Tyres. What to buy?

samsemtex

Lookin to change my front tyres on my 2001 volvo s40. Currently have Champiro 128s and i might as well not bother with tyres when its wet. Seriously ****e tyre in the wet and fairly noisy too. Willing to spend about €90 each for them so any advice on what the best ones are for the buck. Ive heard bad things about Michelins that they are too hard and the like. Id prefer something grippy that might not last quite as long than some rock hards that inspire no confidence.

Advice please.

bazz26

One brand of tyre can be brilliant on one type of car and totally crap on a different car so it is hard to judge really.

Some good reviews of different brands here though:

http://www.tyres-online.co.uk/tyretest/tests.asp

Biro

samsemtex wrote: »

Lookin to change my front tyres on my 2001 volvo s40. Currently have Champiro 128s and i might as well not bother with tyres when its wet. Seriously ****e tyre in the wet and fairly noisy too. Willing to spend about €90 each for them so any advice on what the best ones are for the buck. Ive heard bad things about Michelins that they are too hard and the like. Id prefer something grippy that might not last quite as long than some rock hards that inspire no confidence.

Advice please.

Dunlop, Good Year and Bridgestone usually have a good range with no utter crap in the line up.

Tipsy Mac

I've had good experiences with Bridgestone, Goodyear and Michelin, pretty much the standard tyres that came with each of my cars, I replaced each with the same models of the tyres again and all were grand. I'd stay just stick to a brand name, Dunlop and Semperit I am sure are good too.

Boots2006

I changed the fronts on a 99 astra 1.4 a couple of years ago, bought the cheapest and cheerfullest from a quick'n'cheap tyre place ... I'm almost sure they were Champiros as well. Had exactly the same problem - forget about stopping in the wet, and as for roundabouts ... :eek:

I swapped the fronts and backs over to see would they do on the back, but after a few "oversteer incidents" decided they had to go on safety grounds. I went back to Matadors which I had on it before & told the garage to keep the Champiros (even though they had less than 1000 miles on them).

The Matadors are non-branded, reasonably cheap, but still give decent grip in the wet.

techie

Get yourself over to:

http://www.camskill.co.uk/

I ordered 4 Falken 205/55 16 for my wifes car which had Michelins on it , very good tyres, quieter than the Michelins and the price for 4 was €250 incl delivery.

Biro

Boots2006 wrote: »

I changed the fronts on a 99 astra 1.4 a couple of years ago, bought the cheapest and cheerfullest from a quick'n'cheap tyre place ... I'm almost sure they were Champiros as well. Had exactly the same problem - forget about stopping in the wet, and as for roundabouts ... :eek:

I swapped the fronts and backs over to see would they do on the back, but after a few "oversteer incidents" decided they had to go on safety grounds. I went back to Matadors which I had on it before & told the garage to keep the Champiros (even though they had less than 1000 miles on them).

The Matadors are non-branded, reasonably cheap, but still give decent grip in the wet.

Yep, classic example of saving a few bob and risking lives! I really believe there should be a regulation brought in for tyres, and any shyte that doesn't meet a basic spec should be illegal to sell in this country. I mean Europe regulated the shape of banana's before and they let something as important as tyres go practically unregulated? There's probably some basic regulation crap there, but that's probably only based on manufactured quality, not tyre quality.
Matadors aren't great either. €90 will get you one of the proper brands. As mentioned Semperit are decent too, and uniroyal have a rain tyre that offers fairly good grip in the wet for reasonable money.
I'd be looking towards Bridgestones or one of the Dunlop sport range.

ednwireland

samsemtex wrote: »

Lookin to change my front tyres on my 2001 volvo s40. Currently have Champiro 128s and i might as well not bother with tyres when its wet. Seriously ****e tyre in the wet and fairly noisy too. Willing to spend about €90 each for them so any advice on what the best ones are for the buck. Ive heard bad things about Michelins that they are too hard and the like. Id prefer something grippy that might not last quite as long than some rock hards that inspire no confidence.

Advice please.

iput semperit top life on my primera after cheap tyres much quieter and grip in wet cheapish too sorry comfort life

Boots2006

Biro wrote: »

Yep, classic example of saving a few bob and risking lives! I really believe there should be a regulation brought in for tyres, and any shyte that doesn't meat a basic spec should be illegal to sell in this country. I mean Europe regulated the shape of banana's before and they let something as important as tyres go practically unregulated? There's probably some basic regulation crap there, but that's probably only based on manufactured quality, not tyre quality.

+1
I find the Matadors v good on the astra though, I'll be getting them again. Maybe they just suit it - i.e. it might be a different story if they were fitted to a heavier car.

CountingCrows

In the market for tyres myself (320CI). Has anyone found any good places over the border, Newry for example? Ideally a place that also does tracking

OldmanMondeo

Biro wrote: »

I really believe there should be a regulation brought in for tyres, and any shyte that doesn't meat a basic spec should be illegal to sell in this country.

There is, but in this country too many people think about saving money before anything else. The usuall, are sure tyres / batteries etc are all the same, they are not.

Biro

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

There is, but in this country too many people think about saving money before anything else. The usuall, are sure tyres / batteries etc are all the same, they are not.

You'll save feck all after slithering into a ditch! People just aren't aware mainly I think.

CJackson

Picked up a pair of Falkens 205/40R17s for 75quid each on EireTyres. Price includes shipping

They've a long list of fitters available and my local are on it as 15 quid per tyre.
Im a happy bunny this morning

Savman

I went into Advance last week looking for new tyres but didn't know any of the brands yer man was offering me. I just kept asking him "listen do you just have any Bridgestones or Firestones or jaysis something recogniseable?"
He said "no" and I just walked out and went to Fastfit to get Bridgestone Turanza er300's I think. Costly, but ain't no way I'm comprimising on tyres of all things.

I'll freely admit that I wouldn't know a good tyre manufacturer outside of the usual suspects and I'm sure savings could be made, but when I go in splashing the cash I want some brand name reassurance and not whatever the garage gets highest markup on :rolleyes: