Which tyres (again)

Scuzi · 7 Mar 2006 at 21:10

The fronts on my Toledo are beginning to get a bit low. They have about another 1k left in them but I don't want to leave it until the last minute. I was going to get a swap with the rears but to be honest there isn't much point.

The current tyres are Bridgestone Turanza's. They're quite good in the dry but could be much better in the wet. I've been having a look on www.mytyres.co.uk and the tyres that I've been looking at are as follows:

Bridgestone Potenza RE720 (205/55 R16 91W) £67.00
In reviews they rate very high for grip in the dry and have an excellent result for wet grip. They rate lower in noise and wear though.

EAGLE F1 GS-D3 (205/55 R16 91W BSW) £67.00
Don't rate quite as high in wet and dry grip, (or anything for that matter) as the Potenzas but they have a nice tread pattern and I've heard good reports on them. I've also heard people mention 'Cheese sidewalls'. What's that about?

And....that's about it. No other tyres seem to come close in the reviews. Are there any other tyres I should look at? What about the 'outsider' big brands like Hankook, Firestone, BF Goodrich etc.. I don't mean the Nokia, Matador, Superdeeduper tyre manufactureres

The tyres are to go on a Toledo 20VT Sport, a car which is probably on the limits of the chassis power handling capabilities. It tends to understeer in the wet until the ESP kicks in, so tyres which would combat this would be welcome. I'd also want something with a stiffer sidewall.

Thanks

[TW]Fox · 7 Mar 2006 at 21:24

Don't bother reading too much into the ratings on Mytyres - the F1's offer the best wet grip bar none but you may find that as a result, the Potenza's will be better in the dry.

PMKeates · 7 Mar 2006 at 21:30

I'll echo that sentiment. Eagle F1's offer the most uber grip in the wet.

neil-ste · 7 Mar 2006 at 21:43

I've used both and the Eagles are better in the wet, I liked the way that RE720s lasted me ages though

Scuzi · 17 Mar 2006 at 00:05

Righty o. I've had quotes on the following. I know that they all have plenty of grip but with regards to ride comfort, road noise and longevity, which would be the best choice from this lot?

BRIDGESTONE - TURANZA ER30
205/55R16W
£83.90 inc VAT each

CONTINENTAL - SPORT CONTACT 2
205/55R16W
£81.90 inc VAT each

DUNLOP - SP9000
205/55R16W
£76.90 inc VAT each

GOODYEAR - EAGLE F1 GSD3
205/55R16W
£83.90 inc VAT each

TOYO - PROXES T1-R TOYO - PROXES T1-R
205/55R16W
£70.90 inc VAT each

I'm leaning toward the Toyo's but I've heard that the -R wears down very quickly compared to the -S. I'm tempted by the Eagle's as well but again I've heard that they don't last a crack and there's the rumours of 'cheese sidewalls'. I currently have the Bridgestones on my car but fancy something that grips a bit better in the wet. That leaves the Conti's and the Dunlops.

Which do I go for? Those prices are per tyre including fitting and balancing.

[TW]Fox · 17 Mar 2006 at 00:17

Scuzi said:
BRIDGESTONE - TURANZA ER30
205/55R16W
£83.90 inc VAT each

These are not in the same league as the rest - the Bridgestone equivilent is something like the RE050A or the S-03 Pole Position. Turanza is a mid range tyre.

CONTINENTAL - SPORT CONTACT 2
205/55R16W
£81.90 inc VAT each

These came last in the last Autocar tyre test (Found the mag again!). People have different opinions on the validity of such tests. My personal opinion is that a proper test conducted in test conditions at a proper test facility by impartial reviews is more valuable than user opinion which, by nature, is subjective.

Dry performance, however, was marginally better than the Eagle F1. Wet performance, though, was considerably worse - it basically came last in all wet tests.

DUNLOP - SP9000
205/55R16W
£76.90 inc VAT each

I was lead to believe these were discontinued in 2004 and replaced by the SP Sport MAXX but 2 years on they are still around and still on the Dunlop website. Dunlop now appear to have two high performance tyres in the same market, dont know why. These do not appear in any of the tests anymore.

I had a set on the Mondeo when I bought it. Had no issues but did notice that the ride quality and noise levels of the F1 were lower.

Wear rate was better - the Dunlops were on the car for at least 15k on the front. I got 10k out of the F1's that I replaced them with.

GOODYEAR - EAGLE F1 GSD3
205/55R16W
£83.90 inc VAT each

Outstanding wet performance, from what I have researched they are the best performing tyre in the wet bar none. Bridgestone Potenza S-03 is a VERY close second, though. Exceptional wet performance does mean that dry performance is compromised, though, due to the directional tread pattern. Although when I saw compromised, it's still excellent, just second to the Pilot Sports and Potenzas. Swings and roundabouts really - what do you prefer, exceptional wet performance and great dry performance, or exceptional dry performance and acceptable wet performance?

It is my opinion that if you are ever going to have a situation whereby you come close to the limits of your tyres grip in an emergency situation, such as hard braking, it's likely to be in the wet...

TOYO - PROXES T1-R TOYO - PROXES T1-R
205/55R16W
£70.90 inc VAT each

Don't know an awful lot about these. They are quite highly rated amongst users but not sure how much that counts for - I mean over on the Mondeo forum we've got users of some utter tat saying OMG LOL BEST TYRES EVAR LOLZ BETTER THAN *** POTENZAS when reffering to things like Sava Intensas, so I don't know how much faith you can put in us mere mortals being able to accurately appraise tyres.

I like to leave that to the professionals - thats why I run Eagle F1's

Scuzi · 17 Mar 2006 at 00:45

[TW]Fox said:
It is my opinion that if you are ever going to have a situation whereby you come close to the limits of your tyres grip in an emergency situation, such as hard braking, it's likely to be in the wet...

I agree with you there. I don't drive my car on the limits often and when I do it's usually for a bit of fun round the roundabouts, nothing too serious. I'd rather have a set of tyres that shaved a metre or two off my stopping distance in an emergency on a wet road. In the dry, the Turanza's I have at the minute are more than enough for my driving but in the wet they perform OK, just not as well as I'd like.

10k out of the Eagles isn't bad but with 180bhp going through my front wheels are they likely to be shredded in no time? I know my car isn't exactly what you'd call a sports car, but are these cheese sidewalls a problem?

It's looking like I'll be going for the Eagles then. I'd love to get the Potenza S-03's but they're over £100 a tyre which is a bit too much I'm afraid.

Thanks Fox

[TW]Fox · 17 Mar 2006 at 00:47

Be interesting to see how the F1's perform on a car that actually has power, mine is only 135bhp.

Just got Dad to whack a set on the 530d, so we'll see

Bear · 17 Mar 2006 at 07:24

Scuzi said:
10k out of the Eagles isn't bad but with 180bhp going through my front wheels are they likely to be shredded in no time? I know my car isn't exactly what you'd call a sports car, but are these cheese sidewalls a problem?

The rears on my car are still fine after 10k miles and I estimate my car is running about 300bhp now and they arent shredding even when the rears are spinning up in first and second.

Without being insulting, I seriously doubt many people would even notice the softer sidewalls on the F1s as most peoples cars are so soft and body roll so much, many wouldnt feel it.

siztenboots · 17 Mar 2006 at 08:44

You asked for a brand out of the usual top names, perhaps Avon ZZ3 ?

Dandle · 17 Mar 2006 at 09:44

Scuzi said:
10k out of the Eagles isn't bad but with 180bhp going through my front wheels are they likely to be shredded in no time?

They should last more than 10k unless you drive it like its on a track the whole time. My car has 200bhp through the front wheels and if I rotate front tyres to back halfway through their life a set of F1s will last about 18k. Thats not going easy on them and my car is known to eat front tyres.