Tyres - how do you choose?
Discussion
I need some new tyres for the daily, just standard 205,55's on a 16" which will wear will and grip well, been looking on black circles and tyre reviews and its a mine field. How do you all buy tyres? Just on brand?, get same again?
Currently running conti premium contacts which have been fine and lasted well although have cracked. Cost difference is minimal for budget(ish) v premium - for example kumho kh31 £57.99 v conti sport contact 2 £72.99 (fitted)
Currently running conti premium contacts which have been fine and lasted well although have cracked. Cost difference is minimal for budget(ish) v premium - for example kumho kh31 £57.99 v conti sport contact 2 £72.99 (fitted)
Got that size on a couple of our cars and it used to be easy - I'd wait for Costco to have a special offer and buy a suitable Michelin tyre for the price of mid-range tyre elsewhere.
But now Costco's prices have gone bonkers and the offers are crap. So last couple of times I replaced like for like Bridgestone Turanza's on one car (Golf) and on the other (Merc C Class) I fancied trying All Season's so got some Vredestein Quatrac 3 from TyreLeader and had them fitted when the wheels were refurbed.
My experience and impressions that I've gathered over the years are that Conti and Dunlop crack as they age - not a problem if you get through tyres quickly - and Pirelli are extremely variable in the wet. So I avoid all those.
ETA: Also Bridgestone are noted for stiff sidewalls and that certainly seemed true on my Merc which had them from new. They seemed to work fine on the Golf though.
But now Costco's prices have gone bonkers and the offers are crap. So last couple of times I replaced like for like Bridgestone Turanza's on one car (Golf) and on the other (Merc C Class) I fancied trying All Season's so got some Vredestein Quatrac 3 from TyreLeader and had them fitted when the wheels were refurbed.
My experience and impressions that I've gathered over the years are that Conti and Dunlop crack as they age - not a problem if you get through tyres quickly - and Pirelli are extremely variable in the wet. So I avoid all those.
ETA: Also Bridgestone are noted for stiff sidewalls and that certainly seemed true on my Merc which had them from new. They seemed to work fine on the Golf though.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Saturday 31st January 16:57
On my daily driver??
Noise in DB first, anything above 69db I ignore, then noise class, only Class A or Class B, if I find two the same DB and one is Class A that will be my preference.
That will pretty much guarantee they will also be comfortable as well as really quiet.
Then I look at what the wet rating is etc.
Obviously with noise and comfort being my greatest concern wear gets put to the back, usually the hard wearing tyres are hard riding and noisy as hell too.
Noise in DB first, anything above 69db I ignore, then noise class, only Class A or Class B, if I find two the same DB and one is Class A that will be my preference.
That will pretty much guarantee they will also be comfortable as well as really quiet.
Then I look at what the wet rating is etc.
Obviously with noise and comfort being my greatest concern wear gets put to the back, usually the hard wearing tyres are hard riding and noisy as hell too.
Sheepshanks said:
My experience and impressions that I've gathered over the years are that Conti and Dunlop crack as they age - not a problem if you get through tyres quickly - and Pirelli are extremely variable in the wet. So I avoid all those.
Yes the conti's I have have cracked on all four tyres - seems to be a known issue with certain manufacturing dates: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/275103-tyres-...Current favourite and one of my favourite tyres of all time for daily is the Good EfficientGrip.....
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m62b0s291p114421/Goodyea...
I swapped my Michelin Latitude Tour HPs on 17" wheels on my ML to the above on 19" wheels and they were quieter, more comfy and better MPG.
Amazing tyre.
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m62b0s291p114421/Goodyea...
I swapped my Michelin Latitude Tour HPs on 17" wheels on my ML to the above on 19" wheels and they were quieter, more comfy and better MPG.
Amazing tyre.
Edited by gizlaroc on Saturday 31st January 15:50
ecotec said:
Yes the conti's I have have cracked on all four tyres - seems to be a known issue with certain manufacturing dates: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/275103-tyres-...
Continetals are s
t!!! Every pair I have had on a new car they have gone hard after about 6 months or so, and you can see the cracks in between the treads, by month 12 they start to show in the sidewalls.
Also means they get noisy and crashy.
My response from Continental?
I had left them out in the sun!!
Sorry!!??
It is a f
king car, it stays outside, and a tyre should last more than a year outside. Crap tyres.
I have a price in mind and look at the tyres +/-£10 around it usually. Then compare all the brands I know for their wet ratings etc. I like to try different brands each time as well. So far on the Twingo it came on Continentals since then I've put on BF Goodrich, Goodyear (efficient grips, but not performance as above I don't think), Avon (ZV5 probably the best of the bunch so far) and Yokohama (AE01, easily the worst cold weather performance I've had, would not recommend.)
I've just put Dunlop Blueresponse on the Jag (a while back) and 406 (a week or so ago)- on both they're good in the wet, really predictable, and very quiet. Wear seems pretty good on the jag given it's weight but there's a few reviews saying they do wear relatively quickly - but then I'll put up with a soft compound for the extra grip in the cold personally.
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