Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is an American tire manufacturer. They produce a wide range of tires for various vehicles, including cars, trucks, and SUVs. Cooper Tires is known for providing a variety of tire options, including all-season, high-performance, and off-road tires. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks driving around on Cooper Tire’s new CS5 Grand Touring. They were provided to me in order to facilitate a Cooper Grand Touring review. I have come away very impressed.The CS5 tires are the next generation, top-of-the-line Cooper Tires. They sure have a big set of treads to fill in replacing the very popular and capable CS4 tires.
Cooper Grand Touring Tire Features:
The new CS5 line has a couple of cool new features designed to make your life easier as a driver! In ways that you will notice and in ways you won’t. One of the convenience features is the “Wear Square” tire life indicator. All tires have a tread life indicator that shows when the tire needs to be replaced. However, knowing how far away that is can be a bit of a guessing game.
The Wear Square starts off as a square when the tires are new then changes shape as the tire wears. It turns into a “U” shape at 75%, a “L” indicates 50%, an “I” is 25% and when it is time to replace them, it turns into a “!”. The Wear Squares are located on the inside and outside tread rings. In addition to telling when tires need to be replaced, if the inner and outer indicators are wearing at different rates it indicates an alignment issue with your vehicle.
The asymmetrical tread pattern features smaller tread grooves that interlock the larger ones. This improves performance in both wet and dry conditions. In addition to the improved tread pattern, the composition of the tire has changed. It has four times as much silica as the CS4 tires. This increases wet braking and handling performance, along with improving fuel economy by reducing the rolling resistance of the tire. The last new feature is the StabilEdge technology. This consists of small bumps between the large grooves that helps keep them open so water and snow can flow out from under the tire, keeping more of the tire in contact with the road.
Cooper CS5 Grand Touring Tires Review
With the technical stuff out of the way, it’s time to take them out for a drive. Sadly, I have a mini-van, so no dramatic shots from a race track or skid pad. However, even with my normal daily driving, I noticed a few things right away. Since we bought our van in March, it’s pulled to the right, despite doing a wheel alignment and rotating the tires a couple of different times. The old tires had about 50% tread life on them so I didn’t think they were the issue, but the tracking problems went away as soon as the new tires were mounted.
I also noticed that road noise was less on the Coopers than the older tires. I didn’t notice an improvement in fuel economy, but I suspect that is because we spend far more time idling with one of us in the van with the kids while the other runs into the store to grab things. Such is life with 3 toddlers, getting everyone in and out is a task that has to be planned for.
We have had one good solid rain since I had the tires mounted. I noticed that I had no issues with hydroplaning and had to work really hard to get the anti-lock brakes to activate, which tells me the tires are doing a great job of gripping the road.
You Can Count On Cooper Tires
Cooper is a trusted brand, and for good reason. They make a great tires and stand behind them. The CS5 has premium limited warranty and 80,000 miles of treadwear protection. Cooper is so confident in their tires that they offer a 45 day free road test on them. The Grand Touring is available in sizes to fit most modern passenger vehicles and SUVs . If you have a performance vehicle, there is an Ultra Touring version of the CS5. This means it has been tested at speeds much higher than Grand Touring. Mind you, even the Grand Touring has been tested far in excess of the legal speed limits here in the US. However, those living overseas have access to some roads that the only limit on speed is how fast your vehicle can go!
The tire is arguably the most important part of a car since it affects every aspect of a car’s performance. It is also one of the most neglected, with replacement put off as long as possible. If you’re in the market for a new set of tires, you owe it to yourself to take a good hard look at Cooper Tires and the new CS5s. My every day driving tests tell me this is a superior tire. Visit us.coopertire.com for more information.
How good of a job do you do of performing tire maintenance like rotating and making sure they are properly inflated? Did you know that it plays a huge role in how long your tires last and how they perform?
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Mikle says
Good tires give you a better driving experience.You will be able to feel the difference. You will experience a smoother and more comfortable ride.