More tyre impressions - Continental SportContact 5 and Michelin Pilot Sport 4

[kalniel]

Tyres.. them things that are just about the most important bits on your car, plus you get to change them without incurring the wrath of your warranters or insurance! So having just put enough miles on my first tyre replacements on the new car, some comments:

Car: Audi A3 8v Sportback 1.4 tfsi CoD
Tyre size: 225-40-R18-92Y

The car originally came with Continental SportContact 5s, in the AO (audi designed) specification. AO, MO etc. are worth looking into since the characteristics do vary quite a bit from the base tyre. In the AO case tyres tend to be designed for relatively high wear resistance and lower noise.

As they were on the car from new, it's hard to assess the quality of tyres in isolation, only in comparison to their replacements. As expected, the tyres wore quite well - around 30k miles for fronts which isn't bad for a FWD of this ilk. Grip was always pretty good, especially in the dry and when warm - on a summers day you can really feel the extra stickyness compared to colder conditions. Wet grip wasn't bad, but nothing to shout home about. Noise and comfort (NVH) was not these tyres strong point I think - they were quite stiff (yeah, I know low profile will be!) which did give good turn in feel, but they were noisy, especially on bad roads.

Onto the Pilot Sport 4 - these are meant to be somewhere between the sporty PS2s and the more comfy PS3s. Note there is also a Pilot Sport 4S variety for larger wheels, designed to be even more sporty. These are not they.

It's still a little early days. I was perhaps hoping for even better dry grip than the Conti's since reviews rave about the PS4, but it's very subtle. There is a bit more squidge to the tyre, which minorly aids comfort, but also makes turn in feel a bit softer. Once settled they possibly have the tiniest extra grip over the contis. Steering feel is a less linear than the contis too - there's quite a noticeable difference in feel as you start turn in vs applying further lock under load - I'm guessing this is related to the tread pattern/movement of the tread.

In wet conditions the PS4 does appear to be the better tyre (even compared to the conti when new) - grip is maintained at quite a lot higher speeds which combined with the slightly odd feel almost caught me out on a wet corner - fronts squidged then gripped suddenly, causing the rears to lose traction for a split second and the car to over-rotate. Given the usual setup for understeer this was quite an achievement, and might even be desirable if only it was more predictable in terms of force transfer.

Allowing for newness of tread, the PS4 is only a touch quieter. Fuel eco a very small amount better for the PS4 as well.

In conclusion, the Conti SportContact 5 AO was actually a better tyre than I was expecting, and for feel beats the PS4. Otherwise the PS4 is rather more like the PS3 but with better fuel eco and a touch better again wet performance. Given that, it is still my preferred tyre over the conti, though I would quite like to fit a better wet weather tyre to the rears as well - considering crossclimate+ when the time comes

[GoNz0]

I have PS3's all round on the E36 BMW, 225 front 245 rear, I had the PS2 before but the tramlining was horrendous and I do not miss them, the PS3's imo are rather epic when it comes to doing 50mph around an island with the feeling the car is superglued to the tarmac. Trouble is the rears are almost on the wear line so I am considering the PS4's
They do have a lot better MPG rating over the PS3's so a small loss of traction is to be expected I guess but they have redesigned the compound again so the difference should be minimal (I hope) but possibly better MPG (I only get 24-28.8 depending on it being a long trip or the usual potter into town.

A friend who deals with Uniparts company cars has said all the feedbacks great on them.

Oh and a manager at euromaster or ETS (one of them) said they were more of a grand touring tyre compared to the sporty PS3 but I guess now I have got my foot well into the 40's this doesn't pose a problem

Glad to see you like them as that is another pro to the list

[ik9000]

oh there are different tyres. figures. sigh another thing to have to learn about. how much does a set if tyres set one back these days <winces in anticipation>?

[GoNz0]

oh there are different tyres. figures. sigh another thing to have to learn about. how much does a set if tyres set one back these days <winces in anticipation>?

Every size, brand and so on are different prices, starting at £20 and my last rear tyres cost £160 each, I guess you can go above £300 a corner depending.

[ik9000]

I wish I'd never bought the thing....

[Xlucine]

oh there are different tyres. figures. sigh another thing to have to learn about. how much does a set if tyres set one back these days <winces in anticipation>?

This is a good source of information:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/
You can search user-submitted reviews by model of car, so with your skoda as an example:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyres_F...a/Roomster.htm
(click on any of the tyre names and it'll have links to magazine reviews of that tyre also)

[DanceswithUnix]

oh there are different tyres. figures. sigh another thing to have to learn about. how much does a set if tyres set one back these days <winces in anticipation>?

Depends on size and speed rating of the tyre, but you tend to replace them in pairs as the fronts tend to wear at the same rate as do the rears.

[neonplanet40]

I always replace my tyres in pairs. It's also good to get the front and backs rotated for more even wear.

I drive a ford focus and have tried a number of tyre brands, however, for my car I have settled on Avon Tyres. They have been excellent for me. Brilliant grip in dry and wet as well as the good mileage economy (35k - 45k miles). At £50 a tyre they have been a bargain for me.

I do feel that it can take time to find the right tyre for your car.

[Noxvayl]

These will be my next tyres, after I've done some mods to my E46 of course.

https://youtu.be/kasI6HtxcH0

Currently rocking Crossclimates because the winter and wet conditions in this country dominate, and they are noticeably better in the rain than the Dunlops that I got the car with.

[kalniel]

oh there are different tyres. figures. sigh another thing to have to learn about. how much does a set if tyres set one back these days <winces in anticipation>?

As well as the things mentioned already, you can add oil price, currency and seasonal demand/supply. First thing is size - the more common the size the cheaper. When I first got my car and it unexpectedly came on 18" 40 profile wheels I looked up the tyre prices and winced, but two and a bit years on and it's become such a common size that tyre prices (along with oil prices) had really dropped, so they were not much more than my previous 16" tyres.

As I implied - tyres are important. Personally I always buy the best I can find - you'll be safer and it's the easiest way to gain performance on a car. Michelin are usually the most expensive, and the PS4 is the very latest model etc. and my tyres were ~£100 a corner fully fitted. I don't think you can go wrong with any out of the PS4, conti sportcontact 6 or goodyear eagle f1 asymetric 3.

Given the torrential conditions this morning I'm very glad I got them. These things are absolutely mega. I've not had such an improvement in wet grip since sticking Vredestein rain specialist tyres on my old astra (from energy savers!).

[Noxvayl]

I always tell non-car guys to get crossclimates. I save the details but I simply point out that the tread pattern design is the best for getting rid of water and the compound is meant for cold conditions. The two most dangerous conditions when driving those tyres are the best for. Well worth the £100 each fitted

They also have pretty good stopping distances in the dry and a low rolling resistance. I've found them excellent on my E46.

[kalniel]

Yes they're excellent too - I'd go for the crossclimate+ rather than the non-plus models as they fixed the high wear rate.

[Bagnaj97]

oh there are different tyres. figures. sigh another thing to have to learn about. how much does a set if tyres set one back these days <winces in anticipation>?

I'd assume on your SE that you've got 16" alloys, which should mean 205/45/R16 - at least that's what my Roomster takes. ~£70-£80 per corner can get you something reasonable. Looking at tyrereviews.co.uk and prices I think I'd be looking at Kumho Ecsta KU39 (£70.75) or Avon ZV7 (£74.10) from blackcircles.com. Obviously there are better tyres available, but these are solid mid-range tyres and far better than no-name ditchfinders.

[kalniel]

I'd assume on your SE that you've got 16" alloys, which should mean 205/45/R16 - at least that's what my Roomster takes.

Fairly rare size, hence lack of choice and highish prices. I'd go for the Conti EcoContact 5 at around £90 a corner, second choice would be Dunlop Sport Maxx RT at ~£80

[Spreadie]

second choice would be Dunlop Sport Maxx RT at ~£80

I've had these on my A3 (225/45/17) for the last 18 months.

They are outstanding in the wet - the sheer amount of water displacement is a real eye-opener. I've yet to experience that momentary loss of grip when hitting a large puddle in the road with them - something I'm all too familiar with when using other more expensive tyres.

[ik9000]

it's funny I experienced that twice on the way home from Chester, the momentary loss of grip. never had that before. I'll look tonight at what I've got on there at the moment.