Spec me some tyres

iaind

iaind

iaind

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Joined
26 Feb 2009
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Location
Exeter
The dealer who had the Saab put some nasty ditchfinders on it (still had the lubricating compound on the wheels, so they're literally brand new), so I want to replace them with something half decent.

Looking for good road noise, reasonable lifespan and good wet performance/stopping ability. It's not being driven hard or thrown around corners, so ultimate grip isnt paramount.

Size is 225/45/17 - are the vredesteins still a good bet?

Ta
 
Well I havent pushed the car that hard yet so I cant comment on levels of grip etc, but they're a brand I've never heard of and I'd rather not find out the hard way!
 
My Dads just put a full set of Sessantas on his 320 E92 and I find them great. I've got the Ultracs on my CTR and I'm very impressed with them, so if the Sessantas are better still they'd be a good shout.
 
I run T1Rs on my 9-5 and even with the reinforced side walls and XL rating (required for the Aero estate) they feel a touch soft. This gives an improvement to the ride but a slight loss of precision, which overall suits me as the car spends more time mile munching than B road hacking. They do however work rather better in the snow than Eagles.
 
From other people who had Vredesteins fitted to a saab, they recommeded the ultracs, as the sessantas don't seem to suit the car as well. I looked into tyres last year and ended up getting a pair of uniroyal rainsport 2's, which i've found to be excellent so far. Nice and gripy in the dry and almost equal in the wet, and surprisingly good in the snow. The tyre that was considered to be the best on the 93 was the eagle F1 asymmetric, followed by the toyo T1-R.

Out of interest are the unheard of tyres Neuton NT5000's?
 
I'm going to plug my ContiSportContact 3s.
I really like them, they have lots of grip and I can't say they're noisy, but they are competing with a tractor engine.
They're excellent in all conditions.

They aren't cheap though and apparently don't last particularly long, although I can't say I've noticed.

I will probably try the Sessantas next, but I'm not sure whether I want different tyres on both axles with 4wd.
 
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Vredestein Ultrac Centos have\are replacing the ultracs, i have just put them on my mondeo, seem better than the ultracs, and much quieter, which is good. cant comment on durability, but i did get 13k out of the ultracs on the front.
 
The Ultrac Cento is a new tyre that sits between the Ultrac and the Ultrac Sessanta rather than replacing Sessanta. They are supposed to be quieter and have lower rolling resistance.
 
iaind said:
The dealer who had the Saab put some nasty ditchfinders on it (still had the lubricating compound on the wheels, so they're literally brand new), so I want to replace them with something half decent.
Click to expand...

Hm, it seems to be a common thing for SAAB dealers to do. On my mum's 9-5 they put some utterly crap tyres on the front. I forget what they were called but it was along the lines of lingwing longwang or something.
 
iaind said:
The dealer who had the Saab put some nasty ditchfinders on it (still had the lubricating compound on the wheels, so they're literally brand new), so I want to replace them with something half decent.

Looking for good road noise, reasonable lifespan and good wet performance/stopping ability. It's not being driven hard or thrown around corners, so ultimate grip isnt paramount.

Size is 225/45/17 - are the vredesteins still a good bet?

Ta
Click to expand...

On my 9-3 (same alloys as yours actually), I've been through Conti Sport Contact 2s and 3s, currently on Ultrac Sessantas (all reinforced sidewall XL spec). Grip seems to be similar across all three but I have this thought that the Sessantas seem more fincky about tyre pressures and maybe tramline a bit more.

Just looking at Camskill, I don't think the price difference between the Conti's and Utracs is as great as before (£20 now).
 
I took the decision to fit some £45 215/35/18 tyres onto my ST24.

Didnt know how long I would keep the car/how long it would last.

So far I am very impressed with them and tbh very shocked, no different to £150 pirelli tyres before hand. I have not tested these on a track and no doubt that is when you will see the difference, however they seem to handle the rain/slush/dry very well. The road noise seems far better to, however that is going from very worn tyres to a new tyre.

These amazing tyres are called Sunew!

Have you pushed your car to the limits that the tyres fitted are so unsafe, or are you just stopping the potential happening?
 
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Gaygle said:
Hm, it seems to be a common thing for SAAB dealers to do. On my mum's 9-5 they put some utterly crap tyres on the front. I forget what they were called but it was along the lines of lingwing longwang or something.
Click to expand...

It wasnt a Saab dealer - was an Alfa dealer. The chap owned it from new and traded it in against a new Alfa 159 - so he's on my wavelength :)

Anyway, these are the beasts that my car is currently blessed with:

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products....rrier_Tyres_-_17_R17_-_225/45/17,_225/45_R_17
 
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