Unofficial Tyre Thread

CaptainRAVE · 18 Oct 2015 at 11:56

Hmm, what to put on the front of my SLK55? I cant stand pirellis, continental I rate highly and my local fitter will put the SC5s on for £103 each. Not much more than the midrange tyres tbh.

mjt · 18 Oct 2015 at 18:55

CaptainRAVE said:
Hmm, what to put on the front of my SLK55? I cant stand pirellis, continental I rate highly and my local fitter will put the SC5s on for £103 each. Not much more than the midrange tyres tbh.

Michelin Pilot SuperSports would be my choice, but CS5s are also excellent.. Depends how much extra the PSS are tbh.

CaptainRAVE · 18 Oct 2015 at 19:52

mjt said:
Michelin Pilot SuperSports would be my choice, but CS5s are also excellent.. Depends how much extra the PSS are tbh.

After reading up I have come to the same conclusion and they are only a little more. £115 all in with mobile fitting. Worth the extra, especially given how flooded the roads near my workplace get and how good these are meant to be in the wet.

Also discovered i can put a slightly wider tyre on the rear - doubt I will still have the car by the time they wear though.

[TW]Fox · 18 Oct 2015 at 20:02

CaptainRAVE said:
After reading up I have come to the same conclusion and they are only a little more. £115 all in with mobile fitting. Worth the extra, especially given how flooded the roads near my workplace get and how good these are meant to be in the wet.

Actually the PSS tends to trail it's competition in the wet, so if its wet performance you want you may be better with say the Conti.

It's in the dry that the PSS excels.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2014-Auto-Review-Max-Performance-Tyre-Test.htm

It’s one of the best tyres on the track and road in the dry, and even after drifting the tread shows very little sign of wear. In the wet, the tyres prove slightly worse. Resistance to aquaplaning raises no objections, but on the road the driver is forced to work harder than with other tyres once on the limit. Perfect for those who want to enjoy the fast ride.

CaptainRAVE · 18 Oct 2015 at 20:25

Interesting feedback, thanks fox. Decisions decisions! My car does tend to aquaplane (my current tyre wear doesn't help!).

mjt · 19 Oct 2015 at 21:59

Fox has a point, but the PSS are still excellent in the wet, just not *quite* as excellent as the CS5s. The superior wear rate is what swung it for me.

I am yet to experience understeer in my A6 on PSS compared to my S3 on CS5s, but then I don't think I'm pushing the barge quite as much

mjt · 20 Oct 2015 at 10:10

Well after having almost understeered off the road three times this morning, I can confidently say that Michelin PSS in damp 3C conditions perform much better than ******** Bridgestone Blizzaks in damp 8C conditions. Christ :/

These Blizzaks that came with the car are awful - tempted to bin them and throw on a set of ContiWinterContacts.

[TW]Fox · 20 Oct 2015 at 10:45

But I thought at exactly 7c every summer tyre turns to mush and every winter tyre becomes amazing?

Armageus · 20 Oct 2015 at 10:51

[TW]Fox;28705306 said:
But I thought at exactly 7c every summer tyre turns to mush and every winter tyre becomes amazing?

You mean they don't? Tyre manufacturers have been misleading people to sell more tyres? Surely not!

mjt · 20 Oct 2015 at 10:56

I need the winter tyres because I'm driving up to Scandinavia on Friday.
I can't believe how poor these Blizzaks are in non-wintry conditions though. My ContiWinterContacts never behaved this badly.

Makes you think about everyone who puts on non-UHP winter tyres and uses them in non-wintry conditions :/

Diagro · 20 Oct 2015 at 11:14

Anyone got anything to say about Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres??

Looking at a set of alloys that are mint with a set of tyres which are close to new, and would be a shame to chuck them out.
Prob better than the 4 odd tyres that are on the car currently.

[TW]Fox · 20 Oct 2015 at 11:18

The Dunlops are fine. Not quite as good as the top tyres but totally not worth binning. They are the OEM fit on a number of decent cars.

Diagro · 20 Oct 2015 at 11:22

[TW]Fox;28705433 said:
The Dunlops are fine. Not quite as good as the top tyres but totally not worth binning. They are the OEM fit on a number of decent cars.

Perfect. Thanks

wingman · 20 Oct 2015 at 12:08

Got Dunlops all round on my 330Ci, as Fox says, not up there with the best however perform very well indeed.

FWIW, I won't be changing to Dunlops, it's change time soon for me and I'll be going down the Conti 5 route.

Uriel · 21 Oct 2015 at 17:46

Quite looking forward to putting my Continental WinterContact TS850s on. They give a quieter, more comfortable ride than my Toyo Proxes CF2 (so much so that my 95 yo Gran noticed last time I changed over and asked what had changed).

The toyos handle better though, particularly in slighly damp conditions.

[TW]Fox · 21 Oct 2015 at 17:49

It will soon be time to waste 25 minutes of my life putting the winter wheels on the Mini. They bring absolutely zero grip based benefits but do at least give 5 months holiday from the pathetic ride quality offered by the standard fit 17" Bridgestone RFT's.

Uriel · 21 Oct 2015 at 17:52

My winter wheels are identical to my summer ones (thanks to ebay) so any difference is purely down to the tyres. This is in the slighly unusual 185/55R16 size.

[TW]Fox · 21 Oct 2015 at 17:56

Uriel said:
My winter wheels are identical to my summer ones (thanks to ebay) so any difference is purely down to the tyres. This is in the slighly unusual 185/55R16 size.

I don't think I could bring myself to bother in this case. The only reason I've not given up with the complete waste of time is because of the massive difference it makes to ride quality + stops her worrying every time somebody says OMG IT MAY SNOW OMG even though it never does.

Uriel · 21 Oct 2015 at 18:04

Having actually used the Winter tyres in snow a few times last year, I'd be more inclined to keep the TS850s on all year. In fact, in last year's all season tyre roundup that's exactly what AutoExpress recommended over every all season tyre in the roundup (this year they put a couple of AS tyres ahead).

Got caught in a boxing day blizzard last year and the rest of my family got stuck (properly) in the middle of nowhere. Was fine with the TS850s and ended up ferrying other people. I had some spare snow socks left over from before buying winter tyres and they were enough to get my sister from 'can't move' to 'can drive OK with care'. So winter tyres aren't the only solution (although they are much more convenient if it does snow).

I live in Sheffield and spend quite a bit of time in the peak district though. A few disruptive snowfalls a year (at least on the hills) are to be expected.

hurfdurf · 21 Oct 2015 at 18:08

[TW]Fox;28710896 said:
It will soon be time to waste 25 minutes of my life putting the winter wheels on the Mini. They bring absolutely zero grip based benefits but do at least give 5 months holiday from the pathetic ride quality offered by the standard fit 17" Bridgestone RFT's.

I have now just realised that my partners Mini having run flats is why its not as enjoyable as it should be... I didn't even think about that.

**Unofficial Tyre Thread**

Unofficial Tyre Thread