The Tyres Thread

positron

Would it make sense to have a general tyres thread to compare experiences - kinda one thread to search in for boards'ies collective tyres knowledge?

positron

I drive a Honda Accord, with 17" wheels, and I was thinking of getting Hankook Optimo 4S (all-season tyres) until recently, but I think I have changed my mind and have decided on Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2. I read many reviews suggesting these are quieter tyres and lasts a good bit while offering very good grip in wet and dry. With 17" wheels, I would love some noise reduction - current Bridgestone Potenzas are fine but they are noisier than the Continental Sport Contact 3 I used to have.

Also, a pair of the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric comes up around €235 at camskill + fitting and balancing, where as friendly local tyre place has offered to do the whole lot for €290. I think I will go withe the garage, supporting local economy and what not..!

Any suggestions / thoughts in general are most welcome! Anyone had these tyres and are they any good?

George Dalton

I think the thread will probably get too big and hard to follow so may not be that useful.

To answer your question on the Goodyears, I think they are a fantastic tyre. I have been using them on my cars (size 225/45 17) for the last few years and can't fault them. I am going to try a set of Michelin PS3 next but they will have to be very good to beat the F1s.

Leprechaun77

I'm looking at a few tyres myself (17") and the the Goodyear assymetric 2 seems to be getting good reviews. I have two friends who also do a fair bit of mileage and they swear by Uniroyal rainsport 2 tyres. My recent tyres on the family cars include:

Bridgestones re050/re070 - excellent in the dry but left me disappointed in damp and wet road conditions....the car had a small bit of traction loss at times cornering

SUNNY-got these on my lease car and changed them after three weeks- ok in the dry taking it easy - seriously dangerous in the wet, so much so I would recommend they come with a health and safety warning- dirt cheap. DO NOT BUY THESE IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE!!!!!

Contisport 3 - good all round tyre - decent dry and wet grip - average wear and noise

Michelin Pilot Primacy - excellent dry and wet grip although wet grip has disimproved recently as tread is down to 3.0mm. Superb wear, though a bit noisy.




Now considering Michelin ps3 or assymetric 2 to replace the Michelin above...opinions welcome

Shane732

On day to day driving can you guys notice the difference between two different tyres?

I've driven on Bridgestone Potenza's ever since I had my Mini so I'm not in a position to comment.

In relation to the Potenza I find them ok but the ride has been relatively hard in any car I've had them on so again I'm not in a position to comment!

Leprechaun77

To be honest I'm not too bothered on noise as the difference is probably neglible with the top brands. I do however notice the difference in wet grip on the potenzas. I personally find them a bit slippy and expected more from a tyre of this reputed quality.

JJJJNR

Wow didnt thinks f1s would be that price, need 4 on before i can use my 18s again.

bazz26

I have these and I am very happy with them:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Vredestein/Ultrac-Sessanta.htmhttp://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Vredestein/Ultrac-Sessanta.htm

JJJJNR

Tried them they didnt suit my car, but the newer ones with the assymetric thread look vgood,

Chriscl1

The best tyre I've had was the old style veredestein ultrac which sadly they don't make anymore

The worst were pirelli p-zero, can't remember which version but they were pure muck in the wet

I've pilot sport 3's now, quite impressed with them, will need changing soon and I'm going for hankook Venus v12 evo's next.

positron

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

Shane732 wrote: »

On day to day driving can you guys notice the difference between two different tyres?

I have wondered the same actually. It's probably those who loves driving to the limit who can tell the difference on grip etc - or those who do a lot of mileage in all sort of weather perhaps. In the last 3.5 years driving this car, I only had one instance where ABS kicked in - and that was when there was about 3 inches of ice on the road (Jan 2010). Now the road noise - I am very aware of it every time I am on the motorway, and I can also tell you that continental sport contact 3 is better than Bridgestone Potenzas on both road noise, and tramlining (where the cars with light steering, steering tends to stick to road imperfections, road markings, white lines etc) - Potenza tramline like crazy when it wears down where as no such thing with SP3 even when it wears all the way to 1.6mm

positron

Quick Update:

I have the new pair of Gooyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2s fitted to the front, and the two Bridgestone Potenzas moved to the rear. After driving both town, back roads and motorways, I am really happy with the new F1s. They are definitely quieter than the Potenzas - I can tell the noise is now coming from the rear axle. I haven't noticed any grip issues (but I don't drive that hard), and steering feels slightly heavier and planted / sure-footed. This is good because Accord's steering is usually is too light.

PS: I know new tyres should ideally go to the real axle, but I had a feeling that the F1s would be quieter and wanted that over the noisy Potenzas.

Mr Benevolent

I'm looking for part-worns in the next 3 months or so (not winters as it's unlikely to snow in Dublin this year), mine (Turanzas) are understeering like a mofo in the wet. Any suggestions?

positron

If you are going for part-worns, general advise is to stick to premium brands like Continental, Michelin, Bridgestone etc, and look for atleast 3-4mm tread. And depending on how and how much you drive, they should last a lot longer than 3 months.

BigChap1759

Another vote for the Vredestein Ulltrac Sessantas here - IMHO they are a far superior tyre to the Bridgestone Potenzas, especially in the wet - and much cheaper as well. Had both on my RX8 231.:)

Also found Camskills in the UK miles cheaper than anywhere here but not checked recently with the exchange rate.

Fizman

In need of 4 new tyres myself (225/40/18) and currently waiting on a call back from a local guy for options. For the last 2 years I've gotten Falkens 452s from Camskill, and can't really fault them. I am interested in the Vreds though, even if they are an extra €40 per tyre. Will be purchasing by the end of the week either way.

I got quoted 140 euro per corner fitted for Continental SC3's 225/45/17 yesterday, its 270 for two incl delivery from camskill but with fitting being around 12 euro a corner camskill's actually more expensive.

I was planning on getting toyo proxie T1sports at 250 for two (225 delivered + 25 euro to fit them locally) but considering the contis now.

Tea 1000

Shane732 wrote: »

On day to day driving can you guys notice the difference between two different tyres?

I've driven on Bridgestone Potenza's ever since I had my Mini so I'm not in a position to comment.

In relation to the Potenza I find them ok but the ride has been relatively hard in any car I've had them on so again I'm not in a position to comment!

Yep, definitely. Some cars are very sensitive to tyres. The 3-series can be quite fussy especially with what's on the rear axel. Others aren't so fussy, and the difference will be smaller unless you're pushing on a little. But some tyres are pure muck no matter what.

Hi

Im after new tyres for my 09 Focus.

There are Autogrip on it at the moment. They are newish tyres but I find them to be loosing traction and slipping on corners.


Any suggestions please?

maidhc

My experience so far:

Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3: Best tyre ever. Brilliant on wet roads. Lasted OK. Expensive.
Firestone Multihawk: Decent, good value middle of the road tyre.
BF Goodrich: Nearly burt out the ABS. No grip in the wet.
Conti SportContact: Lovely tyre, but didn't last very long
Falken F452: Hated these. Bought them after the Goodyear Eagle. They didn't last at all as long, and didn't grip as well. Cheaper, but was dissappointed after all the good reviews.
Maxxis M35: I don't have these long yet, but I really like them. They seem to have decent grip, and are very quiet. Only tried them because they make a decent bicycle tyre!
Wanlii: Bought a car with these. Christ, the noise. Threw them off after a week.

Generally I have stuck with Firestone. The prices have been reasonable, and apart from one set of duds a few years ago they have always done what they promised.

Fizman

Right, after researching the sh1te out of things over the past couple of days, I've just ordered 4 x Kumho Ecsta KU39's. Reviews are very good, and mid range price too. I wanted to try something different to the Falken 452's, and I couldn't justify going for the GY Eagle F1 Assym 2's, seeing as I'm being hit from every angle of motoring life in Jan/Feb.

kerten

I think it may be a good idea to mention sizes and cars with tyre info. Sometimes same models can't perform same in different cars or sizes.

Dunlop spt 300(195/60/15 - 00 Primera 1.6) : Average price and average tyre from every angle. Wouldn't buy again.

Michelin Primacy HP(205/55/16 - 01 Primera 2.0) : Perfect motorway tyre. Straight stability increased a lot but more resistant to turning. Grippy, safe and not very noisy. I would buy it again.

Firestone F590 (99 Yaris 1.0): Despite it was a 155/70/13 size tyre, I found them quite grippy in dry and wet on a light car like yaris. Couldn't push it too much with that size of course I started to respect Firestone brand more.

Uniroyal Rainexpert(99 Yaris 1.0) : Being advertised as a rain tyre. Put 175/65/14 size on yaris after Firestones and I am quite happy with them. It is made from a soft compound which is good for grip and comfort. I didn't feel any sideflex due to soft side walls which is a plus. I always accelerate into puddles to test limit of wet grip/aquaplanning and they are perfect so far.

Neilw

Chriscl1 wrote: »

The best tyre I've had was the old style veredestein ultrac which sadly they don't make anymore

Had 4 of them fitted to a previous car and had to give them back to the tyre fitters. The car was undriveable with them, unstable and felt like it wanted to understeer and oversteer in the same corner Tried different tyre pressures but nothing worked, put about 1k miles on them before I gave them back.
I had eagle F1 GSD3's fitted instead and the car handled normally again.
The F1 asymmetric are a great tyre too, had a couple of pairs of these.
Also had michelin pilot sports which were good but I didn't hold onto the car for long.

Chriscl1

Wow that's strange, I went from gsd3's to these and found them better, granted the f1's had about half their tread left when I bought the car. I also found them ultrac's the best tyre in the wet, zero aqua planing even on certain parts of the Naas rd where it's like a swimming pool. The car I had them on was a 2.2 Honda euro r and with the ultrac's it never understeered. Brilliant wear rate too. I would love to get another set and try them on the car I have now and see were they really that good or was it the euro r chassis.

YouTookMyName

I am looking at Kumho KH31 ecsta in 195/60 R15, but can't find out if they have rim protectors or not. Does anyone have these tyres?

Or recommend a decent 55-75 euro tyre on camskill with rim protectors? Thanks.

projectgtr

After a long search (and having to import :mad:) im back to my favourite tyre of all time the Potenza RE01-R



Postives
-Super stiff side wall, so no feedback lost from the car.
-Drainage channel for water unlike my previous Toyo R888
-Once warm the grip is immense
-They deal with high temperature very well (more an issue on track)
-Even though they are an R compound they wear very well.

Negatives
-Not available in Ireland (Bridgestone Ireland told me they dont exist )
-While they do have a drainage channel id still be wary of standing water.
-Hard to find
-Lowish cold grip

Chriscl1

Today's arrival

challengemaster

kerten wrote: »

I always accelerate into puddles to test limit of wet grip/aquaplanning and they are perfect so far.

Don't be too surprised if you end up having to pull over for a while to let your spark plugs dry off so :rolleyes:

TestTransmission

projectgtr wrote: »

After a long search (and having to import :mad:) im back to my favourite tyre of all time the Potenza RE01-R

Where did you get them?How much?etc

Nonoperational

Went from Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric to Potenza S001s and to be honest both were identically exceptional to me. Really struggle to find the bottom of them.

kerten

challengemaster wrote: »

Don't be too surprised if you end up having to pull over for a while to let your spark plugs dry off so :rolleyes:

In fact it happened to me once when I used my fiat tipo as a snow plough at 30 cm deep snow. Parked in front of cafe then it didn't work until mechanic dried plugs 2 days later:)

but yaris is not fast or low enough to wet its 1 meter far from ground plugs

Fizman

YouTookMyName wrote: »

I am looking at Kumho KH31 ecsta in 195/60 R15, but can't find out if they have rim protectors or not. Does anyone have these tyres?

Or recommend a decent 55-75 euro tyre on camskill with rim protectors? Thanks.

Well I'm just after getting 4 Kumho Ecsta KU39s last week (225/40/18), and there is little or no rim protector on them. Although I'm only 600 kms or so on them (so the protective coating will only just be wearing off), there is a noticeable difference over my previous Falkens, especially in the wet. Seems to be much quieter too!

YouTookMyName

Fizman wrote: »

Well I'm just after getting 4 Kumho Ecsta KU39s last week (225/40/18), and there is little or no rim protector on them. Although I'm only 600 kms or so on them (so the protective coating will only just be wearing off), there is a noticeable difference over my previous Falkens, especially in the wet. Seems to be much quieter too!

Cheers, supposed to be a great tyre for the money. Just don't like the look of a rim without protector.

tossy

Got a hole in the side wall of one of my rears yesterday so going to be ordering 2 new rears in the coming days,i will be without a doubt going for goodyear F1s again being using them pretty much non stop for around 6 or 7 years and find them a great tyre.

One of the best of the other tyres i have experience of would be actually kumhos and one of the worst would be federals.

YouTookMyName

tossy wrote: »

One of the best of the other tyres i have experience of would be actually kumhos and one of the worst would be federals.

I had 205/40 R17 on a Mk1 Focus. back in good times before i knew about camskill and was paying 110/120 euro a corner. :rolleyes: Went through fronts every 12000miles.

Good in the dry, awful in the wet.

Johntegr

BigChap1759 wrote: »

Another vote for the Vredestein Ulltrac Sessantas here - IMHO they are a far superior tyre to the Bridgestone Potenzas, especially in the wet - and much cheaper as well. Had both on my RX8 231.:)

Also found Camskills in the UK miles cheaper than anywhere here but not checked recently with the exchange rate.

Quite a range of Potenzas out there, which ones did you use? I've heard good reports of the Ultracs but being better than Potenzas is new to me.

projectgtr wrote: »

After a long search (and having to import :mad:) im back to my favourite tyre of all time the Potenza RE01-R


Postives
-Super stiff side wall, so no feedback lost from the car.
-Drainage channel for water unlike my previous Toyo R888
-Once warm the grip is immense
-They deal with high temperature very well (more an issue on track)
-Even though they are an R compound they wear very well.

Negatives
-Not available in Ireland (Bridgestone Ireland told me they dont exist )
-While they do have a drainage channel id still be wary of standing water.
-Hard to find
-Lowish cold grip

Cool, what site is that?

Chriscl1 wrote: »

Today's arrival

(Hancook Ventus V12.)

Quite a good tyre there IMO.

Someone said Potenzas are quite noisy. For the likes of daily motorway usage, don't put them on, you'll be driven mad with the droning, they're actually a very loud tyre!

BigChap1759

Johntegr wrote: »

Quite a range of Potenzas out there, which ones did you use? I've heard good reports of the Ultracs but being better than Potenzas is new to me.

Cool, what site is that?


Quite a good tyre there IMO.

Someone said Potenzas are quite noisy. For the likes of daily motorway usage, don't put them on, you'll be driven mad with the droning, they're actually a very loud tyre!

They were the standard RX8 tyre - R040s?

BigChap1759

Have recently changed the car to a family bus(520d) so not sure it's worth spending big on a performance tyre - have had my interest piqued by these - Nexen N6000 or N8000 - seem to get fairly decent write ups fpr the money.

Anyone tried 'em or heard any reports?

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s323p60268/NEXEN_TYRES_CAR_NEXEN_N8000_-_245_40R18_97Y_TL_

BigChap1759

Have you heard anything on the Nexens?

Johntegr

BigChap1759 wrote: »

They were the standard RX8 tyre - R040s?

Ah, basic tyre tbh. I have RE070's. Although they're noisy and have very stiff sidewalls, they're a fantastic tyre. I'll be getting another set when I've gone through these.

Even the RE050's are a nice tyre.

You now have a RWD car with a smidge of Torque, I'd be buying good tyres tbh.

As for Nexens, they're not bad, but you'd get better from the likes of even Continental or Goodyear for similair price ranges I'd imagine.

BigChap1759

No there's a b ig difference in price between both of those makes and the Nexens, hence my interest. Also, I'll not be driving the Beemer anywhere near as hard as I did the RX8 so don't think I need to go premium.

Planning on getting the N8000s next week - will report once I've scrubbed them.

RED PASSION

BigChap1759 wrote: »

No there's a b ig difference in price between both of those makes and the Nexens, hence my interest. Also, I'll not be driving the Beemer anywhere near as hard as I did the RX8 so don't think I need to go premium.

Planning on getting the N8000s next week - will report once I've scrubbed them.

how are the nexens

MetzgerMeister

BigChap1759 wrote: »

I'll not be driving the Beemer anywhere near as hard as I did the RX8

You wont' need to, the Bimmer has torque so you'll drive it normally but it'll feel like a supercar compared to the RX8 :P

Zascar

I'm doing a bit of research into tyres right now as I'm buying a TT and it will need new tyres fairly soon. Here's what I'm considering:

Uniroyal Rainsport 2: My mechanic swears blind on these - they are renowned as a brilliant rain/wet tyre but he recons nothing grips like them on his 300bhp+ rwd car.
Goodyear Eage F1: Obviously known as a brilliant tyre I thought they were not long lasting - this links says otherwise though.
Michelin Pilot Sport 3: Mate of mine was advised these for his 300bhp+ Subaru Impreza - he called me saying no single mod as transformed the car so much - absolutely raved about them.

Any I should be adding to this? They are all great tyres I'll probably more than likely go for the ones that are best value and long lasting.

positron

Zascar wrote: »

Goodyear Eage F1: Obviously known as a brilliant tyre I thought they were not long lasting - this links says otherwise though.

As I posted on the first page of this thread, I got these Asymmetric 2s fitted back in January, and I don't drive too hard, but the tire has been superb all along. No tram-lining, very little noise etc - all positive, but I do get the feeling that they are probably not going to last as long as the Bridgestone Potenzas I had on before these.

Zascar

They get better wear results on that site than any of the others. My guess is yes tyres like Potenzas etc would wear much better but would not perform as well as the above 3. It's finding the right balance I suppose

awec

This post has been deleted.

Zascar

Yes you can replace two just make sure they are on the same axle.

The Front vs Rear debate - depends who you talk to but watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rvAJSMT5jc

awec

This post has been deleted.

challengemaster

Zascar wrote: »

I'm doing a bit of research into tyres right now as I'm buying a TT and it will need new tyres fairly soon. Here's what I'm considering:

Uniroyal Rainsport 2: My mechanic swears blind on these - they are renowned as a brilliant rain/wet tyre but he recons nothing grips like them on his 300bhp+ rwd car.
Goodyear Eage F1: Obviously known as a brilliant tyre I thought they were not long lasting - this links says otherwise though.
Michelin Pilot Sport 3: Mate of mine was advised these for his 300bhp+ Subaru Impreza - he called me saying no single mod as transformed the car so much - absolutely raved about them.

Any I should be adding to this? They are all great tyres I'll probably more than likely go for the ones that are best value and long lasting.

Potenza RE050a's would be on par with them too. I still don't think there's anything better than Eagle F1's however. Impossible to get them to lose grip in the dry under very hard cornering, and nearly just as impossible in the wet

rocky

awec wrote: »

Cheers. How much are you generally talking for pretty standard tyres for 15" wheels. Just ballpark will do. Not interested in any high end stuff either, middle of the road will do.

I got Dunlop Fast Response for around 82 a corner balanced and fitted.