The Tyre Discussion Thread - please read 1st post

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Does anyone else suffer from heal and toe wear on the rear tyres on their Corrados? Mine is all within the correct geometry tollerances, but keeps having this wear problem.

 

Heal and toe wear is where the tread blocks wear unevenly around the circumfrence of the tyre. so the contact face of the tyre is not circular.

 

I've never heard of that so had to google it. Is this what you mean? - http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showth ... p?t=319624

 

The most common reasons it seems, are the tyre itself or geometry. As you say your geometry is correct, then it has to be the tyre, or does all makes / models of tyre do the same? I don't have that issue on mine though.

[corradophil 3]

 

 

Yes, that is exactly what happens to the tyres on the rear of my Corrado. I first noticed it several years ago on Toyo Proxes T1S's, I replaced those with Pirelli P Zero Nero's, but sold it before they got worn. When I bought it back, it had Diamond Back tyres :norty: fitted, and they have worn just the same.

 

One way around it is to use non-directional tyres so you can swap the tyres across the car so they rotate the opposite way. When I get Kuhmo's for it, I'll do that, but it is annoying, because it sounds like the wheel bearings are shot, which they are not.

[aki 0]

hi

heel and toe (or diagonal wear) is normal (according to continental) on undriven axles most front drive cars exhibit this tendancy on the rear tyres so its nothing to worry about (geometry wise etc) your right about the noise too ive had this loads of times (not on corrados or my own cars) where the customer has complained of a wheelbearing type drone from the rear and ive also failed loads at mot time due to the uneven wear meaning every 3rd block is lower than 1.6 just remember that the tyre Isnt out of shape or failing, its just a wear characteristic! theres nothing you can do other than try to wear them out before they get like this!

hope this helps

andy

[corradophil 3]

Andy, I'm coming to the conclusion that nothing is wrong with the car.

 

From what I have read some tyres are more prone to it than others, and it seems the direction tyres with 'V' shaped tread patterns are worse. Unfortunately it only takes about 2-3 thousand miles to occur bad enough to make lots of noise, so no chance of wearing the tyres out that quick.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Andy, I'm coming to the conclusion that nothing is wrong with the car.

 

From what I have read some tyres are more prone to it than others, and it seems the direction tyres with 'V' shaped tread patterns are worse. Unfortunately it only takes about 2-3 thousand miles to occur bad enough to make lots of noise, so no chance of wearing the tyres out that quick.

 

Hmmm interesting as ive had one vredestein fitted on the front drivers due to a puncture and that was the only brand they had in stock in my size, it has a 'V' tread pattern. But since having it fitted there been a noise which sounds like its coming from the corner the new tyre was up on. Its been fitted for a few thousand... so possibly experiencing the above ^^

[Toad 0]

I've had this too. Quite annoying.

[Supercharged 2]

I reckon knackered rear wheel bearings might cause the wear above.

[Toad 0]

I've not seen it repeated since replacing the rear wheel bearings, it has to be said, although they were't technically knackered.

[aki 0]

Whats the best semi slick tyre people have used with a softer compound? Size 205/40/17.

 

hi ive treid the hankook rs2 and i was very happy as they werent too shabby in the wet and lasted a long time! wear rating 200 or 180 i think! but recently im using federal 595 rsr and im happy with them also just avoid standing water!! when theyre a bit worn as they are wearing quite quickly witha wear rating of 140!i havent tried the r888s as i feel theyre a bit expensive the federals have very stiff sidewalls and im allready looking forward to new set!! great tyre! defo worth a look!!

only downside with these semislicks is that they only come with 6 to 6.5mm of tread to start with!

hope this helps

andy

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I'd say the Rainsport will be better than the KH17. Looking at the Kumho's tread pattern, it looks very budget / comfort orientated to me :D

 

Not surprised Camskill have no KU31s. That tyre is making a name for itself and selling like hot cakes. I guarantee the prices will go up accordingly.

 

I've done approx 1000 miles on my second set of KU31s with my 7x17s and raised the ride height to almost 2.5 fingers and I have zero complaints from them this time :D In fact it doesn't even occur to me I'm riding on cheap tyres at all as I sling it into a bend, and that says a lot :D

[Dr Forinor 0]

With a 300+BHP Corrado, is it worth getting some softer tyres on the front to help get grip? ie hankook rs2 or something? or would a set of KU31s all round be best?

 

I think I'm going to get a spare set of wheels fitted with winter tyres for the cold months so they'd just be a "summer" tyre I guess.

 

Any opinions welcome....

 

Kev here has well over 300bhp and he is now on his second set of KU31s, and he's an aggressive driver, and he is happy with them.

 

I think based on that, you cant really go too far wrong with the KU31s

[mattnorgrove 0]

In fact it doesn't even occur to me I'm riding on cheap tyres at all as I sling it into a bend, and that says a lot :D

 

+1, done about 500 miles on mine now, and cannot fault them one bit.

 

KU31's all the way (if you can find em :lol: )

[coullstar 0]

The Falken 452's Ive put on the Compo's are coping well on the red one. In the dry they work fine, you can feel a slight squirm from them to start with but there fine. In the wet there still ok but will break traction if provoked.

[ryan_16v 0]

My KU31's on the front have now done 7k and look more like about 2k... :salute:

[Jonny777 0]

When i took the MIM's off my Corrado and checked the depth on the Nankangs that were on it, around 5k worth of use and they'd only gone down to 5.5 front and 6.5mm rear. That was impressive, just they weren't the best at grip. Haha.

[Critical_Mass 10]

I was looking to get the KU31s but couldnt find anywhere that had them in stock. In the end went for the toyo TR-1s as ive had them before. They're good, but found they wore out quickish. The ones i got are on the rear though so should last longer.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I've ploughed into deep standing water with my KU31s at 90mph and I'm still alive :lol:

 

Seriously though, I've yet to try a tyre that doesn't tug on the steering a little in deep standing water, or goes completely light / dead, even the premium brands need a little caution. The KU31s are certainly no worse than anything else in this respect in my experiences of them so far. I tend to take most things AutoExpress say with a pinch of salt to be honest.

 

You could easily waste a week of your life reading online reviews and still not make a decision! Trying them on your car on your local roads at your speeds and driving styles is the ONLY way to review a tyre :wink:

 

I tend to drive beyond most people's comfort zones and I've yet to find a serious flaw in the KU31's performance. It isn't as good overall as a top brand, like a conti sport 3, but it's half the price though, compromises have to be made. Thankfully, it's not half the performance :D

[herisites 0]

I've been really impressed with the KU31's on mine (put on by Kev before I bought his wheels). In the wet unless provoked they feel pretty good and in the dry I have no complaints at all really. The rears will need doing soon so I will be happy to go with 2 more.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Indeed, and they were half worn when I sold them to you! They do actually get better the more they wear.

[sprinterVR6 0]

not in your original list I know, but I was very very impressed with the grib levels on the Goodyear Eagle F1's.

 

my 2p

[shawshankkid 1]

i also wouldn't change from goodyear eagle F1's DSG3.(make sure they are german made) 5 years of driving the g60 (hard on accasions) and not a single flap. not interested in anything else- Tried/trusted. :thumb right:

[dukest 0]

just one interesting thing i've discovered today - i know there is meant to be a certain +/- tolerance on widths for a given tyre size but was puzzled to see that the the tread width on a 205/50/15 R888 is noticably wider than on a 205/40/17! i thought at least the same brand and model would have some consistency!

 

its obviously hard to measure these things, but even taking account of the fact that the 15s are 6.5in wide and the 17s are 7.5in, its still visible that the 15in tyres are about 215mm wide vs the 17s being a more accurate 205ish mm.

 

having a mixed metric/imperial system for measuring tyre sizes is dumb enough without these tolerances being so far out!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

just one interesting thing i've discovered today - i know there is meant to be a certain +/- tolerance on widths for a given tyre size but was puzzled to see that the the tread width on a 205/50/15 R888 is noticably wider than on a 205/40/17! i thought at least the same brand and model would have some consistency!

 

its obviously hard to measure these things, but even taking account of the fact that the 15s are 6.5in wide and the 17s are 7.5in, its still visible that the 15in tyres are about 215mm wide vs the 17s being a more accurate 205ish mm.

 

having a mixed metric/imperial system for measuring tyre sizes is dumb enough without these tolerances being so far out!

 

Spooky, I was just wondering the same thing as my 205/40/17s look really skinny from the back compared to 205/50/15s.

 

No matter what brand and model of 205/15 you go for, they always look chunky. With 205/17s, you have to choose carefully if you don't want a puny looking rear end. For example, I know that the Bridgestone RE050 and Conti Sport 3 are broader shouldered compared the Kumho KU31s and don't look so narrow. Kumho KU15 are noticably fatter than KU31 too. Some consistency would be nice!

 

I think next time I'll be going for 215/40/17 in something with huge shoulder pads....

[StuartFZR400 0]

Yeah I'm the same with my beloved Conti' Sport Contact 3s, but I'm feeling the pinch at the moment and compromises had to be made :(

 

Hello; can i ask what you're looking at next? I've just ripped through a set of Contact 3's and wondering how to spend less yet get the dry and wet grip. Equally I was looking for something a bit more square; these SC3 and the previous Pilot Sprt 2's both came brand new with 8mm in centre tread and only 4mm on the edges... a good 1.5 inch wide band on outer and inner shoulders. A while later and Im bald on the edges and just hit 2mm on the centre. (the Mich PS2 were much worse).

 

I was pondering; cheap tyres (Star who?) that you've not heard of are just untested waters; T1R's; the Eagle F1's GSD3 i hear loads of good news off close mates, but other forums sugest the sidewalls are incredibly soft. Talking of soft, and V shape pattern, I'm almost wondering if the Uni Rainsport 2's are worth a shout...

 

:confused4:

 

Im low on tread and hear the GSD3's are are limited in stock.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Hello; can i ask what you're looking at next?

 

Already on the Kumho KU31s at the moment, but will be going back to the CS3s when they're dead though :D

 

Equally I was looking for something a bit more square; these SC3 and the previous Pilot Sprt 2's both came brand new with 8mm in centre tread and only 4mm on the edges... a good 1.5 inch wide band on outer and inner shoulders. A while later and Im bald on the edges and just hit 2mm on the centre. (the Mich PS2 were much worse).

 

The tread is a little shallower at the shoulder / sidewall edge on a lot of sports tyres for strength I guess. The CS3s wear evenly across the whole width on my car though. Curiously, the older CS2 is only a few quid cheaper, which I don't really understand tbh!