Impreza on Ditchfinders.....

Impreza on Ditchfinders.....

Author
Discussion

callahan

Original Poster:

890 posts

206 months

Friday 6th December 2013
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Hi
I picked up my Impreza early November and have been enjoying it until the roads started getting a little greasy. The car has a fairly new set of Event tyres on that are simply dangerous. Massive understeer into corners, unpredictable rear breaking away on the way out. Mini roundabouts are particularly interesting when you get a wheel on the white paint.
Now, while this sounds like potential for fun, it just isn't predictable in any way and means I end up tip-toeing around - I would probably be quicker in an Aygo or something. My wife uses the car as her daily driver too, usually with multiple kids in the back, so safety is rather important.
It galls me to have to replace a full set of tyres with plenty of tread on them (yes, I am a Yorkshireman) but I'm going to have to bite the bullet.
So, questions:
1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric - best option?
2. All weather tyres - we only do about 6k a year in this car, so they will have to stay on for possibly 2 years
3. Speed rating - Blackcircles quote 215/45/R17 V - is this correct?
Any help much appreciated and the quicker the better, I have a day off and want to be out hooning with some grip!
Cheers

AndySpecD

436 posts

187 months

Friday 6th December 2013
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I've used Toyo T1R's in the past, currently running on Falken FK452's, both reasonably priced and decent grip in both dry and wet conditions.

Plenty of options to choose from though...

RB5Bird

502 posts

195 months

Friday 6th December 2013
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Toyo T1Rs on mine. Very good.

callahan

Original Poster:

890 posts

206 months

Friday 6th December 2013
quotequote all
I thought T1Rs were a bit soft in the sidewall for Imprezas? Had some on my MX5 and they were great, but that is a light car.
Had Falkens a few times on old cars, including my C36 and quite liked them, but found they went a bit hard over time and lacked grip in the wet. I ended up using Avon ZZ3s.
A friend of mine swears by the Goodyears on his Impreza and I had the old GSD3 years ago on my 200SX, which was pretty good.

omgus

7,305 posts

175 months

Friday 6th December 2013
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Which Impreza is it. Toyos are great on the early (and lighter) Imprezas but the later ones weigh just a little to much for the sidewall and you will have to stretch the budget a bit more.

I ran my classic on Toyos and would still manage to pull other people out of the snow/ditches when things got bad.

callahan

Original Poster:

890 posts

206 months

Friday 6th December 2013
quotequote all
omgus said:
Which Impreza is it. Toyos are great on the early (and lighter) Imprezas but the later ones weigh just a little to much for the sidewall and you will have to stretch the budget a bit more.

I ran my classic on Toyos and would still manage to pull other people out of the snow/ditches when things got bad.
Good point, 53 reg Blobeye WRX estate, standard. Should probably have mentioned that earlier.

MLoc

14 posts

168 months

Friday 6th December 2013
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Ive had the following on my Classic:

Ditchfinders
Good Yr Eagle (GSD3)
Bridgestone Potenza (RE050)
Michelin Pilot Sport 3

The best to date have been the Michelins smile

rb5er

11,657 posts

172 months

Friday 6th December 2013
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Event tyres are indeed shockingly crap.

I have Toyo T1R`s on mine but its a classic so a fair bit lighter.

Have only heard good things about the Goodyears in reviews etc and Michelins PS2`s are great tyres too.

GravelBen

15,691 posts

230 months

Friday 6th December 2013
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T1R sidewalls certainly felt too soft for the Legacy - at 1500kg its a tad heavier though.

I've had good experience with Bridgestone RE002 (and the previous RE001), much better than the T1R and F1 GSD3 but I haven't tried the F1A to compare. RE050 meant to be good too, OEM fit down here.

peter8171

183 posts

143 months

Friday 6th December 2013
quotequote all
Have an 03 WRX estate and have been running it on Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetrics for a couple of years and they are really predictable. Good grip in wet and dry, but in the snow, they struggle a bit. However any sports orientated tyre is the same.

callahan

Original Poster:

890 posts

206 months

Saturday 7th December 2013
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The Goodyears are coming out at 115 fitted at my local place at the moment, which will add up for all 4....

Anyone tried Avon ZZ3's on an Impreza? I had them on my C36 and X Type and quite liked them.

Conti's are a good call too.

rb5er

11,657 posts

172 months

Saturday 7th December 2013
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I never really got on with Avons. I`d rather a squishy Toyo T1R, a Falken fk452/3 or even a Kumho.

Anything will be a massive improvement over the Event though.

callahan

Original Poster:

890 posts

206 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
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Well I went for the Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric in the end and am very happy with them so far, although I do seem to get stuck behind people too often so cannot really try them out. A gigantic improvement on the Events though, which is not saying much.

Definitely recommend Treadfirst tyres in Saffron Walden, Phil the manager did a good job as always and gave me the paperwork to get a £20 petrol voucher from Goodyear, which is nice.

Which leads on to the inevitable question: should I take the Scooby up to Northumberland next weekend to see my family, or the sensible company car Volvo V60 D4? Probably 45mpg v maybe 28mpg over 500 miles or so, mostly motorway or dual carriageway..... but some nice roads when we get there.

rb5er

11,657 posts

172 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
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callahan said:
should I take the Scooby or the Volvo V60?
Surely not serious..........

ohtari

805 posts

144 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
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It really depends, how much will the wife/partner give off if you "press on" in the impreza?

hehe

callahan

Original Poster:

890 posts

206 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
quotequote all
rb5er said:
callahan said:
should I take the Scooby or the Volvo V60?
Surely not serious..........
Well, we will only be there for a couple of days, so the only hooning option will be on the way home - the Hexham - Alston - Middleton-in-Teesdale - Barnard Castle route looks to be fun. It's only a little longer than either the A1 queue past the Metro Centre or the A68 route.....

Mrs C is very good about it usually, it's more the Yorkshireman in my pocket that would complain about the fuel......


Art0ir

9,401 posts

170 months

Monday 16th December 2013
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50L of diesel vs 81ish L of super.

Although let's be honest, you'll not get 27mpg on a good road if you're using a Scooby I hope.

£50 or thereabouts? Depends how much you value your time in the car. I went through half a tank last night in a few hours for no other reason than I fancied it (did a big loop).

callahan

Original Poster:

890 posts

206 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
Art0ir said:
50L of diesel vs 81ish L of super.

Although let's be honest, you'll not get 27mpg on a good road if you're using a Scooby I hope.

£50 or thereabouts? Depends how much you value your time in the car. I went through half a tank last night in a few hours for no other reason than I fancied it (did a big loop).
27mpg? Not a cat in Hell's chance if I'm driving on interesting roads, but most (90%?) of the journey will be on motorway or dual carriageway, so it could happen there.

Volvo is the sensible choice, Subaru for the hooligan in me. Which is how it should be, of course.

Incidentally I wouldn't pay for my own fuel in the Volvo, but I do get charged 15p / mile for personal fuel. How much does 25mpg of super work out to per mile? I don't want to work it out.... Probably looking at over 700 miles total for the round trip - £105 for the Volvo. About £165 for the Subaru? That's nearly the cost of a trackday.

Art0ir

9,401 posts

170 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
callahan said:
Art0ir said:
50L of diesel vs 81ish L of super.

Although let's be honest, you'll not get 27mpg on a good road if you're using a Scooby I hope.

£50 or thereabouts? Depends how much you value your time in the car. I went through half a tank last night in a few hours for no other reason than I fancied it (did a big loop).
27mpg? Not a cat in Hell's chance if I'm driving on interesting roads, but most (90%?) of the journey will be on motorway or dual carriageway, so it could happen there.

Volvo is the sensible choice, Subaru for the hooligan in me. Which is how it should be, of course.

Incidentally I wouldn't pay for my own fuel in the Volvo, but I do get charged 15p / mile for personal fuel. How much does 25mpg of super work out to per mile? I don't want to work it out.... Probably looking at over 700 miles total for the round trip - £105 for the Volvo. About £165 for the Subaru? That's nearly the cost of a trackday.
Pah, where's your man maths?!

callahan

Original Poster:

890 posts

206 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
Art0ir said:
Pah, where's your man maths?!
Ha, busted!

Then again, I can use the money for a track day rather than sitting on a motorway. £65 plus 'a bit' will get me a track day in the new year - that's more like man maths. I'm saving money by going on a track day.....