Tyres needed for MPV (Sharan, alhambra, galaxy)

derryvella · 20-10-2013 11:41am #1

Hi,
So my wifes car will need a new set of tyres before the winter sets in.
The car is a 2003 VW Sharan 1.9Tdi.
The tyres need to be reinforced and have heavy load rating.
I have had a look around the net but options are limited.
Can any one recommend tyres for this car?
I have a choice of the steel rims that came with the car of alloys from a Galaxy.
I have access to a tyre machine and can fit my own tryes or go to a tyre centre if the price is right.
I need good quality, safe tyres for less than 90 euro each .
Any ideas?

holdmybeer · 21-10-2013 11:38am

215/55/16 97H > WR

I would recommend the Avon, they get excellent grip and good wear.

Avon zv3 97HR
Toyo C1s 97WR
Kumho KU31 97WR

The W rated tyres give better grip but wear faster because the tyre compound is softer.

CJhaughey · 21-10-2013 12:21pm

Can I respectfully suggest that you reevaluate the price bracket you are looking for?
Given that this is a people carrier for €120 a tyre you will be getting a much better class of tyre.
A maximum of €90 will be the very low end of the tyre quality scale.
I know times are tough but there isn't much holding a car to the road apart from 4 patches of rubber the size of your palm.

derryvella · 21-10-2013 6:02pm

Thanks for the replys guys.
holdmybeer, where do you source these Avon tyres? What price range?
CJhaughey I know what your saying and I agree wholeheartedly. I think I will pay more for a good all rounder tyre that will last and be safe. The car is primarily driven by my wife with the kids on board so a safe tyre is a must. If it was for me I would put anything under it.

I am finding it hard to find a tyre with load rating I need online.

Any preferred online suppliers?

George Dalton · 21-10-2013 6:15pm

If you have the option of fitting the tyres yourself for free then you will probably find it hard to do better than sourcing them from camskill:

http://camskill.co.uk/m62b0s292p0/Car_Tyres_-_MPV_Tyres_-_People_Carrier_Tyres_-_16_inch_R16_inch_-_215_55_16_215_55R16

derryvella · 21-10-2013 6:15pm

How about these?
http://www.oponeo.ie/details-tyre/kumho-solus-vier-kh21-215-55-r16-97-h-xl

Anyone used oponeo? Are they okay?

ba_barabus · 21-10-2013 6:21pm

Hi OP,

My Brother In Law has one of these MPV's and had numerous problems with poor tyre wear no matter what brand he used. Until of course he fitted a set of 215/55/R16 Nokians.

He purchased them in a small garage near Birr for €85 a tyre (balanced and fitted) and got a full set fitted.

While they aren't a familiar brand to most Irish people they are respected on the continent especially for their winter tyres. He has found the wear, wet weather grip and noise levels all very good on them.

He put a lot of research into getting the right tyre for the car in terms of finding a safe tyre.

derryvella · 21-10-2013 6:23pm

Sorry George Dalton, didn't see your post before I posted last. I am looking through camskill now;)

derryvella · 21-10-2013 6:27pm

ba_barabus wrote: »

Hi OP,

My Brother In Law has one of these MPV's and had numerous problems with poor tyre wear no matter what brand he used. Until of course he fitted a set of 215/55/R16 Nokians.

He purchased them in a small garage near Birr for €85 a tyre (balanced and fitted) and got a full set fitted.

While they aren't a familiar brand to most Irish people they are respected on the continent especially for their winter tyres. He has found the wear, wet weather grip and noise levels all very good on them.

He put a lot of research into getting the right tyre for the car in terms of finding a safe tyre.

Interesting, I never heard of them before either? Our MPV in fairness is very good on tyre wear. But in last 6 months the inside of drivers front has worn. I have since changed the large bushing and back of wishbones and the top mounts on shocks, so hopefully all I need is to get tracked and get a set of tyres.

ba_barabus · 21-10-2013 6:30pm

derryvella wrote: »

Interesting, I never heard of them before either? Our MPV in fairness is very good on tyre wear. But in last 6 months the inside of drivers front has worn. I have since changed the large bushing and back of wishbones and the top mounts on shocks, so hopefully all I need is to get tracked and get a set of tyres.

I think the bigger issue with his was it was supplied on steel wheels which were only 205/55/R16. These seem to suffer poor wear on the tyre edges. In fairness he is picky as hell and looks after his Sharan fastidiously and has never had a complaint about the Nokians.

derryvella · 21-10-2013 6:34pm

ba_barabus wrote: »

Hi OP,

My Brother In Law has one of these MPV's and had numerous problems with poor tyre wear no matter what brand he used. Until of course he fitted a set of 215/55/R16 Nokians.

He purchased them in a small garage near Birr for €85 a tyre (balanced and fitted) and got a full set fitted.

While they aren't a familiar brand to most Irish people they are respected on the continent especially for their winter tyres. He has found the wear, wet weather grip and noise levels all very good on them.

He put a lot of research into getting the right tyre for the car in terms of finding a safe tyre.

I am not a million miles from Birr either. For €85 fitted would be a great price ??
Do you know name/number of this garage? (still not decided though)

ba_barabus · 21-10-2013 6:35pm

derryvella wrote: »

I am not a million miles from Birr either. For €85 fitted would be a great price ??
Do you know name/number of this garage? (still not decided though)

He is living over in Nenagh and had the brand of tyre found he wanted and just happened to stop in one day. I'm not sure of the garage name but if you can get them fitted for free have a look on eiretyres for them.

holdmybeer · 21-10-2013 7:06pm

Avon's range up to about €120 per tyre OP , I get them in Mileage Tyres in Galway and they did the wheel alignment as well.
Those Nokians are reviewed on www.tyretest.com as well as any other brand your checking out. Take your time buying them though, as most locals are desperate for the buisness and willing to haggle on brands.
Especially if your willing to just buy them and fit them your self.

derryvella · 21-10-2013 7:58pm

holdmybeer wrote: »

Avon's range up to about €120 per tyre OP , I get them in Mileage Tyres in Galway and they did the wheel alignment as well.
Those Nokians are reviewed on www.tyretest.com as well as any other brand your checking out. Take your time buying them though, as most locals are desperate for the buisness and willing to haggle on brands.
Especially if your willing to just buy them and fit them your self.

Good advice.
Another thing to take into account is some tyres are louder and harder on fuel.
How do I decide on all these factors? safety in wet / winter, value in tyre wear, comfort in noise and economy in fuel , oh and PRICE!

What is the best all rounder?

CJhaughey · 21-10-2013 9:05pm

FWIW I have Nokian All Weather Plus on my Avensis, they have done around 17k miles and are well shagged at this stage.
I have ordered another set this week, I find them excellent for wear and grip all year round.
My wifes car has Nokian H tyres for summer and I'll be sticking the Nokian WRG2 winter tyres on probably next month.
I really like Nokian tyres as you can probably tell.
For a small company they produce an outstanding tyre for reasonable money.
Their newest summer tyre the Line got high ratings in Germany for wet weather use.

I am surprised to hear that they are being sold here, I always have to order online as my local tyre shops only sell either the big brands or ones that I am dubious about like Jinyu or Triangle.

holdmybeer · 22-10-2013 12:08pm

The tyres you have on it are budget, I think they are Zeetex or Sunny judging by the picture and the fact they're made in China. Anything mid range is vast improvement on them.

Don't worry about tyre noise, pretty much all tyres carry a 72dB rating which is the standard, Michelin are 69dB which is a bit quieter but you would hardly notice 3dB difference.

If you are judging by tyre ratings it can be misleading for example I saw Budget tyres have the same grip rating as high quality tyres which is complete bs.

Just research each tyre brand your interested in and you can't go far wrong and ask your local what they recommend.

GTE · 22-10-2013 3:04pm

Hankook Optimo 4S XL. I have used the standard and XL variants (the XL was an accident by me) and they were great. Put them on and you don't need to worry about the cold temps with regards to grip. I may switch to Goodyear Vector all seasons just to branch out but my fundamental vote is a good set of All Seasons.

GTE · 22-10-2013 3:14pm

holdmybeer wrote: »

Don't worry about tyre noise, pretty much all tyres carry a 72dB rating which is the standard, Michelin are 69dB which is a bit quieter but you would hardly notice 3dB difference.

Why do you say that? A +/- 3dB is doubling/halving of the sound intensity. You would notice a difference in a car with good wind noise treatment. 72dB is also the new EU noise standard coming in soon so manufactures are pushing for a 69dB or lower rating. The main difference would be with external noise emissions but it would impact on the comfort of the car on the motorway for example.

GTE · 20-11-2013 10:55pm

holdmybeer wrote: »

Don't worry about tyre noise, pretty much all tyres carry a 72dB rating which is the standard, Michelin are 69dB which is a bit quieter but you would hardly notice 3dB difference.

Just to hammer home this bit of misinformation, I fitted two 68dB to the front of my car. They replaced two 72dB tyres and the difference is huge. Huge for a sound engineer is definitely noticeable for someone not in the audio game. There is a lot less high frequency material and the noise seems centralized around low mid rumble so I am very happy with that.

Without knowing how the EU test the noise emissions in terms of frequency spectrum, on the face of it the louder tyres are ones that have more higher frequency noise being produced. A very welcome surprise but to be clear, the dB ratings are probably for external noise but that has to translate into internal noise somehow but I didn't have a means of measuring the difference.

Tyres needed for MPV (Sharan, alhambra, galaxy)

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