Such thing as a budget performance tyre?

[TW]Fox;20350187 said:
I've not seen a Sessenta in an Evo test since long before the F1A2 was available.
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They aren't even that cheap anymore, nice in the dry and wet really bad in the damp.

FK452's have been nothing but a disappointment, performance budget tyres simply don't exist to the levels some people seem to think imho, you can't get F1 / CS3 levels of grip in all conditions for less money.
 
Firestar_3x said:
They aren't even that cheap anymore, nice in the dry and wet really bad in the damp.

FK452's have been nothing but a disappointment, performance budget tyres simply don't exist to the levels some people seem to think imho, you can't get F1 / CS3 levels of grip in all conditions for less money.
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£120 vs £180 isn't cheap?
 
A list taken from this thread, feel free to add. I've just requested prices but that includes wheels so may not be any help to anyone

Kumho KU31
Toyo T1-R
Falken 452 (or 912)
Uniroyal RainSport 2
Hankook Ventus 2 or V12
Fulda Sport Control
Vredenstein Ultrac
 
Relentless81 said:
Thanks, I'm after brands and models at the mo as I'm going to a re-seller outlet on Friday afternoon if I can get out of work early enough

I've tried T1-Rs and they were ok also tried Yokohoma Spec2 and literally hated them. Always wanted to try Rainsports and never tried Hankook either so they are options if available

Wish I could get some Eagle F1s or Continental Contact but I'm considering all 4 tyres so have a budget to stick to
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Ok, having used the T1-R's, Yoko Spec II's, Rainsports and Eagle F1's all on the same car/wheels I found this:

The Toyos were great but wore out fastest. The Yokos were better than the Toyos in the dry but a bit hairy in the wet. The Eagle F1's were better than both in dry/wet but cost a lot more as well. The Rainsports were as good imo as the F1's in the dry and better in the wet plus they cost less.

Overall I would say the Rainsports were my fav of the four and the ones I would buy again out of those four, they are made by Uniroyal which many people haven't heard of but it is actually a sub-brand of Continental so there's big budget R&D at work.
 
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Yeah I've tried all of them apart from the Rainsport and thought similar to you what you thought.

I've asked for a price on the Rainsports as well as the others on the list above
 
For what it's worth I hated the Falken 452s. Horrible tyres, wear was terrible, the grip in the wet was terrible. Had the Toyo T1-Rs before and they were so much better.
 
Relentless81 said:
A list taken from this thread, feel free to add. I've just requested prices but that includes wheels so may not be any help to anyone

Kumho KU31
Toyo T1-R
Falken 452 (or 912)
Uniroyal RainSport 2
Hankook Ventus 2 or V12
Fulda Sport Control
Vredenstein Ultrac
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Vredestein Sportrac3 are worthy, but can be hard to find, price can vary quite a bit, but epic in the snow and rain.

if youre feeling a little stingy with the money, just get the ku31s, they are brilliant for what they cost. could be better in the dry, not far from amazing in the wet, cant go wrong with them, theyre a bargain, unless you want to shave those vital tenths off your qualifying time to the bakers on saturday norning
 
Begbie said:
For what it's worth I hated the Falken 452s. Horrible tyres, wear was terrible, the grip in the wet was terrible. Had the Toyo T1-Rs before and they were so much better.
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I have heard this quite a lot. It seems the popularity of Falken 452's is more down to the fact they are cheap so people subconciously judge them as decent 'for the money'. They are no real alternative to decent tyres, simply not as bad as most cheapo tyres.
 
Not heard anything back on the pricing yet but I'm liking the sound of the Kumho, Matt82's car is a turbo so its bound to spin a bit more than mine would so the only negative that Matt82 experianced might not affect me so much

I've made a note of the others to take with me but its looking like tomorrow afternoon now, stupid work :(
 
Nokian Z G2 maybe worth a look, have found the Falken 452 to be pretty poor in the wet. Kuhmo KU31s arent bad for the money.

Running Nokian WR G2 over winter and they are some of the best tyres ive had on a car, excellent grip in all conditions. Ill be putting the ZG2's on in the spring.
 
I had kuhmo ku31 on my mildly tuned 200sx and was surprised by the performance, I was able to push relatively hard on twisty B roads, don't know about wet grip as I just tend to pootle a RWD car when damp.
 
Matt82 said:
another cheapo tyre that works well is ye olde Kumho KU31. ive had loads of sets of these now, you only feel you want more dry grip if youre going absolutely berserk (which isnt often on the road) and very confidence inspiring in the wet. they feel more impressive in the wet if anything.

a mid range brand producing a very good tyre.
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beermonster said:
I had kuhmo ku31 on my mildly tuned 200sx and was surprised by the performance, I was able to push relatively hard on twisty B roads, don't know about wet grip as I just tend to pootle a RWD car when damp.
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I have KU31s on the MX-5. In the dry they are "ok", in the wet they are terrible and I cannot wait to get rid of them! Unfortunately, they came on the car and are basically brand new. I hardly drive the mx-5 so they will be on there for a while unless I run out of patience with them.

I'll be moving to a proper tyre when I can, it is a shame that I can't get Bridgestone RE050A in my size as that tyre seems to suit the way I drive the best.

FK452s on the Golf were great, I cannot possibly see how I could use any more grip. In the wet they were no great shakes though.
 
i really liked them in the wet, one of the best drives ive had was down the streaming wet cat and fiddle pass, taking really quite astounding liberties

i do laugh at how almost everyone has different opinions and experiences of tyres in these threads.
 
The Diamondback TR968 is a budget performance tyre, its cheap and it performs very well as a tyre swing, sadly as a tyre it has similar wet handling characteristics as a lilo :P
 
Matt82 said:
I do laugh at how almost everyone has different opinions and experiences of tyres in these threads.
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That's because everyone has different expectations with regards to level of grip and steering feel, yours might be less than others plus every car will be different.
 
Also we don't know what tyre width and pressures people are running, you can trawl forums endlessly for love/hate relationships with all brands of tyres. I read of people getting as little as 6k miles out of 452s but some have had over 20k, unless you know how they were driven most advice needs to be taken with a moderate amount of salt. I personally love the 452s, they suit my driving style very well.
 
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