Difference a good tyre makes to handling?

Lord-Jaffa · 27 Jul 2007 at 14:09

Looking at getting a new set of tyres all round as the current dunlop thingies i have at the moment are pushing 12k+ miles, was wondering how much difference people find in the handling/tram lining/road noise people find between an average tyre and the more better ones?

Was looking at some Goodyear Eagle F1s on 17inch wheels, Car suffers quite a bit from tramlining on bad road surfaces was wondering if some quality rubber would go some way to making the pain of driving on english roads more bareable?

Berger · 27 Jul 2007 at 15:23

Handling, world of difference, the other two, no idea. Doubt will make any difference to tramlining at all as thats more of a wheelbase/tracking/wheel size arrangement than tyres. Road noise, well that will depend on the road

Garrett · 27 Jul 2007 at 15:26

Moving from Continental something or others (unmatched front and rear) to Michellin PS2's all round dramitically reduced tramlining for me and the car feels much better planted and grippy too. (E46 M3 Conv) They were pretty slippery until they had a few miles put on them though.

timbob · 27 Jul 2007 at 15:27

Definitely. Tyres make all the difference. I didn't believe the hype myself until I experienced the difference semi-decent (not even mega expensive tyres made) to my old 106 GTi.

I got it with 4 not great tyres on it, that were in need of replacement soonish. It handled great, seemed nicely balanced, the grip was fine if not particularly awesome. The fronts needed doing first, so I changed them to some of the better Cooper tyres (a semi-decent make, made by Avon I believe). I didn't want a super-soft grippy tyre as I was doing 2000 miles a month, so went with a compromise between grip and longevity.

Weirdly enough, all of a sudden, the handling was awful. It felt floaty, disconnected and weird. Within 2 or 3 days, I'd managed to do a 180 on a damp roundabout when I was not even pushing - just in relaxed driving mode with the music on... Luckily I didn't hit anything, but I decided to get the rear tyres done as well for the sake of safety, and got the same make of tyres put on the back. The difference was amazing. It felt like a totally new car, oodles of grip, wonderfully balanced, poised and pointy.

So, to sum up - tyres make a huge difference, buy the best you can afford.

wassap · 27 Jul 2007 at 15:31

Even wear rate makes a difference, the conti sports on the ST are positively crap after 8k miles (they do 12k).

I have one mismatched tyre at the mo, well the wear rate is different, and the handling really is interesting, the tyres on the rear.

Skree · 27 Jul 2007 at 15:40

it depends on the power of your car. for normal sub 110bhp/ton cars i swear by michelin MXT. I've been surprised a number of times how good they actually grip, and how well they retain that grip. (and they last 30k miles +)

Having said that, for cars that are faster, MXTs wont be much good, especially if you drive like a maniac, on the limit all the time.

had a japanese sports car a while back that came with Yokohama tyres on it and they were absolutely 'kin fantastic. Didnt last too long but i kept replacing with the same tyre - tried a set of Nitto's but they made the rear end really unstable.. i think they were drifter's tyres

The benefits you will find with specialist grip tyres is they will have more flat out mechanical grip, the sidewalls will deflect less, making it feel more secure on the road.

Really good ones should clear water from the road better than cheap tyres too, improving aquaplaning.

You may find it decreases your ride quality slightly, You'll not notice it if it is on a BMW or Benz or porker or similar, as the construction of the tyres should be better. (read tougher, less sidewall deflection - at the expense of a slightly harder ride)

Gaijin · 27 Jul 2007 at 16:04

A lot. I had Eagle F1's on my stock alloys and they just wouldnt let go. I changed my alloys and so had to budget. Falken 452's went on instead. They are by no means a bad tyre but will understeer when given a fair amount of jip. Even with a slightly wider footprint on the new alloys.

4T5 · 27 Jul 2007 at 16:12

Untold. It is the contact point between you & the surface you are on & gives you the feedback you want. Decent tyres make a world of difference.

Scort · 27 Jul 2007 at 16:33

I found quite a noticeable difference when I had my two front tyres replaced this week, mind you, the last set were bald towards the outside edges – roundabouts in Swindon for you!

The car feels far nicer to drive, it seems lighter on the steering, better on braking and I seem to have lost the ‘knocking’ through the steering wheel, which I get when going full-lock out of a parking space or in a tight turn.

Cant really say I notice any reduction in road noise, but the car no longer pulls to the left or right under braking – this was not the tracking as far as I know, as I had that done recently too.

Scort.

Skree · 28 Jul 2007 at 11:40

malc30 said:
Untold. It is the contact point between you & the surface you are on & gives you the feedback you want. Decent tyres make a world of difference.

buy this man a sammich.

basically, nail, head.

blueboy2001 · 28 Jul 2007 at 13:47

wohoo said:
Even wear rate makes a difference, the conti sports on the ST are positively crap after 8k miles (they do 12k).

I had this with Conti Sport Contact 2's - the compound must be different through the tread because once they get down to about 4mm they go right off - they loose a lot of feel and tramlining gets a lot worse.

Good tyres aren't always about absolute maximum grip - you want a tyres that are progressive near their limits so you can feel when you're pushing too hard rather than something that grips like hell then breaks away as soon as you go over the limit.