The Tyre Discussion Thread - please read 1st post

[leeeeshad 0]

I uses to have toyo tr1s or t1rs whatever their called on my old car, got rainsport 's now and their better than the toyos

[Critical_Mass 10]

I have the Toyo TR1s theyre good but wear quickly.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

BRIDGESTONE RE050 are a blinding tyre !! :D

 

Yeah I like Bridgestones a lot. Got those on the back currently, but when they were my front tyres, the turn-in was fantastic. Bridgestone like their stiff sidewalls, so a touch crashy over pot hole and things :D

[Dr Forinor 0]

Update on the Kumho KU31's that I have on now.

Have done more than 300miles on them so well bedded in.

 

Good in both wet and dry, no nasty surprises, a little bit understeery (nothing major), fairly predictable although they don't inspire as much confidence as some more expensive tyres closer to the limit, but for how much they are, I really wouldnt complain. In fact I would certainly have them on my shortlist next time I need new tyres.

 

I started off saying they felt "mushy" on turn-in, but that has now gone, I can gladly report :D They do feel more positive

 

Bring on the next set of new tyres to be tested! 8)

[yellowdfp 0]

Hi.

 

I have used Michelin Pilot Exalto tyres on my VR6 for many years. With less than 2mm tread left on the existing four I recetly renewed them all. Finding the same Michelins has been getting harder and harder and I could not easily find any or, if I could, they were quite pricey.

 

So, after much researching and forum hunting I decided to go for something different, if they were good, available and well priced. In the end I used the KwikFit on-line ordering service. They had Continental Premium Contact 2 tyres for £76 each + fitting which seemed like a good deal for a 'decent' V rated tyre (if ordering in-store, the same tyres would have been well over £100 each, and elsewhere on-line they were in the high £90's).

 

I ordered them on-line at 4pm on a Friday, giving prefered local fitting center and the earliest fit date on offer of the following Tuesday.... However, Saturday morning, 10:30am, the center phoned me to say the tyres were in and they could fit them lunchtime! So I went down and two guys worked together and in less than 30 mins had them changed, filled, balanced and fitted. Nice.

 

So do I like them? Well yes. Compared to the Michelins, the Continentals are deifinitley slightly 'softer' but this is welcome to me - happily, possibly due to having after market stiffer sports suspension, the car now crosses road humps and holes without 'crashing' as it did before and is generally more pleasent to drive, whilst still being sporty and grippy. Steering I feel is improved, with turn-in more willing/less under-steer. They are also much quieter on the motorway than the Michelins. Only downside might be a possible slight loss of straight line 'prescision' feel when driving at higher speeds but overall very happy with them (and may I think be factory fitted to sporty VW Golfs, etc anyhow - or might be Contact 3 or Sport Contacts).

 

David.

[millerman 0]

my other halfs citreon c4 (dont knock it its a vtr+ and is kiddy safe and reliable) had pilot exaltos on and they are the 17 inch versions

and cost a bloomin bomb at around £130 eash as they are 205-50-17's a very rare size so i got her the conti sport contacts only for the fronts

and i have to say turn in is better wet handleing is better and once my bridgestones are dead (will be ages as they are new) i will probably go for them

depending on the price of the latest bridgestone re050 or what ever it will be called and will deffo get them for the rears for her french effort soon as the rears are going too .

how ever the michelins fronts did 31000 miles and the rears i would say will do 35-38 thousand so that will be another year or two :lol: and she drives it like she stole it put it this way her next car as she has told me is either an r32 golf or scirocco R

can see that costing a fortune :lol:

[G-Lad 0]

I need two front tyres soon. My housemate can get some tyres cheap for me because he works for Honda.

He can get me some goodyear gsd3's for 45 quid a corner in 195/50/15 fitted. Just wondering if they are really that bad since being made in china rather than germany?

should i look at getting something else or are they still a decent enough tyre?

Even though he can get them cheap, i dont want to spend a fortune.

He cant get Kuhmo KU31's, already asked!

 

I know it's a bit of a soap box topic of mine, and I don't profess to having loads of other tyre experience aside from a few choice models, but I'd steer clear unless they have "made in Germany" on them, they are just plain dangerous. The Honda guy might check for you if they want the sale... It can't hurt to ask. If they are proper german ones, they're great tyres imho, tho it's been 2 years since i last bought german ones so I'm not sure stocks will still exist. Sadly F1 gsd3s are not available in 205 width, so yes go for 195/50 15

 

Chris

[aki 0]

hi

has anybody tried the new toyo r1r tyre yet? looks pretty trick but not quite as extreme as the r888 good compromise tyre

im currently running federal 595 rsr and i have to report that the grip is amazing in the dry and im yet to have any trouble at all in the wet, which frankly came as a bit of a surprise! superb tyre and not too expensive (very very stiff sidewalls possibly even stiffer than bridgestones so the feel is superb!) down side is wear! 50% worn after 3 months of use!!! they do have a hard life though thats approx 1000 miles :shock:

oh and the best tyre for the money at the moment has to be the hankook ventus v12 evo just a superb tyre no problems at all, better than the ku31 even?!!

will be trying the federals at curborough for the first club afternoon on saturday so that should shorten the life somewhat!!

andy

[dukest 0]

hi

has anybody tried the new toyo r1r tyre yet? looks pretty trick but not quite as extreme as the r888 good compromise tyre

im currently running federal 595 rsr and i have to report that the grip is amazing in the dry and im yet to have any trouble at all in the wet, which frankly came as a bit of a surprise! superb tyre and not too expensive (very very stiff sidewalls possibly even stiffer than bridgestones so the feel is superb!) down side is wear! 50% worn after 3 months of use!!! they do have a hard life though thats approx 1000 miles :shock:

oh and the best tyre for the money at the moment has to be the hankook ventus v12 evo just a superb tyre no problems at all, better than the ku31 even?!!

will be trying the federals at curborough for the first club afternoon on saturday so that should shorten the life somewhat!!

andy

 

I've seen the R1R and was tempted as it seems to be slotting in below the r888 as a bit of a compromise (and to facilitate the horrific price hikes they've given to r888s this year :shock: ) The problem is that the only vaguely corrado size they do it in is 195/50/15 - on 17s the smallest theyve got is 215/45 which is much too big obviously. Apparently they're might be more sizes later in the year but i wouldnt hold your breath.

 

So just for everyone's information, R888s are now £112 for 205/50/15 and £158 for 205/40/17 - thats around a £34 and £45 increase respectively from last year. I love them but they're hard to justify at that price..

[aki 0]

hi

the price of the r888 is what put me off abit as well i dont like paying more than £60 for a tyre in 205 50 15 im in the trade so the federals cost me £56inc vat thats also why i dont mid getting through them so fast! also r888s are abit compromised for wet use, try the federals if you can get them, we use bmtr and thats the only 205 50 15 they supply thats w rated! i find that v rated tyres are a bit soft in the sidewall

im sure camskill list the toyo r1r in 205 50 15 allthough they dont give a price

andy

[Mystic Rado 0]

I know it's a bit of a soap box topic of mine, and I don't profess to having loads of other tyre experience aside from a few choice models, but I'd steer clear unless they have "made in Germany" on them, they are just plain dangerous. The Honda guy might check for you if they want the sale... It can't hurt to ask. If they are proper german ones, they're great tyres imho, tho it's been 2 years since i last bought german ones so I'm not sure stocks will still exist. Sadly F1 gsd3s are not available in 205 width, so yes go for 195/50 15

 

I bought some Eagle F1s in 195/50R15 for my Mk2 a few weeks back from Camskills. All have 'Made in Germany' on them, so they're definitely still out there, though I guess it would make sense to check before ordering. I didn't actually realise there were far eastern versions.

[revilo 0]

Just got a set of pirelli p6000's fitted on the front of my g ready for the MOT tomorrow. Looking forward to see how they fair.

I made that mistake on my old car, only had them on for a month they were shocking.

P6000 oh oh

Poor grip, wear quickly..

Coming to a ditch near you soon! Has a pair on the rear when I bought mine, and They were marginally worse than the "Jupiter" tyres that were on the front when I bought it! Putting PX4's on the front when i killed the Jupiters made things plain dangerous, back end would need very little provocation to jump out on a roundabout wet/damp or dry!

uh oh, :shock: wasnt aware they were such a horrific tyre?! hopefully i wont end up in a ditch anytime soon, already done that to a 1.8 rado pushing it too hard on a set of yokos.

Not too fused about them wearing quickly as i got them cheap from a mate in the trade, if they're rubbish ill get a new set!

Surely they cant be that bad, after all they are Pirellis?!

Anyhow,will keep eveyone posted on how i get one with the 6000's

Sailed through the mot today!

[Jon_vr6 1]

Ive got a set of P6000's on mine already had two on so thought id go for a complete set of four, cant say ive had any major probs with them, and they seem to be lasting ages even when i light them up all the time in the wet :D four wheel drifts are fun in the wet :lol: Grip in the dry very good and since they are a summer tyre should be

[Kevin Bacon 5]

They don't sound like the same P6000s I know and hate. They must have improved the compound over the years :D I've had 6000s a few times on previous cars, dating back to the mid 90s and they were truly awful in the wet!

 

They were standard fit on the Jags in the 90s because they're a hard compound, required for big heavy cars like that to get a half decent life span. On a lighter car, they can be lethal.

[aki 0]

hi

i have to agree with the haters of p6000 truly awfull tyre the wear rating is surprisingly low i think its only 180 (i might be wrong as its from memory) so the compound is actually rather soft in order to achieve any grip at all! lets face it the tyre was designed in the early 90s things have moved on quite alot!! i wouldnt fit them to a wheelbarrow, theyre expensive too!! there are good tyres and expensive tyres the two arnt allways the same! tyres are important theyres plenty of reviews on the internet for various tyres so have a bit of a research before deciding what rubber to get........not just which makes your local fitter the most bonus!!

oh and it was raining heavily recently and the federals are pretty worn now so standing water is getting a bit of a no-no still a great tyre as a compromise between trackday grip and road use though just no good at deep puddles!!! i will be getting another set!

andy

[G-Lad 0]

It's time I gave you a long term test report on my Uniroyal Rainsport2 tyres...

 

I've had all 4 of them since mid July 09, so that's 8 months. I've managed to run up 9,000 miles ish in that time (god knows how, as my VR is not a daily driver!).

 

I paid £242 for all 4 tyres, roadside fitting and removal of 3 old tyres (I kept 1 x RainSport1 in case of punctures). This was from a local garage in Staffordshire, which had a better price than any online place I found (inc BlackCircles or MyTyres), or indeed any cheap back-street places in Nottingham.

 

I've still got a good 6mm on the rears, and 5mm remaining on the fronts, which suggests to me that the back end is working nearly as hard to stay on the road as the fronts, with the odd wheel spin off the lights.

 

Initially I was really impressed. Initially the roads were nice and dry, given the time of year..!

 

They were pretty reassuring in the January snow, but then I was driving like a nun, as one does.

 

In the damp we've had recently, they're starting to prove pretty slippy on roundabouts if driven hard. In the dry they're considerably better, but I do noticeably drift at the back end, albeit in a controllable way.

 

It's not unreasonable to describe my driving style as "drive like you stole it" (I tell you this not to sound clever but to hint at how hard I push my tyres - yes, I know I probably shouldn't). I would say that I've had some increasingly scary roundabout slides of late, notably in damp conditions on roads like the A43 (M1 Jct 15a, cutting down to the M40) and also the A5 heading into North Wales (Telford - Shrewbury - Llangollen). Both of these roads are pretty fast A roads and have plenty of roundabouts.

 

Previously I have been happily whizzing around dual carriage way roundabouts, but now I'm really starting to worry about sliding into the person in the outside lane - not big or clever.

 

They are reassuring on fully wet motorways, with no noticable aquaplaning problems. This is a big positive on long journeys from Nottingham to the Lake district, up the A50 and M6, etc.

 

Road noise is minimal.

 

In summary, my long term test result is "Rain Sport my @rse". These aren't what I'd consider great damp-road sporty tyres, but are good for wet use if driven on conservatively (how many C drivers would describe their driving style as conservative?!).

 

They are starting to remind me of my trusty Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 tyres before they are ready to change, but with 5-6mm still left on them, I'm a bit disappointed.

 

I dont intend to replace them until they need it, unless the sliding gets really bad. I'll rein in my driving style for a bit, to see if I'm just being too hard on them.

 

Conclusion: I probably won't buy these again if someone recommends something stickier in all-round conditions. I don't want to try another total shot in the dark, but I don't think I've done that badly for a fairly random punt based on a single recommendation and no prior personal experience of the tyre.

 

I'd give them 6 to 7 out of 10.

 

 

Chris

[dukest 0]

I've really only had 3 quite different sets of tyres on the VR (all 205/50/15) since I bought it:

 

Dunlop Sport SP01s from when I bought it, which i thought were quite a hard compound with a soft sidewall

Rainsport2s since early last year which i expected to be soft compound & soft sidewall, interspersed with,

Toyo R888s for the 2nd half of last year - hard as f*ck sidewall and super grippy compound

 

I didnt like the Dunlops so much when i had them as they were pretty awful when it was damp, spinning at the slightest provocation no doubt because of the compound (although i never had any issues in seriously heavy rain coming back from the lake district to london)

When i moved to the Rainsports i hoped the damp performance would be better but to be honest, i dont feel that much difference and they dont give the amount of extra turn in grip i hoped for, again probably because of the sidewall to be honest.

The Toyos, even in 50 profile, are a very hard ride, but the grip is legendary, you really have to act like a penis to get the fronts to spin on take off and everywhere else you can be unfailingly confident, including in damp conditions that i've experienced so far. They are a worry in the wet but only because of the lack of tread pattern - if they were brand new then I would still push them quite hard - its only because you only start with 5mm of tread to start with and get down to 4 or 3 with not too much effort that they then become a bit of a gamble. Again, this is only due to risk of aquaplaning, not because of lack of grip when in contact with the road.

 

So, if i dont go back to R888s (because they just hiked the price hideously) after wearing out the Rainsports, i will be after the hardest sidewall i can find on a "normal" tyre, as frankly they all seem to be sh!t on greasy roads so you just have to live with that and make the most of all the other conditions.

 

That said I am going to try 17s for a bit where the lower profile should address the sidewall issues a bit and i think criteria would be a bit different for that size.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

So, if i dont go back to R888s (because they just hiked the price hideously) after wearing out the Rainsports, i will be after the hardest sidewall i can find on a "normal" tyre, as frankly they all seem to be sh!t on greasy roads so you just have to live with that and make the most of all the other conditions.

 

You'll be wanting something from the Bridgestone stable then. RE50s have stiff sidewalls and excellent grip in most conditions. The old S02 is still around too and is another excellent tyre. Not sure if they're available in 40/17 or 50/15 though.

 

No tyres are what I would consider 'grippy' on greasy roundabouts. Too much diesel spillage from lorrys and the grade of tarmac used conspire to turn them into ice rinks in some cases. I lost the back end on a local roundabout in the damp a few years ago, did a full 360 pirouette! Mind you, I did have a cheap Kumho on the rear corner that let go to be fair.

 

Dry or Wet, then most tyres cope fine, but it's good performance in the intermediate conditions that really seperates the average tyres from the good ones. Conti and Bridgestone have so far consistently performed better than most other tyres I've used. Well, the point was proven several years ago when Dinkus following me in his Aqua VR over a damp roundabout, slid off the road into a fence, but mine just sailed over it completely unphased. Mine was on Bridgestone RE720s, his was on Marangani something or others..... :D

 

That said I am going to try 17s for a bit where the lower profile should address the sidewall issues a bit and i think criteria would be a bit different for that size.

 

It does, a lot! And as we've recently learned, 17" tyres are lighter than 15" tyres too, which is always a bonus!

[Mystic Rado 0]

I'm kind of fascinated by the tyre thing. In a previous existence I used to road test motorcycles for one of the monthly mags and the interesting bit was that track testing showed you just how much harder you could push tyres than any sane person would on the road, before they let go. Basically, you think you're riding hard on the road until you get onto a track and realise that the limits of grip are somewhat further off than you thought.

 

Obviously you have more margin for error in a car - slides are more recoverable, you don't highside if you give it too many beans coming out of a bend, you won't slide down the road and wear through your kecks - but for me anyway, the principles are similar. I drive, erm, 'briskly' on the road but well within the limits of my tyres. Which means, basically, ultimate grip isn't my major priority, I'm more concerned that they feel bombproof confident in normal, mixed conditions and if they do break away, they do it perceptibly.

 

The nightmare tyres on motorcycles tended to be Japanese made variants because although they gripped fine, when they ran out of grip, the transition was often sudden and unannounced whereas European brands tended to give you some advance warning before they let go making them a lot more confidence inspiring. Hopefully things have changed now.

 

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm less concerned with the outside edges of the envelope than really confident performance within it. On the Corrado, the car had a nasty mix of Dunlop and Pirelli things when I bought it, replaced with BF Goodrich G-Force Profilers which felt confident all round, but noticeably harsh over small bumps etc - stiff sidewalls? - when the fronts wore out, it got a pair of Conti Premium Contacts, which are great for all-round driving wet and dry and noticably less harsh than the Profilers. Less steering rigidity? Maybe. At the limit perhaps. But I don't drive that hard on the road.

 

I've also run Bridgestone on a Mk3 Golf, which felt fine to me, and Michelin Pilot Exaltos or something, ditto. Got rid and bought another Mk2 which came with 14" steels and Conti Eco Contacts, which were quite horrible and insecure. Replaced with 15" BBS RAs and Goodyear Eagle F1s, GSD3 - German made ones - which are what I've always used on Mk2s and I couldn't believe the difference, so much more confident wet and dry and much better steering feel too. They've always been good for me, though wet grip seems to reduce disproportionately over the last 30% of tread life. Not available in 'rado VR6 size though.

 

Anyway... I'm not sure that meant much to anyone, thinking aloud really...

[dukest 0]

what i guess i forgot to say in my comments where how/where i tend to drive. I live in the middle of london with a lot of speedbumps before i can get anywhere useful. this is the reason i've always held off going lower as i have to go slow down enough over them as it is to save the suspension (killed a set of koni dampers in 5 years/30k miles which for a quality make i think is not that good).

 

the problem with that is that staying a bit higher (i guess its probably 35mm down) means that the centre of gravity is higher. so even though I've got front and rear arbs now, the issue with a soft sidewall for me is that if you go into a corner and the sidewall moves first to take the lateral force, then you turn a bit more the car then loads up the springs in a secondary effect, that can be quite destabilising/confidence sapping at speed. i'd much prefer everything to load up at the same time, or at least linearly, so that you can then just worry about the grip levels with everything else constant.

 

its fine (and a lot of fun) playing around on a track in a less than optimally handling car, as you can just yank the wheel to make everything load up quickly and then see what line you end up taking, but obviously you cant do that on the road when you need to be staying within lanes..

 

so the point of all that was meant to be that I'm prepared to sacrifice some ride comfort for good open road performance whereas others may prefer the combination of harder suspension to get a bit lower, but with an easier going tyre as they're either on 17s already or at least not having to deal with the higher centre of gravity.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

OK, it looks like I will be using Khumo KU31s again :lol: Four 205/40/17s booked for tomorrow @ £240 all in, fitted, balanced and the Shat.

 

But I said I wouldn't be using them again?

 

Indeed I did, but here's why I'm using them again....The tyre industry is big a bunch of disorganised bottom wipings!!!

 

The shortlist I drew up today, in descending order of price hi-lo, was :-

 

Michelin Pilot Sport 3 - Not available at all

ContiSport 3 - £135 each, can't get till next Wed

ContiSport 2 - Not available any more

Bridgestone RE050A - Not available any more

Bridgestone S02 - Not available at all

Hankook Ventus V12 - Not available at all

Kumho Ku31 - £60 each, Next day availability

 

The Kumho was on the list as my reserve as I know what they're like and they would leave me money to do other things to the car as they're so cheap :norty:

 

But I wasn't bargaining on those being the ONLY tyre of my list available to me, LOL!!

 

I checked all those were available in 205/40s before ringing, which they were according to their official websites, but the tyre man explained to me that, A) there is a lot of old and incorrect information on the net relating to tyre sizes and B) even though the tyre manufacturer may list availability in my chosen size, that does not mean it's actually released yet, or even available for distribution in this country!!

 

What a bloody farce!

 

So it appears the premium brands are gradually phasing out the sizes we need for our Rados and the budget / Midrange brands have an abundance of them!

 

Oh well, c'est la vie. Can't really grumble at £60 each fitted for a 17 I suppose and the KU31s are rated to 186mph :lol: .

[Dr Forinor 0]

I don't like how twitchy the Khumo KU31s have made my car feel so I won't be using those again. Wet grip isn't great either if I'm being honest. Good in the dry though and stiff side walls, so quite good cornering feel.

 

Phew! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that! I was fairly happy with them to start with, but now that I've started to push them further, they're not as impressive as they lead you to believe, which I suppose is ok given the price, for what they cost they're fine. In the wet I've had wheelspin in the same situations where the ContiSports2 were absolutely fine. It's not that I can't wait to get rid of them, but they're nothing special.

 

I would still have them on my shortlist, but like you, only as a reserve if I wasn't able to get a hold of anything better. Funnily enough, they're still much MUCH better than the Toyo Proxes T1S that were on the car when I bought it in 2005.

 

I think my favourite tyre (taken into account the price/value) still has to be the Uniroyal Rainsports.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Didn't ContiSports become ContiPremContacts a while back? Or am I thinking wrong....

The Premium contact is a completely different model of tyre mate....

Ah ok, do you know what the difference is as I have a feeling I have Prems and not Sports.[/quote:339td9jv]

The Sport Contacts are softer AFAIK, bigger tread blocks, bigger gaps between blocks (shifts more water), stiffer side walls etc etc. They're a lot more money than the Prem contacts too! Avoid the Eco contacts though, they're pants!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Done over 100 miles on my second set of Kumho KU31s, so time for an update I suppose.

 

Well, on 7x17 ET38, they feel completely different to how they did on 8Jx17 ET35 :D

 

The steering has regained it's straight line stability and feels strongly keyed into the tarmac. They also exhibit that rather desirable Bridgestone characteristic where the difference in dry and wet grip is barely perceptible, which for a 60 quid tyre is fuggin amazing.

 

I'm not sure if these changes are because of the difference in offset pushing the scrub radius a little more negative, or if it's because of some other unexplained phenomenon, but either way, I'm liking them a lot more this time :D

[mattnorgrove 0]

Agreed Kev, just had 4 KU31's fitted for £240! 205/50/15's on the Speedlines.

 

Great grip in the wet (once they'd scrubbed that is! Very nearly caught me out.. :pale: ), nice and quiet on all surfaces.

 

I'll definitely be going back for more...