Anyone out there have experience with Firestone Destination LE tires on their Escape? We bought our 05 Limited 4wd about a year ago, it still has the Continental tires (2 had been replaced) and they seem to be noisy. I'm looking at the Firestones as a replacement. Any/all input appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Destination LE tires are good all around tires. I have sold lots of them at work for everything from an escape to tahoe to f150. Every customer has said they love how they ride, the noise level, and overall performance. I have driven several at work with Destinations on them and they seem to ride nice.

 

I've got a couple friends with the Firestone LE's and they are doing quite well with them. When I'm looking to put tires into a context, I will often check tirerack.com for their ratings. Here are the ratings of the highway all season tires (which includes the LE's):

Consumer Survey Results By Category

One recent new tire that seems quite reasonably priced and tests really well is the new BFG Long Trail T/A TOUR (not the old non-tour version). I put a set on my little SUV and they really are very decent and were really cheap compared to many other tires--and are made in the USA.

I have also had great luck with the Michelin LTX M/S's on my full size van (bought a 2nd set to replace the OEM's). But these can be expensive in larger wheel sizes (not too bad for 15" tires on my van).

Michelin and BFG seem to be running some heavy sales and/or rebates lately, and with the low starting price of the Long Trail T/A Tour, these may be a real bargain.

I believe the Contis you have score near the bottom of this list, and the advantage of the Tire Rack ratings is that you can see which tires work best in the areas that are important to you. It's funny how one Goodyear tire can be #2 in the ratings, and another model dead last.

Good luck,
George

 

Replaced those terrible Conti's with the Firestones and couldn't be happier, I have put 40000 miles on them and they look only about half gone, great in the snow, and rain, also a lot quieter

 

Anything is better than the Conti's.

 

our 05s continentals were such **** that they prompted my mom to write a letter to ford complaining about how terrible the tires were and that she would recommend people not buy fords that have continental tires on them because of their poor longevity, and ford sent her a coupon for 4 free firestone tires and installation. she loves them lol

 

I haven't used firestone since the explorer feasco. I like the bfg at ko's. Awesome traction, good road mannors and they last. They also give a more rugged appearence to the escape. I use them on all my 4x4's, the mariner, ranger and jeep. They are one rugged no nonsense, go anywhere tire.

 

Anyone have General Grabber HTS's? Good reviews on TireRack.com.

 

I will note that the Generals currently score at the top of the Tirerack survey, BUT the ratings are based on very few miles thus far due to the newness of the design and probably the rarity of the tires in terms of dealers carrying them. This also means that the reviews are not based on long usage history (like 50k miles in all seasons, etc).

General Tires are made by Continental, so for that reason alone, I would be suspicious of them over the long haul.

George

 

Thank you so much for that info. If I knew Generals were made by Conti, I never would have considered them.

 

I chose Goodyear Forterra Tires when I replaced the Continental Tires. Our 2006 Escape XLT has to perform in pretty tough service here in Stanley Idaho where we regularly have 8 months of winter. These Forterra's provide great traction, stability and the wear seems good too.

 

Back in the day I use to use kelly springfiel and cooper tires a lot, but don't see them a round like I use to.

 

Those crappy continentals on my 2005 escape only lasted 55000 miles.

 

you're lucky. ours lasted maybe 15k

 

Got rid of my Contis at 50000, still had meat left on them. They wear well, but are noisey.