Tyre advice/experiences?
Discussion
Hi all, Just noticed the tyres on my FRS are "well worn" so I have popped on to BlackCircles to price replacements, without getting in to the debate about putting stock tyres on etc - I have chosen against this, mainly because they are £191/tyre and I am not sure how long im keeping the car, the tyres im considering are:
- Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31 - £107/tyre
- Avon ZZ3 - £115/tyre
- Kumho Le Sport KU39 - £123/tyre
- General Altimax UHP - £127/tyre
- Toyo Proxes 4 - £147/tyre
- Uniroyal Rainsport 2 - £150/tyre
Tuvra said:
Hi all, Just noticed the tyres on my FRS are "well worn" so I have popped on to BlackCircles to price replacements, without getting in to the debate about putting stock tyres on etc - I have chosen against this, mainly because they are £191/tyre and I am not sure how long im keeping the car, the tyres im considering are:
I've used Ecsta SPT's before on the back of a Mk2 MR2. No issues with iffy grip whatsoever. Lasted well over 15k miles too. For the price, they're great. "Ecsta" is written in to the tread too. Bling. - Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31 - £107/tyre
- Avon ZZ3 - £115/tyre
- Kumho Le Sport KU39 - £123/tyre
- General Altimax UHP - £127/tyre
- Toyo Proxes 4 - £147/tyre
- Uniroyal Rainsport 2 - £150/tyre
Opulent said:
"Ecsta" is written in to the tread too. Bling.
you've blatantly been driving through puddles then reversing back to admire your work, haven't you?! 
can't really comment as i've never run any of the brands, though i hear a lot of talk about the avon's, whether good or bad i can't remember.
when i was looking at m3's i was a little put off when i saw one wearing a brand new rear set of T1R's. maybe i'm odd, as i've run them on an mx5 and liked them both their performance and price, but on a car such as that, it makes me wonder if the car's been run on a shoe string.
says me who's just put falken 452's on
Ozzie Osmond said:
Relative to petrol at £100 a tank I'd have thought spending an extra few quid to get decent tyres would be a good investment.
With petrol at £100 a tank it can be a struggle to find a few extra quid for branded tyres, hence many of us pondering whether cheaper tyres can offer a comparable performance.HellDiver said:
Also consider Hankook, they're really very good as well. The V12 Evo is a particuarly good tyre with a strong sidewall.
I've ran lots of premium tyres in the past, and I'm not concerned about scimping on tyres, but I've just bought another set of V12 Evos for road and track, excellent tyres 
There is UNDOUBTEDLY a very real difference between performance tyres and the Budget lot. As i learnt to my cost.
I had the misfortune to drive a Vauxhall on really poor Swedish tyres. The tread appeared fine but in the wet there was simply NO GRIP.
Undriveable on any damp surfaces the car would pirouette happily. Wandered offline absolutely no grip. I would NEVER drive a car like that again.
BUT THE BEST YOU CAN AFFORD.
As others have said with petrol at £100 a tank cheap tyres are a really false economy. If you come offline becacuse the tyres give out what is the cost going to be? Not worth it.
I had the misfortune to drive a Vauxhall on really poor Swedish tyres. The tread appeared fine but in the wet there was simply NO GRIP.
Undriveable on any damp surfaces the car would pirouette happily. Wandered offline absolutely no grip. I would NEVER drive a car like that again.
BUT THE BEST YOU CAN AFFORD.
As others have said with petrol at £100 a tank cheap tyres are a really false economy. If you come offline becacuse the tyres give out what is the cost going to be? Not worth it.
Steffan said:
There is UNDOUBTEDLY a very real difference between performance tyres and the Budget lot.
It is true that generally speaking, the performance of a tyre is related to its price. However, this is not a universal truth: not all "budget" tyres are inferior to all "performance" or branded tyres.I've had very good results with Falken FK452s, Toyo T1-Rs and Hankook V12 K110s, all of which are ostensibly "budget" options. My next set will be Vredestein Sessantas, also far from a premium-priced tyre although they get consistently strong reviews.
Conversely, when I bought a car shod with nearly-new P6000s, I discovered they lived up to their poor reputation - despite Pirelli being a "premium" make and P6000s certainly aren't the cheapest.
There also can be a large variance in the performance of different models within a manufacturer's range - hence comments along the lines of "Michelins are better than Contis" etc., are basically meaningless. Which Michelin versus which Continental?
Not to mention the same tyre can suit different cars differently (let's not go there for now though). As with almost everything, some judicious pre-purchase research is usually worth the effort.
Think if I was buying a FRS and saw Khumo tyres I would walk away as I would think that either the seller didn’t care about their car or just couldn’t afford to run it and may have skimped on maintenance etc This goes for a performance car of course I wouldn't care so much on a 1L Polo.
Charlie Boy said:
Think if I was buying a FRS and saw Khumo tyres I would walk away as I would think that either the seller didn’t care about their car or just couldn’t afford to run it and may have skimped on maintenance etc This goes for a performance car of course I wouldn't care so much on a 1L Polo.
Or perhaps if buying a Clio 182 from a youngish chap, who had fitted Kumhos, you may think 'oh clearly this chap has gone for a decent all round tyre and so is not only interested in taking his car to the limits of its performance on every run, on his £1000 worth of soft compound tyres.'Maybe that's just me
You can read what you want into anything you want, but it'll very often come down to personal preference.
ETA: wot HellDiver said too
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