Tyres ?

[Stu]

Lo folks, I am a complete novice when it comes to tyres.... and I think I am in need of a front set, if not all 4.

What would you reccomend for a saxo vtr , ~8k miles a year, want something quite high spec which will grip well in both wet and dry.. best price possible (dont want much do i ? )

Any ideas on which brand / model to go for ? (Have heard good things about eagle f1's )

Best to buy from an online merchant like mytryes or a retail store ?

Cheers for any comments ..

[CocoPops]

The new Eagle F1's are getting VERY good reviews. Make sure they are the GSD3 I think, and not the GSD2 etc

[Russ]

yea, i'd say eagle's or TOYO t1-s if u got the extra few quid.

[Vimeous]

I'm adding more Eagle F1's to my Civic as I've been very impressed. Mine are GSD2's because Goodyear have not yet produced GSD3's for smaller tyre sizes. I suspect you may be in the same position.

THIS LINK shows all the tyres sizes for F1's and if you look at the key you'll see it says which are GSD2 and which are GSD3.

Tyres To Avoid:
Goodyear Eagle NCT5 (If you can't have F1's there are better tyres than the NCT5)
Pirelli P6000

Hope that helps!

[Barakka]

Tyres To Avoid:
Pirelli P6000

I had P6000's on my old (steel) wheels with a 185/60/14 size and they were dire.

When I got my alloys and got them recon'ed I got a good deal on a full set of P6000's for them in 195/50/15 size and they are MUCH better ?!?!

The grip in the dry is good, in the damp a bit pants (but what isn't), but in the full on wet they stick like glue.

Always been very impressed with Goodyear's though, just got the P6000's for about half the price

Only problem I know with buying them online is getting them fitted, some places are really fussy about any possible comeback if there's a problem and they've fitted them so check where you can get them fitted first.

[Shad]

I had P6000's on my old (steel) wheels with a 185/60/14 size and they were dire.

When I got my alloys and got them recon'ed I got a good deal on a full set of P6000's for them in 195/50/15 size and they are MUCH better ?!?!

The grip in the dry is good, in the damp a bit pants (but what isn't), but in the full on wet they stick like glue.

Always been very impressed with Goodyear's though, just got the P6000's for about half the price

Only problem I know with buying them online is getting them fitted, some places are really fussy about any possible comeback if there's a problem and they've fitted them so check where you can get them fitted first.

The extra width and rigidity in the sidewalls would have given the impression of better grip. I had P6000's on my Clio and to be fair they were ok. But there's much better out there...

[Rave]

I have Yokohama A539s on the front of my MR2. I like them a lot, but I haven't had any other tyres on there to compare them with. The only time I've made them slide is going into roundabouts at silly speeds in the pouring rain, and even then they were controllable.

The Saxo is a completely different type of car though so I don't know how they'd work on one.

Rich :¬)

[Vimeous]

I had 195/55 R15 P6000.
I've been through 4x Avon ZV1's, 4x Michelin Pilot SX, 2x Pirelli P6000 and today I'm adding 2 more Goodyear Eagle F1's to the two I bought recently in the last 36k miles.

The P6000's are the worst.

As Rave says the tyre size, weight distribution and which wheels are driven can make a big difference between cars. And Shad's comment applies the height of the sidewall mainly and he's right, the lower profile the less compliance but greater resistance to loading.
Do you know any other VTR oweners you can also ask for advice?

[Lowe]

Eagle F1's or the new Uniroyals.

If you want some fun, get a set of Yoko A539s on the front and a set of Nankang NS1 or NS2 on the rear.

[Stu]

eagle f1's it is then... looking at mytyres site - 185/55/14 = £63 each per tyres... where as 185/60/14 = £45 each

Would I get away with using +5mm profile above standard ?

Ill ring round a few tyre firms 2moro I guess.. cheers for the help h

[Barakka]

Would I get away with using +5mm profile above standard ?

That would mean your speedo would be slightly under-reading - you'd be doing 72ish when your speedo reads 70.

Have a look here if you want to check out some tyre sizes and the effect they would have on your speedo...
http://www.djwimmy1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/boo/tyres.htm

Also you may want to consider changing the width of the tyre slightly to get a closer match. IIRC the profile is not a measurement in mm it's a percentage of the width.

My wheels were supposed to have 185/55/15 on, but I went for 195/50/15 which saved me about 45% of the cost and means my speedo reads 70 and i'm doing 68.99 would rather over read than under read.
HTH

[Vimeous]

Going by Barakka's suggestion you'd be looking for 195/50/14 or 175/60/14.
185/60/14 will improve the ride but will reduce your max cornering speed. Also it's likely quick direction changes will be slower though by how much I'm not sure because the tyre wall will 'give' under less loading. I'd also expect body roll to increase as well as the indicated speed and distance travelled indicators to be wrong as already mentioned.
As Barakka suggests your could go for more width and reduced height (195/50/14) but as they are lower profile still it is likely they'll be more expensive.
I mentioned 175/60/14 as a reverse suggestion to give the 60 depth sidewall and likely reduce the cost. However I'd not choose it if you plan to do any serious motoring for reasons I listed above. The differences are likely to be subtle in each area but they amount to a greater whole.

The chances are a little more shopping around will reduce the £63. I've always found getting the best price and then going to Just Tyres often works well

[wilsonian]

would the F1's be good in the wet? i really need some good tyers that can grip in the wet as the falkens i have on my OZ's have neraly had me killed! LOL they have no grip what so ever!

[Vimeous]

They've been great for me.