[Alex V.]

Was in a local tire shop the other day and heard mention of a new Firestone Champion Fuel Fighter tire. Anyone have an opinion/experience with these? I shied away from Goodyear FuelMax tires, mostly because of price and reports of so-so traction - are the Firestones similar?

 

[jblackburn]

Any LRR "fuel saver" tire isn't going to have amazing traction. Same goes for the Michelin Energy Saver as well.

 

[sparkman]

Ha, I am tire shopping myself. I'm going with the Goodyear Assurance Comfortred Touring, not too bad of a price, 70k mile warranty, and great fuel economy from what I hear.

 

[jmlo96]

Ha, I am tire shopping myself. I'm going with the Goodyear Assurance Comfortred Touring, not too bad of a price, 70k mile warranty, and great fuel economy from what I hear.

Just know that we have those on our 2010 Malibu, and they will totally ruin handling characteristics. It made the steering on the car feel so loose. It does ride a lot better though, and they are wearing like iron. More made for something like a Town Car rather than a Cruze.

 

[jmlo96]

Was in a local tire shop the other day and heard mention of a new Firestone Champion Fuel Fighter tire. Anyone have an opinion/experience with these? I shied away from Goodyear FuelMax tires, mostly because of price and reports of so-so traction - are the Firestones similar?

I know the old Firestone Affinity Fuel Fighters they put on the Civics and Accords didn't have good traction at all. It's possible they upgraded them, but knowing Firestone they are probably crap. If you are worried about price, the General Altimax RT43's are really awesome tires. If you don't mind spending about 100 a tire, the Continental PureContacts that I have on my Cruze are the best tires I've ever owned!

 

[Alex V.]

Good words! I was very pleased with the FR710's that came on my car. Wore dead even, stayed balanced, gave very good fuel economy, and lasted to 50K. Not so much with the Uniroyal Tiger Paws I replaced them with - lost 2.5 MPG and handling is much less precise. They have a 70K warranty and slightly faster speed rating, but the only thing I can detect they do better than the FR710 is evacuate water. I wanted Pirelli P7's but it wasn't in the budget at the time. I considered Continentals but they weren't very available locally. Set on trying a sport/touring tire I went with the Uniroyals and would gladly go back to a set of the Firestones if I could.

 

[jblackburn]

Good words! I was very pleased with the FR710's that came on my car. Wore dead even, stayed balanced, gave very good fuel economy, and lasted to 50K. Not so much with the Uniroyal Tiger Paws I replaced them with - lost 2.5 MPG and handling is much less precise. They have a 70K warranty and slightly faster speed rating, but the only thing I can detect they do better than the FR710 is evacuate water. I wanted Pirelli P7's but it wasn't in the budget at the time. I considered Continentals but they weren't very available locally. Set on trying a sport/touring tire I went with the Uniroyals and would gladly go back to a set of the Firestones if I could.

Handling worse than FR710s is pretty bad. I hated those tires - they gave up completely in corners and in rain, but they did ride well and were quiet when new.

I love everything about my Continental PureContact EXCEPT the ride comfort.

 

[jmlo96]

I had Tiger Paws on my Daewoo. They were pretty good from what I remeber. You probably are also noticing what's known as "tread squirm" from having new tires. That's probably also what's changing your MPG readings. I'm sure as the break in some things will go back to normal.

 

[jmlo96]

Good words! I was very pleased with the FR710's that came on my car. Wore dead even, stayed balanced, gave very good fuel economy, and lasted to 50K. Not so much with the Uniroyal Tiger Paws I replaced them with - lost 2.5 MPG and handling is much less precise. They have a 70K warranty and slightly faster speed rating, but the only thing I can detect they do better than the FR710 is evacuate water. I wanted Pirelli P7's but it wasn't in the budget at the time. I considered Continentals but they weren't very available locally. Set on trying a sport/touring tire I went with the Uniroyals and would gladly go back to a set of the Firestones if I could.

Handling worse than FR710s is pretty bad. I hated those tires - they gave up completely in corners and in rain, but they did ride well and were quiet when new.

I love everything about my Continental PureContact EXCEPT the ride comfort.

I suspect that the V rated PureContacts ride stiffer than the H rating. I think my H rated ones actually ride better than the FR710s did.

 

[chevrasaki]

Handling worse than FR710s is pretty bad. I hated those tires - they gave up completely in corners and in rain, but they did ride well and were quiet when new.

Those are my exact thoughts on the FR710s

 

[Alex V.]

The mushy handling of the Tiger Paws may be because they're new, but after almost 20K gas mileage hasn't returned to what it was and handling isn't as responsive as the FR710's. I found nothing lacking about the FR710's ride characteristics, and only had them squaling around corners when they were right at the wear indicators. That being said, maybe after break-in the Tiger Paw is stickier but less stiff - aka, it'll hold onto a curve harder, just with more sway/oversteer(?) whereas the 710's will bite in with more certainty but their ability to hold the road isn't as good as the Tiger Paw. I can say with certainty that the FR710, new or not, has only "fair" traits in heavy rain.

 

[170-3tree]

It's my understanding, from a corporate guy at bridgestone, that the fuel fighter is essentially the old version of the ecopia tire with minor changes. I can tell you that ecopia is good for fuel economy, and have decent grip compared to the fr710 but needs higher pressures to provide good wear patterns because of the softer sidewall.

I haven't seen any on a car long enough to know about wear on the fuel fighter but it's replacing the best selling Firestone tire in the affinity touring, so for bfusa, it had better be a lot better than the original ecopia 422

 

[jmlo96]

It's my understanding, from a corporate guy at bridgestone, that the fuel fighter is essentially the old version of the ecopia tire with minor changes. I can tell you that ecopia is good for fuel economy, and have decent grip compared to the fr710 but needs higher pressures to provide good wear patterns because of the softer sidewall.

I haven't seen any on a car long enough to know about wear on the fuel fighter but it's replacing the best selling Firestone tire in the affinity touring, so for bfusa, it had better be a lot better than the original ecopia 422

That's really interesting that about how the "new" Firestone is an old Bridgestone. It also makes sense as to why the Bridgestone costs more, because of the development. However, I still am not a fan of their products. I think they are mediocre at best, especially for the those premium prices they charge.

 

[170-3tree]

That's really interesting that about how the "new" Firestone is an old Bridgestone. It also makes sense as to why the Bridgestone costs more, because of the development. However, I still am not a fan of their products. I think they are mediocre at best, especially for the those premium prices they charge.

Tires are very opinion based. I like bridgestone tires, not a huge fan of Firestone car tires. Not a fan of Continental because of the very thin liners inside, hankook because of the insanely hard compounds, Goodyear I've just never had luck with, Michelin is too high priced for me. But it's opinion based, and short of trying tires, a conversation won't sway most people that have a strong one

 

[Estrada007]

I'll second the Continentals, I bought the Pro Contact with Eco Plus. They do wear very well.

 

[BDCCruze]

I put my V rated Firestone Fuel Fighters on my Cruze at 68401 miles. They have 10/32 new tread depth. Today I have 110919 miles and the tread depth is 7/32. That means I should get around 110k miles on these before they are at 2/32. I am about 90% freeway driving.

 

[BDCCruze]

Just a quick update. My Firestone Fuel Fighters are at 75,000 miles. I have 5/32 tread left in the center. Edges are worn more so I had the tires flipped on the rims to even out the wear. Still expecting around 100k on these.