Ditchfinders on a £500k car??

[Matt UK]

So, I'm looking back through an old Evo mag reading about the Eagle Speedster. Again.

I then notice this £500k car is wearing Pirelli P6000 tyres, commonly know as the original ditchfinders.

So, are these tyres better than I thought, or is this indeed a strange combination?

[LordHaveMurci]

Made me wonder too!

[Astra Dan]

If I remember rightly, the P6000 is meant as a long wearing tyre, so maybe the guys who built this beast know whoever they lend it to is going to be spinning it up quite a bit?
Just an idea.

[ejenner]

didn't know they were supposed to be hard wearing. I always thought Pirelli only made performance tyres. It would help Pirelli a lot if they somehow informed people that p6000 tyres were not supposed to be particularly good for handling! I hated all Pirelli tyres because of the P6000! It is the only Pirelli tyre I have experience with.

[Marf]

P6000s are st, and doubly st because they provide that stness for a long time.

I too thought when I saw the Top Gear episode it was bloody strange that this otherwise lovely car had such shoddy tires fitted.

[LordHaveMurci]

ejenner said:

didn't know they were supposed to be hard wearing. I always thought Pirelli only made performance tyres. It would help Pirelli a lot if they somehow informed people that p6000 tyres were not supposed to be particularly good for handling! I hated all Pirelli tyres because of the P6000! It is the only Pirelli tyre I have experience with.

I had P Zero Neros on my 996 & they weren't great either, especially in the wet.

[ejenner]

I think the p6000s are alright for the first few thousand miles. Lots of manufactures use/d them as original equipment. They go off the boil quickly and are ship forever after.

[sebhaque]

My Impreza came to me fitted with P6000s from the Subaru dealer. TBH that car spent its life on the motorway (I know, very good choice for a motorway car) and I think I coaxed 12,000 miles from the tyres, which, when you include the hoons and general arsing about they saw, wasn't bad at all.

They were woeful through the bends, though. Replaced them with a set of Proxes and the difference was instantly noticeable.

[andy-xr]

Astra Dan said:

If I remember rightly, the P6000 is meant as a long wearing tyre

You're not wrong. I had them on the front of a diesel Mondeo and took them off from age rather than wear. Scared me how long they'd been on there, around 32'ish k later

[christofmccracke]

LordHaveMurci said:

I had P Zero Neros on my 996 & they weren't great either, especially in the wet.

Not a fan of them either

[ejenner]

sebhaque said:

My Impreza came to me fitted with P6000s from the Subaru dealer. TBH that car spent its life on the motorway (I know, very good choice for a motorway car) and I think I coaxed 12,000 miles from the tyres, which, when you include the hoons and general arsing about they saw, wasn't bad at all.

They were woeful through the bends, though. Replaced them with a set of Proxes and the difference was instantly noticeable.

What year was your Impreza? My father bought a Turbo 2000 in... 2001 and (it was epic, very last of the hardcore series one Impreza's, all new and was brilliant fun to drive) and it came with Bridgestones which cost a fortune to replace. My dad put original tyres on it but I think he only did about 10k in the car before selling it.

[otolith]

Perhaps they didn't want to give it too much grip - I expect even those tyres are grippier than the E-type's OEM rubber was.

[Mafioso]

This subject was mentioned in the top gear thread when it was shown on the program. Keep up at the back!

[EDLT]

otolith said:

Perhaps they didn't want to give it too much grip - I expect even those tyres are grippier than the E-type's OEM rubber was.

I think it's this too, if they give it too much grip it won't feel like a classic car.

[chevy-stu]

Maybe something to do with the Jag / Pirelli link, as loads of Jags came with P6000's as OEM.

[Tunku]

My V70 has them as OEM, ok in the dry, but a real pain in the wet, especially when booting it onto a roundabout, feels like you left the handbrake on.

[PD9]

Maybe a deal was setup with Pirelli? As mentioned previously Pirellis are awful. Terrible road noise and bad levels of grip. My tyre of choice is Toyo T1Rs. Excellent value for money and peace of mind when driving in any condition. They wear a little quickly though. Can't have it all I suppose!

[sebhaque]

ejenner said:

What year was your Impreza? My father bought a Turbo 2000 in... 2001 and (it was epic, very last of the hardcore series one Impreza's, all new and was brilliant fun to drive) and it came with Bridgestones which cost a fortune to replace. My dad put original tyres on it but I think he only did about 10k in the car before selling it.

It was an '05 STi, I recently read something about manufacturers having a deal with tyre companies so that their cars would leave the factory exclusively with a given set of tyres.

[k-ink]

I had well worn P6000 on an alfa 145 Cloverleaf. I have to say it was a riot. Piling into a corner too fast meant a little slip added to the entertainment level.

ps

Like large scale karting

Edited by k-ink on Saturday 8th October 10:09

[LordHaveMurci]

ejenner said:

What year was your Impreza? My father bought a Turbo 2000 in... 2001 and (it was epic, very last of the hardcore series one Impreza's, all new and was brilliant fun to drive) and it came with Bridgestones which cost a fortune to replace. My dad put original tyres on it but I think he only did about 10k in the car before selling it.

I had a '97 Turbo 2000 back in 2008, had it for 4 years & replaced a set of Bridgestones every 4-6000 miles! Great fun that car!