Any suggestions for decent front boots for a vRS?:confused: Currently have cheap 205/55/16s (stock alloys) that were fitted free when I bought the car. I'd like decent grip (who wouldn't?!) but it's a daily used car so can't afford rapid wear rates; I also prefer to stay on the black stuff when it's wet! Is there any benefit in going for 225's - seems popular for 17" rims but not seen any threads for 16" rims (new wheels will have to be another year!)? I'm an estate, so I guess I'm carrying a bit more weight than the hatch (if that matters).

Many thanks folks, hope you can give some good advice.

For 16" wheels, the 205/55/16 is the same size I had for the spare wheels on my old Vec ST200 and although I looked at other sizes, those were the cheapest.

Whilst many on here tend to recommend Falken et al, I really wouldn't spend my money there. Instead, try to get Pirelli p6000's. They have been around for a while but are superb distance tyres but have a decent level of grip and definitely surpass the P7 and Good Year Eagle NCT5 which are similar tyres. The P6000's are available in XL ratings which would be useful but not essential for the estate.

I have Eagle F1's on the octy just now which are great for the type of road that I predominantly drive and used the same on the 17" Compomotives for the Vec. Don't get me wrong, the Eagle's and other high performance tyres are definitely grippier than the P6000's but I used to get 5k a set for the F1's whilst 25k was the norm for the P6000's! The Pirelli's are a fine balance. BMW used to fit them to a lot of their cars but now use the contisports instead. The contisport is tyre in the same league as the F1 and lasts accordingly!

The only known use for Pirellis is propping up the bottoms of tyre test tables!

If they're lasting 5 times as long as Goodyears, what are they made of, concrete!?

I'm a hard driver and get more like 16_000 from Toyos.

But that's comparing chalk and cheese. The GY NCT5's would last similar lengths of time as the Pirelli's as would other motorway biased tyres. The F1's, Toyo Proxes', ContiSport's, Pilotsport's and other high performance tryes are made of a soft rubber and are aimed at providing grip over life. You have to balance up what you want in a tyre. If you do 50k a year on motorways then you're unlikely to be able to justify using Eagle F1's if they last 10k say as an average, perhaps 15k from a set if swapped round. In contrast, tyres aimed at motorway mileage or for drivers who don't want to have a set of super sticky tyres will be made of harder rubber, that's a given, but to say that they're made of concrete. Ha. Nowt wrong with them and what you will find is that pirelli's quite often rate highly for feel and feedback on actual road routes rather than track tests. Motorway tyres need to be made of harder rubber to last longer but realistically, unless you are actually driving the car hard on backroads and you're not doing high mileages then it can be hard to justify performance tyres. Just because they are the tyres that you may find suit your needs does not mean that they are correct for everybody. Once the Eagle's I'm running over the winter are worn out, I'll be back into the summer and doing high mileages again so i'll in all likelihood replace them with something more motorway orientated as i'll struggle to justify 3 sets in 25k!

I've got Continental Sport Contacts on my vRS estate at the mo- very impressed with them. So much better that the Avons I had before.

Cheers for that. Which Toyo's are you running Ken - 16,000 sounds a reasonable life? Must admit I always chose Pirelli's on motorbilkes in a former life (Pirelli Dragon Corsas - stick like the proverbial to a blanket, didn't worry about life, but then 6000 miles was good for a concrete tire!) Pirelli usually gave phenomenal feedback as to what they were doing on two wheels, but no idea yet what they are like on 4 wheels.

Proxes T1-R 205/55R16W directional. The 16_000 is for the fronts; there's more left on the rears.

Cheers Ken - forgive the stereotyping but I assume if you're in Scotland then you've used them in the wet on the odd occasion?! Are they ok then?

Eagle F1 Assy have been the best tyres ive used in my limited experience

P6000s please tell me someone didn't recommend them. Ditchfinders at the very best.

Go for Eagle F1s... best tyres and only £60 odd a corner. Constantly coming top of the tyre tests. (People who know alot better than any of us here!).

Cheers Ken - forgive the stereotyping but I assume if you're in Scotland then you've used them in the wet on the odd occasion?! Are they ok then?

Yes and yes, for values of wet from "need wipers" to "10mm standing water". They're not over happy about greasy surfaces, but I've yet to find a tyre that is.