Tyres for a Saab

[LongQ]

Nowhere else seems right for this question so I'll stick it here.

My 9-5 Aero Estate has Michelin Primacy all round. 225x45 R17 94 W . Plenty of tread on the back, due for replacement on the front.

The dealer suggested a deal on Vredstein which they rate apparently. Anyone tried them?

The Michelin's seem OK but can be v. noisy on some surfaces and although they appear to grip well enough they don't inspire me much. That said I don't really want to cough up for a full set all round, given the rear's look quite new, but I am also concerned that something different on each axle may really mess with the vehicles handling and stability.

Anyone got any experiences to relate - espec. if Saab Turbo related?

[900T-R]

The fast 9000/9-5 fraction seem to love their Bridgestone S-03PPs above anything else, with Toyos (T1-S/R - the latter are the newer type, and a disitinct improvement) running a close second.Niether will have a long thread life. Generally, Goodyear Eagle GSD-3 are highly rated, but they don't seem to work quite so well on bigger/heavier cars.

Sticking with Michelin, the Pilot Sport 2s are said to be very good also - in fact I'm surprised the Aero, being Saabs 'hot' model, comes with Primacy tyres.

The safest bet is always having the same tread pattern/compound front and rear (the obvious exception are factory engineered pairings on front/rear of powerful RWD cars, such as Pirelli's P Zero System) - but in this particular case, a keen driver might want to experiment with a more grippy and precise tyre (such as the above) at the front, and leaving the existing rear ones to cut down on understeer.

As far as I know thier range, Vredesteins have no place on this car except maybe as a winter tyre. Due to being a big, powerful FWD car with sporting pretensions, the 9-5 Aero screams for the best and most advanced rubber available.

[LongQ]

900T-R said:

Sticking with Michelin, the Pilot Sport 2s are said to be very good also - in fact I'm surprised the Aero, being Saabs 'hot' model, comes with Primacy tyres.

Interesting stuff - thanks. I had all this figured out for my previous drive but it's a new game now.

I was surprised the the dealer seemed keen on the Vredesteins but apparently their customers like them - but what that means I don't know.

Current fitting are indeed Michelin Pilot Primacy. They would not be the originals - the manufacture date code is wk50 2003 on all 4 so I would guess they were changed as a set earlier this year by the previous owner. As he was doing 45k miles per annum that would mean the fronts have probably now completed about 25k miles and have about 2.5 - 3mm left. Even tread depth across the tyre which I take as a good sign. About 20k from his ownership and 3k from mine.

Interestingly the dealer set pressures were about 10psi below the handbook recommendations. I'm wondering what they know that I don't. As an experiment I will try them at handbook pressures and check the difference (I am expecting quite a big difference!) and then see what the dealer has to say ...

My guess is a comfort thing - assuming that it was intentional!

I'll know soon - off to seek some reasonable priced premium unleaded. Sainsbury's seem the best around here - the higher octane only 2p/ltr more than the ordinary stuff usually - though to be fair I can't tell the difference on the road. Yet.

Edit to observe:

Higher pressures provide a little more twitchiness from the road surface but not much and a little more road noise and ride firmness, but again not much.

Steering noticeably lighter but seemed to have improved feel. Rock steady neutral to v. slight oversteer tendency on the less greasy bits of tarmac.

Overall it felt much better so I think I will stick with that for a while longer and see what happens.



>> Edited by LongQ on Monday 13th December 16:16

[greenphotos]

I've got a 9000 Aero, and the best tyres I've found are Goodyear Eagle F1 (GSD03's I think)

The Bridestones are very very good, but tyre wear is a bit on the annoying side..

Great in the wet and dry:
http://home.btconnect.com/greenphotos/NewTyreforweb.jpg


Mark


Woohoo! First Post!



>> Edited by greenphotos on Friday 17th December 16:18

[LongQ]

greenphotos said:

I've got a 9000 Aero, and the best tyres I've found are Goodyear Eagle F1 (GSD03's I think) Mark Woohoo! First Post!

Hi Mark and welcome.

Thanks for your input.

I was wondering about the Goodyears, based on the recent Autocar tyre test report. My concern would have been that the tests they performed had the tyres on a Monaro, so a somewhat different beast all round.

I think I will have a couple of weeks to make up my mind and experiment with tyre pressures now that I discovered the dealer set pressures were about 25% below manufacturer recommendations. I have pumped some more air in. Overall an improvement I think.

[matt_t16]

My personal choice would be Toyo T1-R's, Bridgestone SO3's or possibly Eagle F1's. Any of those will do you proud, the Eagles are quiter than the other two with the T1-R's providing very very good grip at the expense of tyre life.

Matt

[cirks]

bit of a late reply to this but having gone through most of the tyres listed here I thought I'd give my 2p worth: All the following have been on my Aero Hot Estate over the last 72k miles.

1. Mich Pilot Sport2 - best out of the lot that I've had.
2. Eagle F1 - bl**dy horrible and didn't last. Don't know why but they just did not suit the car
3. Primacy - lasted brilliantly on the rear
4. Bridgestone SO3's - excellent handling and good feel but life far too short. I don't think the couple of track sessions at Rockingham chasing Caterhams helped their life!
5. Pirelli (can't actually remember what they were) - pretty good and lasted well but not as good as the Pilot Sports.

I've found that the Pilot Sports are worth the extra money as they perform better than the others and last longer too.

[LongQ]

cirks said:

bit of a late reply to this but having gone through most of the tyres listed here I thought I'd give my 2p worth: All the following have been on my Aero Hot Estate over the last 72k miles. 1. Mich Pilot Sport2 - best out of the lot that I've had. 2. Eagle F1 - bl**dy horrible and didn't last. Don't know why but they just did not suit the car 3. Primacy - lasted brilliantly on the rear 4. Bridgestone SO3's - excellent handling and good feel but life far too short. I don't think the couple of track sessions at Rockingham chasing Caterhams helped their life! 5. Pirelli (can't actually remember what they were) - pretty good and lasted well but not as good as the Pilot Sports. I've found that the Pilot Sports are worth the extra money as they perform better than the others and last longer too.

Thanks for that. Good timing as my fronts are due for a change very soon now.

What was the main benefit of the Pilot Sports over the Primacy? (I have to say I have been surprised at how much grip the Primacy seems to offer - maybe I'm not trying hard enough?) A bit noisy on many surfaces but super quiet on some. None seem to fit in the middle - you get noise or no noise.

I'm also interested to know how you felt about the track days. I suspect it would be a blast but I'm not sure I'm ready put mine on track yet - still getting a buzz on the road.

[cirks]

The Primacy have only been on the rears (sorry I didn't say that originally). However, the Sports have been front and rear and have been very happy with them. They seem to suit the car a lot better than any of the others.

As for trackdays, I'm not sure what to say really. The fact that I ended up on one at Rockingham was a bit of a 'money saver' - ie. my TVR had no brakes on it at the time so rather than waste the day I took the Saab and did a couple of sessions. If you choose to do one then don't forget they are big heavy and fast cars so the brakes do take a hammering. Not far short of half the pad life went in the two (short) sessions. Mine is a bit handicapped in that it is also an automatic! However, it was good fun and it really surprised a few people that an automatic estate could keep up and pass things on the circuit (including a griff 500 that was in my way for about 3 laps!). I'll still stick to using the TVR on track in the future though. Do it, you'll enjoy it.

[LongQ]

cirks said:

The Primacy have only been on the rears (sorry I didn't say that originally). However, the Sports have been front and rear and have been very happy with them. They seem to suit the car a lot better than any of the others. As for trackdays, I'm not sure what to say really. The fact that I ended up on one at Rockingham was a bit of a 'money saver' - ie. my TVR had no brakes on it at the time so rather than waste the day I took the Saab and did a couple of sessions. If you choose to do one then don't forget they are big heavy and fast cars so the brakes do take a hammering. Not far short of half the pad life went in the two (short) sessions. Mine is a bit handicapped in that it is also an automatic! However, it was good fun and it really surprised a few people that an automatic estate could keep up and pass things on the circuit (including a griff 500 that was in my way for about 3 laps!). I'll still stick to using the TVR on track in the future though. Do it, you'll enjoy it.

Interesting feedback - many thanks.

Mine too is an auto.

I expect brake wear. My 2 track sessions so far have been in a heavy auto car but with far less effective brakes than the Aero has.

First time out stuffed a set of 50% worn pads. But it was a hot day and so fast track conditions. (Not claiming I was fast, just that it was very tempting to hammer the brakes into 3 or 4 of the turns!) The second day was damp, mostly, so much less wear and tear.

Thing is the Aero is very likely to be faster at the end of straight bits which should really hammer the brakes as you said.

Could be a lot of fun though. Maybe I should see if I can find some competition pads?

Trouble is my rationale for doing it is to find how the things really works should I find myself in an extreme position on the roads. Changing the spec sort of blows away the beneficial reason that is my justification.

[cirks]

LongQ said:

Trouble is my rationale for doing it is to find how the things really works should I find myself in an extreme position on the roads

Well, based on my experience at Rockingham, if you ever find yourself on a nice banked piece of public road at well over 100mph with a downhill chicane while chasing a Caterham, then the Aero handles things pretty well (even if the laptop and other cr*p in the boot doesn't appreciate being thrown around)