Tyre reccomendations...

[Lankytim]

Following on from the "OMG my budget tyre exploded" thread I'm furnishing my freshly refurbed rims (including the spare!) with some tasty new rubber. Ive been on www.tyrereviews.co.uk but according to many of the reviewers, everythings curse word. I cant go crazy on the price, I'm after 155/70/R13s and these seem to range from £28 for a TIGAR(se) to £42 for a Michelin energy, fully fitted. I'm not going down the budget or remould route again. Does anybody have any good experiences with mid price range tyres? The Avons looked good but got bad reviews, as did the Yokohamas.

According to the reviews, budget ones are "lethal" and premium brands are not much better!

[Mr S]

I had a set of Avon ZV1s on my Merc 190e 2.6 and they lasted for 26000 (hard!) miles. They were pretty good too - very quiet, but tended to aquaplane a bit more than the tyres on my 420.

I've now got Goodyear 'hydragrip' tyres on the great white whale (my Merc 420!) and they are good, especially in the wet - not had a 'moment' with them yet. They cost me £60 each a few weeks back, and that's for a 205/65/15.

EDIT: That's £60 fully fitted at my local tyre fitter...

Oh, and my dad uses Michelin energy's on his Mk3 Cav, he got over 70k out of the rears - they started to perish before they ran out of tread! He swears by them, won't put anything else on it.

The only bad tyres I've had have been unbranded nankang ditchfinder types....

[Deleted]

toyo's are generally pretty good for middle range tires i don't tend to use the likes of Goodyear or dunlop ect as they don't give any better performance or grip than some of the cheaper types . as for the budget tires I've used nankangs before with no trouble they are a little on the hard side which means grip isn't the best but they ain't a bad tire for the money. Yokohama's are very good but pretty soft so wear out pretty quick the Yokohama pradas are by far the quietest tires I've ever used and grip really well . the van uses accelra alpha's on the front they are a budget tire but they grip well though i did get a 6" hole appear in one of them on the way back from the pod at the gathering so will get replaced with a better pair of tires soon ;D the rear of the van runs Mickey Thompson street ET's these are among the grippiest tires around but last no time at all on the road ;D

[dickdasterdley]

I'd agree about the Nankangs- they're not that bad, they're the only chinese tyre that I'll buy, used to run em on my Mk3 Golf Gti with good results (I'm not dead and the car never went into any ditches/ walls/ pedestrians)

Avons always float my boat for the money- the ZV-3s grip and grip and only £40 for 195/50/15

And althogh I've no experience of 'em, I've heard loads of people go on about Hankooks and Kumhos being good

[surprisingskoda]

i'm assured that Hankooks are good and I've used Camacs that I'm quite pleased with. Also very fond of pirellis - seem to do a very good job for me, and i'd be very hard on them, squealing around slippy roundabouts every day (then cruisng at 50mph on the motorway lol)

Michelin energy = bad, Tigar = bad.

[bbq]

Tigar=ok (owned by Continental)
Nankang=had them on my 945- very impressed
Hankook=frequently used as OE on Fords
Michelin=usually rock hard and expensive
Avon=never had a problem

To be honest, most tyres- even the cheap ones- are ok now compared to a few years ago. Most of these reviews are from kids with clapped out Novas etc. that are amazed when they almost put their grotbox in a ditch due to their own confusion regarding confusing their intentions with their abilities and then the disgust that a consumer product that does such an amazing job that it's usually completely forgotten doesn't turn them into the Stig for 50p a corner.

Buy whatever fits your budget, Tim. You'll most likely be fine.

[kee]

155/70/13s are cheap

my missus just had some on her fez, paid about £36 fitted per tyre for some vredesteins, they have won some autocar awards for the last 3 years.

[domster222]

I have avons on my fezza and my missus does on her diesel skoda which chucks enough torque through the fronts to pull a steam locomotive up a mountain. They never falter. The fezza's are a little 'slidy; in the wet but that is because they are so narrow. like bladerunner, My dad and then my brother had michelin energys on an astra (the same one). The rears still had tread on when some alloys were whacked on after 65k and 5 years. Also, the fezza has got an ancient michelin which looks 20 years old. gonna replace it now as looks starting to perish.

I find pirrellis are very grippy but too soft. They wear out really fast.

Overall i think michelin energys are the best tyre i have had, and then avon zrs.

[domster222]

overall the michelins were pretty good but so far the avons are better grip wise but i am yet so find out about longevity as only had em on since spring.

The cheapest place i have found is www.tyre-shopper.co.uk/

They ship them out to a local garage for you. They are pretty good.

Good luck

[veloxbill]

I had a look.. can't comment as a lot of those tread designs aren't sold here.. but...

Someone mentioned Toyos, Toyos are not budget tires over here, they have a great reputation and are very well made. I've bought them before and love em, ditto for Yokohamas but Yokos in my experience tend to wear quickly.

Avons I also used to use back in the day and liked them, these days they aren;t really sold in the US anymore, which is a shame (The ones they sell here are relabeled Coopers). I used to run the CR228s as they came in TRX sizes.

[v8ian]

Some of the Toyos are deffo not budget, they used to be but as their reputation has got better, so has their prices!!!!,
If you want an exelent track day tire, or even a legal drag tire, Toyo 888Rs are the nuts, available in 3 compounds, and will last very much in relation to how the car is used, I could not beleive how much difference a pair of tires would make to the launch of my car at the Pod

[veloxbill]

Saw that one site had a warning on it.. claiming that if you used 888s below freezing that they could fail.

Well, they are for track use and all

I've not run 88s but RA-1s that I have run in the past were fantastic.

[MrT]

I only ever hand my cash over for Avons (unless they're not available in the right size, when I usually go for Continentals).

In summary, Avons or Continentals all the way...

[Hirst]

I've always bought Yokohama or Falken and have been particularly happy with both brands, Falken tend to be quite competitively priced too. I've also had cars with Bridgestone and Goodyear tyres and thought both were fine.

Something worth checking out is that sometimes there isn't much of a price difference between the budget brands and the premium ones. When you consider that some of the budget ones won't last as long and the cost of tyre fitting etc. you might end up saving by spending a bit more initially.

I'd agree that most budget brands will be safe though, just don't go near Stomil (if they still do them), must have heard about half a dozen stories about them having blowouts by now.

[PandaSelecta]

Vredenstein T-Trac tyres are probably the best tyre on that tyretest website, and currently fitted to my spare steelies. they grip in all weathers, they quiet, and they last forever and a day. the other type i have are Pirelli P250 Euro tyres on another set of steelies, these are not as quiet as the Vredenstein tyres, but are better in the wet and snow (mud and snow rated).

both sets of tyres are in the same size your looking for - 155/70R13

[bxer]

Had no problems with Kwik Fit's Arrowspeed budget tyres when I had the BX (1.7 TZD), ran for a good year on them, plenty of motorway miles, no probs in the wet or anything.

Can't remember what milage I got, 'cos I'm carp at keeping track, plus the speedo wasn't working when I got the car

They're £25 a corner for 155/70T13 on their website....

[Odin]

I think Nankang get the thick end of some bandwagon internet bashing sometimes - I had a set of NS-2s and they were very good for the money. Certainly not 'unbranded ditchfinder' quality. Save that for Trayal, Barum, etc.

If you want a tyre that's good in the wet I'd recommend Uniroyal Rainsports. Mine were great in the rain and they consistently fare well in the wet tests when Auto Express test tyres.

[Deleted]

funny how opinions differ i've never got with avons found the limit of grip with the zz1's all to easy to find then only to find the zz3's were even worse especially in the wet the tires on the estate are budget tires but run the same tread pattern as the zz3's and they also don't grip at all in the wet they smoke well in the dry though ;D ;D
these do a good range of tires prices seem pretty good as well
www.mytyres.co.uk/start.html

[Lankytim]

Thanks alot for all the advice and opinions guys! There isnt a huge difference between budget and branded tyres.. I'm still thinking about it but will decide tonight.

[Robinxr4i]

+1 for NS-2's

I just want to add my name to the positive feedback about Nankangs. I had NS-2's on my Sierra, they were very good tyres. Great in the dry, even with quite a bit of IRS negative camber the rear tyres lasted ages and tbh they were good in the wet too (definatly no worse than Conti Premium Contacts in the wet!) I would recommend them to anyone looking for a sports tyre, so there