Which tires for economy first then perfomance?

[Gordz]

I was misleading there. I am comparing online quick fit, online tireshopper and online camskill...

and the above was a statement not a question, but it looked like a question!

I'm off out for a drive and a walk! all this research has done my head in.

Ah right ok. lol.

I just went for a drive this morning up on my mountain road blast run

Starting in bangor, head towards capel curig, then go off on a loop to pen-y-pass and back down through llanberis then back to bangor. Lovely in the sunshine it was

 

[mindtraveller]

Nice, any drive towards those mountains is stunning...

Right mountains await...

 

[ralph]

I am up and down that road most weeks, I travel from Menai up to LLanrwst.....fantastic drive back at night when the roads are quiet. The crimea up to Blanau is a cracking road aswell

I am off to have a look at the North wales meets thread now.

On topic, I have firestones on mine and I am perfectly happy with them, Had plenty of grip in the snow and never had any trouble with them in the wet or dry even when pushing it (its only a 110 though)

 

[NagaBurns]

Wow, I'm getting all nostalgic because I'm from Llandudno and know all the roads you are talking about well

I've got Pirelli P7s on each corner and am really pleased with them, can't remember exactly how much I paid for them because I had the tracking done at the same time but it was less than £290.
I used to go to Llandudno Junction for my tyres when I lived over that way but I've just checked Google street view and they're not there now, but there was a tyre place on Builder Street I used a couple of times that were ok.

All the best
Lee

 

[Owen Snell]

Regardless of how you drive, your tyres should wear evenly. I have taken so many sets from new to minimum tread on my Leon FR and all have worn dead level across the tyre. Uneven wear suggests an alignment problem.

Regarding economy, my long experience is that better quality brand tyres grip better and last longer. It may be more to pay up front, but it does save in the long run. The other point with cheap tyres is wet weather grip - saving a tenner a tyre doesn't seem to be worth much to me if it adds metres to your wet braking distance.

Finally, within the quality brands, you can still choose between life and grip. I have normally stuck to Bridgestone Potenzas on my FR and routinely get 10k miles from the fronts with good grip nearly to the end. The Seat dealer fitted Turanzas on the front once, without telling me they were a different tyre to what I had fitted (thought they were a good price, seemed not afterwards!). The difference in grip was small in dry weather, but wet braking was very poor compared to the softer tyre. The payoff was nearly 20k miles from a set of fronts - nearly double the sticky rubber!

For economy in daily use, I would look at the tyre reviews (what car, auto express, evo ....) and go for the one that gives the best wear combined with wet braking performance. You probably won't notice a bit of a loss of cornering grip in the dry and can adapt to the available grip anyway, but emergency braking in the wet has to be a top priority.

 

[Disco_Biscuit]

Uniroyal Rainsport 2, cracking in the dry unbelievebly good in the wet and very reasonable in price

 

[W44NE G]

Just get the best tyres you can afford... Barums aren't great.

There are some cheap Kumhos and Falkens on eBay sold by a seller in Macclesfield at very good prices. They're much more highly rated.

 

[bubbles1]

oh and Gordz, I'm in Llandudno....but work in Bangor...

Hi mate im in Llandudno too!

Also have a ibiza 130 tdi sport

 

[bubbles1]

Uniroyal Rainsport 2, cracking in the dry unbelievebly good in the wet and very reasonable in price

The unroyal rain sport 2 's are the best tyres period!

I've used all sorts of quality rubber over the last 104k miles and the uniroyals are just the bollx !

 

[bubbles1]

Oh and while im on line if you want a tyre that gives proper grip i use the kumho v70a (track use)

 

[muddyboots]

If you're concerned about your tyres wearing, you really need to sort out the alignment issue that's causing the uneven wear - otherwise you'll just keep eating tyres.

Mk4 Ibizas are well know for inner edge front tyre wear (mine did it really badly). Get the rear bushes of the lower front wishbones replaced with some solid Cupra ones (the originals have big voids and allow *lots* of movement), and then get somewhere who knows what they are doing (IE: NOT kwik-fit or similar) to sort your alignment out.

Might cost a bit, but in the long run it'll be cheaper than eating through tyres quickly (and your car will drive/handle better too and maybe even use a little less fuel).

Oh, and another vote here for the Uniroyal Rainsport 2. Best tyre I've ever used, the level of grip is outstanding, wet or dry.

 

[Deleted member 28319]

I originally had dunlop sports sp2000's and changed to falken fk452's there definetly a lot nicer tyre, however being performance tyres the rubbers softer to make them stick to the road.. which wil reduce tyre life and economy. When the time comes to replace them i'll be looking for something with a bit more of a compromise that i can get fitted for around £80 a corner. I heard costco's do brilliant deals on Michelins

 

[Pheo]

The unroyal rain sport 2 's are the best tyres period!

I've used all sorts of quality rubber over the last 104k miles and the uniroyals are just the bollx !

How long does a set last you?

 

[Copey]

Ive heard a few good things about the nankang ns2 for a cheaper option, im in the same boat as having a tdi sport that pushes 200bhp dont half eat through front tyres, ebay seems alrite for prices tyre wise, if money wasnt the issues then conti contact sports.

 

[bubbles1]

How long does a set last you?

Not sure how long they last for road use as mine get used on the track (wet days) which accelerates wear a tad as well as road use.

They have a very deep tread to start with so they would last for at least 15k miles i reckon.

 

[Pheo]

Not sure how long they last for road use as mine get used on the track (wet days) which accelerates wear a tad as well as road use.

They have a very deep tread to start with so they would last for at least 15k miles i reckon.

Thanks. Will definitely take a look when they need doing (fronts are coming up, rears are relatively new, but both budget branded & relatively rubbish!)

 

[skullmunki]

Ive heard a few good things about the nankang ns2 for a cheaper option, im in the same boat as having a tdi sport that pushes 200bhp dont half eat through front tyres, ebay seems alrite for prices tyre wise, if money wasnt the issues then conti contact sports.

I've read some rather worrying reviews on the Nankang NS2's, apparently verging on dangerous in greasy conditions!

I'm not far off replacing a pair of Toyo Proxes 4, which I won't be buying again. OK in the dry but in damp conditions you need to be pretty careful with drifting out on bends.

Also in the process of refurbing my 18's so have swapped over to my original FR+ 17's which have Firestone TZ200's and my word, what an improvement over the Toyo's. Damp weather grip blows the Toyo's out of the water!

Back on track though, when it comes to replacing the Toyo's I might give Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta's a go. Seem a very good price (£87 a tyre for 225/40/18's from Camskill), and a lot of people seem to be raving about them at the moment!

Edit: doesn't look like Camskill do the Sessanta's in a 16! doh!

 

[darkhorse]

Oh, and another vote here for the Uniroyal Rainsport 2. Best tyre I've ever used, the level of grip is outstanding, wet or dry.

And another one from me, I won't put any other tyre on my mk4 cupra tdi now. All my friends that I've convinced to buy these have been very impressed as well.

I use 215/40/17 and they cost me £74 each fitted last time I got some.

With a heavy foot and throwing it around the corners on a front heavy tdi and 195bhp I got 12-13k miles roughly. If you are a steady driver it wouldn't surprise me if 20k was achieveable. My current set have lasted much longer, in the region of 18k due to me going a bit steadier.

 

[spykey]

I use Falken ze912 on my FR tdi,205/40/17 and actually had them from camskill. Cost about £95 a pair without fitting and to be honest I cannot fault these tyres and will be fitting them again. Getting about 10k out of them but for the price/grip etc they cannot be faulted. They are great in the rain and also quite decent in the snow too, also not very noisy either.....well recommended!