Tyres… probably again!

[Greedydog]

I did a bit of a search but couldn’t find an answer…

I’ve got a A110 GT and a set of 4 new Evo Corse wheels (slightly wider than standard at 8 & 9 inches). David at Life 110 recommends A110S sizes, so I’m going with those but the next question is, what specific tyre?

Historically whenever I’ve had to buy new tyres for performance cars I’ve gone for Michelin PSS and more recently PS4S. But what for my A110, normal PS4 or PS4S,? The price difference is negligible and I’m not concerned about wear etc. Any reason I shouldn’t go for the PS4S for slightly more grip and sharper turn in?

[PHusername]

I decided on PS5 tyres when I saw pictures of brand new A110S cars being delivered with them in Japan.

Mine are 225/40 front & 245/40 rear on the MP-R forged wheels. The OEM tyres on those wheels were really stretched, especially the fronts. The slightly bigger sidewall rides nicer & my speedometer is more accurate now too.

I think the PS5's are quieter than the PS4S's I have on another car. I intend to do more touring than track oriented driving, so absolute grip isn't the highest priority. Not that the 5's are lacking much in that department.

[Yuri75]

Tire sizes are keeping me from ordering the Evo Corse wheels for now; I'm still debating with myself whether I'm happy fitting 215s to an 8J rim. I know it is/should be fine but I'd be happier if the rims were 7.5J. Unfortunately it's not realistic to see a fitted set in The Netherlands to help me over the hump. Tire-wise, I'm currently completely happy with my run-of-the-mill PS5s. More grip than I could reasonably need on a public road, and that's where I'm driving the A110 - so even if I do pull the trigger on the Evo Corses, I'd go for PS5s again.

[Greedydog]

Interesting, I specifically asked David about the sizes as I was also concerned about the stretch (which is a look I don’t like).

I hadn’t even considered PS5’s after seeing a few luke warm reviews (in comparison to PS4S’s but then again they aren’t meant to fill the same niche).

[Andy665]

PHusername said:

I decided on PS5 tyres when I saw pictures of brand new A110S cars being delivered with them in Japan.

I am going to not let what Alpine fit to the cars from factory influence me when i need to change, French manufacturers tend to stick with Michelin no matter what and I am not so sure that the PS5 is necessarily the optimum tyre for the A110, I'm currently leaning towards SC7's.

I am also realistic to know that I am no driving god and on UK roads most premium tyres will provide me with far more grip than I have ability

[AL Peen]

All of the tyre reviews for the past year have been topped by the Continental Sport Contact 7 (as previous post), closely followed by the Bridgestone Potenza Sport.
These are "all rounder" reviews I should add, excluding more track orientated tyres like PS2 or Goodyear Eagle Supersport.
The next tyres down were always PS4s and Goodyear Eagle Asymmetric 6.
The OP referred to the PS4 'S' , not to be confused with the PS4, which never seemed to feature in reviews I've read.

[Greedydog]

PHusername said:

I decided on PS5 tyres when I saw pictures of brand new A110S cars being delivered with them in Japan.

Mine are 225/40 front & 245/40 rear on the MP-R forged wheels. The OEM tyres on those wheels were really stretched, especially the fronts. The slightly bigger sidewall rides nicer & my speedometer is more accurate now too.

I think the PS5's are quieter than the PS4S's I have on another car. I intend to do more touring than track oriented driving, so absolute grip isn't the highest priority. Not that the 5's are lacking much in that department.

Have you noticed any handling issues given the circumference difference between 225 and 215 section tyres?

[neil-g8km6]

I now run Continental's SC7s, 225*40* 18 in the front and 245*40* 18 on the rear, wanted 255*40 on the rears but can't get them. Certainly prefer them to both the Michelin PS4S and Goodyear eagle super sport including for track use.

[PHusername]

Greedydog said:

Have you noticed any handling issues given the circumference difference between 225 and 215 section tyres?

Mine is a PE, not a S, so I've jumped 2 sizes to go from a 205 to a 225, & only one size at the rear (235 up to 245).

I've never driven an A110 on stock wheels & tyres, only ever stock tyres stretched over the wider wheels, so I'm not going to be a reliable source for a comparison. However, the car felt more twitchy than I thought it should & made a casual drive down a straight highway feel like work. Now with the 225's it drives much nicer; still with plenty of sharpness. The size is as recommended by the manufacturer for the 8inch front wheels & looks "right".

If I ever notice any "handling issues" I fear I will be driving too fast on public roads

I guess, from a physics perspective, I must have lost a small amount of acceleration by going larger circumference, but it's not noticeable. I really do appreciate the more accurate speedo though.

[k_m]

Even at the risk of being stoned because some people see Kumho as a cheap tire manufacturer...
the new Ecsta Sport PS72 performed in a recent German tire test on par with the Continental SC7.
Having a tread wear of 320 it plays in the same range as the Michelin PS4 and is available in both 205/235 and 215/245 combo. I've just installed them on my daily, a BMW 2series coupe, and i am positively surprised. Considering it costs half the price of the PS4, so a real bargain, it might be worth a try on the A110.

Edited by k_m on Sunday 20th April 17:38

[jont-]

Interesting. I used to really like Kumho KU31s on the Elise - the only downside was pretty short life.

[Mr_Toad]

PHusername said:

I decided on PS5 tyres when I saw pictures of brand new A110S cars being delivered with them in Japan.

Deals with manufacturers, supply issues and all manner of other factors can be at play when car makers fit tyres to cars in production. Viewing it as a seal of approval is a leap, especially if the decision was made by the accounts department trying to decrease the BOM cost and cutting a deal with a tyre maker.

[Andy665]

Mr_Toad said:

Deals with manufacturers, supply issues and all manner of other factors can be at play when car makers fit tyres to cars in production. Viewing it as a seal of approval is a leap, especially if the decision was made by the accounts department trying to decrease the BOM cost and cutting a deal with a tyre maker.

Not a leap at all - i have worked with manufacturers and its a pretty exhaustive process to get your tyres as standard fitment

[heisenberger]

k_m said:

Even at the risk of being stoned because some people see Kumho as a cheap tire manufacturer...
the new Ecsta Sport PS72 performed in a recent German tire test on par with the Continental SC7.
Having a tread wear of 320 it plays in the same range as the Michelin PS4 and is available in both 205/235 and 215/245 combo. I've just installed them on my daily, a BMW 2series coupe, and i am positively surprised. Considering it costs half the price of the PS4, so a real bargain, it might be worth a try on the A110.

Edited by k_m on Sunday 20th April 17:38

Thanks for sharing these results, quite interesting.

I run sc7 and potenza sport on four cars and really like them both. What tests usually don't mention, both of these tires are (similarly) very light. Would be interesting to see the data/comparison with kumho too.