Tyre thread, quality ones for ditchfinder prices

[Psycho Charlie Knobcheese]

I've used Tyreleader in the past and went with their mobile fitting option. Was really impressed with the price but don't think they are as competitive as they were due to being a German (I think) company and the recent drop in the £ against the Euro.

I need some new fronts for my Micra and just tried a local place for a pair of Michelins- 45 quid each fitted. Best I could find online was £41 and there's the aggravation of getting the things fitted. Think its always worth ringing around your local independants as you might be suprised at what they can do price wise.

[overrun]

Barums seem to be good tyres, my old folks' S1 V70 TDi has a pair on the front - they were practically new when the car was bought 20k ago and are still showing 5mm, but grip hard in the wet and dry, hot and cold. I even took it for a quick trial on a remote snowy carpark this afternoon because inquisitive, and was surprised. Mebbe the mass of the Audi 5 and Jap auto but they did well, like the Pirellis on the back. 

 

The car's destined to wear some 195-65-15s instead of the 60 profile teeth-rattlers which they came with as standard - I'm sure the 850 was set up on the Nurburgring by a small team of crazy Germans who wanted to see the reaction of Volvo man when encountering a car with less spring travel than a secret new breed of Aldi (as was in early 90s). It seems like it will be a while yet, the Pirellis were also newish. What a contrast with VWSeatSkoda which seem to wear tyres out for fun.

 

My Barum's will do me for what I need with this car, but they spin up without too much trouble and wet grip isn't all that. Still adequate, though.

[dieselnutjob]

I have bought a few Nexen tyres and I think that they are ok.

The Jag has Avons on it which seem very grippy.

I do sometimes buy part worn winter tyres.  There are a lot of winter tyres with just over 4mm tread from Germany but they need to be cheap, as they only have 1/3 of their legal life left and with fitting and balancing as well they aren't worth paying a lot for.

 

My local tyre place tells me that the vast majority of his sales are now budget tyres.  He says either people are buying bangers and don't won't to spend more on tyres than the car is worth, or they are leasing the car and don't want to spend ££ on a car that isn't theirs.  Apparenly the wholesale tyre trade is also cutthroat and the wholesalers are only making a couple of quid per tyre.

 

If what he says is true then it sounds like something will have to change in that market.

[nacho man]

I can't believe how many new exspensive motors I see with shit tyres, or performance ish motors, i.e. Focus st I see with cheap crap on.

[gordonbennet]

I experimented with a set of not exactly ditchfinders a few years ago on me Merc, mainly to see if my previous prejudices were still valid.

First year fine and i never used them during the winter anyway, second year still as new saw two sudden unprovoked broadsides in the wet on the way to work, cam home that day and ordered a set of Uniroyal Rainsports which prove almost impossible to unstick.

 

The recent Landcruiser purchase came on a new set of effin WanKangs, i nearly walked away when i saw what was fitted but the rest of the car was so good i still bought it.

Expected them to be rubbish but am quietly impressed with the wet grip especially, what they'll be like in snow/ice is any buggers guess, probably find Landrovers pulling me out the ditch with photos posted all over the LR forums.

Anything decent in my size is £100 each and premiums around £150, got me eye on a set of snowflake marked Yokohama AT GO15's @ £110 each but waiting for feedback from me mate at the tyre shop who fit for me, he put a set of those on a Disco4 a couple months ago the owner of which he sees regularly so waiting to see what he thinks, tyre's only been out a year so no reviews to speak of, but if the Nankangs prove ok in the event of snow might as well run them out.

[Tamworthbay]

Nankangs are good tyres it the name sounds like crap to be fair. My 944 turbo had them on and they were superb. My only complaint was that they broke up on a track day but they were being seriously abused at the time and the edges of the blocks looked like someone had been at them with a rusty knife.

[xtriple]

There's a guy posting on one of the Rolls-Royce forums about tyres for his Turbo R. He WANTS cheap and cheerful, ditchfinders if possible, doesn't want to spend the money. Fucking bloke is mad!  When my car had cheap tyres on it was awful and wet grip was none existent and they were half way decent. I like my Michelins... they grip well, are quiet and were £280 cheaper than Avons! Each.

 

But, don't mind cheapy tyres, the Mazda has something nasty but they are new, grip well enough and don't make too much of a racket.

 

Used to buy 'part worns' for sales cars, never used them myself though. I suppose a this point I should be embarrassed?

[CortinaDave]

Some of the chinese stuff is alright. Jinyus I've found to be as good as Kumhos. Put 2 225 45 18's on the front of my ZT at 54 quid apiece fitted and I can't fault them.

 

It did have dunlops previously but they were quoted at 173 quid a corner!!

[overrun]

I run T1R Proxes on my MR2. It has about 260BHP at present, the previous engine ran 240ish and I have covered over 6K miles on them.

They stick like shit to a blanket, which is exactly what I wanted, and despite spirited driving (not many burnouts, though) I have been nowhere near their limits (good thing!) and they still have a good two thirds of tread left on them.

 

The rears are 245/45/16 and the fronts 225/45/16 and they reminded me of winter tyres when I got them, such was the level of tread.

These tyres get a bit of a bad rep and I cannot see why. It cost me about £280 for all four, they get really sticky and soft in warmer temperatures, and they are fitted to a car notorious for making you pay, when you fit the wrong rubber.

 

I'd buy these again in a flash.

[gordonbennet]

Daughters had tyres on their cars i had to remove way before time for obvious reasons.

 

2.0 litre Civic had Achilees on the front, anything other than a bone dry road and it was perma wheelspin, and despite TC on the 320 Compact Beemers the bastard would suddenly would shoot sideways on its Sumitomos, both cars cured by Uniroyal and Vredestein respectively.

 

Oh yes Xtriple, how lovely a bloody TurboR must be on ditchfinders on wintry roads, nice handy little motor to practice your drift innit, eff me there's some bloody fools out there, that bod looking for cheap shit most be potty.

 

Another shout here for T1R Proxes Toyos, i had them on the Merc, lad  had them on his lightweight Scooby running some 300hp, stuck like the proverbial, only bad thing was bloody noisy sods on the Merc, didn't matter on the SCoob couldn't hear yourself think anyway.

[overrun]

Another shout here for T1R Proxes Toyos, i had them on the Merc, lad  had them on his lightweight Scooby running some 300hp, stuck like the proverbial, only bad thing was bloody noisy sods on the Merc, didn't matter on the SCoob couldn't hear yourself think anyway.

 

I can't comment on road noise from them, either! I have total faith that once I get on the dyno when the weather fairs up, they will do a fine job with 300+ BHP, though. I don't even understand the tyre snobs when it comes to Toyo, they are JDM y0 #libertywalketc I never really use mine in the rain, but know many who do and I assume the Scooby also was?

 

T Y

[sierraman]

Didn't you used to be able to fit van tyres to rolls royces to save money?

[Willy Warpit]

 

 

 

"The rears are 245/45/16 and the fronts 225/45/16 and they reminded me of winter tyres when I got them, such was the level of tread.

These tyres get a bit of a bad rep and I cannot see why. It cost me about £280 for all four, they get really sticky and soft in warmer temperatures, and they are fitted to a car notorious for making you pay, when you fit the wrong rubber.

 

I'd buy these again in a flash."

 

The trouble is if you have an MR2 with the original standard 15 inch wheels your choice (for the rear at least) seems to be limited to Nexen for around £50 or Pirelli at £200 and nothing else

[xtriple]

You used to be able to buy Goodyear tyres for RRs, not sure if they were van tyres but they were awful apparently. A lot of the problem is down to pure lack of choice. Early RRs ran 15 inch wheels and there is no choice other than Avons in the size/speed/load ratings. There are a few people who have bit the bullet and bought later wheels (17 inch) just so they can have a choice. Expensive solution...

 

I'm not, and never have been, a tyre snob. Except on bikes where only the best will do (would in my case   ) and much time and money has been spent/wasted on tyres that I didn't like the feel of! Cars, anything black and round with tread would do, but either I have become more sensitive, more scared, more paranoid but tyres 'feel' different these days. I suppose it comes down to wider, lower profile stuff but old cheap tyres are dreadful, whereas those same cheap tyres are fine when new. Has the chemistry in them changed so the 'rubber' goes off with age? Even what we would call 'decent' tyres seem to age more rapidly these days and cracking is really common. Don't recall that problem being so widespread back in the day.

[Guest Hooli]

I'm much the same. Anything that keeps the rims off the floor does on most cars. Bikes only get the best.

[dave21478]

..... but old cheap tyres are dreadful, whereas those same cheap tyres are fine when new. Has the chemistry in them changed so the 'rubber' goes off with age? Even what we would call 'decent' tyres seem to age more rapidly these days and cracking is really common. Don't recall that problem being so widespread back in the day.

 

All modern etc etc....

 

As far as i know most rubber products are like this now. Some kind of shortage or supply problem with natural rubber has meant the for a while now a lot of "rubber" items are diluted or cut or whatever with synthetic materials that are not as good.

[Jim Bell]

Didn't you used to be able to fit van tyres to a van to save money?

Yes.

[gordonbennet]

Don't think i'm a tyre brand snob, but where possible i still drive by the seat of me pants so to speak, and if i don't like the feel coming through me arse or steering wheel i too will remove tyres quickly, never been a biker but have no doubt i'd be worse still.

 

Soonest off were the OE Pirellis fitted to the new Hilux we bought in 2007, i replaced them within 1000 miles, bloody thing would fishtail at any sign of damp, once the General Grabber UHP's went on (summer) and Vredestein Wintracs (winter obv) it was a completely different vehicle and could be chucked about like the best of them.

 

I have certain favourite brands which i try to find, Vredestein Uniroyal and Nokian in no particular order, decent value and made in countries with proper working conditions, but have to look elsewhere for 4x4 tyres cos they don't really make a great range for those.

 

Wet grip is my priority, wear rate is important too but can be balanced against price paid.

[LessThanEqual]

Has anyone else had their Rainsports wear quickly on driven wheels? Both my fronts look like this after 9k, and yes I'm aware that my tracking seems to be out a bit even though I paid £50 or so to get it done at the time I had my tyres changed. Rears are still like new.

[overrun]

"The rears are 245/45/16 and the fronts 225/45/16 and they reminded me of winter tyres when I got them, such was the level of tread.

These tyres get a bit of a bad rep and I cannot see why. It cost me about £280 for all four, they get really sticky and soft in warmer temperatures, and they are fitted to a car notorious for making you pay, when you fit the wrong rubber.

 

I'd buy these again in a flash."

 

The trouble is if you have an MR2 with the original standard 15 inch wheels your choice (for the rear at least) seems to be limited to Nexen for around £50 or Pirelli at £200 and nothing else

I dunno. I picked up a set of original 15" wheels for the one I am going to sell, and they have staggered T1R's.

I'll stick with 16's for my own car. Maybe will end up with 17's, if the 16" choice goes thw way I imagine it will.

Shame, cos they are the perfect balance of handling and looks.

[DodgyBastard]

I bought a set of tyres for my ranger on Friday.

 

2004 Ford Ranger by srblythe, on Flickr

 

£80 for the set and I fitted them myself for free. I didn't bother balancing them and there's no steering wheel wobble. The handling in the wet has improved quite well, the rear end doesn't slide quite as much when cornering and there's no under steer.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Has anyone else had their Rainsports wear quickly on driven wheels? 

 

In my experience, Uniroyals use a particularly soft compound. Great for traction, rubbish for mileage.

[Mally]

I am in need of two 185/80/14 tyres for my Rickman kit car. Tread is cracking on mine but passed MOT.

Difficult size to obtain now. There are a couple of Kwik fit on ebay but he wants £100 for them, I doubt they cost that years ago.

Its escort axle, but speedo is reasonably accurate.

Van tyres are available in that size, I assume they will give a harder ride?

If I do go van tyres do I need to change them all? Any other ideas please?

 

Edit, strange I just posted on the collect or not collect post, then on here and my font/typeface (don't know the difference) has changed.

I blame Austria.

[richardmorris]

Yes the chemistry has changed. The vulcanisation is not the same as it used to be. I've moaned for the last ten years in the ccc that Michelins aren't what they used to be, but many don't believe me. 2cv michelins are over £100 fitted and last about four years before perishing with radial cracks. This is not good enough! Yet the die hard morons thInk I must have a fake batch! Well, Toyos are £39 each and have lasted six years so far with no sign of wear or perishing.

 

I have Goodyear goodgrip performance on the Mercedes and am happy with them.

 

Oh, and I do some work for Avon. Analysing sulphur content in various layers of aged rubber. It does change over time !

[gordonbennet]

I bought a set of tyres for my ranger on Friday.

 

2004 Ford Ranger by srblythe, on Flickr

 

£80 for the set and I fitted them myself for free. I didn't bother balancing them and there's no steering wheel wobble. The handling in the wet has improved quite well, the rear end doesn't slide quite as much when cornering and there's no under steer.

 

What tyres please Foad.

[DodgyBastard]

What tyres please Foad.

They were black and round as far as I could see, the ones on the rear were the same brand, the front ones were different.

 

Sent from my F5321 using Tapatalk

[forddeliveryboy]

Has anyone else had their Rainsports wear quickly on driven wheels? Both my fronts look like this after 9k, and yes I'm aware that my tracking seems to be out a bit even though I paid £50 or so to get it done at the time I had my tyres changed. Rears are still like new.

 

 

Yes, I took them off in June they were wearing so fast and replaced with the original wider, lower cheapies which the present car arrived with and which were fine through mid-Summer. But they grip so hard in cold, damp and greasy conditions they're forgiven.

 

 

Yes the chemistry has changed. The vulcanisation is not the same as it used to be. I've moaned for the last ten years in the ccc that Michelins aren't what they used to be, but many don't believe me. 2cv michelins are over £100 fitted and last about four years before perishing with radial cracks. This is not good enough! Yet the die hard morons thInk I must have a fake batch! Well, Toyos are £39 each and have lasted six years so far with no sign of wear or perishing.

 

I have Goodyear goodgrip performance on the Mercedes and am happy with them.

 

Oh, and I do some work for Avon. Analysing sulphur content in various layers of aged rubber. It does change over time !

 

Classic Michelins have a mileage tipping point, below which they're not worth fitting. I still like them, but they're not as good as when they were in full production and I deffo wouldn't pay the excess amount for their limited production classic range.

 

I was lucky enough to buy four 165 400s for the Traction just before the pricing went silly, a bit under £300 for five fitted. The car isn't mine anymore, but I still look after it and two of them are still fitted and gripping well, about half-worn and with no signs of the cracking which so often kills old Michelins before the tread is worn out. 

[gordonbennet]

Sorry, shouldn't have asked.

[forddeliveryboy]

Sorry, shouldn't have asked.

 

My mum told me using please always works - wot's gon rong?

[Formula Autos]

Has anyone else had their Rainsports wear quickly on driven wheels? Both my fronts look like this after 9k, and yes I'm aware that my tracking seems to be out a bit even though I paid £50 or so to get it done at the time I had my tyres changed. Rears are still like new.

I've struggled to get more than 11k out of a set of them driving big dizzlers (Jag X-types and Mk 3 & 4 Mondeos) with FWD, mostly on country roads and A-roads.

 

I persevere with them though due to the wet weather grip. I had Goodyear Eagle F1s on my X-type when I bought it. In the wet the car under steered or felt plain spooky. Uniroyals made it corner like it was on rails no matter how wet the roads were. Dry weather grip is also good but probably due to their softness - hence the wear rate that results.

 

They're the best compromise I've found thus far for what I want out of a tyre though.