Need some new rubber, choices, choices.....

Berger

Berger

Berger

Soldato
Joined
22 May 2003
Posts
10,856
Location
Wigan
Need to buy at least two tyres for my 306. The fronts need replacing, but the rears have loads of tread left.

Stock size is 195/55/15, which I would prefer so my speedo is correct and my car is currently stock.

However, the majority of people tend to fit 195/50/15s as these are a lot cheaper and there are more tyre options in this size.

It currently has 195/50/15 Yokohama A539s fitted, which ive had before and quite like as a tyre, however ive had trouble finding these, as I would get two fitted and just rotate them around on the car so all 4 wear out at the same time and then I can fit the stock size.

Alternatively ill buy 4 new tyres and sell the Yokos cheap to a mate or haggle some money off with the tyre fitter for letting him keep them....

There isnt a vast amount of choice in 195/55/15, but the best bet looking online I think would be to go for Toyo Proxes T1-R. Ive used the T1-S before and it was pretty good. Looking at £40 each here as they are discounted at camskill at the moment.

The only other reasonable tyre is the VREDESTEIN SPORTRAC 3, which I think is the model a few people really rated on here?

As a wild card, there have been some Eagle F1s thrown up on ebay in the correct size, these are Thai imports, and although Goodyear UK have said they are UK legal (someone on the GTI-6 owners club asked them) they said they may not be optimal for use in this country.

Thoughts!?
 
Ive had eagles on my 306 before, they werent too bad. Shame im running on credit crunch ditch finders now :(
 
Nomisf said:
Ive had eagles on my 306 before, they werent too bad. Shame im running on credit crunch ditch finders now :(
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F1s or NCT5s though?

The point I made above was that they dont make UK spec F1s in the correct size.

As for credit crunch there isnt much difference between good brands and poor brands!:o
 
Nomisf said:
Ive had eagles on my 306 before, they werent too bad. Shame im running on credit crunch ditch finders now :(
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Pet hate: People blaming everything on 'credit crunch'. Unless you bought your Eagles using a loan or credit which has now been withdrawn and you can no longet get, then it's not 'credit crunch' ditchfinders its just you cheaping out on safety.
 
VREDESTEIN SPORTRAC 3, got these on my Mondeo, and not had a problem with them, grip very well in both wet and dry. Would get them again when these need changing.
 
[TW]Fox;13098143 said:
Pet hate: People blaming everything on 'credit crunch'. Unless you bought your Eagles using a loan or credit which has now been withdrawn and you can no longet get, then it's not 'credit crunch' ditchfinders its just you cheaping out on safety.
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Oh do untwist those bloomers fox, it was meant to be light hearted , i dont really take the daily mail as gospel - You're right it is just my "cheaping out", students eh :p ;)
 
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I tried a variety of stuff on my 306 back in the day. The OEM Michelins were useless in the wet, NCT3s were a decent all rounder. My favourites were the Goodyear Ventura which I think were replaced by the Hydra's.
 
if you want them to last, I'd avoid the toyos. I had a set a number of years ago. They were great tyrea, but looked like slicks after a few thousand miles.

My usual tyre of choice is a nankang ns2. I've had them on 4 different cars so far. Not quite as grippy as the toyos however they are quite decent and give a good ride; without costing a fortune.

I much preferred 55dia tyres. Gave a bit more cusioning on my fiat coupe. But then I guess that did have pretty hard suspension. If you're strugglng to find the right size in 195's, have you looked at 185's or 225's. Although check with someone who knows 306 rim widths whether 225's will fit first.
 
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