Superb-which tyres?!

[Tuigali]

Thanks for the welcomes, and advice!

Sounds like it may be a good idea to look at something other than the contis...in all honesty, I can't say anything bad as that's all I've had on it since coming back to the UK in 2010, and my previous car was a completely different animal (280bhp Subaru Legacy twin turbo in NZ-I was 21-22, fuel was cheaper, insurance was non-compulsory AND cheaper anyway, and the roads were a bit quieter, and fun...).

I'm aware that the 18s are noisier...they do look good though! There's another question there actually-the lacquer on two of them is flaking away badly-anyone had any experience of this, and is it worth looking to replace/repair? 

Last question, I've previously gone through the local Skoda dealer, although last time I went to hiQ for the front tyres, (they put the wheels back on the wrong sides, and lost one set of wheelnuts and tried to accuse me of having taken them off before...it was almost funny) so I've been looking around-heard good things about blackcircles.com-can anyone back that recommendation up?

Thanks again!

[silver1011]

Blackcircles are usually pretty competitive, saying that my local trusted and well respected non-branded back-street tyre fitter always beats them on price.

 

Shop around would be my advice, but don't just focus online, pick up the phone too.

[glenmc]

I can't comment specifically for the Superb, as I have an octavia vRS.

But I recently replaced 225/40/18 Continentals (2 were down to the limit, 2 were cracking).

I went for Goodyear Eagle F1 ASM2.

However the garage accidentally put Goodyear Efficients on the front.  I only drove a few miles on them, but would say they were noisier and had less grip than the F1's.  Also. if you like your wheels and park near curbs, they have no rim protection at all,unlike the F1s which have very good rim protection.

 

I would also second the comment about not just going to the online retailers.  I generally use Blackcircles or mytyres, but this time found Formula1 Autocentres to be quite a bit cheaper (mind you, they did manage to put the wrong tyres one- but at least they corrected it without any hassle)

[silver1011]

Were they Efficientgrip or Efficientgrip Performance?

 

[glenmc]

Were they Efficientgrip or Efficientgrip Performance?

 

 

Good question!  I'm not sure... They were only on for as long as it took for me to get home, see they were wrong, and drive back!

I suspect they were the non-performance versions though

[jonathan.tong]

can anyone comment on the rim protection offered by the GY Efficient Grip Performance?

[silver1011]

See post #29, there is none.

 

I'll know for sure in a few weeks as I've decided to get a pair for my Superb.

[JakeBlade]

I'll take a pic on the 'morrow and stick it on here for all to see.

[Pesmog]

There doesn't seem to be much rim protection on my GY Efficient grip performance.  I quite like them though. They work very similar to the ecoConti's that my car had on new.      From what I can see the difference between the GY Efficientgrip and the Efficientgrip performance is that the performance is slightly softer compound and the guttering in the tyres is slightly wider with suggests the performance version will grip slightly better (don't expect Conti sport contact levels of grip though) and that it will be better in the wet.  The GY are also very quiet like ecoConti's and don't seem to have a high rolling resistance as I broke my personal best economy record for my 100 minute Journey home from work earlier this week.

Edited 9 September, 2014 by Pesmog

[JakeBlade]

I'm trying to get the right angle picture to show it, but I think there is rim protection with the GY EGP tyres - just that it is discrete. There isn't an obvious dirty great lip that sticks out from the tyre, but when you look at them in cross-section the whole of the alloy is recessed inside the tyre wall by a couple of mm. I think it's probably enough to protect from light scuffs against the kerb.

[JakeBlade]

I take it back. The car must've been I a tilt when I was looking before. There is NO rim protection on my tyres.

[999smiler]

You've persuaded me- had a pair fitted last week to the front, great price £120 - no issues

Apologies for dragging this one out again from January, 2013.

 

 

There are people out there who say, "always go with one of the big names" or "never buy a tyre made in China" or whatever... During the last ten years, I've had Michelin, Continental, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Dunlop, Fulda, Firestone, Kumho, Uniroyal, Maxxis, Altenzo... And do you know what? I could barely tell the difference between any of them in normal driving. The Goodyears had a step in one of the tyres so I noticed that the subsequent Michelins were a lot quieter; the Uniroyal Rainsports got me through some spectacular standing water once, but apart from that I couldn't have actually told you which tyres I had on.Of course, I don't go round corners on two wheels, and I like to practise the arts of anticipation and observation, so maybe I've never subjected my tyres to the sort of stresses which would "sort out the men from the boys"; the fact that my last car but one was a spiritedly driven, lime green Peugeot 207GT (I was going through a phase), though, should indicate that I'm not necessarily Mr. Slow of Slowville, Slowshire. I just drive... normally.Anyway, I had a blow-out recently, so decided to shop around for two new fronts. I found a tyre which has an economy rating of 'B', a wet-weather braking performance of 'B' and a noise rating of 72dB. Go away and check how comparatively rare that combination is. ValueTyres has them listed as a "premium" tyre, yet I had them fitted at a local Halfords autocentre for £127 the pair. The manager told me that they perform on a par with Michelins for just over half the price; the only downside is that they might last for only 80-90% of the life of a Michelin. A Michelin that doesn't suffer a mid-term puncture or blow-out, that is! He laughs at all the brand-snobs and the suckers who insist that they "always go with one of the big names", and is insistent that the Big 6 are ripping off their customers due to misplaced "received wisdom" on the part of the market. I should add that no sales pitch was involved: I had ordered online from www.tyresavings.com who merely use Halfords as the fitters.I'm quite sure that there will be people on this site who know better than the manager of the tyre company and who will rubbish the new system of tyre ratings, including the wet weather performance; I'm sure they'll make their opinions known. For what it's worth, I've done c.500 snowy/rainy/dry miles on the tyres now and - you guessed it - I can't tell any difference from the Michelins, the Pirellis, the Continentals... 

 

Update from a month ago: Sailun Atrezzo Z4s every day.  I've been absolutely delighted with mine - great road-holding, comfort, noise; 20,000+ on the front with 3mm left (Contis were gone at 16,000) - I'll never buy another make of tyre; they're down to about £60 a corner fitted now from ValueTyres.  Got some new ones now to go on the rear, moving the Kumho KU37s to the front; they'll then wear quicker and I can have Sailuns all round.

 

I know I'll get some grief over this - "the only bit of your car which touches the road"; "only trust the Big 6"; "they're cheap for a reason"; "when a toddler walks out into the road", blah, blah, blah... But these tyres have felt every bit as safe and secure in all weathers and at all speeds as the premium brands I've owned many times in the past.  Besides, in an emergency stop, your suspension and brakes play such a significant part that you wouldn't know what was attributable to the tyres; I don't see many people fitting carbon/ceramic brakes or uprated shocks to improve their safety...

 

Anyway, rant over.  Peace and love.

 

Update from 2 weeks ago: I also want to (again) pay tribute to the tyres: a brand new set of Sailun Atrezzo Z4s, which have provided extreme comfort and unassailable composure through everything the trip has thrown at them, including much standing water. £240 for all 4; you know where to come.

[Noddy90]

Sweet.  I still cannot fault them.

 

All the money I save, I spend on whores, cocaine and jigsaw puzzles.

[silver1011]

Just has two Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance tyres on the rear of my Superb. Instant quietness!

 

The tyre fitter was alarmed to see the severe saw toothing on the inside edge of the factory fitted Pirelli P7's - hence the horrible droning I've suffered for the last 5,000 miles.

 

I paid £96 each inc. VAT, however Goodyear have a promotion on that gives a £10 fuel voucher for each tyre fitted until the end of September so I only paid £86 a corner.

 

There is a rim protector too, it's only small but it even has 'rim protector' printed on the side wall!

[Stinker]

Just has two Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance tyres on the rear of my Superb. Instant quietness!

 

The tyre fitter was alarmed to see the severe saw toothing on the inside edge of the factory fitted Pirelli P7's - hence the horrible droning I've suffered for the last 5,000 miles.

 

I paid £96 each inc. VAT, however Goodyear have a promotion on that gives a £10 fuel voucher for each tyre fitted until the end of September so I only paid £86 a corner.

 

There is a rim protector too, it's only small but it even has 'rim protector' printed on the side wall!

 

Further feedback in due course please Silver when you get a feel for them and get the time!

[silver1011]

Took these after I got home, the wheels look rough but it's just brake dust.

 

I noticed that they had a young lad on who was removing the bolt covers with a pair of long nose pliers, it wasn't til I got home I noticed he's scratched the covers, grrr!

 

 

 

Rim protector...

 

[Superb170]

Thanks for the pics silver1011, I guess time will tell how good they are and hopefully they stay quite for you. Annoying about the scratches!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Skoda4x4man]

 

All the money I save, I spend on whores, cocaine and jigsaw puzzles.

 

And waste the rest ?

 

 

Chris

[basil-furface]

Dunlop SP Sport 01AS 225/40 R18 92H XL, MFS, M+S have proved every bit as quiet as the claimed 67dB suggests.

Got mine cheap as chips from Tyreleader.

[JakeBlade]

Took these after I got home, the wheels look rough but it's just brake dust.

I noticed that they had a young lad on who was removing the bolt covers with a pair of long nose pliers, it wasn't til I got home I noticed he's scratched the covers, grrr!

Rim protector...

Hmmm... mine too, but the thermisto alloys protrude out beyond the rim protector on mine:

[Camberley_Chris]

Sweet.  I still cannot fault them.

 

All the money I save, I spend on whores, cocaine and jigsaw puzzles.

Everyone should have a hobby.

[coppertop]

New to this forum, but to chuck my 10p's worth, I have been running Vredstein Quatrac 3 225/40/18 All Seasons since December of last year.  Bought specifically for journey's to Germany and done about 20K (miles) on them and they are about 60% worn on front and 40% on rear.  Not noticed any great difference in grip levels over the Conti's that were on the car before.  Just back from Spain where temps were 30+ and again grip / traction / noise all acceptable on these All Seasons.

[Mayor of Newark]

Just arranged to have 2 GY E Ps fitted on the front.  I'll post how they work out idc.

 

FWIW, the current Michelin SP3s scrabble a bit moving off with my 1,550kg caravan on the back if I'm not very gentle with the right boot.  Be nice if the GY were better at this.

[Catch22]

I use Hankooks cant fault them, blooming 18" rims and pot holes never make em last anyways, thats a different story.

[blue_boy]

Folks have signed in for ages and thought I would to alert you to a better tyre for your Superbs. I hardly had to bother as you already reported how good GYEGP are. I keep a log of MFD mpg for each of the 99 hours of driving and I have had my 140 4x4 DSG since may 2011. The average has increased from below 49 to a best of 54 and currently at 52 mpg. I have no evidence as to quieter or softer ride or even better grip. BUT like someone else earlier do keep the tyres away from,holes / edges etc. I have taken two slithers out f the sides unbelievably soft . Never experience anything like it before. Still driving on them though.

On a different subject I also just invested in a Tyrepal TB99 tyre pressure monitor to supplement the factory installed one in the superb. Very impressed so far as I am always concerned tyres may be under inflated and I don't want the cost of that especially not a flat on the M25 no hard shoulder commute! Seeing the pressures and temp of each tyre in real time is terrific.