Bridgestone Dueler H/T 687

[Vern1961]

Anyone running these on a SUV or similar. Had a full set fitted to my Kia Sportage just under two years ago to replace the original Hankooks, which had perished. Now part worn (9000 miles) becoming a bit concerned about wet performance, particularly on sharp corners such as mini roundabouts you can feel the steering trying to pull towards full lock and a jack knife, doesn’t seem much traction at all. Some of that can probably be attributed to summer wet roads being greasier than the winter and Sportage steering is a bit notchy. Checked pressures and okay plus plenty of tread so why does it feel like I’m driving on slicks?

May think about changing the fronts before the winter as if cornering is getting dodgy, what might the effect be on stopping distance? Any recommendations for a good wet weather tyre that keeps its grip?

 

[mattyprice4004]

Can you get Uniroyal Rainsports in this size? Hands down the best wet-weather tyre I've found to date, and very reasonably priced.

 

[Nasher]

Rainsports are no better than the top performance tyres in the wet, but much worse in the dry.

People think they are amazing because they probably moved to them from ditchfinders, because they are cheap.

 

[panthro]

Had these on my X5 and highly rated them. I got 20k miles from the rears and about 15k from the fronts. I'd highly recommend getting your car on a laser alignment machine to rule out any misalignment issues.

 

[Maccapacca]

Ditch finders 100%, had them on three vehicles now all replaced with BFG ATs which are million times better

 

[Dis86]

Had them on our ranger. Lethal in the wet.

 

[BinnsY]

May think about changing the fronts before the winter as if cornering is getting dodgy, what might the effect be on stopping distance? Any recommendations for a good wet weather tyre that keeps its grip?

Dont do that, or if you do, make sure you have the new rubber rotated to the rear so your new tyres are on the back. The behaviour you are describing of runnign wide on roundabouts / loss of control in the wet etc is all easy to recover from when you are loosing grip on the front. You simply ease of, or apply the brakes, weight shifts forward, giving your more grip, and you recover.

If you put your newer better rubber on the front your more likely to get a false imprssion of grip until you find the rear lets go instead. Unless you are truly expecting it (and somehow I doubt the Kia Sportage was designed with drifting in mind) you will likely panic, stamp on the brakes, transferring weight forward, taking weight of the rear (that in this case is struggling already) and you will find yourself facing the wrong way on your mini roundabout.

Even better, if you are noticing they feel rubbish, change all 4, but if you absoutlely only want to do 2, but them on the rear.

 

[Avalon]

I hated the set I had on a RAV, the Toyo Transpath’s I had previously were much better, especially as they wore down, as were the Michelin Latitude HP/Cross that subsequently replaced the Bridgestone’s.

 

[tom_nieto]

I don’t recall Pirelli Scorpions being hugely more expensive than the ditchfinders that the dealership were offering when we needed new tyres. Blackcircles suggests £130 a corner fitted which doesn’t seem too bad to me.

Edit - or £106 a corner at “protyre”

 

[Vern1961]

Appreciate the advice. Will definitely get the alignment checked first then a few brands above to consider. You would have thought the Bridgestone brand and the price I paid would be an indication of quality, not necessarily.

As I said, the Sportage has a bit of a rep for tram lining too, which probably doesn't help if the tyres are not up to snuff.

 

[Avalon]

Appreciate the advice. Will definitely get the alignment checked first then a few brands above to consider. You would have thought the Bridgestone brand and the price I paid would be an indication of quality, not necessarily.

As I said, the Sportage has a bit of a rep for tram lining too, which probably doesn't help if the tyres are not up to snuff.

Unfortunately it’s often a case of reading reviews before buying rather than relying on a brand name, a site like www.tyrereviews.com is a reasonable shout as it tends to group the various tests done and allow you to narrow down your options depending on your criteria.

 

[Rroff]

Any recommendations for a good wet weather tyre that keeps its grip?

I've been using the Bridgestone Turanza t005 - availability is a bit hit and miss though - downside is they are a bit soft which isn't ideal on a SUV or pickup if you use in a wide range of scenarios :s a bit noisier than claimed and fuel economy is average with them IMO rather than the claimed good. In really dry, like dusty dry, conditions they can be a bit vague and heavy. In normal conditions they are pretty unremarkable as good as any other non-budget tyre. In the wet though they are excellent - so far I've not had a single hint of aquaplaning or loss of grip in some of the most ridiculous wet conditions you get in the UK, hold up well under heavy braking so far even on the slickest of wet surfaces with a few 100s of KGs in the back. Cornering is a little odd though as when the surface is wet they like to stay on a line so you end up doing kind of a series of discreet steps but gives you a good confidence for overtaking in inclement conditions (i.e. you don't feel like there is a risk of losing it and going under the lorry you are passing...).

Though I will probably be looking at the Pirelli Scorpion AT Plus for replacements.

 

[coupe69]

I've been using the Bridgestone Turanza t005 - availability is a bit hit and miss though - downside is they are a bit soft which isn't ideal on a SUV or pickup if you use in a wide range of scenarios :s a bit noisier than claimed and fuel economy is average with them IMO rather than the claimed good. In really dry, like dusty dry, conditions they can be a bit vague and heavy. In normal conditions they are pretty unremarkable as good as any other non-budget tyre. In the wet though they are excellent - so far I've not had a single hint of aquaplaning or loss of grip in some of the most ridiculous wet conditions you get in the UK, hold up well under heavy braking so far even on the slickest of wet surfaces with a few 100s of KGs in the back. Cornering is a little odd though as when the surface is wet they like to stay on a line so you end up doing kind of a series of discreet steps but gives you a good confidence for overtaking in inclement conditions (i.e. you don't feel like there is a risk of losing it and going under the lorry you are passing...).

So other than being good in the wet they're actually a bit meh for everything else. Can't tell if you're recommending them or not?

 

[Rroff]

So other than being good in the wet they're actually a bit meh for everything else. Can't tell if you're recommending them or not?

Just putting them out there as an option that might be worth looking into but with some caveats.

At times I've been in some torrential conditions the last couple of years on the A30 and A303, etc. sketchy surfaces on a downhill to traffic lights or a roundabout where they've been completely untroubled while I've seen drivers around me having moments, etc. in one case even a multi car pileup due to people losing it in the wet and/or unable to stop in time to avoid it but wasn't an issue for me:

Spoiler

 

[Vern1961]

I do like the sound of the Turanza's. As regards driving conditions, like 99.5% of "SUV" owners the only non tarmac driving I do is when I use an unsurfaced car parking area, dirt or gravel!

 

[Avalon]

Goodyear Vector 4Seaons Gen 3’s get decent reviews as all season tyres, going from AWD to 2WD recently, I decided to place a higher priority on year round performance this time round.

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/Goodyear/Vector-4Seasons-Gen-3.htm

I’m having a pair fitted to loose wheels on Tuesday - the spare fronts I swapped over happen to have Duelers on (about 4.5mm left on the pair) and despite them being OK in the dry, I got similar results in the wet

 

[Nasher]

ATS have £50 off a set of Goodyears tyres at the moment. Get some Eagle F1s

 

[Avalon]

ATS have £50 off a set of Goodyears tyres at the moment. Get some Eagle F1s

Careful with buying into the discount claims, even with the £12.50/corner ‘discount’ Costco is still over £15/corner cheaper than ATS on F1 A5’s in my size with nitrogen inflation as standard. Admittedly if you don’t have a membership then the discount is offset, but ATS is rarely cheap.

 

[Nasher]

Careful with buying into the discount claims, even with the £12.50/corner ‘discount’ Costco is still over £15/corner cheaper than ATS on F1 A5’s in my size with nitrogen inflation as standard. Admittedly if you don’t have a membership then the discount is offset, but ATS is rarely cheap.

I've found them cheaper than Blackcircles a few times (ATS own Blackcircles btw). But that was when I also got an Amazon tablet thrown in which is about £80 on it's own. The deals haven't been as good as they used to be.