What Tyres. It's been a while.

[Dyscontinued]

Well well, back to this long standing discussion.

Seat Leon Cupra TDi

I'm in the market for some new tyres. 2 for definate, possibly 4 it depends.

At the moment I have about 3mm on the fronts - Goodyear Eagle F1 Asyms.
I have about 1.7mm on the rears - Falken FK452s.

I'm pretty certain I'll do what I always do, fronts to back and they'll last a good few more months, the Falkens have and they were eaten alive at the front.

So what 3 front tyres do I get?

I've had, in order, Dunlop Sport MAXXX, Falken FK452s, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asyms, all in just over 2 years.

I'd rate them from best to worst as Goodyear, Dunlop, Falken. Though I'd be hard pressed to choose between the Goods and Duns in the dry, in the wet the Goods definately better.

So, what next? And where from?

Blackcircles have Toyo Proxes T1-R for £76 each so might go for them?

Having said that the Goodyears GSD3 are only £84 at the minute.

Need Rim protection too.

I'm looking for good grip, low noise and decent comfort. The last two areas particularly the Goodyears scored high in, but the other two not so.

 

[james walker]

gsd3s would be first choice, falken 452 are a ggod tyre, recommended on here, toyo tr1s, falken 912s

where you get gsd3 for that price, are they 17s

 

[joe_thompson]

hey mate toyo proxies T1rs are pretty good mate im running them all round. go them for 48 a tryes mate. places called selecta tyres in stoke. but theres a few brances all roudn the contry soo try them, there well cheap

 

[joe_thompson]

http://www.selectatyre.co.uk/

theres there website, they can get other tryes in too and price match everything

 

[Dyscontinued]

They're on Blacksircles.com.

Yeah, 225/45 Y 17. It doesn't mention them been XL tyres though and only rated 91. Does that matter?

I remember hearing the GSD3s made the steering really heavy? Was a relief when I got the Asyms to easily drive round carparks withough needing to do dumbells before hand.

 

[Dyscontinued]

Emalied selectatyre for a price on 4 different tyres.

 

[lordgibbness]

You should ALWAYS have the better tyres on the rear, regardless of where the drive is. This is a common mistake from the general public (and some mechanics!) and the result of so many wet weather spins.

Regarding tyre choices, GY Eagle F1 Assym's came top in the tyre tests in 2007. This year, the NEW Pirelli PZero Nero's seem to be winning most plaudits, but I will be sticking to the F1s until I read a conclusive review from a UK mag.

 

[Dyscontinued]

Yeah I remember now, stuck in the 80's thinking there!

How about I upgrade my brakes too http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/R32-VOLKSWAGE...66:2|39:1|72:1689|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

 

[lordgibbness]

Also the rubber on road tyres gets a lots worse as you get below 3mm tread depth, so if I was in your situation I'd have new Asymmetrics all round.

If you can't afford that I'd put new F1s on the rear and leave the fronts until you have about 2.5mm left when they really should be changed (moving the old tyres to the front at this point).

 

[joe_thompson]

You should ALWAYS have the better tyres on the rear, regardless of where the drive is. This is a common mistake from the general public (and some mechanics!) and the result of so many wet weather spins.

Regarding tyre choices, GY Eagle F1 Assym's came top in the tyre tests in 2007. This year, the NEW Pirelli PZero Nero's seem to be winning most plaudits, but I will be sticking to the F1s until I read a conclusive review from a UK mag.

im pretty sure your wrong there buddy. it all depends on the drive of you car, iv just spoke to my dad who’s a design engineer for bentley and he sez if your car is front wheel drive then you should always have the better tyres on the front, as the power and steering are acting of one set of tyres therefore needing maximum grip. This is different for rear wheel drive cars though. As for the wet weather spin out, im pretty sure that’s down to people under steering and letting of there fore creating over steer and not being able to control it. But some cases the back end can just come out.

 

[Jolly]

I would recommend the T1-R's

Ive used them for years and they have NEVER let me down. Good grip in the wet and awesome in the dry. Road noise isnt too bad through them either. Black circles price once one of the best (that i found anyway).

Toyo's get my vote everytime!

 

[lordgibbness]

Sorry but your Dad's wrong. The tyre manufacturers themselves promote having the better tyres on the rear of the car.

Let me give you an example - your driving along the road quite fast when you come up to a sweeping bend. The bend then tightens and you start understeering, and so to tighten your line you reduce the throttle input which moves weight to the front of the car and the rear wheels (with less tread) lose traction and spin the car around.

You can feel and control the front wheels but if the back has less grip there's no way of controlling them in the same way. Understeer can be quelled by reducing thottle whereas oversteer is a lot more difficult.

 

[Dyscontinued]

In the 80s it was believed it was better to have them on the front for FWD cars as you get more grip.

This changed in recent times as it was understood punctures are more likely with low tread, and a fast deflation in a rear tyre will lead to oversteer which is harder to control hence more likely to crash.

So I reckon from a performance point of view, 80s thinking is correct.
From a safety point of view, modern thinking is correct.
From a tyre manufacturer point of view, modern thinking is correct as the tyres wear faster and you make more money.

 

[lordgibbness]

It's not really about punctures or tyre wear though - simply the stability of the car under cornering forces.

Yes - new tyres on the front will accelerate and stop better in a straight line, but once you get off the drag strip and introduce corners - a loose backend (esp. in the wet) is very hazardous.

If the frontend has a lot more grip, when you start understeering and back off, how is the back (with less grip) going to behave?

I can dig out a safety video if it's helpful?

 

[Dyscontinued]

That won't be necessary. I'll be putting the good ones down one side to even it out, different tread patterns down one side then to really liven up the driving!

Taken from TyrePlus.co.uk

Is it a good idea to rotate your tyres?
Many tyre manufacturers agree that it is no longer good practice to rotate your tyres in order to extend their legal life. The reasons for this are;

Partly worn tyres are more likely to experience punctures – particularly in wet weather conditions.

Front tyre deflation will create an under-steer effect which is easier to control than over-steer (the effect produced by a rear tyre deflation)

In the unlikely event that a tyre deflates suddenly, then it is easier to control the vehicle if this occurs at the front of the vehicle. For improved handling and stability it is now recommended that the ‘best’ tyres, those with the most tread, should always be fitted at the rear of the vehicle. This is irrespective of whether the car is front or rear wheel drive.

Tip!
Always fit your 'best’ tyres to the rear. If you are replacing a single tyre then this should be paired with the rear with the tyre having the most tread depth. There are some circumstances when this advice does not apply, such as;

•Where front and rear tyre sizes are designed to be different
•Where a vehicle is designed to have directional tyres at the front and asymmetric at the rear
•If you are not sure about the fitment on your vehicle, the contact your local centre manager for advice


Taken from the AA

The tech team wrote an article for the Directions magazine last year on this subject which supported the best tyres to rear theory and we still stand by that recommendation.

I must say we hit a real nerve with some motorists, as a reasonable amount of time was spent after that article was published replying to those who held the opposite view on the subject.

The best to rear recommendation comes from the fear of a vehicle loosing control by 'breaking away' in the back end. Imagine a blow-out or an under inflated tyre (due to a slow leak) on the rear and a vehicle cornering at high speed. The risk of the car spinning out of control is very high. Once the car has started to loose control the direction the steering is turned or amount of engine power applied can very quickly worsen the situation with disastrous results.

Having the best tread depth to rear reduces the risk of a puncture and in wet conditions the water can be dispersed more efficiently.

A blow-out or having an under inflated front tyre would be no fun either however, the driver stands a better chance of controlling the vehicle. Also an under inflated front tyre can cause the car to drift one way or the other and the steering characteristics can change, giving the driver some warning of a problem. The same cannot be said for the rear.

Much research has gone into this by the tyre companies on both front and rear wheel drive vehicles.

One of the problems the tyre manufactures face, is getting their front line staff to all sing from the same sheet. There are those in the tyre shops who still recommend best to front.

I'll now wait for the emails telling me I'm talking a lot of you know what!!

 

[lordgibbness]

That won't be necessary. I'll be putting the good ones down one side to even it out, different tread patterns down one side then to really liven up the driving!

I hope you're joking

 

[joe_thompson]

That’s to do with weigh distribution though out your car though, different cars handle different when you understeer and let off. Tbh if you back ends coming out when your going round corners you should be able to control it. As for having better tryes on the back your wrong. Iv just spoken to my dad again and on a front wheel drive car your better having better tyres on the front than on the back, well technically you should it even all round to have maximum control and distribution of traction though out all 4 wheels.
Sorry mate but your wrong.

 

[lordgibbness]

That’s to do with weigh distribution though out your car though, different cars handle different when you understeer and let off. Tbh if you back ends coming out when your going round corners you should be able to control it. As for having better tryes on the back your wrong. Iv just spoken to my dad again and on a front wheel drive car your better having better tyres on the front than on the back, well technically you should it even all round to have maximum control and distribution of traction though out all 4 wheels.
Sorry mate but your wrong.

FFS. Just cos your Dad says something doesn't make it true!

WATCH THIS: http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-new-on-rear.html

Now you and your dad can go drive your bentley with crappy tyres at the rear pulling huge tail slides or whatever and catch them cos you're both such good drivers, while the rest of us can do what is safest... How many times will people get this wrong?

 

[Dyscontinued]

I'm still not sure which tyres to get. Seems to be a toss up between what I already knew really.

Which will be less shredded by my TDI though?

 

[joe_thompson]

FFS. Just cos your Dad says something doesn't make it true!

WATCH THIS: http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-new-on-rear.html

Now you and your dad can go drive your bentley with crappy tyres at the rear pulling huge tail slides or whatever and catch them cos you're both such good drivers, while the rest of us can do what is safest... How many times will people get this wrong?

hahah ok matee

i agree your point is right for certain sercumstances as you dont really want your back end loosing grip when ur messing up on sum cornering and ur back end comes out, but for the genral public better tyres on the front it correct this is differnt on the fwd cars.