Tyre Quandry??
Author
Discussion

ST270

Original Poster:

673 posts

211 months

Thursday 31st March 2011
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The front set on my Scirocco are the originals from factory - Dunlop SP Sport 01 and they are almost on legal limit. They haven't lasted too bad I don't think - I have owned the car since Christmas ish so the original owner has had the best of them with 11800k on clock. THing is the rears have loads of life left as usual and I'm not sure what to replace with.

The current tyres have now been superceeded with Dunlop Sport Maxx which are very similar - these work out at £309 all in including tracking / alignment etc. Or I have seen a set of Vredestein Ultrac Sessananta (which i used to have on my Focus ST and I think they are fantastic wet and dry inproved feel - perhaps didn't last the longest but were enjoyable to drive on) for £115 per tyre plus £40 fitting so £270 all in.

What are peoples thoughts on having mismatched tyres - does it really matter or am i being too particular??

AlpineWhite

2,164 posts

224 months

Thursday 31st March 2011
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Ideally matched around the whole car. Definitely matched across an axle.


HellDiver

5,708 posts

211 months

Thursday 31st March 2011
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Why would you need tracking and alignment at 11800? Are the original tyres worn unevenly?


ST270

Original Poster:

673 posts

211 months

Friday 1st April 2011
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My mistake - I meant balancing not tracking / alignment!

LuS1fer

43,504 posts

274 months

Friday 1st April 2011
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I wouldn't worry about it. I fitted Kumhos on the front of my Mondeo instead of the standard tyres and if I said I could tell the difference, I'd be lying.

HellDiver

5,708 posts

211 months

Friday 1st April 2011
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Indeed, OE tyres are often a compromise, and often very different to the retail version of the tyre. Take the Continental SportContact2 - a generally well regarded tyre. They were OE fit on my Astra (225-45-17). They have to be without a doubt the worst tyres I've ever driven on, even worse then the OE fit Pirelli P6000 on my Corsa. Yet, I got a similar Astra as a loaner which had aftermarket SportContact2 fitted, and they were excellent.

OE fits are often a different compound depending on what the manufacturer wants. They may be very soft, to give the car a grippy feel. They may be hard to give the car better fuel economy and sharper handling.

Just go with whatever you're comfortable with.

insanojackson

6,020 posts

273 months

Friday 1st April 2011
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my scirocco has bridgestone re50's on from new and at the same mileage as you they are looking a little worn on the inside of both fronts but generally have loads of wear in them. so they may be an option for you?

I have the verdsteins on the rear of my vx220 and honestly cannot fault them.

What about some toyo proxes? Replaced the bridgestones on my type r with them a few years ago and they were ace, a lot cheaper than bridgestones too.

LeoSayer

7,820 posts

273 months

Friday 1st April 2011
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I wouldn't worry about having mismatched tyres front to rear.

The tyres fitters will probably put the wheels with new tyres on the rear axle.

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

275 months

Friday 1st April 2011
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HellDiver said:
Indeed, OE tyres are often a compromise, and often very different to the retail version of the tyre.
I have never heard this before and am very doubtful there is any truth in it.

Do you have any evidence to support what you said?

Frankthered

1,687 posts

209 months

Friday 1st April 2011
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Ozzie Osmond said:
HellDiver said:
Indeed, OE tyres are often a compromise, and often very different to the retail version of the tyre.
I have never heard this before and am very doubtful there is any truth in it.

Do you have any evidence to support what you said?
I was a little surprised by this too. I have heard of some occasions where certain manufacturers working with tyre manufacturers to develop versions of tyres to specifically suit a particular model - Lotus with Yokohama a couple of times; and Jag with Dunlop and Pirelli. I can't imagine Vauxhall/Opel getting special versions of Conti tyres for average Astras - maybe for the VXR's?

I'd be really surprised if the OE version was soooo much worse than the aftermarket version too.

LuS1fer

43,504 posts

274 months

Friday 1st April 2011
quotequote all
I believe some manufacturers fit tyres designed for maximum economy and would guess that is what he is referring to so any performance tyre is going to improve thihgs at the cost of economy. It's also why they use 5w-20 oil instead of 5w-30.

Debaser

8,426 posts

290 months

Friday 1st April 2011
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Frankthered said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
HellDiver said:
Indeed, OE tyres are often a compromise, and often very different to the retail version of the tyre.
I have never heard this before and am very doubtful there is any truth in it.

Do you have any evidence to support what you said?
I was a little surprised by this too. I have heard of some occasions where certain manufacturers working with tyre manufacturers to develop versions of tyres to specifically suit a particular model - Lotus with Yokohama a couple of times; and Jag with Dunlop and Pirelli. I can't imagine Vauxhall/Opel getting special versions of Conti tyres for average Astras - maybe for the VXR's?

I'd be really surprised if the OE version was soooo much worse than the aftermarket version too.
Pretty much every car on sale will have had the tyres specifically tuned for it, including standard Astras.