Tire: Turanza EL400-02
Category: Standard Touring All-Season
UTQG (treadwear): 260 A A / 300 A A / 400 B B
The Turanza EL400-02 is another all around tire standard touring all season tire from Bridgestone that has been developed to primarily meet the needs of the automotive manufacturers as an original equipment (OE) tire. In other words, it was developed to be mediocre in pretty much every way possible. That's the cynical view, but if you think about it, this tire is mainly there just to get cars off the lot. Though in this instance, the EL400-02 does have some interesting technology such as a overlapping joints and long link carbon which reduces treadwear over time. This tire has a broad application spectrum, everything from 15" to 19" and even a few low rolling resistance varieties to give you better fuel economy.
Overall, drivers are pretty unimpressed with the performance of this tire. As I mentioned earlier, it hasn't exactly been designed with the most cutting edge technology, nor is it intended to. That being said, these tires will provide your vehicle with a long life. Most drivers can get 80,000 miles out of a set under most conditions, which is very good for an OE tire. The downsides here are that traction really starts to suffer after about 40,000 miles, that has been a consistent complaint. I've also had people tell me that the noise level increases over time, so if you have a hatchback, minivan, or wagon, watch out because those body styles transmit road noise more easily than sedans. Winter driving appears to be adequate, and these definitely are not the worst in that respect. I think these tires would possibly be ideal for a commuter car that needs a higher treadlife tire, otherwise I might recommend you look at something with better traction, and one that would be more able to get you through the snowy months.
