**Unofficial Tyre Thread**

Man of Honour
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I have a set of 18" wheels for my 535d GT that I bought last year with winter tyres after trying it in the snow with summers on 20" the previous winter and getting stuck pulling away from a junction on a non-existent hill (luckily the car side stepped into a curb to give me enough traction to pull away). The winter tyres on the 18"s were a premium brand but I was surprised at how bad they were outside of the one day last year I drove and they were actually useful when it was -7c. They were quite old so binned them when the wheels came off the car.

If you still have two sets of wheels do not fit all season tyres, go for decent winter tyres instead. All seasons are a compromise you don't need as you've got two sets of wheels so can have the best tyres for the season all year round.
 
Soldato
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Thanks for the info so far.

May just stick with the Eagle F1's.

However what are peoples thoughts on uniroyal rainsports for a commute / family car?

They don't last very long, and you will soon find that PS4's are cheaper per mile than the Rainsport 3's.

If it's simply a case of not wanting the initial outlay of a set of PS4's, then there are better options around the RS3 price range (in my experience). I had a great experience with Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas on my 335d. They performed really well, and the wear rate was fantastic. They don't make Sessantas anymore, but they do make Vorti in 225/40/18, and they are the same / lower price (from Camskill). I believe the Satins are cheaper again. While I haven't tried either personally, I would be willing to give them a shot over the poorer wearing Rainsports.

The Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance are only £5 more, per tyre, than the RS3's too. So I would also rather try these than the RS3's. However, the Asymmetric 5's are "only" £15 a tyre more than Rainsport 3's, and so if it were my money, I'd just get another set of these. As I said, I have done about 12k on these so far, and the wear rate looks good with between 5.5-6.5mm left on all 4 tyres.
 
Associate
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Thanks for the info so far.

However what are peoples thoughts on uniroyal rainsports for a commute / family car?

I have RS3's on my Civic and I have only done 6000 miles on them. They have wore down considerably due to driving in dryer conditions and if under inflated, this wear is exponentially worse. For UK weather, they are great, but you really don't get much mileage out of them and I can imagine this is worse the bigger the car!
 
Soldato
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If you still have two sets of wheels do not fit all season tyres, go for decent winter tyres instead. All seasons are a compromise you don't need as you've got two sets of wheels so can have the best tyres for the season all year round.

My experience of winter tyres is that they're not great in the winters round here, outside of snow I've never had a problem with summer tyres on any car.

I do have a very specific use case this year but I'd rather not spend £600+ on tyres that leave me with a worse solution for most of the winter.
 
Man of Honour
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I question the point in you having two sets of wheels then. I can't imagine the weather conditions where an all season is better than both a summer and a winter tyre. The best tyre most of the time is a good UHP summer tyre.

I run Pirelli Snowcontrol 3 on the Mini over winter and they are fine, I've also driven quite a few miles on other brands of winter tyre on German rental cars and again had no issues really.

All seasons offer the worst of both worlds for people for whom swapping wheels over isn't an option.
 
Soldato
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They don't last very long, and you will soon find that PS4's are cheaper per mile than the Rainsport 3's.

If it's simply a case of not wanting the initial outlay of a set of PS4's, then there are better options around the RS3 price range (in my experience). I had a great experience with Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas on my 335d. They performed really well, and the wear rate was fantastic. They don't make Sessantas anymore, but they do make Vorti in 225/40/18, and they are the same / lower price (from Camskill). I believe the Satins are cheaper again. While I haven't tried either personally, I would be willing to give them a shot over the poorer wearing Rainsports.

The Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance are only £5 more, per tyre, than the RS3's too. So I would also rather try these than the RS3's. However, the Asymmetric 5's are "only" £15 a tyre more than Rainsport 3's, and so if it were my money, I'd just get another set of these. As I said, I have done about 12k on these so far, and the wear rate looks good with between 5.5-6.5mm left on all 4 tyres.

Appreciate the reply and will stay away from the RS3 just down to the wear rate.

The efficient grips are an option and they are what is fitted to the Police vehicles so I know they are pretty decent, I think that it's more the outlay I am looking at.

I have owned the superb for about 4 years and in that time it's had a set of the eagle F1 and also contisports and the eagle F1 have lasted longer.

Another option is looking to drop down a level and look at Kumho as then you are looking at around £145ish fitted and looking around have decent reviews and hold their own against the premium levels with good wear rates.

To be continued!
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
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My experience of winter tyres is that they're not great in the winters round here, outside of snow I've never had a problem with summer tyres on any car.

I do have a very specific use case this year but I'd rather not spend £600+ on tyres that leave me with a worse solution for most of the winter.
I promise you; get a set of the newest ContiWinterContacts you can and you'll be fine. I had WinterContact TS 830Ps on my S3 and saw very little performance difference including flat out through Germany at 250km/h with no issues.

I presume the GT has different sizes on the front and back? TS 860S & TS 830P are the UHP tyres. They have a huge range - https://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/car/tyres?cartype=car&season=winter

If you have the spare set of wheels, use them! You offset the high cost of winters by not running your summer tyres at the same time :p
 
Soldato
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I had Continental Winters on my 530d and they were great. I think it was Dunlops (4D's I think) on the 335d, or maybe it was on another car. They were also great in all fairness. Also had Avons on my Alhambra, and they were pretty good, although did wear pretty fast, only got 2 winters out the fronts.
 
Soldato
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Only me again...

I think I may just get Eagle F1 again and stop being a tight arse and just keep all 4 the same again.

However are these cross climate / all season tyres worth looking at? Never bought anything but summer tyres, how do the seasonal tyres wear in comparison?
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
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Only me again...

I think I may just get Eagle F1 again and stop being a tight arse and just keep all 4 the same again.

However are these cross climate / all season tyres worth looking at? Never bought anything but summer tyres, how do the seasonal tyres wear in comparison?
Get the Michelins; they last forever!
All season tyres are the worst of both worlds. Avoid
 
Soldato
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Get the Michelins; they last forever!
All season tyres are the worst of both worlds. Avoid

As I've said repeatedly, the Asymmetric 5's are currently lasting as long as the Michelin PS4's. Based on actual experience with both tyres. So if the longevity of the tyres is the main criteria, the Goodyears are usually found significantly cheaper, but last as long. They aren't that far behind on grip either, or braking, or wet handling or any of that, so unless they are for a car that may occasionally do track days, the Goodyears are a solid choice. It's no longer a Michelin lockout when looking for the "best" tyre.

Only me again...

I think I may just get Eagle F1 again and stop being a tight arse and just keep all 4 the same again.

However are these cross climate / all season tyres worth looking at? Never bought anything but summer tyres, how do the seasonal tyres wear in comparison?

I have cross climates on my Volvo, and have zero complaints with them at all. But then that car is driven very sedately compared to some of my other cars. And I've only done around 3k in that car over the last year also. But, unless you live in an area with a reasonable chance of snow / ice, you would be better with normal summer rubber. And if you live in an area with a significant chance of snow, then probably better running winter wheels.
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
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As I've said repeatedly, the Asymmetric 5's are currently lasting as long as the Michelin PS4's. Based on actual experience with both tyres. So if the longevity of the tyres is the main criteria, the Goodyears are usually found significantly cheaper, but last as long. They aren't that far behind on grip either, or braking, or wet handling or any of that, so unless they are for a car that may occasionally do track days, the Goodyears are a solid choice. It's no longer a Michelin lockout when looking for the "best" tyre.
Impressive if true. I put some Assy 5s on my parents' Mk6 GTI to replace (aged/damaged) SportMaxxes but they do such low mileage I'll never actually see how they wear :p

I have cross climates on my Volvo, and have zero complaints with them at all. But then that car is driven very sedately compared to some of my other cars. And I've only done around 3k in that car over the last year also. But, unless you live in an area with a reasonable chance of snow / ice, you would be better with normal summer rubber. And if you live in an area with a significant chance of snow, then probably better running winter wheels.
What Volvo do you have? My only experience with allseasons is Gen 1 Goodyear Vectors but I can't see how they are anything but a compromise.
On my commute, I cannot accelerate quickly onto a rutted uphill slip road without the wheels spinning through first, second and sometimes even third if greasy and that's in an auto 1.4 Golf... You cannot tell me that is acceptable.
 
Soldato
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Impressive if true. I put some Assy 5s on my parents' Mk6 GTI to replace (aged/damaged) SportMaxxes but they do such low mileage I'll never actually see how they wear :p


What Volvo do you have? My only experience with allseasons is Gen 1 Goodyear Vectors but I can't see how they are anything but a compromise.
On my commute, I cannot accelerate quickly onto a rutted uphill slip road without the wheels spinning through first, second and sometimes even third if greasy and that's in an auto 1.4 Golf... You cannot tell me that is acceptable.

I do about 25k+ a year between my cars and around 15k of thay is in my Focus, so tyre life is very important to me, as well as all other factors. For this car at least. I've done about 13k since putting the ASY 5's on and still have around 6mm all round, so looking good there.

The Goodyear Vectors are a more "snow" focused all season tyre, according to tyre reviews videos. Where the cross climates are more focused towards cold and wet rather than snow and ice (although will manage in snow and ice), summer bias if you will. Of course, they are still compromised. But not to the same extent as most all season tyres. As I said, I haven't had any issues. The Volvo is a 2001 S40 2.0 petrol auto. So doesnt exactly lend itself to honing around back roads (my Clio F1 on the other hand excels here). But it does get used mostly for motorway like driving (I use it as my airport car, so ince or twice a month it is on dual carriageway) and country A / B roads. To be fair, it's only cross climates on the front, and primacy 4's on the rear. The tyres are probably worth more than the car.
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
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I do about 25k+ a year between my cars and around 15k of thay is in my Focus, so tyre life is very important to me, as well as all other factors. For this car at least. I've done about 13k since putting the ASY 5's on and still have around 6mm all round, so looking good there.

The Goodyear Vectors are a more "snow" focused all season tyre, according to tyre reviews videos. Where the cross climates are more focused towards cold and wet rather than snow and ice (although will manage in snow and ice), summer bias if you will. Of course, they are still compromised. But not to the same extent as most all season tyres. As I said, I haven't had any issues. The Volvo is a 2001 S40 2.0 petrol auto. So doesnt exactly lend itself to honing around back roads (my Clio F1 on the other hand excels here). But it does get used mostly for motorway like driving (I use it as my airport car, so ince or twice a month it is on dual carriageway) and country A / B roads. To be fair, it's only cross climates on the front, and primacy 4's on the rear. The tyres are probably worth more than the car.
Why on earth would you run 2x cross climates and 2x primacy 4s??
 
Soldato
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Why on earth would you run 2x cross climates and 2x primacy 4s??

That's what came on the car when I bought it? I assume because the guy lived in the country slightly (around 10 miles outside Perth, Scotland) he wanted some traction in the snow on the front wheels. Either way, the tyres all had over 6mm tread on them, and were much better tyres than you would normally expect on a £600 beater, so just kept that setup. And I live in a similar sort of area, in a small village with at least 10 miles of country roads to negotiate before anything bigger
 
Associate
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Time for new rears, currently have PS4's and have been very happy with them but I cannot find them in stock anywhere in 255/35/18 - seems like my best option is going to be ASY 5's from Oponeo at this rate...
 
Soldato
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I question the point in you having two sets of wheels then. I can't imagine the weather conditions where an all season is better than both a summer and a winter tyre. The best tyre most of the time is a good UHP summer tyre.

I run Pirelli Snowcontrol 3 on the Mini over winter and they are fine, I've also driven quite a few miles on other brands of winter tyre on German rental cars and again had no issues really.

All seasons offer the worst of both worlds for people for whom swapping wheels over isn't an option.

20" as standard on the car and 18" for winter wheels. Logic (to me) is have All Seasons for winter as they'll perform better than Summer tyres and All Seasons on the 20" wheels are not an option.


I promise you; get a set of the newest ContiWinterContacts you can and you'll be fine. I had WinterContact TS 830Ps on my S3 and saw very little performance difference including flat out through Germany at 250km/h with no issues.

I presume the GT has different sizes on the front and back? TS 860S & TS 830P are the UHP tyres. They have a huge range - https://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/car/tyres?cartype=car&season=winter

If you have the spare set of wheels, use them! You offset the high cost of winters by not running your summer tyres at the same time :p

20" wheels are different but the 18" are all 245/50. It's an odd size which only gives me the 810s which seem old and don't have great reviews.



Thanks to both your advice I'm coming round to just getting winters and living with the compromise when it's not so cold, Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+ seem to be new out this year and winning a lot of tests, thoughts?
 
Man of Honour
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20" as standard on the car and 18" for winter wheels. Logic (to me) is have All Seasons for winter as they'll perform better than Summer tyres and All Seasons on the 20" wheels are not an option.

But they probably won't perform better than summer tyres unless the conditions are such that the proper winter tyres would have been even better. I cannot see the value in a second set of wheels with all season tyres on it. They are a compromise for people unable to run 2 sets of wheels.

I run Eagle F1 AS3 all round on the 530d and Pirelli Snowcontrol 3 in winter with Michelin Pilot Primacy 3 at other times on the Mini. I accept that the AS3 is a UHP tyre but only in snow and ice do I feel the Mini ever offers greater tyre performance.
 
Soldato
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Thanks for all the info guys...just ended up getting another pair of Eagle F1's. I knew if I went for any cheaper I would regret it.

The asymmetric 5's are meant to be a good step over the 3's so will be interesting to see if I see any difference.
 
Soldato
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Just put 4 Michelin Cup 2's on my Megane 275 Trophy, first time running these tyres so be interested to see how they compare to previous summer/track focussed tyres I've ran on previous cars (595, NS2R, AD08R). Initial impressions are quite good having just removed some old regular PS2 that came from the factory, not given them any real hammer yet but road noise and overall comfort is very impressive for a performance tyre.
 
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