I called to get pricing on some new tires and the Tire Factory guy was raving about this fairly new tire they have -- a Kelly EVO-Z. Traction AA, treadwear 420. Has a thick rubber side that is designed to protect your wheel lip.

evo-z tire

I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with these before I spent my hard earned money...

Price seemed reasonable, at about $120 each for 225/45/17s, which is cheaper than the Proxes 4 I was thinking about getting.

 

Anyone even looked at these before?

 

kelly tires? they sound cheap..

 

I found out they are basically a Goodyear tire, same company, same factory (in the US), Goodyear designers, etc.

I am going to have to assume they are better than Hankook, Nankang, Wanli or most of the Craptenzas everyone on this site is so fond of

I am buying them for basically dry weather, anyway. I have a set of studded snow tires on steelies, stock rims and tires and a set of 4th gen SE rims that I am going to put some tires on.

I ordered up a set and I will review them when I get a few good days to break them in. If I have any problems with them in the next couple of years, I will let everyone know.

 

OK, I have them and took the car out for a nice "spirited" drive in a vacant industrial area and on a windy 60 mph hwy.

The dry grip is incredible. Far superior to the Toyo Proxes FZ4s I had. Tires are quiet. At any legal speed, I didn't notice any howling or other tire noise. They have nice strong sidewalls and they love corners. We don't get much rain here, so it might be a while until I can update on rain handling. I also don't know how they will hold up over time, but since the treadwear rating is higher than virtually all similar tires, I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

I found out these are Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D2 (not the new F1 GS-D3) tires except with some upgrades in technology. They are made by the same company in the same US factory, just labeled under the Kelly/Springfield nameplate (which is owned Goodyear).

Pic of my car with the tires and rims on:

 

Ive had several sets of Kellys in the past. I never had any complaints. The charger line was a great tire.