Which tyers for wet?

[wilsonian]

Sorry i know it's another "which tyers?" post but i'm a little stuck.

i have a set of 15"s which have falken ZE-512, which i must say are pants. in the wet i might as well have slicks on as i slid all over the place (and not just at high speeds either! )

any way the tyers i'm looking for have the suit the english weather without giving me a scare. i was looking at good year F1's but people say there no good for icey conditions and wear too quick...

i need to get these tyers sorted out as my alloys are sitting in my garage collecting dust (and i only had them on the car 6 months )

[Shogun]

Tyres

[Russ]

toyo proxes are apparently the best in he rain.

[Zak33]

Continental's are good in the wet...genuinely OK...

visit each tyre site and see whats listed...

Michelin are the finest really...even their Economy Fuel Savers (Energy) are good through deep puddles.

But Michelin are reasonable money.

Perosnally found Kleber to be a good budget brand...never used them in deep rain tho

[Vimeous]

Lo thur.

I run F1's and can heartily recommend them. Sounds like you're similar to me in your thinking, if you get a tyre that can cope with the worst of the English weather then if does well in the dry even better!

I also have 15's (195/55) and have tried Pirelli P6000 (awfull), Michelin Pilot Sport SX (good all-rounders no longer available) and Avon ZV1's (better than I expected but not as good as the Mich and Good's).

I prefer the F1's over all these because it gives me better grip in all conditions (coped fine with that mad few days of snow and ice a few months back), they are more supple than many giving better ride and quieter than I expected.
Unfortunately they do wear faster than some if you abuse them (guilty) but so far have given excellant grip throughtout their tread depth (i'm down to 3.5mm on the front I think). Yokohama and Toyo will wear out faster but probably give slightly better dry grip but won't match the F1's in the wet (hearsay on my part, it's what I've read from tyre tests).

If you want longer lasting go Michelin everytime. While cheaper tyres can last as long they won't get near the balance of the Michelin for durability and outright grip in all conditions. They are damn expensive though, often £90-100 a corner for 15"s if they're an odd dimension like mine.
Otherwise give the F1's a shot, they're rain performance is good in my experience and on ice I've not had problems. Prices wise it cost me betwen £74-81 per corner fully fitted and balanced. I've no doubt you can get the tyres slightly cheaper but fitting costs may be more so.

A word on F1 types. There are DS2 and DS3 flavours available. I can only get the DS2 in my size but if you check the Goodyear website (Eagle F1 Page) you might be able to get DS3's which are even better.

Hope you get what you need

P.s.
I've never found Continentals in the size I need so I cannot comment directly but TiG runs Eco Sport Contact 2's on his Octavia and thinks they're great. My thinking is that they're similar to the Michelins in concept but cheaper!

[hotpurple]

I run Eagle F1 GSD2s. They seem to work very well for me in all conditions. The ride quality is good and they are reasonably priced. I haven't had too much wear showing on them and I've had them for over a year now and done over 15k miles.

I've used Yokohama A530s before and they are very good in the dry but absolutly useless in the wet. The A539s are meant to be good though. The Yokos do wear fast though. The more budget type of Yokos (S350 I think???) is equally as soft but rides a bit quieter and is pretty smooth, not as much grip though.

Pirelli P-Zeros are pretty good in the wet (apparantly), although they come in a lot of different flavours. The Corsa is the cheapest I think and works pretty well, the directionale I would think would be better in the wet.

I have also tried Hankook for budget tyres and they seemed ok, but beaten by the Yokos hands down (which I replaced them with).

[Lowe]

Toyo best in the wet? You having a Steffi?

What you want are these puppies:

Bridgestone Potenza RE 720
(Score: 1-best 6-worst)

Grip in dry conditions 1.4
Braking in dry condtions 1.4
Grip in wet conditions 1.9
Braking in wet condition 1.9
Grip in snow 5.0
Comfort 2.4
Tyre noise (in car) 2.4
Tyre noise (external) 2.4
Tyre wear 2.5

Compare that to the Toyos:

PROXES T1-S
Grip in dry conditions 1.6
Braking in dry condtions 1.7
Grip in wet conditions 2.3
Braking in wet condition 2.5
Grip in snow 5.2
Comfort 3.2
Tyre noise (in car) 3.3
Tyre noise (external) 3.1
Tyre wear 4.3

[Russ]

kin hell lowe, how much they a corner?

[Shad]

Probably around £70 for 205/55/16.

I'm pretty pleased with my Yoko AVS Sports, wet grip isn't as amazing as dry but it's pretty good nonetheless.

[wilsonian]

well i'm fed up about going for a drive, it's starts raining and i have to "limp" back home taking corners slower than a granny car because of the crappy grip.

the size i'm looking for is 195/45/15r

i've gotten over the shock of having to pay £50-60 a corner (considering my 13" cost me £70 for all 4!) but i need to know for sure what are the best for wet weather, and hard waring (as i do take corners fast! )

[Lowe]

I've just told you

[Vimeous]

I'm slightly wary of Toyos after they were kicked out of Autocars tyre test last year. Seems the tyres they were sent by the manufacturer performed somewhat better than ones they bought themselves off the shelf. It's a shame because they were doing reasonably well at the time. I know I shouldn't always be swayed by what the press prints but it's difficult to ignore.
Lowe having seen you post about them many times and sing their praises I wonder, have you tried any other flavours on your car and how do they compare? I'm not questioning your choice, I only really know what I've used, but I will certainly be looking again in the next few months for my own car.

[Lowe]

Well, I've just ordered a pair of Eagle GSD3's to compare

How's that?

[wilsonian]

Bridgestone Potenza RE 720

hmm aren't these made by Firestone (the people who had tyer walls explode on them...)

they do seem good for both wear and wet.

Lowe: do u have any secret web site that sell these dirt cheap?!

[Lowe]

mytyres.co.uk

They sell them, but you'll have to sort fitting out yourself.

[dkmech]

I think firestone is part of bridgestone, not the other way round. And it was off-roader firestone tyres that peeled off on Ford Explorers. I think its safe to say that you are talking about a different type of tyre here.