New Tyres needed

Minstadave · 11 Jun 2011 at 20:27

What it boils down to here is that tyres are a case of diminishing returns, you have to draw a line somewhere, what we're arguing about here is where that line is.

The other thing we've not touched on is that the more premium tyres are grippy because they're a softer compound, this in turn means higher wear rates. So you don't have to just balance cost vs. performance you have to take in to consideration wear rates too. The CS3s are soft and wear pretty quickly, something like the Pirelli P6000s are made of stone and will last forever, they'll kill you on a wet corner and move onto the next owner who buys them part worn. The Yaris is light though so shouldn't eat tyres too quickly.

DM · 11 Jun 2011 at 20:30

eidolon said:
The OCUK tyre snobs strike again.

Do you honestly think that the difference between a Toyo T1R/Falken 452 and a CS3 is that much when fitted to a tepid hatchback like a Yaris? It has budget brakes, budget suspension, budget seats, budget dash, budget pretty much everything so why does it suddenly need top of the range tyres? So it can stop 10cm shorter than with tyres twice the price? If you're so worried that your driving is so bad and you can't anticipate dangers that you need that 10cm then don't waste money on top notch tyres for a budget hatch, just buy a better car in the first place with good brakes, and good suspension and you'll stop 5m shorter than in the Yaris.
I managed not to turn my MR2 turbo into a ball of flames when it was fitted with Toyos, the CTR didn't fall off the road when it had Falkens and my Cooper S is managing perfectly well on Vredesteins. Drexel has Kumhos on his Golf from memory and he's still in one piece too (having been a passenger with him, I know he doesn't drive like a granny either)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there's no point in good quality tyres (hell, I've just fitted Michelin Pilot Road 3's to my motorbike which were £280 a pair) but I don't think that there's any point fitting anything more than Toyo/Falkens to this type of car. As long as you don't fit Linglongs then the difference between Toyos and CS3s might be 5% improvement for 100% more cost. Pointless in my opinion.

At last a bit of sense.

Op just buy whatever you can find cheap with a name you have heard of.

PMKeates · 11 Jun 2011 at 21:04

Minstadave said:
Scaremongering

Was said in jest, hence the smiley, however it's true to an extent. A maximum performance tyre stops quicker than a premium tyre, therefore to say you don't need a maximum performance tyre because of what kind of car it is completely misses the point.

Minstadave said:
Source?

Why would one need a source for such a flagrantly obvious claim? If you aren't able to deduce from some years of existence in our universe how this would be the case then you should probably give up. I severely doubt anyone has bothered to try and scientifically validate such a patently simple concept.

Minstadave said:
Assumption?

No, fact. A modern car capable of activating the ABS system, which a Yaris will be, is able to stop at near enough the maximum level the tyres are capable of. Activating the ABS system is, in the vast majority of situations, the most effective way to stop quickly, as it allows each tyre to be on it's individual limit of adhesion.

Minstadave said:
Assumption and source for the latter? The M3 in your example weighs substantially more than the Fiesta.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/RoadTestsData/Ford-Fiesta-2.0-16V-ST/213198/

Ford Fiesta ST from the same generation takes more time to go from 60-0 MPH.

DM · 11 Jun 2011 at 21:14

but heres the rub not everyone is going to or can afford to buy the best.

So i say in 90% of situations a decent middle of the road brand is the best advice that can be given, anything in fact to steer people away from budget tyres.

PMKeates · 11 Jun 2011 at 21:15

DM I would be very surprised if Raymond Lin cannot afford to spend a small amount (we are talking less than £1 a week) extra on tyres.

DM · 11 Jun 2011 at 21:17

PMKeates said:
DM I would be very surprised if Raymond Lin cannot afford to spend another £35 a year on tyres.

Im sure he can, but is he going to? I hope so, but if not best he buys this weeks bargain in Kwik Fit rather than Linglongs latest and greatest.

PMKeates · 11 Jun 2011 at 21:22

Maybe. I'm soon to cross the line of not caring.

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Whop, there it is

DM · 11 Jun 2011 at 21:28

PMKeates said:
Maybe. I'm soon to cross the line of not caring.

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Whop, there it is

Me too, many moons ago.

But let me tell you its a bang head on wall situation this, same as with my kids, you cant learn them the best thing so you tell them the 2nd best way, you know, better second best than 7th best which is a linglong or some sort of remould in this particular case.

Believe me iv heard it all " dad what do you think, shall i spend 200 quid on tyres and 700 quid on a Pioneer kick ass bust me down drop 2 riddim head unit or 400 quid on tyres and duff the stereo for a week" its ****ing depressing is what it is.

Raymond Lin · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:13

Well, it seems if i pick something myself. the choices are

Falken Ziex ZE-912 - £80 each, and I can just about afford to replace the entire car in 1 go for £320

Continental Sport Contact 3 - £130 each, I will have to drive my current set of tyres for a few more weeks until the next pay cheque (after this one) before I can replace all 4, unless I do fronts now, and rears before the winter. I'd like the same on front and back personally (a little OCD

).

dale1uk · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:21

Tyre Traders sell the Continentals for £115 http://www.tyretraders.com/tyreInformation|ItemID|CON20545R1788WCONSPT3.html

Raymond Lin · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:30

dale1uk said:
Tyre Traders sell the Continentals for £115 http://www.tyretraders.com/tyreInformation|ItemID|CON20545R1788WCONSPT3.html

That's the home delivery/unfitted price. If you change it to fitted at check out it comes to £130 each.

DM · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:33

Seriously get the full set that you can afford, and good on you for spending a couple quid on tyres.

Raymond Lin · 12 Jun 2011 at 00:36

DM said:
Seriously get the full set that you can afford, and good on you for spending a couple quid on tyres.

For the miles I do, it could very well last me 3 years easily. My sister did 30k on her Continental Eco in 2 years and when she sold the car it still had like 5mm left in them.

chrislusty · 12 Jun 2011 at 09:42

I know you live near Cardiff as that is where the car was, but how close are you? as Valley Tyres in Pontypridd will be by far the cheapest, and do a good job, i have tyres fitted from them, and they beat internet prices at their first quote. I too go for Continental.

ganesh · 12 Jun 2011 at 10:44

Raymond Lin said:
For the miles I do, it could very well last me 3 years easily. My sister did 30k on her Continental Eco in 2 years and when she sold the car it still had like 5mm left in them.

Be aware that any sporty performance tyre will wear much faster compared to a tyre such as the continental Eco.

Raymond Lin · 12 Jun 2011 at 10:46

chrislusty said:
I know you live near Cardiff as that is where the car was, but how close are you? as Valley Tyres in Pontypridd will be by far the cheapest, and do a good job, i have tyres fitted from them, and they beat internet prices at their first quote. I too go for Continental.

I am no where near there, I did buy the car in Cardiff though.

ganesh said:
Be aware that any sporty performance tyre will wear much faster compared to a tyre such as the continental Eco.

I realise that, but she did 30k in 2 years as she commute to work. I am expecting 50% of the longevity of the eco tyres at most, so I don't think that is too high an expectation.

PMKeates · 12 Jun 2011 at 10:50

Raymond Lin said:
I will have to drive my current set of tyres for a few more weeks until the next pay cheque (after this one) before I can replace all 4, unless I do fronts now, and rears before the winter. I'd like the same on front and back personally (a little OCD ).

What tyres are currently on the car? Something to bear in mind is that it's typically advisable to have the worst pair of tyres on the front of a FWD car, but if you aren't going to be driving it like that for a while I would wait.

In fact, as you've 3mm left on the tyre, I would wait until you actually want to/can afford to replace all four. You realise the legal limit is 1.6mm?

Raymond Lin · 12 Jun 2011 at 10:52

PMKeates said:
What tyres are currently on the car? Something to bear in mind is that it's typically advisable to have the worst pair of tyres on the front of a FWD car, but if you aren't going to be driving it like that for a while I would wait.

In fact, as you've 3mm left on the tyre, I would wait until you actually want to/can afford to replace all four. You realise the legal limit is 1.6mm?

It has one Pirelli Zero, 2 Continental and 1 Toyo or something...

The 2 Continentals are front right and rear left...I think someone must have swapped them round at some point or replaced them by odds. Hence I think i am going to change all 4 at once so I don't have 2 different tyres at the back.

Yeah, 1.6 is the legal so I got a while before I "had" to replace them. 3 of the tyres have 6mm thread in them so they have loads of life left still.

PMKeates · 12 Jun 2011 at 10:55

Raymond Lin said:
It has one Pirelli Zero, 2 Continental and 1 Toyo or something...

The 2 Continentals are front right and rear left...I think someone must have swapped them round at some point or replaced them by odds. Hence I think i am going to change all 4 at once so I don't have 2 different tyres at the back.

Yeah, 1.6 is the legal so I got a while before I "had" to replace them. 3 of the tyres have 6mm thread in them so they have loads of life left still.

While I admire your quest for matching tyres I am struggling to come to terms with the idea of replacing 3 tyres with 6mm of tread and 1 tyre with 3mm of tread

The 6mm tyres could easily be sold as part worns assuming they are in good condition. Have you checked prices on eBay for them?

Liquidfox · 12 Jun 2011 at 10:56

It may be worth looking into 205/40/17 instead. I found these to be substantially cheaper than 45 profiles!