Kia Motors Forte Tires

on a KIA Forte EX, 2012
I'm getting 55k out of these before I retire them. They are comfy with great traction in deep snow and everything in between. I found something interesting about this tire size - the contact patch is 15% less than all other major competing tires at this size. Could explain my great fuel economy and winter traction. Also these tires saved me from a lapse in rationality...I ignored my low tire pressure light before going to work. Got to work fine & got home fine but measured PSI at home and the tire had FOUR PSI yes 4 PSI and I drove 80 miles on them that way. Might be due to the ARAMID sidewall structure? I'm not sure I ever want to buy another tire without the ARAMID sidewalls ever because of this. My tires say Made in USA on the sidewall. This is an excellent Tire for where I live, Michigan.

I replaced my previous tires—X Sport 86, Michelin Primacy 4, Michelin Pilot 4, Michelin Pilot 3, Tourador, and Petals— with Bridgestone Turanza 6 on May 2, 2025. So far, I’ve driven about 165 km in both dry and wet conditions. These tires are very quiet and provide a confident driving experience, even when pushed to the limit. In high-speed corners on both dry and wet roads, I haven't experienced any issues, and they feel stable.

However, there is one drawback: during a heavy rain, the tires struggled with aquaplaning on water-heavy roads. When driving through deep water or in corners with excessive water, my steering wheel tends to shift left or right, which affects confidence in very wet conditions. Additionally, the tires are softer, and I notice a bit of the soft feel when driving over speed bumps.

Overall, I think these are good tires, offering good performance and comfort, but they might have some limitations in extreme wet conditions.

Decent enough tire for the price. Set of 4 set me back $270 with taxes. Sure tire life expectancy is 75-80k but for the price it’s better than $150/tire for 100k life expectancy. Handles wet and dry roads just fine. Tread seems really aggressive on turns so adjusting your driving habits on turns might be required. Road noise isn’t terrible. Rating plate says 71db. Sounds accurate. I hardly hear them. My last set of tires were Uniroyal Tigerpaws that cost $160/tire and lasted 90k. If you’re looking for decent tires on a budget then you can’t really go wrong with these.

Very good tires. Good grip and short breaking distance.

Very good tires. Good grip and short breaking distance.

Quality entry level performance tire. Nice road feel and very quiet. Not a great performer on a wet track but enough grip for a bit of confidence. Very good tire for the $$$.

It's nice product and affordable and pocket friendly and also worth every penny you spent.

Great tire for the price , highly recommended and a good warranty behind them!

I think it’s very easy to use. The grip on dry and wet ground is very strong, and it’s not very noisy to walk on unsightly sections

I'll be honest about buying these. The car they went on is a 2011 Kia Forte SX, that is driven mostly by my wife, to and from work on weekdays. I drive it on weekends when we run around town for groceries and such. given that it's on a 9 year old daily driven car, that is driven pretty conservatively, I didn't want to spend a lot on tires. I'm not willing to spend a boat load of money on a car that may expire in the near future. The last set of budget tires, with similar tread wear rating of ~300 lasted 2 summers. So if we get the same out of these, I'll be happy. Some would argue that spending more money on tires that would last, say 4 summers, would be a better choice. But, I like a value, and many times, budget doesn't allow spending that much on rubber at any given time. These were purchased in late March 2020, and mounted in mid April. Oil change was just done on July 7 2020, as well as a tire rotation. Wear has been even, and assuming that depth at new was 8mm, after 5000kms, they are down to just under 7mm. So, not bad at all for a 340 treadwear tire. When they were first mounted, both y wife and I noticed they were a bit noisier than the ones they replaced. On par with our winters. I also noticed they were a bit twitchy, as if the car needed an alignment. They track well now, and are very quiet on new pavement. It hasn't rained in a while, so I can't quite comment on how they perform in the rain. That being said, I adjust my driving for the conditions, so I'm sure they'll be ok. Would I buy them again? If it's for the Kia, then yes. But, I've got my eyes on Rotalla next time.

Got these in my from the OEM in a KIA Forte.
In the beginning, the tires were great, they felt awesome, great grip dry and wet, but after 10,000 kms, I discovered "bumps" in one tire, a big one. I then use the spare tire (same tire) and it also gets a bump in the side. Suddenly, I don't know when, I've got a second bump in the tire, definitely I must change it (the 4 of them I suppose now).
Also after +20,000 kms, I start feeling less grip in the dry road. Also I kind of feeling "less contact" to the road.
Also, they sound more when breaking or in rough curves. Neither of these sounds happens at the beginning.
Know at high speeds, when need more breaks, I feel how the car moves a little to the sides left-right, despite I have ABS. So I feel the grip also is getting worse.
I drive a lot between cities in Mexico, and I know the quality of the streets in Mexico isn't the best, In Mexico City also there are more bumps than the lunar surface, so these tires are not suitable for this country.
Also, the wear is not great.
For Mexico's streets, I recommend Michelin Energy XM2, it really supports rough treatment... believe, sadly this model is now discontinued by Michelin for this size.

worst tire ever