New Tyres Required

[Phil Tudhope]

Tuscan S Convertible 2006.

Time to replace my aged tyres. Only done ~20,000 miles and have 6mm to 7mm tread left on all of them but they are 8 years old !!

I am thinking of going for Michelin Pilot Sport 3.
Tyre size is 255/35 x 18". I can get Pilot Sport 3s in 255/35 ZR 18 94Y locally.

Anyone got any experience and views on these?

Phil.

[glow worm]

Your fronts are probably OK ... put your front 255s on the rear and get new 225s or 235s for the front. But not Goodyear Asymetrics very poor reports... I like a tyre with a good sidewall just to protect the rim .... F1s were great not no longer available... Maybe the Pilots or Toyos and I think there is a new Bridgestone S03.... I going to have the same problem stortly .

[BobE]

I've just fitted a new set of tyres to my car - Conti Sport Contact 5's. They have a bead that protects the rim and have a compound that gives very good grip in wet weather. They're not track day type really sticky tyres but my concern is not maximum grip in the dry but a safe alternative when you get caught out in the rain. I've got 235/40R18 91Y on the fronts and 245/40R18 93Y on the rears. I bought them delivered from Germany for about £405 for all four and had them fitted and balanced for £15 a wheel locally - with new valves from TVR Parts for about £15 for four - so about £480 all in for the whole car. The car feels more secure than the old Toyos.
I think '94' would be a bit stiff in the side walls for the fronts.

[Phil Tudhope]

glow worm said:

get new 225s or 235s for the front. ( .

Interesting you suggest narrower tyres for the front. I have been toying with this idea and really don't know whether to try it out or not. Reportedly tramlining is eased by putting narrower front tyres on. Is that the reason for your suggestion?

[glow worm]

Yep, I changed to 225s within 6 months of it being new in 2006 at Ben Langs recommendation, tramlining much reduced, still a bit skitish fast on bumpy surfaces , so raised the steering rack a couple of millimetres (in fact as far as you could) and that made a definite improvement. Ohlins and stiffer springs next ... Recently added a Sag to the flock, and I would like to get the Tuscan feeling somewhere near as planted to the road. Both cars on original F1 tyres (Sag 255s all round) .

[tvrmallorca]

I had a chat with Jason and the recommendation from him is 235's at the front and 245's at the back.... Wanted to go up to 255's at the back but he said the handling is so much better with that setup and also the wheel alignment is super important

[glow worm]

I think MK1s and Convertibles/MK2s are a completely different ball game.

[tvrmallorca]

true didn't read the year of the car :-)

[S6 Devil]

tvrmallorca said:

I had a chat with Jason and the recommendation from him is 235's at the front and 245's at the back.... Wanted to go up to 255's at the back but he said the handling is so much better with that setup and also the wheel alignment is super important

Is that 245 40 18 at the back or 245 35 18?

[Phil Tudhope]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

I am now thinking I should be trying to get Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres rather than the Pilot Sport 3s.

Trouble is you cannot get Pilot Super Sports in 255/35 18" in the UK.

Anyone have any ideas on this? Should I change the tyre size or should I try and get the tyres from abroad?

[Basil Brush]

tvrmallorca said:

I had a chat with Jason and the recommendation from him is 235's at the front and 245's at the back.... Wanted to go up to 255's at the back but he said the handling is so much better with that setup and also the wheel alignment is super important

I've tried both 245 and 255 GY F1s on back of mine and no real difference. TBH actual tyre widths for a given size vary quite a bit aross manufacturers so not quite that clear cut.

[Zippee]

Can't offer too much constructive help as these are on my T350 rather than a Tuscan but I changed to G/Year Asymmetric 2s a couple of months ago and they are so much better than the Toyo T1Rs they replaced, good grip and feedback and no issues on a 200 mile drive in torrential rain last month.
However, I use the car fast road rather than track so can't say how they perform on the limit.

[so called]

Zippee said:

Can't offer too much constructive help as these are on my T350 rather than a Tuscan but I changed to G/Year Asymmetric 2s a couple of months ago and they are so much better than the Toyo T1Rs they replaced, good grip and feedback and no issues on a 200 mile drive in torrential rain last month.
However, I use the car fast road rather than track so can't say how they perform on the limit.

I e been using GY F1's and fancied a change thus year. Had singled out Toyo's

[MrChips]

I've just changed from F1 asymetric2 to a new set of Yokohama AD08R.

Fronts are 225/40 but the yoko's have a significantly wider footprint than the F1's. First impressions are that dry grip is very impressive and they have good feedback. They do seem very solid/have stuff sidewalls in comparison to the F1's so the initial ride quality is noticeably worse. Luckily I have nitrons so I'll play around with the tyre pressures and damping settings.

That said, I loved my Asymetric2 and would have gladly ordered again if it wasn't for my constant need to change things. I've driven on track in the wet and dry and they were faultless so if you want a tried and tested tyre then the goodyears are a safe bet!

The Yoko's do look much cooler though...

[Phil Tudhope]

Well, I've done the dirty deed and have now got Michelin Pilot Super Sports on in size 245/40 R18 97Y (front and rear). Have only driven it back home so far but initial feel is good and the slightly higher side wall (compared to my previous 255/35s) seems to be a bit more pliant over the potholes. A wee bit less crash it appears as you negotiate the high quality road surfaces the Gov't has provided from all the road tax and petrol tax they have pinched from us.

97Y sounded a bit stiff to me as I don't need a load rating that high but I'm not sure if there is actually a direct correlation between sidewall stiffness and load rating.

I'll report back in a while after I've had some more miles on these tyres.