Tyre Reviews from PH

3rd April 2009, 10:27

Basicly I saw this over on Piston Heads and thought it might be useful for alot of people asking about different tyres and such

Enjoy and thanks to Piston Heads

and heres the link just for Steve_VTS

http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/top...0Tyre%20Review

Aurora

195/55/15 (Ford Focus) - Never again will I try budget tyres recommended to me by my Dad - an absolute death trap in the wet.

Avon

ZZ3 (225/40/18) (Ford Focus MK2) - Great tyres, provide grip in both wet and dry conditions. I had Toyo Proxies before these, and I would rate the grip the same as the Toyo's but last a hell of a lot longer! Great price too, can be picked up for around £80 a peice. Rotational pattern

Bridgestone

RE050A (Ferrari 355) - Fitted recently to replace the same. Once scrubbed in, they seem to grip reasonably well, albeit roads are cold and slippery right now. Will see how they wear, especially on the rears. Seem reasonable value (£100 fro the fronts, £165 for the rears). Only criticism is that I don't like the way they look. Sidewalls seem to slope inwards, making the tyres look too small on the rim, especially on the rears, despite being factory recommended size. Will be replacing with something different once the time comes.

RE050A RFT (225/40/18 + 255/35/18) (BMW Z4 3.0i) - Came fitted to the Z4. Fair dry road grip and excellent turn-in due to the stiff sidewalls, but very poor wet grip. Ride quality was dreadful. Seemed to last for ever, which may explain the poor grip. Also seemed to be on permanent back-order which gave me another reason to switch to non run-flats.

RE040 (BMW E46 330ci) - Came fitted to my BMW as factory fitment to the 18" MV1 wheels. Grip and wear was OK but I found the car tram-lined terribly- dangerously so (tracking was fine). When replaced with Michelin Pilots the tram-lining problem was gone.

Continental

ContiSportContact 2 225/40/18 XL (Focus ST225) - A good all-round tyre that does nothing remarkable in a positive or negative way. Grip levels are good in both wet and dry, although the grip can fall off quite quickly in the wet when they do let go. Not excessively noisy. Turn-in was ok but not as good as the Michelin Pilot Sport 2s now fitted. Wear rate was acceptable - 11,000 on the front set of a turbocharged hot hatch and around 19,000 on the rears. Very good sidewall protection.

Dunlop

SP2000E (235/45/17 + 255/40/17) These tyres were so bad on my completely standard BMW 530i that I replaced them despite the front tyres having a good 6mm of tread left. Any trip down a decent A/B road would be accompanied by near constant DSC activation despite not really pressing on. Replaced all 4 tyres with a different brand, problem vanished.
(225/45/17) (BMW E46 328i Touring Sport Suspension) A BMW OEM spec tyre. Grip levels were good dry and acceptable wet. Though eventual wet breakaway was predictable, feel was not up to the very best tyres so not a tyre to choose if you want to really *enjoy* driving in the wet. On the other hand, wear rate impressive with 4mm left after 20,000 miles. Overall a safe, competent if unexciting tyre. Perfectly adequate for a motorway barge but 10 year old technology and the latest premium tyres are noticeably better for similar money. elfer.

SP9000 (205/55 ZR15) - One full set previously on modified Saab 900 Turbo, went to another 900 Turbo of mine after the first one got 16" wheels, now have a new pair of these on the fronts of the Chimaera. Excellent wet weather performance, lots of grip wet and dry, sidewalls a bit soft so not the ultimate dry handling tyre. Sidewalls rolled very significantly when mounted on narrow rims (5.5" - the lower end of the 'acceptable' scale) - should be a lot better on the 7" wide Chimaera wheels.

SP9000 (215/40 ZR17 and 235/45 ZR17) - Had several sets on my Volvo 850T5R. My father used them on the S80T6 as well and we were both very satisfied. Apart from being cheap they were a massive improvement over the originally fitted Pirelli's on both cars (P Zero Assimetrico and P6000). The turn in was not particularly sharp but given that the majority of their miles happened on a highway, where they were quite planted and stable up to 155mph. They were OKish in the wet and quite OK at aquaplanning. They wore very fast, though - 13k miles for the 850 and about 16k for the S80, in spite of the forward and rears being switched in the middle of the season to make the set last longer. Quite good tyres for the time.

SP9000 (235/40 ZR18 and 255/35 ZR18)
I have run 3 full sets on an E39 M5. Average motorway mileage around 40k per set. Good in the wet, very stable and predictable - definately get noisier when older.

SP Sport Maxx (215/40 ZR17 and 235/45 ZR17) - Had one set on my Volvo 850T5R and one on the S80T6. These were a lot 'livelier' than the SP9000s before. Direction changes were much more decisive, turn in was a lot sharper and the whole car seemed to be on it's toes a bit. They were great fun on a challenging road and when you were fully concentrated but tended to require a lot more concentration from the driver. At speeds over 125mph on a highway driving became quite difficult - they had far less directional stability than the 9000s before and required supreme concentration (disproportionately more so than any other tyres on the same car). There were no differences in the fuel consumption compared to the previous Dunlops. The same tyres were quite different on the S80 - providing most of the benefits, without the shortcomings. The car is naturally more stable at high speed and the difference between the Maxx and 9000 tyres there was minimal. The handling benefits were similar to those on the other car, though and these seem to last marginally longer. One thing apparent, though, is that ESP cuts in a lot more often than with the previous set.

3rd April 2009, 10:29

Falken

ZIEX ZE-502 (17inch) 255/17 and 205/17 (Porsche 964 Carrera 2) - Replaced my Pirelli P-Zero, which seemed to wear out v. quickly (and are about £180 a corner) with 4 new Falkens. A really good , very cheaply priced tyre (about £65 a corner, irrespective of width), and lower noise than the P-Zero's. Properly speed-rated.

ZIEX ZE-512 185/60/14 ('90 Pug 205 XS)
Cheap, felt poor in the wet, quite good in the dry but were quite wobbly and didn't feel as precise as the previous Bridgestones.

FK-452 (18inch) 225/40/18 (Subaru Impreza WRX STi MY03) - Replaced my Eagle F1's as budget was tight last year. Very surprised that a drop in price has not meant a drop in performance. Wet weather grip is around 15% less than the F1's at most, dry weather the same. Tyre noise much improved over F1's. Said to wear better than F1's (I'll update after I've done some serious miles on them) Purchased from Camskill and delivered to Selectatyres for fitting, excellent service from both.

FK-452 (18inch) 225/40/18 (Audi TT Roadster 270bhp Quattro 1.8T) - I had my alloys refurbished and went for a new set of tyres to replace my Michelin Pilot Sport 2 and opted for the Falkens since they have good press and I must agree that they are excellent! They don't grip quite as well in the cold and wet but in the wet they are very good and in the dry they are excellent. They are quite a hardwearing tyre so you'd expect them to have a little less grip than a softer compound. The great part is they cost just £60 a corner direct from Falken! In contrast, the Michelin PS2 worked out to £110 more per tyre! The Michelin is a better tyre but certainly not that much different that you need to pay an extra £440 for a set when you can buy the excellent Falkens FK452.

ZIEX ZE-912 (16inch) 205/50/16 (Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Sxi MY02) - After going through numerous sets of 'this and that' tyres I've finally found something that matches the OE Michelins. They are fantastic in both wet and dry, offer very acceptable road noise. Dry grip is actually very good (far better than the ZE-512s they replaced). The previous 512s suffered from quite pronounced tyre wall deflection and felt like running on jelly, but these are much better, and much more predictable. Yes, I would buy again. £50 delivered from Camskill. (submitted by Fastra)

ZIEX ZE 912 Jaguar XJ8 240BHP 225/60/16 - Very quiet, smooth riding tyre. I do more long distance cruising rather than B road hooning so can't comment on outright grip but these are as good if not better than the OE Pirellis from a comfort point of view. Certainly recommended if you're looking for a touring tyre at a reasonable price. £265 a set from Camskill.
(submitted by Jaguar Steve)

Goodyear

Eagle F1 Supercar EMT 245/40/18 + 285/35/19 ('08 Corvette) - Factory-fit tyres. Pretty good dry and wet grip in warm weather, and very good in standing water in spite of the width. Things change dramatically when the temperature drops below about 5C, when dry road grip is noticeably worse and wet grip and traction are very poor. When the temperature drops below zero they're hilariously bad - wheel-spin in almost any gear at any speed. Wear rate isn't brilliant either - they're about half-worn after 6000 miles of mainly motorway miles.

Eagle F1 Asymmetric 215/45/17 ('99 156 2.5v6) - Bought to replace the GSD3s that I have always been a fan of. Easily the equal of the GSD3s in the dry, quashing as much of the understeer from my nose heavy Alfa as is possible without an LSD. In the wet they are significantly more confidence inspiring that the GSD3s. Have yet to find out if they last more than the few months the GSD3s used to though!

Eagle F1 Asymmetric 215/45/17 ('03 Impreza WRX) - Also bought to replace the GSD3s that I have always been a fan of. They are excellent in the dry and the wet (when you really need grip) and they are significantly quieter than the GSD3s that I've always used in the past.

Eagle F1 GSD3 195/45/15 ('91 205gti) - Incredible wet grip and very progressive both on road and track. Wear rate on dry tracks is very high though, and lots of tyre roar on road.

eagle F1 GSD3 195/45/16 172renaultsport - brilliant grip level in wet or dry, full of feel and inspire confidence in anything you do

Eagle F1 GSD3 205/50/16 (Nissan 200SX) - Transformed the handling of this car, amazing wet grip. Previously the car would be twitchy accelerating gently down a wet slip road, with the GSD3s you could accelerate hard off a wet roundabout without breaking traction.

Eagle F1 GSD3 205/55/17 (Alfa Romeo Spider 1999) - Recommended by many, and you can see why. Confident in the wet, awesome in the dry. Just so much grip, no squeal until you're really really pushing it. Tyre wall protects the alloys from kerbing to a good extent. A tad noisy at times, depending on wear. The wear rate seems to be quite high at the moment too, but I'll update when they finally go. Probably the best tyre for this sort of car.

Eagle F1 GSD3 235/40/18 + 265/35/18 Excellent grip in the wet and dry. Inspires confidence in adverse weather conditions and resists aquaplaning. Knocked 10% off cruising fuel economy, however. But performance wise, absolutely excellent.

Eagle F1 GSD3 205/50/16 (Volvo T5)
totaly transformed the feel of the car, Superb grip in the wet and dry, very confidence inspiring . so far fuel economy has improved over the previous tyres. would definitely buy these again

Eagle F1 GSD3 225/40/18 + 255/35/18 (BMW Z4 3.0i) Excellent grip in the dry and wet - in fact, felt better in the wet than the standard Bridgestone RE050A RFT tyres had done in the dry! Turn in was a little soft compared with the Bridgestones due to the softer sidewalls, which also contributed to excellent ride quality. Wear rate was OK, and made bearable by the great performance.

Eagle F1 GSD3 225/40ZR18 (extra load) (Celica ST205). First set appeared to have the treadblocks peel away from the carcass. Most odd. Goodyear replaced all 4 without quibbling after inspecting the tyres. Second set have been excellent. Strong dry grip, clear water wall. Very happy.

Eagle NCT5 195/55/15 (Ford Focus) - Mediocre tyres.

Excellence 225/40/18 XL (Focus ST225) - these came fitted from the factory and are abysmal tyres. Acceptable grip in the dry elicited sheer terror the second clouds appeared. Very poor water-clearance capacity and as a result they tend to aquaplane far too easily. Sidewall protection was non-existent and the sidewalls themselves were incredibly prone to pinching/splitting - I have not had a single issue with this on subsequent tyres (Michelins and Continentals) so I can only attribute this to the Excellence. I would never fit these tyres again. Surprising how wrong Goodyear got these when the get it so right with the Eagle F1s. Wear rate was good though at around 15,000 for the fronts and 25,000 for the rears.

Kenda

Kaiser 225/40/18 Vauxhall Signum 2.8T - The nastiest tyres I have ever had the misfortune of driving on. With a directional tread, and acceptable dry grip, they lure you into a false sense of security. However, at the first glimpse of damp, they lose the little traction they had and you may as well be driving on bald tyres. Uncomfortable, noisy, no feedback, and annoyingly hardwearing. A budget tyre to avoid at all costs.

Kumho

Ecsta KU31(various sizes and cars) - Originally had these fitted to my MR2 turbo in Australia. Wet and dry grip was very good, with progressive release. They wore very well too (previous set of rears lasted 6,000 kms, but included some trackdays. Cannot recall the brand) whereas the Kumhos lasted far better with better grip to boot. Then put them on the M3 EVO over here and again, very impressed with performance and wear rates. Highly underrated tyre.

Ecsta KU31225/45-18 on MG ZT CDTi - Car originally had Michelins which were excellent but so expensive at £170 a cornr. The Kumho are £100 a corner and every bit as good. Dry gip is far higher than the car can cope with and wet grip is very good too. Even in the recent snow and ice the Kumho's remained usable and kept me moving. They are quiet and last as well as Michelins. Very impressed and will definately buy again.

KL-71 31x10.5R15 for various 4x4's. Agressive mud-terrain tyre with excellent side lugs. Much quieter than BFG MT on the road and grip on wet tarmac more like AT. Very competitive price (compared to BFG). Yet to see what the wear rate is like, I suspect not as good as BFG. £71/corner.

Michelin

Pilot Sport 2 225/40/18 XL (Focus ST225) - These replaced a set of Continental ContiSportContact 3s and are demonstrably superior in pretty much every way. Grip levels in the dry are phenomenal and breakaway is progressive and smooth. At high speed they're remarkably quiet and exhibit superb stability. Grip in wet or greasy conditions is the best of any tyre I've tried so far, in fact I'd go as far as to say that every time I've leaned on them a little more, they've simply served up yet greater levels of grip. An excellent - if expensive - tyre all-round and I would definitely fit these again without hesitation. It remains to be seen whether there is a significant high grip/high wear rate correlation. However Pilots are not suitable for Caterhams which are too light for the compound used (although they will last for years and years). Most Caterham drivers choose something in a much softer compound.

Energy XT(?) 175/65/14 and 175/65/15 - Went through several sets on the Citroën ZX and MINI (standard fitment to both). Of course the exact spec has seen some evolution through the years although they all looked identical enough to me. All were hard-wearing and progressive if not grippy in the dry, they can let go rather suddendly in the wet though. Never a comfort or driveability problem with them; QC seems to be very consistent.

Energy 195/65/16 Vauxhall Vectra. Do not buy these tyres. Came as standard on the car. OK in the dry, good on the motorway, but awful in the wet. This is the only fwd car I've ever driven that put its tail out on a wet roundabout while the throttle was still down... no grip at all in the wet. Not convinced about ability to prevent aquaplaning either.

Nankang

225/45/17 (IIRC) BMW E36 328i. Had a set of these on the front of my 328i. Wasn't very impressed with them and so I put them on the rears (hoping to wear them out quickly, and then move on). The grip of these was simply shocking in the wet, bordering on dangerous (I wouldn't let the missus drive in the rain). Avoid.

Lownoise 185/70/14 I bought these for my daily driver 520i, to date they have covered 20k miles and seem to be about 22/3rds worn. They are quiet, hold their air well and grip is good in all conditions, there is no pretending these are sporting, but for a daily drive fine, I think I paid £40 a corner.

3rd April 2009, 10:29

Pirelli

Dragon 235/45/17 (01 Audi S3) - Not a particulary inspiring tyre - very squealy under can feel the sidewall flex under hard cornering. Nowhere near as confidence inspiring as the Advans they replaced. only got them as they were the only tyres in my size in a small town after running over about 20 nails, destroying 3 tyres. Wouldn't buy again.

P Zero 255/40/18 ('98 Jaguar XJR) - Lasted over 25k but prone to tramlining and I feel not the best for ride quality.

P600's (XJS) - Never, ever, ever again !!! ... probably the primary cause of the demise of my jag, brand new tires (1000KM on them) aquaplained at 70KPH .....

P4000 (15inch) ('90 Jaguar XJ40 Sovereign) - Brilliant tyre for the car. Low wear rate and much improved grip and handling over the old metric Dunlops. Stiffer sidewall meant slightly harsher ride, but barely noticeable in this car.

P6000(195/50/16) - Were on the 16" Saab wheels whn I bought them and already a few years old, which could explain the total lack of wet or dry grip.

P6000 (195/45/15) ('91 205gti) - As above, already on the front of my 205 when I bought it but appalling lateral grip and traction in the wet and dry.

P6000 (205/55/15) ('91 Merc Cosworth) - No specific problems with traction but I've not tried many other tyres, however blew out on a track day (outside rear tyre), big gash in the sidewall.

P6000 (225/50/17) On Volvo S80T6. Horrible is the only word to describe them with. They were worse in every single aspect than the Dunlop winter tyres we replaced them with for the winter season and they were just never put back onto the car. Very loud, poor handling, I know it's stating much but they made the S80s steering even deader than it normally is. Were original fittment, unfortunately. No redeeming quality whatsoever (maybe they are cheap?).

P6000 (205/55/17) (Alfa Romeo Spider) Came with the car. Tramlined astonishingly badly once down to just above legal limits. Awful tyres for this car, although good on the motorway normally. Nowhere near as good as the Eagle F1s it wears now. Average dry traction, below average in the wet. These tyres are also surprisingly expensive.

P6000 205/55VR16 (Alfa Romeo 156 Wagon). Ditchfinders. Last well though - which is a shame as I want rid.

P6000 (195/45/15) (Pug 306 DTurbo) Terrible, how they ever passed any safety standard is beyond me. Should be illegal to sell & use. Exceptionaly poor gip in the wet & greasy conditions, not much better in the dry.

Tigar

Godknowswhattheywerecalled 185/50/15 ('91 205gti) - Rediculously cheap yet surprisingly quite good. Not the ultimate grip of GSD3s but still reasonably good grip and very progressive. Stood up pretty well to a trackday with only minor overheating to the sidewall. Recommended for a tight budget.

Toyo

Trampio R1R (205/50/16) - Currently on the bonkers Saab (near-300 bhp/1,250 kg). Basically a semi-racing compound tyre with a full depth rain tread. Excellent wet or dry, one step up from the best 'regular' UHP tyres. Don't like the cold however, and still a bit more sensitive to standing water than the aforementioned. Remarkably silent and wear resistant for a 'trackday' special; in terms of raw speed they probably fall midway between say, a T1-R and the R888 semi slicks. Very feasible to use them all-year round (except really wintery conditions) on 'weekend' cars.

Toyo T1R (195/50/15)-(Honda civic 1.8 VTi) Plenty off grip in the dry, very good grip in the wet reasonable wear rate.The only problem I have had was in the recent cold weather, putting the power down in semi damp conditions just resulted in wheel spin, must be purely down to the lack of heat in the tyre as this has only occurred when temperatures are sub 5 degrees. Bargain price great tyre!

Toyo T1R (195/50/15) - Rover 218 VVC coupe. Surprisingly good in the wet. They've now added rain channels to the proxies design, and i was very surprised how well they coped on a water logged motorway.- the tyres seemed to plow through the standing water with little aquaplaning. They also survived running over a brick on the motorway, which made the alloy oval- but the tyre stayed inflated. I was impressed by this, as it could have been a nasty accident. Pretty decent grip in the dry, the only downside to these tyres is the tend to wear a little quicker than the goodyear F1's I had previously- but, in this size, they're exceptional value for money (i paid £45 a corner)

Toyo T1R (235/45/17) - Mitsubishi Evo 8MR-FQ300. Pretty good grip in the wet and cold conditions. In the dry, the sidewalls are a bit too soft for really hard cornering. On a 4WD car, wear is very good and tyres give around 15,000 miles, although with very worn shoulders. Paid around £330 for four, plus fixing.

Toyo T1R (255/45/17-225/40/17) - Porsche 944S2. Very good in the dry a bit skittish in the wet but not overly dangerous just need to be careful how you put the power down. Wear looks good too with 2000miles and showing no signs of any wear yet. Paid £300 for all four fitted and balanced at M&M tyres Middlesbrough.

Toyo PX-4 (215/40/18) - MINI JCW. Grip is distinctly average with poor aversion to aquaplaning. Sidewalls feel too soft, exhibiting a 'falling over' effect once past initial turn in which is disconcerting. Dry grip is fair but not massively confidence inspiring. Paid £120.00 per corner.

Vredestein

Sportrac 3 205/60/15 ('94 Saab NG900)
I bought 4 of these to replace my worn mis-match of tyres, I bought them on the strength of the reviews by Autoexpress and ADAC. They perform fantastically well in the wet, are good in the dry and even handle snow reasonably well. For the average (read 'wet') British climate I think they are perfectly suited.

Ultrac Sessanta (255/40/18) ('98 Jaguar XJR) - Reletively cheap, very quiet, reduced tramlining and excellent grip and wear rate. Also excellent in the wet. My only gripe (and it's a very minor one) is that at sub-zero temperatures they seem to lack grip for the first couple of miles - presumably when they warm up. Now driven in snow and can report these tyres are much better than the Pirelli's in snow. The grip levels seem enough to work with traction control meaning it can be left on and still pull away.

Ultrac (225/55/16) ('93 TVR Chimaera 430) Were on the rear on the car when I bought it. Really benign handling characteristics it seems, good grip and traction, well suited to the car. Feels safe and stable in the wet. Wears pretty well for an UHP tyre, too.

Ultrac Sport 205/55/16 ('98 Fiat Coupe 20vt)
Came with the vehicle when I purchased it. Very impressed with them- they seem to handle 250bhp well. Dry grip is ok- similar to the Michelin P Sport's, but wet grip is very confidence inspiring.
I would echo comments above about tyre grip when being driven for the first few miles- you have to take it easy, which is no problem really as the engine is still getting warm.

Yokohama

S306 (195/55/15) (Ford Focus) - Fairly cheap and decent traction and lateral grip in the dry which deteriorates to fairly poor in the wet. Aquaplaning performance appears good enough. Braking capability is decent in both wet and dry. Soft sidewalls give good ride comfort but lack of precision and feel with a slightly lurchy feeling on the limit of grip. Noticeably worse fuel economy than Goodyear GSD3's. Reasonable and safe enough tyre, but you can do better for the money. Wouldn't purchase again.

3rd April 2009, 10:34

1st post

Nice info mate

Cheers

3rd April 2009, 10:36

I did think after I could have just posted the link

3rd April 2009, 10:37

good info but isnt it illegal just to copy and paste someones work?

best just to post the link lol

3rd April 2009, 10:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve_VTS

good info but isnt it illegal just to copy and paste someones work?

best just to post the link lol

Hasn't claimed it for his own though.

Said thanks to PH at the top.

Post the link aswel though mate, but don't delete the info.

3rd April 2009, 10:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve_VTS

good info but isnt it illegal just to copy and paste someones work?

best just to post the link lol

oh, well i think it was a joint effort from the PH crew not just one person doing all the reviews so i thought it would be ok and im not claiming it as my own