Hi folks.

My (budget) fronts nearly cost me the car today; driving myself and my 2.5 year old son back from Grandad's, moderate pace around a roundabout and the car lost grip completely. Fortunately I knew what to do and the speed was low enough for me to get away with it.

The fronts have plenty tread left on them, being less than a year old, but are some generic brand - Sunny - and have never been very good. I took them because they appeared to be decent enough but they've never really coped well with the power to the front wheels and are horrible, dangerous even, in the wet, especially on roundabouts. So I ought to have known better...

Anyway, the rears (Fulda 205/55ZR16) are needing replaced anyway, so my plan is to have the Sunny tyres moved to the back and put new rubber on the front. Good rubber.

Which brings me in a long-winded way to my question. What would be the very best all-round tyre (in a 205/55 R16 format) to cope with 200-ish bhp? I'm only at 180bhp but I sense a remap in my future... perhaps. I'll stick with the Sunnys on the back to get a bit more out of them and then perhaps replace them in the winter.

Having tried out cheaper tyres I reckon the fronts deserve something decent and my theory is that the rears don't matter quite so much, so I think doing the two fronts now and then moving them to the rear and fresh fronts in the winter is the best plan for me.

So, what do you recommend? Car doesn't get raced or flung about too much, so out and out cornering ability is less important than safety and predictability in handling and wet/cold/icy conditions.

Thanks,.

John

I really, really wouldn't advise putting cr4p tyres on the back fella. Replace all four if you can stretch to it.

...okay, but with what?

Toyo's are good (T1R's) as are Uniroyal Rainsports but they are soft and dont last for ages... or you could buy the usual Pirelli's Michelins or Conti's which will last longer but cost twice as much...

Budgets are awful and should never be ever considered but people sell them coz others do and places have to sell them or will go out of business fast...

Go onto Camskill.co.uk... good site and great prices... just get the best you can afford... at the end of the day the 4 rubber bits are all that keep you on the road!!!!

I Buy Toyo's coz they do just what you need.... and are affordable!!!

How about Michelin ENERGY E3As? Anyone using them (just a thought - they seem to be well regarded and they're about sixty quid a corner retail, and I can probably get them for trade through my old man)...

I have falkens and vredestein ultracs on mine, both very good value for money, can get for 70-80 a corner from prestige tyres, east kilbride.

G

I really, really wouldn't advise putting cr4p tyres on the back fella. Replace all four if you can stretch to it.

:iagree:

I have Dunlop Direzzas and I'm well impressed with the grip - especially in the wet.

I was driving on a road full of standing water in pouring rain the other night and with my old Falken tyres the car would have been pulling all over the place, but with these I could hardly feel the puddles were there.

In NZ they're about $250 a corner though which I'd imagine would be about 90-100 quid in the UK

try marangoni mythos mate, they are quite cheap and i loved them, they were pritty quiate and the grip was good too. they last a fair while as well. they are a pritty sticky tyre.

billy

Don't put crap on the back as said........You will find the back letting go before the front.............Not good really.

For the record ..........Toyos FTW !!!!!

In your size 205/55/16 your looking at about £60-70 a corner.

Are you sure you got the size right ??? What year is your car ??

Toyo's

No question

vrs with 16 inch wheels???????????????

toyo's or khumo's 225/45/17

vrs with 16 inch wheels???????????????

toyo's or khumo's 225/45/17

Earlier ones came with 16's

vred sessantas or toyo t1rs,

they mythos are a pretty good tyre too tho!

I loved them and tehy were budget I was told lol, got a second lot for 72 a corner lol and the lasted me 20K+ and gave good grip all year lol

billy

Yeah, it's a 53 plate vRS, current tyres are 205/55 R16s, I checked earlier :-)

OK, I've got some suggestions to work with. I'll see what my old man's supplier can supply and see if I can get something decent for trade...

if it is the estate then yes 16" are correct!

if it helps last year I got 4 205/55/r16 pliots for 75.00 all in per tyre and I must say they are the business in that I loose my nerve before the tyres loose their grip

my belief is that you can not spend too little on a tyre so you should alway buy the best that you can afford

my advice is that when looking for tyres just shop around see what the tyre places have to offer and see who has the best and see what they have in stock that they need to shift

is it an estate then ??

as 2003 model is meant to have 17's

also look on camskill cant go to far wrong:thumbup:

yes, estate...

Vredestein Ultracs on mine, cost me about £80 each

Had a different tyre on there for a while, but were so noisy, so went back to these

Can be a pain as they are unidirectional......if that's a word.......

Steve

Another vote for Toyo Proxes T1-Rs. I don't have a cRS, just an Elegance, but it uses the same size and speed rating, and I fall off the seat before the tyres lose grip completely (you can feel the understeer, but the car's not actually losing direction, just starting to run wide).

Toyo T1-Rs, Kumho KU31s, Falken 452s or Hankook EVOs

All in the £50-80 price bracket (fitted)

Goodyear Eagle F1's or T1-R's

i've used toyos a couple of times once on a scooby and once on a 182, they do grip like you'd expect not not last very long, on my leon i've used p7's and conti contact 2's, both give good level of grip and durability, also hankooks they are suppost to give a good happy medium!

Also try www.blackcirlces.com and www.ctyres.co.uk worth a look, with black circles you can get them mail order or choose a dealer to fit them for you, but one thing i noticed not many companys want to fit someone elses ruber!!

Update: I ended up getting a good price on Pirelli P7s, and they are a significant improvement over the previous cheapo tyres. Perhaps I could have found better tyres but these ones seem to be pretty decent and so I'm happy...

Nice one glad you got some sorted - just be careful if you have those cheapo's on the rear - I had a car with old tyres on the rear and fitted new good rubber on the front and in the damp on a roundabout the back came around in a split second !!