205/55R16 mid-range tyre suggestions.

Iamzod

Iamzod

Iamzod

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I have never bought mid-range tyres before and judging by user reviews on websites i've been looking at saying things like Wanli Ditchfinders are fine I don't trust them to be honest. I've also never tyre shopped before for mid-range stuff, i've only ever had to buy new tyres for the Capri and that's always had things like Eagle F1's on it which I feel are overkill on a Mondeo Tractor.

I've gone from a pair of Kumho KH somethings that were on the front of my Mondeo TDCi which were pretty much dead, probably only just road legal. Someone I know got me a pair of tyres they have been using with "no issues" so I went for a pair, i've never heard of what they fitted, Sagitar P307?

They have been OK in the dry to be fair, front of the car feels a bit odd though if i have to make a sudden direction change, kind of squishy, like the tyres are underinflated, but they are not. This i can live with.

However they are utterly useless in the wet, after just having my car make a beeline for the central reservation when exiting a roundabout when the surface changed from high grip to the normal stuff and finding that it now is capable of wheelspinning in 3rd with it's mighty 115BHP i feel that they need to come off before someone pulls out on me in the wet and i plough into the side of them.

Why are they allowed to sell this sort of rubbish?, they grip worse than the tyres I took off the car that were down to under 2mm tread across most of the tyre and smooth on the inside shoulders!

Any suggestions for half decent replacments that are not massively expensive?

Thanks.
 
Iamzod said:
i've only ever had to buy new tyres for the Capri and that's always had things like Eagle F1's on it which I feel are overkill on a Mondeo Tractor.
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Why, are emergency stops never as much of an emergency in a mondeo? :confused:

Always fit the best rubber you can afford.
 
What did you think of the Kumho KHs? The KUs are much better and keenly priced.

I have a full set of KU31s on the red 420 and at £60 a corner (205/50/16), like many people with them fitted, am very impressed. Obviously, they're nowhere near as good as the Eagle F1s I have on the green 420 but they really are good for the price.

Not very good at getting the power down in the wet (1st gear is useless, 2nd gear is iffy) but grip well around corners. No issues with standing water either. Dry cornering is excellent, although my car does have an LSD which I'm sure will play a part.

I think the KU31s have now been superseded by the KU35 but some places may still have stock.
 
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I've got the KH31s on my ST24, 205/50/16. Seem pretty good for what I want, car feels stable and predictable and I do chuck it around a bit.

Hadn't come across the KUs when I got the KHs, maybe blackcircles either didn't have them or charged a chunk more. *shrugs*



edit - extra £2.50 a tyre on blackcircles, guess the KU didn't come up as an option for me originally as it didn't pop up as recommended for my car. The KU's certainly look better for all that matters :p
 
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paradigm said:
Why, are emergency stops never as much of an emergency in a mondeo? :confused:

Always fit the best rubber you can afford.
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Ok, maybe not overkill, maybe that's the wrong way to put it, but i do far too many miles to have to keep replacing tyres at that sort of price range, in the Capri this is fine as it does limited mileage therefore it gets things like Eagle F1's.

Emergency stops are important in a Mondeo lol. This is preciscely the reason I want them off the car ASAP.


agw_01 said:
What did you think of the Kumho KHs? The KUs are much better and keenly priced.
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The KH's were fine as far as I could tell, even when knackered they were better than what i've just had fitted. :mad:
 
My S2000 came with, and still has, KU31s on the front (I think anyway, Khumo Ecsta something or other) in 205/55/16 and they've been fine.

I've not found the car lives up to it's reputation as a hedge hunter (which is a good thing) so they can't be too bad.

For the few quid extra come replacement time though and I'll likely be sticking Bridgestones back on, that's what's on the rear. Annoyingly have to have different tyre models as the rears get RE050As but they only do RE040 in the front size I think.
 
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Ev0 said:
My S2000 came with, and still has, KU31s on the front (I think anyway, Khumo Ecsta something or other) in 205/55/16 and they've been fine.

I've not found the car lives up to it's reputation as a hedge hunter (which is a good thing) so they can't be too bad.

For the few quid extra come replacement time though and I'll likely be sticking Bridgestones back on, that's what's on the rear. Annoyingly have to have different tyre models as the rears get RE050As but they only do RE040 in the front size I think.
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You haven't driven it in the winter yet :p
 
Ev0 said:
My S2000 came with, and still has, KU31s on the front (I think anyway, Khumo Ecsta something or other) in 205/55/16 and they've been fine.

I've not found the car lives up to it's reputation as a hedge hunter (which is a good thing) so they can't be too bad.

For the few quid extra come replacement time though and I'll likely be sticking Bridgestones back on, that's what's on the rear. Annoyingly have to have different tyre models as the rears get RE050As but they only do RE040 in the front size I think.
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Front: http://tyretraders.com/tyreInformation|ItemID|BRI20555R1691WRE002.html
Back: http://tyretraders.com/tyreInformation|ItemID|BRI22550R1692WRE002.html

Job done...
 
Whatever you choose people will say that unless you buy Michelin, Conti, Pirelli or Good Year you will be instantly killed when a small spot of water appears on the road or you see a corner ahead and turn the wheel ever so slightly. Careful there isn't a Primary school or Nursery close by either as your tyres could cause them to die also if not manufactured by the above four companies.
 
MissChief said:
Whatever you choose people will say that unless you buy Michelin, Conti, Pirelli or Good Year you will be instantly killed when a small spot of water appears on the road or you see a corner ahead and turn the wheel ever so slightly. Careful there isn't a Primary school or Nursery close by either as your tyres could cause them to die also if not manufactured by the above four companies.
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Not true, however, nobody ever complained that their tyres were too good in an emergency did they.

2 of those manufacturers I would avoid like the plague, Pirelli and Michelin as I have had horrible experiences of various Pirellis over the years, and Michelins are overpriced for almost every application I have looked at and they always have worn quickly on cars I have had them on. I would buy Conti, Good Year, Dunlop, Hankook, Nokian or Vredestein over those 2.
 
ivrytwr3 said:
sport contact 3's on my 2.2 Titanium X.
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Is that 205/55 R16? I could only find Sport Contact 2s for my Mk3 Zetec which has the same size tyre as the OP.

At £80each fitted from black circles they are a decently cheap buy really, OP, whatever you do, avoid Toyo T1Rs on the Mondeo (despite Mondeo OC people saying they are the best), they are cheap and just don't work well on the heavy, wallowy car.
 
I fitted a pair of Avon ZV5 on my 2.2 Civic fronts and thus far they are good on steering, braking and wear. They cost me about £70 per corner.

Incidentally when I had a 3000E Mk1 Capri I always fitted Avon rubber (185's) even though they wore quite quickly then.
 
Simon said:
You haven't driven it in the winter yet :p
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Have you seen our summer, I haven't ;)

Whilst the temps haven't been low which will obviously have a massive affect I have been driving in a lot of this god awful rain we've been having and they've not been too bad at all. I was planning to get shot of them soon after getting the car but decided to leave it a little longer.

Those RE002 do look pretty cool but would be interested to read up on them as I'm not looking for a pure performance tyre if that makes sense, has to be decent enough in the wet, won't be going near a track etc :)
 
Ev0 said:
Have you seen our summer, I haven't ;)
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Its not been -5C yet...

The tyres are cold most the time and the S2000 dampers go rock hard which doesnt help.

I think the S001 suit general driving better than the RE002. MY experience of the Bridgestones are that S002 are better in wet the RE050A too.

I will be going back to Bridgestones when these F1AS2s wear out.
 
Yup hence my comment about the temps, but at least had some experience of them in lots of standing water on the roads etc.

Will get reading up, but what's the usual route S2000 owners go down now for the 16 inch wheels, RE050A on the back and RE040 on the front?

Edited to say have now seen the RE050A available in the fronts size too so guess that is a possibility all round.
 
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Used to be RE050A all around but like you said they no longer do them. Not sure what the RE040 are like but they might make it interesting as its a pretty well balanced car on the limit.

Having potentially better tyres on the back is no bad thing though. I have 17s on mine so just go with 215/45 front and 225/45 rear. The 225 rear is more than wide enough for the cars power and it helps in the wet IMO versus the 245s.

Back to the OP, something branded should do, they invest in wet performance. Im pretty pleased with the Dunlop SP Sport on my Gfs clio. There is usually the trade off between tyre life and wet performance
 
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