Tyres Advice plz

[Vimeous]

• Car: Honda Civic 1.8 VTi
  Size: 195/55 R15 (VR's needed really)
  Location: Front pair only.

After a short (deservedly so) lifespan my ever so disliked Pirelli P6000's are coming up for replacement. (I seem to have lunched them in about a year). So I've been doing some research. My previous faves, Michelin Pilot SX-GT's, have been discontinued for some time. Pirelli P-Zero's and Michelin Pilot Sport's don't shrink to fit my size.

Requirements:

• 1. Good all-weather tyre, particularily in the wet.
  2. Progressive and easy to judge limit of adhesion.
  3. Reasonable wear rate based on hard driving with a high proportion of roundabouts. (Bearing in mind I've never had a tyre last more than 18k miles with swapping front to back)

Shortlist so far:

• Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D2 (GS-03 not available in my size) - £74
  Michelin Pilot Exalto - £78

Unknowns:

• Dunlop SP Sport 2000 - £63
  Dunlop SP Sport 01 - £66
  Continental Premium Contact - £68

HELP ME PLEASE!
Do you have any of these tyres and can give me a usefull review?
Can you better the prices shown? All are internet prices without fitting which I expect to get cheaper fitted from Malvern Tyres.

[Shad]

I'd go with either the Pilot Exalto's or some Continental Contisport's, which are fitted to Alfa's from factory so must be pretty good

[Vimeous]

Unfortunately I can't get Contisport in the right speed rating. Continental only go to HR with those in my size. Funnily enough my parents 5-series has a set of Eco ContactSport CP's so I thought I'd have a peek but to no avail!

[Lowe]

Go check out the Uniroyals. I forget the name of them but they're half the price of Eagle F1s and equalled or bettered them in a few tests.

[Vimeous]

Any of those tests online?

[3Dfx]

Toyo Proxes T1-S

[Rave]

I've got Yokohama A539s on the front of my car which I'm pretty happy with- I can slide the front on wet roundabouts but it's easily controllable.

Don't know what size/speed rating you need though, my 185/14s are H rated which is fine for a Mk1 MR2. The larger sizes have higher ratings.

Rich :¬)

[Vimeous]

Thanks all, keep posting!

I was debating the Toyo and Yokohama question but worry they won't last beyond 10k miles. The Toyos also couldn't live with the Goodyear F1's in Autocars recent test (14th Oct 03), particularily under wet-braking. They then were disqualified when the control tyre failed to match the tyre supplied by Toyo, making the case for the Toyo look a little shakey.
Having said that the Toyos were pretty handy when compared with some of the other offerings and I've no doubt they perform well. However the implication is I can get better so I'll keep hunting!

Ratings wise VR runs to 140mph (Honda quotes 136ish max for my motor) but I'm unlikely to ever get near it hence my uncertainty.

[Rave]

Hmm. My Yokos are barely worn at 7-8k miles, but they're on the front of a RWD car and I don't tend to thrash them. Well, not much.

Rich :¬)