4x New Tyres for Ford Focus - Suggestions

jon- · 21 Nov 2010 at 22:55

[TW]Fox;17840043 said:
I'd rather fit a ContiSport or Eagle F1 Assymetric or something than a Uniroyal Rainsport.

DRZ said:
I hardly think being "limited" to a performance tyre on a car like a Monaro is really too bad a thing really.

Who puts eco/budget tyres on a 400bhp muscle car?

I didn't know it was a Monaro, and the primary requirement of low road noise threw me. Who buys tyres for a 400bhp muscle car on the bases of noise

classicVin · 21 Nov 2010 at 23:05

if you are looking for something cheap, yet non ditch finder, i found these falkens ( in 185/50 Hr14 on my car) to be very good for the money.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m53b0s411p12886

DRZ · 22 Nov 2010 at 00:31

classicVin said:
if you are looking for something cheap, yet non ditch finder, i found these falkens ( in 185/50 Hr14 on my car) to be very good for the money.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m53b0s411p12886

Those tyres aren't even "good". FK452s are the better tyre and even then they aren't that super (perfectly OK in the dry, very poor in the wet and the 912s are an inferior tyre!).

jon- · 22 Nov 2010 at 08:27

DRZ said:
Those tyres aren't even "good". FK452s are the better tyre and even then they aren't that super (perfectly OK in the dry, very poor in the wet and the 912s are an inferior tyre!).

Why do you say that? The 912 isn't meant to be as sporty as the 452, but it's the newer technology tyre and the few people I've spoken to who have tried both say there's actually very little in it (plus they don't go off the more they wear like the 452 seems too).

Not a tyre to write off for a corsa imho.

Reference: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/ZE912_2.htm#1860

paradigm · 22 Nov 2010 at 08:44

DRZ said:
Those tyres aren't even "good". FK452s are the better tyre and even then they aren't that super (perfectly OK in the dry, very poor in the wet and the 912s are an inferior tyre!).

I'm really not buying these "very poor in the wet" claims for the FK452. I still run these on the LCR and I've never once had any "poor" wet action, infact I can't even feel a difference between these and the "holy grail" of the F1 GSD3.

The only difference that I could see was that F1's needed changing in 6 months, these last longer and don't disintegrate on the sidewall far before the tyre tread is gone.

DRZ · 22 Nov 2010 at 09:38

I can only go on my own experiences - I didn't like them in the wet

mjt · 22 Nov 2010 at 15:20

[TW]Fox;17840043 said:
I'd rather fit a ContiSport or Eagle F1 Assymetric or something than a Uniroyal Rainsport.

This. Get the new Conti 5s or whatever they're called Princey.

loltim · 22 Nov 2010 at 17:42

jon- said:
Why do you say that? The 912 isn't meant to be as sporty as the 452, but it's the newer technology tyre and the few people I've spoken to who have tried both say there's actually very little in it (plus they don't go off the more they wear like the 452 seems too).

Not a tyre to write off for a corsa imho.

Reference: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/ZE912_2.htm#1860

No idea why theres so much hate for the 912's. My friend who drives a 400bhp Civic has no complaints from them.

jon- · 22 Nov 2010 at 17:43

I just put my money where my mouth is and got 2 ZE912's to replace FK452's.

Fitting Friday, so we shall see then.

TheDean · 22 Nov 2010 at 19:53

Rainsport 2's will do

ryanpetit · 22 Nov 2010 at 20:08

OT but has anyone used camskill? They seem significantly cheaper than blackcircles and the like.

loltim · 22 Nov 2010 at 20:15

ryanpetit said:
OT but has anyone used camskill? They seem significantly cheaper than blackcircles and the like.

Yep, good service, no complaints.

Conanius · 17 Dec 2010 at 13:35

Tyres bought and just fitted. Went for Dunlop SP Fast Response in the end. Reasonable price and seemed decent enough for what I need them for.

I'll give them a few hundred miles to bed in and post a bit of feedback on them. Certainly already they feel leagues better than the Hankook tyres they replaced.

Abyss · 17 Dec 2010 at 13:50

Back when I owned a Mk1 Focus I put Avon ZV3 tyres on after doing plenty of research. I was very happy with the performance of them and they were still going strong when I sold the car 10k miles later.

MikeHiow · 17 Dec 2010 at 13:51

I'm bemused by the amount of "You need a performance tyre for your 1.8 Focus" in this thread.

Conanius · 17 Dec 2010 at 14:07

MikeHiow said:
I'm bemused by the amount of "You need a performance tyre for your 1.8 Focus" in this thread.

Most of those comments are from people who know me, and are generally ribbing me regarding the countless thousands I spent when I had the s2000 on 'overnight parts from japan' regarding the cars handling....

nichorob · 17 Dec 2010 at 16:24

So I don't have to start a new thread, any suggestions on for a 2009 1.6 TDCi Ford Focus on 205/50/17's? It rolled out the factory on Continental ContactSport 2's but can't help this is over kill. All my miles are on the motorway really so just trying to justify whether £600 on 4x CS3's is worth it? The cheaper (still £100+ a corner) bracket consists of the following:

ALTIMAX UHP
KUMHO - KH31
FALKEN - ZE912

Are these viable alternatives or shall I just cough up for the CS3's?

mjt · 17 Dec 2010 at 16:26

Get something in between like PremiumContacts.

nichorob · 17 Dec 2010 at 16:32

mjt said:
Get something in between like PremiumContacts.

This would be the solution but they don't seem to exist in 205/50/17?

Conanius · 17 Dec 2010 at 17:03

whilst there is obviously a point whereby it does become silly (fitting pilot sport cups to a 320d SE touring or somesuch) I honestly don't think you can ever get tyres that are 'too good' or whatever for a car. Remember that these are what connect you to the road, so whilst it may be a bit more than you would be happy to spend it isn't an area to consider huge cost cuts.

That said, those model Kumho and Falken tyres are fine middle range brand tyres