Tyre choice advice

[Gert_8]

Ok boys, need advice on what your cars are wearing, tyre wise, and why?

Price or brand is not the main deciding factor, just want opinions on good ride, wear, etc

I realise the best are probably going to the big brands, but what else does the job as well? Will be going on my cab.

205/55/15

TIA

[daimlerman]

Toyo TR1 are my choice,although they do wear a bit quick!

Snag is,of course,you have to trade grip against wear rate and the Toyo's do grip very well.

[Gert_8]

Toyo TR1 are my choice,although they do wear a bit quick!

Snag is,of course,you have to trade grip against wear rate and the Toyo's do grip very well.

Thanks Grumpy! I expected someone to sing the virtues of the Toyo TR1's. Nice looking tyre and reasonably priced, too.

500-600 miles a year, so not really fussed on wear rate. Grip and safety is more important.

Thanks.

I expected more of a rush on this topic. Are you all sporting ditch finders?!

[capnmchl]

Well, I recently got some second hand alloys, so I've been running the tyres on those. A pair of worn Uniroyal rainsport 2's on the front, and some new looking Runway enduro ditchfinders on the rear.

Will probably upgrade to some Flaken ze912's in the not too distant future. Unfortunately the fronts will have to be done first

[redcar]

Toyo t1rs are awful.

Fit some continental contisport contact 2, very good road tyre.

[Gert_8]

Well, I recently got some second hand alloys, so I've been running the tyres on those. A pair of worn Uniroyal rainsport 2's on the front, and some new looking Runway enduro ditchfinders on the rear.

Will probably upgrade to some Flaken ze912's in the not too distant future. Unfortunately the fronts will have to be done first

Why Falkens?

[Motorhole]

Run Falken ZE192 on my Fabia at the moment. Bit disappointing imho, struggles with 228 lbft through the fronts.

Wasn't impressed with Conti Contact sport 2s either. 5 punctures in 14 months, and not a single one since I moved away from them. Very open tread pattern and quite soft, makes the vulnerable.

Marangoni Zeta Lineas - ace in the dry, not so hot in the wet. Maxxis MAZ1, slightly worse in the dry, slightly better in the wet.

Best all rounder so far for the money have been Uniroyal Rainsports.

[Captain_Birdseye]

I find the Falkens a bit slippy when cold, not very experienced driver yet so in my humble opinion they are middle of the road. I will be trying soemthing different very soon, maybe some Toyos.

[Rtaylor2208]

Fit some continental contisport contact 2, very good road tyre.

Run these on My RS and they offer great grip. I got 13K out the first set of fronts too which is pretty good. Although wifey drives the car most of the time so may be more to do with her driving style for the longevity.

[daimlerman]

Fit some continental contisport contact 2, very good road tyre.

Run these on My RS and they offer great grip. I got 13K out the first set of fronts too which is pretty good. Although wifey drives the car most of the time so may be more to do with her driving style for the longevity.

Blimey!

I thought I had a problem only getting 20k out of a pair of TR1's on the front of the cabbie!

TBO,they are not completely out,down to about 3mm,so are now rear axle fodder due to aquaplaning issues.

[Rtaylor2208]

Its better than when I had my Corsa VXR a few years ago, it was running Pirelli P-Zero's and was getting 6 to 8K on the front. And at £500 a pair they were not cheap to replace.

[redcar]

Ive found the Toyo cf1s are better than the t1r

[Silverfang]

Had Marangoni Zeta Lineas on one axle on my 325i, and I was not confident with them in the wet period. They had a habit of giving massive under-steer on the front, then over-steer when i put fresh rubber on the rears and swapped them around.

Currently running Avon ZV5's all round and rather impressed with them so far.

[polsta]

I find the Falkens a bit slippy when cold, not very experienced driver yet so in my humble opinion they are middle of the road. I will be trying soemthing different very soon, maybe some Toyos.

if your not an expirienced driver, you could be confusing that slightly with RWD in general


i put new falken 912s on my 318is, and were awsome, dan on here recomended them had them on his alpina and was impressed,and he used to drive that thing hard !!! never had any isses with them at all and lasted great, would never bother with toyos myself due to the fast wearing

got a brand new conti premiun sport contact on a spare wheel in my garage (a 14" mint original finish bbs, if anyone wants to buy it?) looks like a nice tyre , how much are they ?

[Rtaylor2208]

Currently running Avon ZV5's all round and rather impressed with them so far

Running these on my E30 and while they are good in the dry I found them a bit unpredictable in the wet. But at £40 a corner fitted I shouldn't really complain.

[Funnybear]

Nice pair of Michelins on the front, still going strong after two years worth of miles (probs doing about 12000k a year) and a set of budgies on the back because they wear so quick i can't justify putting grippy stuff on, I just stay careful about where I press the loud pedal and wear absorbent underpants.

[Gert_8]

Nice pair of Michelins on the front, still going strong after two years worth of miles (probs doing about 12000k a year) and a set of budgies on the back because they wear so quick i can't justify putting grippy stuff on, I just stay careful about where I press the loud pedal and wear absorbent underpants.

isn't the rear where the "grippy stuff" is actually needed....?!

[staley_turbo]

Not sure about the bad press on T1-R's

I have used them on a lot of cars and for the money I think there good.

[Supafly]

Biggest factor in choosing your tyres is how you're going to drive the car vs outlay on tyres. There are many good tyres e.g. rainsport 2, ze912, t1r to name a few.
In my experience having just worn down a full set of Michelin pilot exalto 2, these arrivals by far the best tyres I've had on my e30. Very expensive, I paid just under £450 fitted for a set. They are however, brilliant in the dry and brilliant in the wet and progressive at 10/10ths.
I've put a set of ze912's from my spares car as a stop gap until I can get the funds together for another set of Michelins.

I do push the car every now and then so I find the outlay is worth it. The falkens are surprisingly good in the dry for outright grip, they'revery close to the pe2's in that regard. However the sidewalls are noticeably softer which gives a vague turn in and a slightly unsettling feeling as the tyres load up, leaving you unsure as to how much grip there is. In the wet they're ok. Better than budget tyres but miles away from the pe2's.

If you are going to test the tyres limits then I would say its more important to ensure the suspension is all new and aligned, as this makes a huge difference to the way these handle.
Hth

[Gert_8]

Soooo to answer Gert's original question which tyres are best for an old fart to roll on in his car posing?

I mean me and not Gert..........

LOL. There doesn't seem to be a distinct favourite. I was expecting lots of recommendations for the Conti's or Michelins....

Seems fair few opting for a middle of the road (no pun intended) priced set.

I'm running a full set of Falkens at the moment - hardly any where as they have covered about 500 miles in total from new.

Will be selling these with the wheels come spring!

[staley_turbo]

Michelin pilot exalto 2

I have also heard these are excellent. Too much money for me.

[Gert_8]

like my trainers - I like a tyre that leaves a good imprint (on the face of the chav I run over...) Toyos are nice!

[Kos]

take your pick

i'm not big on conti's, but i am a fan of goodyears

£ for £ i think the toyo's or falkens would be best. but for an extra 100 - 110 you can go for a top end set of contis or goodyears

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m53b0s289p0/C ... _205_55R15

[Supafly]

Biggest factor in choosing your tyres is how you're going to drive the car vs outlay on tyres. There are many good tyres e.g. rainsport 2, ze912, t1r to name a few.
In my experience having just worn down a full set of Michelin pilot exalto 2, these arrivals by far the best tyres I've had on my e30. Very expensive, I paid just under £450 fitted for a set. They are however, brilliant in the dry and brilliant in the wet and progressive at 10/10ths.
I've put a set of ze912's from my spares car as a stop gap until I can get the funds together for another set of Michelins.

I do push the car every now and then so I find the outlay is worth it. The falkens are surprisingly good in the dry for outright grip, they'revery close to the pe2's in that regard. However the sidewalls are noticeably softer which gives a vague turn in and a slightly unsettling feeling as the tyres load up, leaving you unsure as to how much grip there is. In the wet they're ok. Better than budget tyres but miles away from the pe2's.

If you are going to test the tyres limits then I would say its more important to ensure the suspension is all new and aligned, as this makes a huge difference to the way these handle.
Hth

[Captain_Birdseye]

Biggest factor in choosing your tyres is how you're going to drive the car vs outlay on tyres. There are many good tyres e.g. rainsport 2, ze912, t1r to name a few.
In my experience having just worn down a full set of Michelin pilot exalto 2, these arrivals by far the best tyres I've had on my e30. Very expensive, I paid just under £450 fitted for a set. They are however, brilliant in the dry and brilliant in the wet and progressive at 10/10ths.
I've put a set of ze912's from my spares car as a stop gap until I can get the funds together for another set of Michelins.

I do push the car every now and then so I find the outlay is worth it. The falkens are surprisingly good in the dry for outright grip, they'revery close to the pe2's in that regard. However the sidewalls are noticeably softer which gives a vague turn in and a slightly unsettling feeling as the tyres load up, leaving you unsure as to how much grip there is. In the wet they're ok. Better than budget tyres but miles away from the pe2's.

If you are going to test the tyres limits then I would say its more important to ensure the suspension is all new and aligned, as this makes a huge difference to the way these handle.
Hth

Falkens seem decent in the wet, I have the directionals.

[bss325i]

Fit some continental contisport contact 2, very good road tyre.

Run these on My RS and they offer great grip. I got 13K out the first set of fronts too which is pretty good. Although wifey drives the car most of the time so may be more to do with her driving style for the longevity.

Blimey!

I thought I had a problem only getting 20k out of a pair of TR1's on the front of the cabbie!

TBO,they are not completely out,down to about 3mm,so are now rear axle fodder due to aquaplaning issues.

Rtaylors RS will be FWD and your cab is RWD so the tyres will wear quicker on on his RS.

I have continental sport contact 2's on my E30 and the rears lasted 16k before being replaced with the same and the fronts are still on there with just over 20k on them.

[bss325i]

Toyo t1rs are awful.

Fit some continental contisport contact 2, very good road tyre.

I dont rate the toyos either TBH.

Sadly you cant get a continental Sport contact in 205/55/15.

[capri_rob]

Another vote here for Falkens - I had them on my 15" BBS for 4 Years before I sold the wheels - grippy enough and seemed to last well.

Got Avons all round on my Alpina wheels but have only done a few hundred miles and can't comment on how they handle in the wet as my car won't see rain again

[bss325i]

Just as well! Avons are lethal in the wet!

[bmw9818]

nankang sport ns2 - absolute shite! no grip at all in the wet, its like ice skating!

Next ones i had were Michelin primacy pilot, grip was very very good! my suspension would bottom out before they lost grip when i was chucking it around! they really do give you the confidence for spirited driving! this was before i upgraded my set up, not too bad in the rain as well, however quite high road noise

I had dunlop sp2000 not great tyres in the wet, decent enough in the summertime though! also quite alot of noise at speed,

currently on marangoni zeta lineas, as other reviews in the summertime grip is excellent! however now temp has dropped and roads are damp not so great, however road noise is very low! cruising at 80-90 its fairly quite compared to the michys and dunlops

[Silverfang]

Just as well! Avons are lethal in the wet!

Really?

I've had no trouble with mine at all, they've been really good in the wet, unlike the Zetas which were pretty much lethal.

[redcar]

T1r has too soft a sidewall. Makes the handling of the car very, very strange compared to a set of high performance road tyres like eagle f1, contisport contact 2 or pilot sports for example.

Just going by what I've experienced.

[bss325i]

T1r has too soft a sidewall. Makes the handling of the car very, very strange compared to a set of high performance road tyres like eagle f1, contisport contact 2 or pilot sports for example.

Just going by what I've experienced.

Ive experienced exactly that, to soft a side wall.

[bss325i]

Just as well! Avons are lethal in the wet!

Really?

I've had no trouble with mine at all, they've been really good in the wet, unlike the Zetas which were pretty much lethal.

Avon ZV3 and ZV5 tyres are the worst branded tyres ive had the misfortune of driving on. Crap in the dry and dam near dangerous in the wet!

WTF are Zetas?!