Hi

Can anyone help please, my 06 plate is running 225/45 R17 94W ZR tyres and I find the ride a bit uncomfortable (too harsh on bumpy roads). Would a change of tyres or tyre type help? or should I buy 205/55 R16 and new alloys or just put passat SE spring on (I work for a VW garage). Please could someone advise?

joe

I have a set of 16's from a superb with 4 good pirelli tyres, might be interested in swapping these for your 17's if you interested

Hi ritchie

What condition are the alloys in and where do you live?

My alloys and tyres are in very good condition and I like in Tetbury, Gloucestershire

Can send you some photos if you want

Joe

Hi

I'm surprised you find the ride harsh on bumpy roads. I've got the same wheel/tyre combination as you (with Michelin Pilots) and was very impressed with the ride quality when I first got the car. (Handling is another matter...) Over 3 years later and I don't think that I've ever experienced a harsh ride.

Maybe you should look further than the profile of the tyres. Was the car new to you, or could a previous owner have modded the suspension? Is it fitted with standard or sports springs?

Hi

only had the car a few days but it is original apart from new Tyre's. Its in first class condition and is excellent in all aspects just find the ride a little firm. My local Tyre supplier can help i think but that will be expensive. Have considered fitting passat SE springs. Was interested if anyone had made any suspension changes to their cars

Joe

Listen up, you are gonna need tyres regularly, the downside to the Superb's ride is heavy tyre wear, budget for 8k fronts and 20k rears, and before anyone corrects me with fantastic figures, mine are realistic, the only other guy who can differ is the bloke who lives at the beginning of the motorway and works at the end of it, average use rips the tyres due to soggy suspension and heavy weight shift.

Its time for Skoda to replacing those Golf-size wheels by approbiate ones.

Listen up, you are gonna need tyres regularly, the downside to the Superb's ride is heavy tyre wear, budget for 8k fronts and 20k rears, and before anyone corrects me with fantastic figures, mine are realistic, the only other guy who can differ is the bloke who lives at the beginning of the motorway and works at the end of it, average use rips the tyres due to soggy suspension and heavy weight shift.

What a sweeping statement!

There is a LOT more t it than just a heavy car on 'soggy suspension', much more to do with the tyres themselves, the pressures in them and most importantly how YOU drive!

20K out of fronts tyres is not hard to achieve with the correct combination of all of the above.

If i could only manage 8K out of a set of fronts then i would seriously look at my tyre choice and the way i drive.

Remove the 3to trailer first.

What a sweeping statement!

There is a LOT more t it than just a heavy car on 'soggy suspension', much more to do with the tyres themselves, the pressures in them and most importantly how YOU drive!

20K out of fronts tyres is not hard to achieve with the correct combination of all of the above.

If i could only manage 8K out of a set of fronts then i would seriously look at my tyre choice and the way i drive.

Bridgestones Giz, I could forgive it if it was only the fronts, but this is the 1st car I've ever owned to burnout a quality tyre in less than 20k on the rear, it's deffo weight shift that does it, I look at it that it's an extra pair of tyres per year to have the benefit of the large car, mine runs 16 btw, be interested to know how the elegance 17's hold up.

I am also on 16" (Dunlop's), just changed the fronts with approx just under 3mm left on them, they had done 20K, (the rears are about half worn) Yes the Superb is a heavy car but providing it's driven 'normally' i have not found the tyre wear to be excessive or uneven.

One thing that does kill tyres is power steering, as a lot of people use a lot of 'lock to lock' when parking and at very low speeds this will scrub the fronts very quickly.

Either your tyres are much softer or you have a different driving style to me?

Listen up, you are gonna need tyres regularly, the downside to the Superb's ride is heavy tyre wear, budget for 8k fronts and 20k rears, and before anyone corrects me with fantastic figures, mine are realistic, the only other guy who can differ is the bloke who lives at the beginning of the motorway and works at the end of it, average use rips the tyres due to soggy suspension and heavy weight shift.

I agree with Gizmo68 re your sweeping statement. I think you'll find everyone chipping in with slightly different figures (particularly on the fronts) and that's going to relate to makes of tyre, pressures, driving style, luggage in the boot and the engine up the front. I've done over 100k in my V6 TDi. All my weekday journeys are never less than 1 hour and consist of country, motorway and then London. The car came brand new with continentals (look good but wear rubbish), but I still got 16k out of the fronts. Michelin top range sports after that which wear much better which gave me 18K at the front and over 25k at the rear. Now onto dunlop sports and the same story. Car always has 4 of the same tyre make on. V6 TDi helps I think because the power delivery from the engine is not so brutal in my opinion. I know that i'm lucky because the car is a fully expenced company car and therefore I always get the best tyres available so my viewpoint is based on that experience.

Regarding the original question, my car runs on 225, 45, 17s and I have never found the ride harsh. Its very comfortable if not a bit wafty. Of course it's no sports car compared to my previous zetec s mondeo, but you don't buy a superb for that!!

Having already commented that I don't find the ride on 245/45x17 tyres harsh at all, I thought I might as well add my twopen'orth about mileage (now that's a word I've never, ever written before - how on earth do you spell it? tuppen'eth?:confused:) ...

1.9 130 manual, 45k miles in 4 and half years, mostly urban commute, all tyres have been Michelin Pilots, I don't drive slow by any means , but don't have to win the traffic light grand prix either:

second set of fronts now half worn; rears were replaced when about half worn (due to puncture/sidewall damage) but got loads of life left in them.

cheers