Across 24 owner ratings the Firestone TZ300A averages 77%. Owners rate Dry Grip highest at 8 out of 10 and Road Feedback lowest at 7. 7 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles. 76% of owners score it 70% or better.
Just a quick update. The Firestones have worn in very well and dealt much better than expected with all the snow and ice. The tyres have become quieter as they are wearing but im sure as they get older the noise will start up again. The traction control light does not come on when accelerating thankfully and the grip is still very good in both wet and dry. It seems the rear tyres are wearing faster than the fronts but as my car is RWD, this can happen so i'm not overly concerned. Overall im much happier now and would definately reccomend the Firestones, so much so that im fitting a set to the Mrs' car very soon.
A lot of reviewers are bashing these tyres for not performing on ice and snow while forgetting that it's a SUMMER TYRE. You're going to get a decrease in performance when temperatures drop. This review is for summer performance only.
I've been on a new set of 4 of these for 6 months now in a front heavy diesel that I like to throw about. Simply put I don't think you'll do too much better in terms of grip for my size of tyre on my type of car. I regularly drive quite fast on some tight twisty roads in my locality and these tyres hold on really well. The only problem is the lack of feedback afforded by the fat side walls (65) on the size of tyre I've got fitted. Under steer is more often indicated by the extra steering angle you will notice yourself having to apply rather than any sensation coming back through the wheel. Even past the limit they are quite predictable only requiring you to lift off or brake lightly to bring it back. I have never, not even once, felt that the rear was going to let go.
Diminished grip in the wet is hardly noticeable and I've ploughed through large bodies of standing water without aquaplaning. I haven't managed to get myself into trouble with this tyre in either the dry or the wet.
At the rate of wear I'm seeing I'd estimate (with proper tyre rotation) I'll get at least 20,000 miles out of this set which I think is great considering how hard I'm leaning on them.
They don't seem much quieter then the last tyres that were on the car but most road surfaces here, including motorways, are quite coarse so noise levels tend to depend more on the build of your car than your tyres. They don't drive me crazy with noise so I haven't been harsh with the score.
If I was buying the same size/class of tyres again I'd definitely consider these unless a better deal was available. I bought these tyres fitted and with the old ones recycled for 60 euros per wheel.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tyres perform against premium summer and winter tyres!
Replaced all four tyres as I knew the winter was fast upon us. Dry grip is excellent, great on the Motorways and A-roads. On B-roads i have found them to not respond as well as i would like. Its as if the are suprised by the bumps, this may be due to my soft suspension and its not a massive issue. Grip in the wet is not brilliant, its good but there have been times where the Traction Control light has flashed a couple of times under quite light acceleration. These are not snow or ice tyres, they cope but you have to take it easy as with most summer tyres. The big Merc sits superb on these, very comfortable tyres and suit the car well, they are a tad noisy though but not so that its overpowering. Overall i'm happy with the Firestones, a good balance between price and quality. Must admit that the Bridgestones they replaced were a better tyre all round but I would reccomend these to others, just after i reccomended the Bridgestones.
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Had 4 of these fitted to the car when I bought it, and was happy at first to see how they performed on the 200 mile journey home. Very comfortable and quiet compared to some other tyres I had used before. Wear after 18K miles is excellent, and there is over 4mm left on each tyre. Braking in either dry or wet is good, and they were very good in the snow (for summer tyres).
However, they have a serious flaw. On country roads at speeds over 60mph, they wallow quite severely. Even on a straight road I found myself constantly correcting the steering wheel. At first I thought it was the car, so I had my Subaru specialist mechanic check the suspension and tracking. As it was all in very good condition and required no adjustments, only the tyres could be at fault. I would say these tyres verge on dangerous if driven by an inexperienced driver, as they do not offer confidence from road feedback.
In summary, these are very good tyres for city and motorway driving, but pretty awful for country road cruising. If you know where to get a good deal on them, they make sound economical sense to fit... just keep your speed down on the back roads. Would buy again, but NOT for my Subatu Legacy estate.
Having discovered Firestone TZ200 a few years back and was impressed with their good overall performance and longevity I changed to a full new set of these. Great decision, they are as good if not better.
I could not fault the tyres in the rain excelent road handling, I felt that the tyres were so good that I didn't have to change my driving style to suit the conditions. Now the bad bit, they are very noisy on dry roads and handling was not as good as in the wet. The tyres were totaly useless in icy conditions, had no grip at all. If it was possible to have specific tyres for wet weather driving only I would recomend them to anyone but unfortunatly a tyre needs to be good in all conditions.
I had these tyres for 25000 miles on my Fiat Punto, now I put on the back. They have still good tread. These tyres are excellent on the dry, wet and I have driven them even on the snow and they made a very good work (They behaved as snow tyres). When I purchased them 8almost two years ago they were more cheap than now. I suggest these tyres even if I like to try different brand.
I replaced my Goodyear Excellence with these tyres following recommendation by my local garage. They suited the Berlingo Diesel very well, giving excellent feedback, improved straight line stability and reasonably quiet, even when compared against the Goodyears. Found them to be very progressive and easy to tell when the limit (which is low on a Berlingo!) was being reached. Wet grip not as good as the Goodyear Excellence, but much better cornering feel due to stiffer sidewalls. Good for safe towing. Wear rates seemed low; in fact when I sold the car, the tyres still had loads of tread left. I would buy again for sure.
