406oc.co.uk

Ok - this is the situation:

2.0 HDi 110 406.
205/55x16 tyres.

Front currently has 2 very good Pirelli P6000 on it (the type they came with from new apparently).

Rear has some 'Event' tyres on them. Probably the worst tyre I've ever had the misfortune to 'own'. I need to get rid of them and their 7mm tread (they look like new, don't seem to wear, and dont' want to grip on anything appart from 'bone dry' tarmac).

I've got £140 max to spend on 2 tyres that will replace the 'event' tyres. These will then go to the front of the car, with the Pirellis at the back.

Recommendations, bearing in mind the winter months coming. I'm happy to swap tyres front to back to make best use of their capabilities.

Must have good wet grip, and tyres need to have respectable performance here in partially Winter gritted mid Wales.

your opinions please!

Thanks

Impster

Firstly you can't mix Summer and Winter tyres - it's all or nothing.

Secondly, even the P6000 aren't very good (search the web) they're know as 'ditchfinders' I believe the perform badly in most on-line tests/reviews.

Cheapo tyres are typically rock-hard, noisy and loose grip easily - you'd actually be safer with the best gripping tyres on the back to stop oversteer.

I can recommend Kumho tyres if you're on a budget they are on a par with the best of them, perhaps a bit soft so wear quickly, but very quiet and good grip etc. I'm running them on my T5 and have got 15000 miles out of the fronts this Saturday I'm fitting Winter Tyres as the fronts are now on the wear bars.

I have to disagree with not being able to mix winter and summer tyres. I know plenty of people who've being doing that for years here in the UK and in other european countries - swapping the wheels so that the driven wheels have the most suitable tyre (even before most people in the UK realised that there was such a thing as a winter tyre). But that's a discussion for a diferent thread and/or forum but thanks for making your point of view in any case.

Kumho tyres? I've had some years ago on a Mk2 Astra GTE i had. Not bad but wore our quickly (almost as fast as the good old yoko A539).

P6000 are'nt bad in my experience, but it all depends on how you drive. currently I'm driving to the limit of the 'event WL905' tyres fitted to the back wheels which to be honest isn't bad in the dry, but in the wet it's like rally driving in slow motion.

I suppose what I need is either 2 more P6000 (to balance the car's handling), or some recommendations (or maybe should I stay away from P6000 - i can get a pair fitted for £160).

Whatever happens, I already have 2 good condition pirelli P6000 which will sit on either front or back wheels. I just need 2 more tyres to make up a set.

My driving style is average-brisk. Out and out performance tyres is not really my thing.

Thanks in anticipation

Impster

Have had a recommendation locally for Kleber Quadraxer - an all season tyre. Tyrereviews website seem to give them good ratings.

Anyone here used them?

The legal requirement here is a winter tyre on all four corners, not sure if that's just a gimmick to sell more tyres but I'm told mixing them would be a mistake anyway. I suspect it'd be like having all season tyres, i.e. not very good in the winter, not that good in the summer.

I know plenty of people in England who drive through winter with summer tyres...

As for choice of tyres, 100 people with 100 opinions but I know one thing for sure - don't buy Michelins!

impster wrote:Have had a recommendation locally for Kleber Quadraxer - an all season tyre. Tyrereviews website seem to give them good ratings.

Anyone here used them?

I have Kleber Krisalp winters on my Pug, they were very cheap. Too cheap as it turns out

Btw I've spent a lot of time looking at tyre review websites and I've come to the conclusion that people expect cheap tyres to be crap and rate them very highly when they're not, and expect expensive tyres to be excellent and slate them when they're less than perfect, so I think the overall ratings system is, basically, bollocks.

I have run Goodyear winters on the front and continental summers on the back for 2 winters now with no problem even in the worst conditions.

Which goodyears have you got, and do you leave them on the front all year, or Winter only?

I am slowly being persuaded on the Kleber Quadraxer, having read some more reviews, gathered some stats on them etc. They are an all season tyre that is (at best) a compromise. I'm happy with that (I think), and it will be miles better than what I currently have on the car.

I may just plump for them tomorrow, unless I can be persuaded otherwise.

They were Goodyear ultragrip 7's on my old Rapier and Goodyear ultragrip performance on the Exec,they are no noisier than summer tyres and i normally take them off at the end of the cold season but my neighbour who had my old Rapier of me has left the Ultragrip 7's on all the time with no issues.

steve_earwig wrote:Btw I've spent a lot of time looking at tyre review websites and I've come to the conclusion that people expect cheap tyres to be crap and rate them very highly when they're not, and expect expensive tyres to be excellent and slate them when they're less than perfect, so I think the overall ratings system is, basically, bollocks.

+1 - komplete bollocks

I've just completely wrecked my head over the past few days looking at tyres online, and must agree with Steve and Doggy's sentiments - I would recommend looking for real objective tests like those that ADAC do (Google Translate is your friend )

I had Firestone TZ300α tyres on the front since I got the car two years ago (they seemed new when I got it) - they seemed decent enough most of the time but it was easy to push them beyond their limits in the wet, and at motorway speeds the steering would go unnervingly light - I noticed other people saying the same thing with these tyres and different cars. I got over 17k miles with them, but only realised this week that they were quite bald!

After much searching around town and being disappointed in the majority of tyre shops who only had Mickey Mouse Chinese brands in stock, I found someone nearby who could order pretty much anything and get them in the next day, so I went with Pirelli Cinturato P6's - I think they might be the replacement for P6000's as they don't list them any more. I got them for €75 (about £64), which was great considering one shop was charging the same for Events! They seem pretty good so far, definitely quieter and smoother than the Firestones. Steering seems lighter at slow speeds but much more reassuring at 120 km/h - it's really surprising how much of a difference tyres make. Don't know what they're like in the rain yet - they get an F rating for that on the newfangled EU tyre labels but I'm really not sure how that translates to real life performance as some independent tests reported them to be quite decent.

I've Semperit Comfort Lifes on the rear, there's not much tread left on them and they're getting a bit crusty looking (manufacture date is late '07) so will be replacing them soon. Not sure how great they are TBH and the guy I bought the Pirellis from said Semperits generally have weak sidewalls, which is not great for this country - if you've ever had the pleasure of driving in Ireland you'll know it's full of potholes

I've got 195/65 R15's on steelies, so don't seem to have much choice for higher-end premium tyres.

Hi, just to add to the confusion - I had some Hankooks on the front of my old 90 and they were great!! Made the front end light and seemingly more agile than the ' Accellera ' I had on before. The Hankooks were part worns and still lasted 2 years with lots of life left, before I sold the car.
Hankooks or Khumo for my car when Winter tyres come off.

Do you remember which Hankooks they were? Kinergy Eco K425 seem to get good ratings although not so great for performance in the wet.

I think they were Hankook Ventus, I'm going back 3 years so the Prime is the nearest one to what I had at the time.
Eco tyres don't bother me, how they perform is more important.

Is there a part-worn tyre place near you? You can get a tyre for £15 and if you like it, you can replace it with a new one when it wears down..

I generally fit part-worns, £15 - £20 (max) fitted and balanced.

If the dealer has them, I try to stick to the well known 'traditional' brands
such as Uniroyal, Firestone, Michelin etc, also Hankook and Kumho.

If there's a choice of a budget brand of 5 to 6mm tread, or a good brand with 4mm,
I'll go for the 4mm.

Have fitted part-worns over a succession of older cars.

Never been disappointed yet.

I've never had winter tyres. If I did fit them, I'd fit 4. If the whole point of fitting
winter tyres is, ultimately, increased safety.... then why set out by mixing summer/winter..., 2 different types
specifically designed to have such different characteristics.