Alfa 159 Which Tyres?

[Tom Clarke]

Currently have Pirelli's on it, the back have loads of tread but the front need replacing very soon!

Wondered if anyone in the know recommended any brands over others?

I know a lot of people say you should keep the front and back the same, but in my experience it seems to make very little difference to handling as long as you keep the same make on the same axel, unless someone can explain otherwise and enlighten me?


This is my run around car, so I wont be attempting to lap the Nordschleife! Just want reasonable handling and reasonable wear and road noise.

Anyone know?

[alfa pint]

Have a look on the tyre thread sticky in General Gassing for big Alfas and similar sized fwd cars.

(No point me telling you which tyres I use on the spider, as they're completely different cars.)

[Vimto156]

uniroyal rainsport 2 very good tyre for the amount of money they cost... I'll be putting these on as soon as the current ones on my 156 are dead. Used uniroyals on all of my cars good in the dry fantastic in the wet!

[PJ3074]

As long as each axle set is the same it does not matter if the fronts differ from the rears. It's only an issue when you see some muppets with a different brand on each corner, but being an Alfisti you are not likely to fall into that camp, lol.

UniRoyal RainSport 2 as previously stated are very good, but not many people stock it. You can source them off Ebay and then get local garage to fit.

I have just fitted Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response to my 156 Veloce and have noticed a remarkable difference. The Police are also fitting these to their Rapid Response Units. Dry and Wet grip is outstanding and they last a long time too.

Another worthy contender are Bridgestone ER300's. I was going to get these but the Dunlops were on a promotion and there is not much between them.

Whatever you get, make sure you have a proper 4-wheel alignment (not the naff laser one) to set the car up properly. TyreMark in Kent use a Bridgestone State of the Art system and only charge £60 for a complete setup and the system is installed with all car makes factory settings for correct calibration to precisely the correct settings.

[Tom Clarke]

Thanks very much for the info!

[p17sut]

On alfaowner, I think its Accelera tyres that 159 owners have been talking about being a good choice for the car.
I havent read the posts myself, but I know a guy who has just fitted a pair on a GT because of this justification from 159 owners.....