Review after 6000+ miles
I wanted to try these tires because they are affordable and come from China. So far, most of the reviews for Chinese tire brands have been biased in favor of other countries brands of tires which I think is unfair since every country has good and bad tires. The Westlake tires perform well in dry roads but have very thin sidewalls which is both good and bad. Around corners, they are very quiet and comfortable if you like a squishier/smoother ride. They also get excellent fuel economy. If you are taking corners aggressively, you'll feel the sidewalls bend and it will result in a very nerve-wracking experience, unless you know the roads well. If you drive 55 mph and under you won't really experience much of this issue though. It is more apparent at speeds of 65+. As far as wet performance goes when these tires are new and not yet broken in it is HORRIBLE. Almost as bad as the worn out Firestone fr710's I replaced with these. Once you get a few thousand miles on them though the stability and stopping power greatly improve in wet conditions. Oddly enough, when you go to rotate the tires after 6000 miles the rear tires (on a front wheel drive vehicle) may need to be broken in again as they did on my vehicle. What I mean by this, is that the rear tires when being switched to the front of the car performed just as badly as when the tires were brand new in wet conditions. Since the tires were already broken in the break-in period was much less once rotated so this shouldn't be much of an issue. The overall stopping power in wet environments is good enough for emergency braking with confidence. If you are taking corners in any sort of wet environment it will make you nervous most of the time. To summarize: If you are looking for an affordable tire to be used in mostly dry conditions it's a good purchase. If you are looking for something which can handle aggressive driving in wet conditions look for a different tire.
