weirdness after new tyres

Siliconslave · 14 Jul 2006 at 07:42

Hrm, right, well after waking up to a flat tyre yesterday morning and faced with having to get 20miles on a very dodgey and slightly under inflated space saver i went to a local tyre place and asked for some new tyres.

As it turned out it was a pretty good job i did, having 12points worth of illegal rubber on the car and all!

the weird thing is they adjusted the tracking on the front and rear as they were both towed in by a couple of degrees and now the car just doesn't feel right - the suspension just seems to be far too soft, and the steering far too light, is this just me being paranoid and having a good 10mm of extra tread or could they have actually naffed up the suspension?

Meridian · 14 Jul 2006 at 07:50

It may be the tyres - did you change brand or type? Tyres with soft sidewalls, like Goodyear Eagles F1s, make the ride feel noticably softer than rigid tyrewalls, like those on Bridgestone Potenzas.

If the tyres are identical, then I'm not sure.

M

Siliconslave · 14 Jul 2006 at 08:28

Meridian said:
It may be the tyres - did you change brand or type? Tyres with soft sidewalls, like Goodyear Eagles F1s, make the ride feel noticably softer than rigid tyrewalls, like those on Bridgestone Potenzas.

If the tyres are identical, then I'm not sure.

M

there pretty much identical, gone from the toyo proxes t1r to the t1s in the same size.

Think the rear of the car looks higher than usual, either that or i'm going totally mad! (goes to get camera)

merlin · 14 Jul 2006 at 08:33

T1S tyres are very soft. Softer in fact than chocolate GS-D3's.

Some of the spongyness will be due to the higher tread. It's common for everyone to feel a little flexing after new tyres because you've now got tread tall enough to flex around, as you corner you bend the tread chucks left to right. As they wear - they'll start to feel a bit more responsive.

But ultimately they are soft sidewalled tyres so that's that.

Try an extra 2 psi in them, it may prop them up a bit better.

The R in T1R stands for re-inforced. Jokes at the ready for what the S stands for in T1S.

Siliconslave · 14 Jul 2006 at 08:36

merlin said:
T1S tyres are very soft. Softer in fact than chocolate GS-D3's.

...

But ultimately they are soft sidewalled tyres so that's that.

Try an extra 2 psi in them, it may prop them up a bit better.

The R in T1R stands for re-inforced. Jokes at the ready for what the S stands for in T1S.

Nuts

well that makes sence then, and i guess the S stands for something i'm not going post on here, mutter mutter

Guess i'll have to try the extra 2psi and see how i go

Slime101 · 14 Jul 2006 at 08:40

It looks higher becaus its been jacked up and the springs may need to re-settle (rare, but does happen)

It feels light on the steering because thats what it feels like with all cars when you go from bald to new tyres - have you never changed tyres before???

I doubt anything else would make a noticable difference, you are imagining it!

Siliconslave · 14 Jul 2006 at 08:44

Slime101 said:
It looks higher becaus its been jacked up and the springs may need to re-settle (rare, but does happen)

It feels light on the steering because thats what it feels like with all cars when you go from bald to new tyres - have you never changed tyres before???

I doubt anything else would make a noticable difference, you are imagining it!

i've never had this much of a difference when changing tyres, but as merlin said its more than likely down to the sidewalls in the s

merlin · 14 Jul 2006 at 08:44

You can't fault T1S for grip - they will grip all day long.

Like the GS-D3's, they're not bad tyres at all - just a bit sloppy.

I'm not sure what the compound is like (hard/soft/medium) but certainly no-one complains about grip with S's - they do grip, wet or dry.

Not the end of the world by a long shot.

Last thing - tyre fitters sometimes have a bizzare habit of putting WAAAAY too much air in the tyres - check the pressures. I always ask what they're putting in mine as the car doesn't feel too clever with 38psi in all round :rolleyes:

Check those pressures - wouldn't surprise me one bit if they've over inflated them.

Siliconslave · 14 Jul 2006 at 08:48

merlin said:
You can't fault T1S for grip - they will grip all day long.

...

Check those pressures - wouldn't surprise me one bit if they've over inflated them.

didn't want to push them too much as the car just felt a little bit too light on them, but i'll go and give them som welly in a bit i think

i'll have a look at the pressure, but they asked how much air i wanted in them so i pointed them at the sticker in the door

merlin · 14 Jul 2006 at 08:49

Siliconslave said:
i'll have a look at the pressure, but they asked how much air i wanted in them so i pointed them at the sticker in the door

That means nothing. Check them!

Firestar_3x · 14 Jul 2006 at 08:54

Siliconslave said:
i'll have a look at the pressure, but they asked how
much air i wanted in them so i pointed them at the sticker in the door

Ah the good old sticker on the door, 26psi mine reads, did a tyre reading mine had been set to 31psi on GSD3 goodness....

So like a good little boy i changed them to 26psi and went to work, oh dear oh dear oh dear, four wheels slides in a rwd car are fun and all that but not for me, so i've upped my pressure to a half way house 28psi and they seem great.

So in summary - Door sticker = bad.

Siliconslave · 14 Jul 2006 at 09:09

Firestar_3x said:
So in summary - Door sticker = bad.

really? i've allways had mine at 26 and they've been fine, i'll have a go at 28 thou

merlin said:
That means nothing. Check them!

Sir, yes sir!

merlin · 14 Jul 2006 at 09:14

Freefaller · 14 Jul 2006 at 09:15

Kwikfit fitted sorted my tracking when I got some tyres fitted 6 months ago (I have bought some new ones off the web which will get fitted next week) - anyway after leaving there my tracking/geo was up the spout. I'm going to go to Wheels In Motion up in watford who are reknown for being awesome at setting up mx5s and other cars to a perfect geo setup. I've been there before - but it's a bit of a trek but worth it.

Change will always make things feel different though - especially as you've gone for slightly different tyres. However maybe their tracking wasn't done perfectly? How does it feel once the tyres are nice and warm and you whip it round a corner?

merlin · 14 Jul 2006 at 09:17

Can I also say one last thing please?

Booting the car on factory fresh tyres aint a good idea. The release agent they use for the mould stays on the tyre for a good 100 miles or so, greasy stuff.

I learned this lesson the hard way.

Firestar_3x · 14 Jul 2006 at 09:28

2 true, when i got my rears changed i pulled away from the tyre fitting place one wheel was on a slight kerb and the other on the road, que the back end snaking down the road, soon got rid of the outer coating

Siliconslave · 14 Jul 2006 at 09:34

Firestar_3x said:
2 true, when i got my rears changed i pulled away from the tyre fitting place one wheel was on a slight kerb and the other on the road, que the back end snaking down the road, soon got rid of the outer coating

ditto, pulled out the garage, wacked it in 1st and wheelspun down the road nicely

Really havn't pushed it atall though as it just doesn't feel planeted. Guess thats going to be down to the soft sidewalls then

will have to see what it feels like then pushed in a couple of days...

Freefaller said:
I'm going to go to Wheels In Motion up in watford who are reknown for being awesome at setting up mx5s and other cars to a perfect geo setup. I've been there before - but it's a bit of a trek but worth it.

Thats not a bad idea actually, could lump it in with a trip to Oriental City

do you know what kinda price they charge? wasn't really wanting to spend too much this month but that went out the windows with four new shoes!

Freefaller · 14 Jul 2006 at 10:01

merlin said:
Can I also say one last thing please?

Booting the car on factory fresh tyres aint a good idea. The release agent they use for the mould stays on the tyre for a good 100 miles or so, greasy stuff.

I learned this lesson the hard way.

Same on a bike - you have to be quite gentle with the leaning and acceleration - it gets a bit slippy and wobbly! I also learnt the hard way.... it hurt my ego more than anything else...

Freefaller · 14 Jul 2006 at 10:05

Siliconslave said:
Thats not a bad idea actually, could lump it in with a trip to Oriental City do you know what kinda price they charge? wasn't really wanting to spend too much this month but that went out the windows with four new shoes!

from website said:
Wheel Alignment: £21.55 Including adjustment: no print out
Four wheel alignment: £35 Including adjustment: no print out
Full geometry: £37.50 Test only.

adjustments: £18.50 each with a print out

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/

Worth it IMO.

Firestar_3x · 14 Jul 2006 at 10:16

Sounds good imho, group mx5 trip might be needed