Regular posters will know that i was seeking advice last autumn for recommendations for quiet and smooth riding low profile summer tyres for my old Benz, and received lots of thoughts and all appreciated.
My present set stacked in the garage on their summer wheels is Toyo T1R, and i cannot praise their grip and roadholding enough and they have worn well despite some enthusiastic use, i can't recall a wheelspin even from full power take offs in the wet, and i don't recall a slide of any description.
However the increasing road noise and transmitted crashing ride quality has worn me down, and despite having another summers use and possibly two will be not be going back on, the noise has definately got worse as they've worn, and it spoils the car.
I'd more or less pencilled in Nokian Z G2 and Hankook S1 Evo, with Uniroyal rainsports coming up on the outside as replacements.
However a set of Taiwanese tyres caught my eye, yes ditchfinders..;), and i've researched these particular ones as best i can, i haven't found them involved in any Euro tyre tests anywhere so the reviews are all user based which isn't ideal, but all i can go with.
When i buy tyres i keep an eye open on the usual sites until the right tyre comes up at the right price.
Sure enough earlier today i checked Mytyres, who previously hadn't listed this tyre in my size and best of all they had them at a price i couldn't beat, even Camskills would have been some £36 more for four delivered.
So i have a set of Federal Formoza FD2 in 225/45 x 17 on the way now at the princely sum of £57.50 each delivery free.
Reported as quiet and smooth running whilst being decent enough wet grip, if not as good as the best, but the best seem to be plagued by noise and i cannot go down that road again.
This is an experiment in my own prejudices to be honest, i would normally have gone for a European tyre Vred, Nokian, Uniroyal etc but not a perceived premium make that spend millions advertising, with my priority always being wet grip.
They could well turn out to be ditchfinders and if they do then i'll remove them and put it down to experience and i'll be reporting the truth in due course whatever it may be, so watch this space for some bloke buying the set of Nokians he should have in January:-)
Previous experience has paid off price wise though, buy winter tyres in summer and summer tyres in winter.
|
Hmmm, so, you left it to rot last year and this year you're putting ditchfinders on it. Hardly the actions of the typical caring owner if you ask me...That car deserves better.
:-)
|
The Uniroyals I put on the Ignis had a dramatic effect on the ride in the positive direction.
It went from shaking your fillings out to a mere headache.
Seriously though, the Rain Expert tyres do wonders for the ride and they seem grippy enough in the twisty bits.
|
Rain Experts not in my size Stu, they become Rainsports which are considerably different and seem have gone up a lot in price recently.
I agree with the RE's and i would have been happy with them bargain price too, daughter went through 2 of them on the front of her Civic and had no problems at all.
That Hump geezer is one cheeky monkey quite how he has the nerve when he abandoned poor Betsy after years of her unstinting caring for her little family is beyond me.;)
|
I had Federals on the old Focus - never again! The grip was terrible, even in the dry, and the noise was horrible too. I used the excuse of a puncture in one of the (non Federal) rears as an excuse to replace all four with Firestones, which were much better.
Your experiance may vary - I certainly hope so.
|
Nokian WRG2's are currently on D, my winter set, i prefer to leave the winters in good condition for er winter if it ever returns.
In warm wet weather they are not as good as the Toyo's for grip, indeed there is a 3 metre black line from wheelspin on my block paved driveway that has been there a month now and shows no sign of going, previous to that it was SWM who managed to leave skiddies with the pick up at regular intervals.
Supergrass...she's only taken pics as permanent evidence and indeed took great delight in pointing out my one and only still visible skiddy to the kids on Boxing day.:-)
edit...not terribly encouraged by AW's previous experience....still it was FWD so bound to be hopeless..;)
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Sun 8 Jan 12 at 21:09
|
>>Nokian WRG2's are currently on D, my winter set, i prefer to leave the winters in good condition for er winter if it ever returns<<
Of course I realise that gb, t'was you and corax that recommended them to moi, it's just that I see Nokian are calling them all-weather-any-season-tyres which is good, as mine will be staying on all year.
|
|
We used to just have tyres and they did everybody fine, now we have Summer tyres and Winter tyres. How long before the manufacturers try to convince us we need Autumn tyres and Spring tyres, then third week in July when it's a bit damp and windy tyres?
|
|
I think the tyres on my 750kg trailer are Federals. They've performed brilliantly - but they only have to carry 120kg normally, don't have to handle accelerations or braking, and I can't tell if they're comfortable and quiet, Lol.
|
|
For skid marks I use Toilet Duck and a lavatory brush!
|
>> The Uniroyals I put on the Ignis had a dramatic effect on the ride in
>> the positive direction.
>>
>> It went from shaking your fillings out to a mere headache.
>>
>> Seriously though, the Rain Expert tyres do wonders for the ride and they seem grippy
>> enough in the twisty bits.
yeah another tick for the rain experts here. Good tyres in my experience
|
Summer tyre experiment...oh no not tyres..;) - Runfer D'Hills
