They’re called Caldera Confidence C3s, but do they inspire confidence when you’re driving around?
Websites: www.calderatires.com, www.lesschwab.com
Shopping around for a set of tires that won’t break the bank, and you probably came across the Caldera brand of tires at your local Les Schwab.
Attractively priced, available in your size, but, from a brand you’ve never heard of, you’re slightly cautious dropping a couple of hundred on tires you’re going to spend thousands of miles with.
Here’s everything I know about Caldera Tires.
It’s no coincidence I mentioned you found Caldera Tires at Les Schwab. Caldera Tires is an in-house brand of tires (like Mazama Tires) owned by the Les Schwab Tire Company.
According to their trademark information, Les Schwab trademarked the Caldera brand back in 2016 and started manufacturing and selling Caldera tires two years later.
From our research, Caldera tires are Made in Taiwan.
Here’s a closeup of one of their Confidence C3’s in 235/60/17s.
Tire Lineup
Currently, Caldera Tires only offers the Confidence C3, an all-season for passenger cars, minivans, and SUVs. With over 55 different sizes ranging from 12- 18 inches, the Caldera Confidence C3 caters to smaller new cars and a mostly used car market.
Their website promises, “more tires coming soon” so, as new models become available, I’ll add them to this review and for the overall impression of their brand.
Key Technologies
- Confidence C3 (Noteworthy)
- Symmetric Construction- promotes even wear and contributes to the C3’s 40,000 miles warranty.
- Quiet Road noise design- C3 features narrow tread blocks and grooves to mitigate and cancel out harsh road noise.
Warranty
Caldera tires come with Les Schwab’s Best Tire Value Promise (Limited Warranty) that includes tire rotations, rebalancing, flat repair, replacement, pre-trip safety checks and air pressure checks for the warrantied tread life of the tire.
Caldera Confidence C3’s,have 40,000 mile warranties.
It would behoove you to read the warranty, as there are terms and conditions. For example, the limited warranty is not valid unless accompanied by the covered tires and the attached original invoice (losing your original paper invoice might mean disqualification from receiving warranty services.)
Noteworthy issues brought up in reviews
Les Schwab is transparent with their reviews, lets anyone who presumably purchased a set of Caldera tires leave a review, and does not filter out or edit negatives ones.
Caldera Confidence C3 potential issues- link to reviews here.
Despite the listed potential issues below, most Confidence C3 reviewers leave five out of five stars and are generally happy with their purchase given how much they paid.
- Economy-like ride quality– Reading through the critical reviews of three stars or fewer. There are a handful of reviews that characterize the Confidence C3 as an economy tire.
“The tires feel like I am riding on cheap balloons, “Says an anonymous Healthcare worker who left three stars. “A rare Les Schwab Failure in my experience.”
“I feel they do not hug the road, “says Karin who left three stars. “That being said , the next time I get tires , I won’t go the cheapest and do a little research, which I failed to do before the purchase at Les Schwab.”
- May have not-so confidence inspiring handling on certain freeway roads– There are a handful of comments that mention these Confidence C3s following the grooves on the freeway or showing a tendency to shift side-to-side or slide at the most minor bump.
“When I drive over something like a man-hole cover or other minor bump in the road the tires/car seems to shift or slide a bit, especially at higher speeds or on curves,” says three-star reviewer JustJoel.
- May not last for the advertised 40,000 miles– Tread wear and tire life are all dependent on several variables including conditions of roads, how you drive, and proper tire maintenance. That being said, there are a handful of reviews that criticize Confidence C3’s longevity.
“It doesn’t appear these tires will fulfill mile warranty after just 1 year of use, ” says a three-star reviewer identified as Capt. Kirk
“I was able to get a 40% discount due to tires being worn out way before they were supposed to,” says xCalMan who titled his comment 3rd set of these tires.
Are Caldera tires any good?
Based only on reading reviews of the Caldera Confidence C3, it’s clear that Caldera tires are not extraordinary tires nor are they terrible, they’re an OK middle-of-the-road value-tier brand.
If you’re a serious commuter with a demanding commute who drives early mornings and comes home tired and needs a no-brainer, confidence inspiring tire you can depend on in all conditions, I don’t feel confident recommending Caldera tires to you.
I would rather you spend an extra $20/tire and go for a more established and proven Tier 3 brand like Hankook, Nankang, Federal, or Kumho.
However, if you mostly drive around town and go on an occasional long trip, I have no reservations recommending Caldera brand tires to you.
And, if price is a priority and can overlook an affordable basic all-season’s misgivings like a potentially louder ride or some twitchiness on the freeway, by all means, go ahead with these Calderas.
I look forward to seeing what other kinds of tires Caldera comes up with, so I can more appropriately evaluate this brand.
I cannot see the tire markings clearly but it looks like the DOT number starts out with “DOT 01R”. If that is true, this Caldera Confidence C3 tire is made by Federal Tire, which is a major tire company in Taiwan. Federal Tire began in the 1950’s and initially had technical assistance agreements with Bridgestone for about 20 years. Later, it had technical assistance agreements with Sumitomo, which designs and makes a number of brands including Dunlop in Japan (Goodyear has rights for the Dunlop brand in the US and several countries), Falken, Sumitomo, Ohtsu, etc.
Assuming the DOT code begins with 01R, my guess is that the Caldera Confidence C3 tire is designed and made by Federal and may share common origins with the Federal Super Steel 657 tire. The Federal Super Steel or SS657 has a somewhat similar tread pattern and treadwear rating. One might read the side of the tire to see if the plies, tread, and sidewall of the Federal and Cadera tires have the same number and composition of bands, such as rayon, steel, etc.
Among the lesser known brands, I would not seek out but would not avoid Federal, Nankang, Maxxis, Kenda, Ohtsu, Nexen but I would avoid Linglong, Sentury, Goodride, Westlake. That is just a personal opinion.