get you perhaps 60-80 thousand miles, whereas a rib tire will go well over 100,000.
• These tires should only be used on the drive wheels.  So you will not be able to rotate them with whatever tires you use on the steer axle.

For us, personally, the extra traction in sand, mud, and snow outweighs all those disadvantages, and I would not trade my block-tread, M&S-rated traction tires for rib tires on a bet.  But YMMV, as they say.

Incidentally, most of us using our buses as RV's are better off with Regional tires than Highway tires.  The difference between them is that regional tires are optimized for a higher percentage of around-town, stop-and-go driving, whereas highway tires are optimized for thousands of miles of Interstate driving, punctuated by only occasional forays to terminals.  Because Interstates are extremely well controlled in terms of grade and alignment, have little to no sand or other debris, have well-engineered drainage, and are rapidly cleared in winter conditions, "highway" or "line-haul" tires are made to roll very efficiently in these conditions, at the expense of handling, traction, and general performance on secondary roads and around town.  Most RVers, however, spend a much greater percentage of time and mileage on non-Interstate roads than do line-haul trucks.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[RJ]

All -

I'd like to supplement Sean's excellent remarks above with this caveat:  Make sure the tires you're looking at to purchase are also appropriately speed rated.

Be especially careful with regional "bus tires" in 12R22.5 or 318/80R22.5.  Many are designed for transit operations, with very heavy sidewalls to withstand the abuse of drivers using the tires as part of the coach's braking system when approaching bus stops.  These tires are often 50 or 55 mph rated, and can easily overheat running at freeway speeds, particularly in summer.

FWIW & HTH. . .



PS: Buddydawg - Don't forget your GM's powertrain was developed using tires that turn 495 revs per mile.  Buying tires that turn MORE revs per mile will lower your top speed and increase your fuel consumption.  Tires that turn FEWER revs per mile will have the opposite effect.

[Sean]

Good point, RJ.  And, of course, make sure you get tires rated for your specific load, as well, and inflate them according to the manufacturer's load and inflation tables.  Lots of good info on these topics in the archives.

The HDR, incidentally, is rated for highway speeds -- one of the reasons it made our "short list" last time we went shopping for drive tires.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[buddydawg]

Thanks for the info guys!

Right now the bus has Goodyear Unisteel II 12.75R22.5 Intercity Transit Tires.  Load Range H. 483 Revs per mile rated for 55 mph and my top speed is 63 mph. 

It looks to me like the Continental HDR matches pretty close with the revs per mile (I definitely don't want to lose any top speed) and will fit my needs and I think I'm gonna go ahead and get 4 and then I can decide what to do about the steers.