Tyre recommendations

[Doggy]

What's everyone's current thoughts on this - I need to change all 4 of mine this month.

Since getting the car, I've tried Continental Premium Contact, Goodyear Excellence, Kumho KH17, some Hankook crap and Kumho KH31. of those the lowly Kumho KH17 were probably the best handling / wear compromise. (I'm still using the std 205/60/15/V-rated beasties).

Anyone want to suggest alternative(s)

[OdinEidolon]

Nokian ZG2 (or V in this measure), Pirelli Cinturato P7, CSC5, Dunlop SP SPORTfastResponse, Sportrac5, Turanza T001, Proxes CF1... many to choose from.

My personal favourites are Z-G2s, P7s and T001s.

I have the Z-G2s on my '6 right now and they are great performers all around, overall quiet and fun to drive. P7s are the best comfort-wise.

[Welly]

I'm sure my tyres were 195 x 65 x 15 on my 406 Saloony

I always thought the Goodyear NCT5 suited the car well but you'll pay a King's Ransom for the pleasure

I'm running Kumho's on the pension-wagon and to be fair they've been good; nearly 2 years of "Welly" and 16,000 miles and they've worn nicely (quickly?) but always quiet and grippy.

Did you get the 4 x Alignment done? replacing 4 x tyres should see you getting it done AGAIN really

[Doggy]

I'm sure my tyres were 195 x 65 x 15 on my 406 Saloony

Yes, they were, but later and/or more powerful ones are 205/60 V-rated

I always thought the Goodyear NCT5 suited the car well but you'll pay a King's Ransom for the pleasure

I'm running Kumho's on the pension-wagon and to be fair they've been good; nearly 2 years of "Welly" and 16,000 miles and they've worn nicely (quickly?) but always quiet and grippy.

I do a lot more miles - ran a pair of Kumho KH17's on the front, which were OK and lasted reasonably, the latest KH31's have been on since January and are comprehensively rogered. Initially beautiful to drive and still feel OK, but they've worn badly on both edges, (not due to wrong pressure) and have an alarming number of cuts, (tears)? in the tread pattern, plus they just don't look uniform any more.
It's been feeling strange for a while, but I've now diagnosed a sticky strut top bearing on one side - just ordered new front dampers / top bearings for both sides.

Did you get the 4 x Alignment done? replacing 4 x tyres should see you getting it done AGAIN really

Yes, but only last week, so that'll have to do.

[OdinEidolon]

You do not need to do any kind of alignement when changing all 4 tyres. Really, that is bs!

[Welly]

But you could also easily scrub-out a set of decent (expensive) new tyres if you don't have the alignment at least verified with your new boots

I have my alignment done/checked at least 3 times a year and have never worn an inner or outer edge of any tyres in the last 6 years. When they are worn out they are worn evenly across the whole tread.

I don't understand people who replace a tyre with worn shoulders but don't correct the reason for that wear

Before this Winter I'm up for a full set of 225 x 45 x 17's and it'll get chucked on the Alignment machine before I leave the place to make damn sure I get me monies' worth.

[OdinEidolon]

To be honest I don't see the point in aligning the suspensions if there is nothing evidently wrong with them (ie uneven tyre wear). Here in Ita it's very common to change all 4 tyres at a time (unlike UK) and we usually only perform wheel alignement when needed. In my whole life between all the family cars (8) we needed only 1 alignement, and that was for the Clio who had a crash. Oh, and one for the Stilo which was turning right even if the steering was straight (didn't solve it, the steering wheel was mounted slightly tilted...).

I of course check the wear of all the tyres at least twice a month or once every <1k miles.

I'd say just fit 4 new good tyres and check the wear regularly - that will allow you to monitor if there is something wrong with the alignement that makes the tyres wear unevenly, and correct it before the tyres become unusable.

[Doggy]

Finally took the plunge & got it re-shod. Ought to be simple? Think again.

After e x h a u s t i v e research, the cheapest 'branded' boots I could find were Dunlop SP Fast Response at £71 each all in, from http://www.tyreshopper.co.uk Despite everybody + dog offering price match, no one got within £20, (to my surprise). If you buy from here, they get delivered to / fitted by National Tyres. Went ahead, booked in for Saturday morning.
So I turned up.......
"We can't balance those wheels, sir".......
"We don't have a centre-less balancer, sir"......
"We can't refund the balancing cost, because you haven't paid for balancing".......(small print neither confirms nor denies this).
"Of course you can cancel the order and have a refund"......(but I now don't really have enough time to find an alternative before hols).
Gets them fitted, test drive, seems OK. Later, Mrs Doggy notices a slight tremble through the floor, (which I hadn't noticed until then - probably a back wheel needing balanced).
Ring round for balancing quotes - best one I can get before Tuesday is £36!!!!
Cursing my stupidity, I go round on Sunday morning & get it done.......
Had to do some shopping etc., then takes the dogs out = test drive and now I've got serious steering shake at 65-70
Dashes back to tyre place, which is now deserted, despite the signs saying open till 2:00
They don't open on holiday Monday.
Need to leave for work an hour before they open today.
8:00:01 am Doggy phones to test their customer service skills.
"Really sorry to hear about that, from your description, I agree it's classic front wheel imbalance, bring it round, we'll sort it straight away"
'Unfortunately, I'm at work, 30 miles away and can't get back before 6:30 this evening, will you stay open'?
'How about doing it at 7 am tomorrow'?
'No, I can't bring it in on Saturday, I'm leaving for France at 0-dark-30 on Friday morning'!
Eventually I settled for a refund, then arranged to get it re-balanced in Huntingdon.......
"Of course we can do it while you wait, sir"
And wait I did, for well over an hour, but eventaully it was done. No unsightly weights on the outside, pressures set correctly, wheel bolts correctly torqued up and all for the now seemingly bargain price of £31.20.
TBH I was dreading the journey home, if it wasn't right this time, I was going to be seriously angry.......

Perfect! Nary a tremor.

Needless to say, I won't be getting tyres online ever again. Be warned!

[OdinEidolon]

What a journey Eric.
I also had problems getting my Hoggars balanced. They did have the balancing tool but evidently did not know how to use it (tried twice)! And this was from the biggest tyre reseller in the area, whose site is www.gomme.it. Gomme means tyres, so it's a pretty big place with lots of customers.
Ended up with a 20€ balancing refund and paying 30€ another garage, run by a small old man only, who balanced them perfectly in 20 minutes.

[Welly]

I've had trouble with the Volvo since day one, it's very sensitive to having perfect wheels and tyres. The amount of times I've left a balancing place full of expectation only to be let down when I reach that magic 65/70mph and things start wobbling

I'm not convinced either by on-line tyres especially when you turn up at some place asking them to balance someone else's expensive tyres

So Doggy it sounds like the tyres looked cheaper but the balancing would've been extra? so not really cheaper and not clear either

[jonsowman]

What did you think of the CPC5s Doggy? Considering replacing my front tyres with these when they need changing...

[Doggy]

The Continentals, (not sure which version), were on the car when I bought it & were reasonably OK initially, but deteriorated a lot as they wore down, (think wheelspin in 4th off roundabouts).

To complete the yarn, I did notice a slight tendancy to run off left on the way home last night, but after some OCD pressure adjustment yesterday evening, it tracks straight as a die today.

[OdinEidolon]

What did you think of the CPC5s Doggy? Considering replacing my front tyres with these when they need changing...

The 5 seems to be very good, but also one of the most expensive tyre of their class. Many tyres offer all around the same performance for less.

[Bailes1992]

Falken Ziex-912's are an Awesome tyre!
First decent tyre I ever used, had 4 put on the Focus and it totally transformed the car and wore very very well!

The Hankook V12 Evo is a very good midrange tyre too, impressed with the grip in the dry.

Although at the moment I do love Uniroyals. The Rainexpert 2's offer cracking grip in the Dry and AWESOME grip in the wet! They really are a weird tyre to drive on in the wet because they grip so much.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/

Also Doggy next time you go to get tyres. Try black circles!
They give you a list of garages to have the tyres delivered too. You can phone them before hand and ask if they can balence centerless wheels!
Save you the ballache you had this time!