Vredestein Ultrac Sessenta

Getting boring recommending these but they are excellent and I've tried a fair few in my time etc etc

Genuinly can't understand why you would pay more than £90 for a tyre they are that good.

I am actually sat now looking for some tyres to replace my Ultrac Seesanta's. They are hard to find and altho I only paid £100 each last year they are £110 now!

having looked at tyrereviews.co.uk I have been pricing the Uniroyal Rainsport 2 and the Hancook V12. Noyone stocks the V12 and the Uni's are £90+ each so not saving much really.

Now looking on internet for supply only. Any rec's for best sites? Can get fitted/balanced for £10 a corner locally.

Have seen Kumho KU31 for £61 which get decent reviews. The Falken FK452 are £68 (both at camskill)

Unfortunately the ultrac sessantas aren't available in the size (205/55 R16) that cheezemonkhai is looking for.

Update from my tyre search. Camskill are THE best online tyre supplier. Well, certainly out of the ones I looked at anyway, which were Blackcircles and Valuetyres.

I am going for the Kumho KU31 after reading ALL the reviews. £61.30 each +£2.50 per tyre delivery, then a tenner each to fit and balance!!

They also do the Ultrac Sessanta for £79.95 which would work out at £92.50 each fitted against my garage price of £110 each!

Other popular ones are:

Falken FK 452 £68.50

Falken ZE912 £60.49

Hankook V12 £75.71

Toyo TR-1 £71.75

F1 Assym £79.95 all + £2.50 per tyre delivery and approx £10 each for fitting at a local tyre fitter (suggest you try the small ones or second hand tyre places as they are cheaper)

I had the F1 Assymetrics on front but only lasted 3000 odd miles so got the Ultrac Sessanta last time. They are better but still only about 9000 miles so am trying something else again.

Edited 16 March, 201016 yr by xyster

Unfortunately the ultrac sessantas aren't available in the size (205/55 R16) that cheezemonkhai is looking for.

I just purchased 4 x Kuhmo KU31 Ecsta Sports from Camskill for a colleagues car 205/55/16 @ £48 each.............now thats what I call value !!

I use pirelli P-Zero Nero on all corners. Good wear rate about 35000 KMbefore even thinking about a change. Will buy again and again and again.

I do wonder why the Scout's tyres are W rated ......

Vredestein Ultrac Sessenta

Getting boring recommending these but they are excellent and I've tried a fair few in my time etc etc

Genuinly can't understand why you would pay more than £90 for a tyre they are that good.

You can recommend them all you like, but you can't get them in 205/55/R16 and I won't be paying for new wheels and insurance to use the Ultracs.

FWIW the most expensive of all the tyres I've asked about are under £80 a tyre fitted.

Toyo T1 R - Fantastic tyre, great price, amazing grip.

Toyo T1 R - Fantastic tyre, great price, amazing grip.

And last 5 minutes from all that I have read. As I said, in a total of 9000 m I have had two sets on the front. Some Goodyear F1 Assymetrics, which came out best in the tests when I read them in 2008. They lasted a bit over 3000m. Then got the Vreds which have fared better but still not that clever mileage wise imo.

I now want to try something different. The wear rating and grip rating on the KU31 suggests it will last longer while still acheiving the AA grip rating. Time will tell.

Got the Bridgestone ER300's (205/55 R16) fitted yesterday, can't say I've notice any extra road noise yet, do they tend to get noisy as they wear down?

A lot of the tyres being recommended aren't available in the OP size, so they are not much use to him. The 205/55 R16 size tend restrict the choice to tyres marketed as "touring" tyres rather than "high performance" tyres like the Goodyear Asymmetric, Vredestein Ultrac Sessenta, Michelin Pilot sport 3, Pirelli P zeros etc.

Toyo T1 R - Fantastic tyre, great price, amazing grip.

#

What with you having a "light" right foot how long did a set last you on the front?

Ta

For the record I hated the ER300s Peter :(

I found them very uninspiring - they did last ages though and I tried really, really hard to wear them down. I maintain that there's bits of quartz and granite in the compound

Finally the Handling Limits day did for them; hooray

Steve

TBH honest the ER300's have gone on my commuter car so I am glad they are made out of granite. The proper car runs on Goodyear asymmetrics.

Edited 17 March, 201016 yr by peter0976

Just got my 4 Conti Premiums on with www.tyre-shopper.co.uk

Used many times before & had no problems. Had Primancy, Dunlop, Goodyears & this will be my third lot of Contis. Not the best millage however the best allround tyre in Rain,Snow & Sun.

Last lot I got 22,500 which isn't too bad. As a Taxi driver I do allot of mixed driving in & out of town so not all motorway miles.

Search google for voucher codes & there is another 7.5% off that price as well ! Just add the code in the checkout area :yes:

Edited 22 March, 201016 yr by CPFC_1981

2009 Auto express tyre test shows the conti coming out top.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/total_tyre_guide_2009/241999/tyre_guide.html

Oddly it mentions the michelin really suffer in the wet, which was something I'm a bit paranoid about.

I have just received my new Falken FK452's I ordered from Camskill yesterday. £64 each...bargain!

2009 Auto express tyre test shows the conti coming out top.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/total_tyre_guide_2009/241999/tyre_guide.html

Oddly it mentions the michelin really suffer in the wet, which was something I'm a bit paranoid about.

That Autoexpress 2009 test is a good read, interesting that the Bridgestone ER300's are the quietest on test, which contradicts previous posts in this thread. The costs are well out too, I paid £70 a corner (same size as the test) fitted for the Bridgestones last week, yet Autoexpress quote £82 and that was when VAT was lower.

The Continentals PC2's and Vredesteins Sportracs do well, shame the Goodyear Optigrips are so poor in the dry. The Bridgestones were cr@p at stopping in the dry.

Looks like I should have got the Contis!

Edited 23 March, 201016 yr by peter0976

Don't forget your mould release compound has not worn off yet, so your tyres will improve with a few miles.

" Shame the Goodyear Optigrips are so poor in the dry. "

Yes I read that report , but my only bad experience with any tyre was with Contis on a Mk1 4*4 - 8k !

I could not bring myself to buy Michelins at current prices ( in N Wales at least ) , so read up the report and plumped for the Optigrips .

Now I know that they are poor in the dry , but 80 % of skids occur in the wet ! and they are just brilliant .... so much so that I do not have to worry about whether it is wet or dry now because the performance is identical .

The Optigrips are so much more responsive I likened it previously to wearing light trainers as opposed to wellingtons . I also like their new technology whereby the tread modifies itself to maintain performance over the life of the tyre .

But you need to run them with at least 35psi pressure on a TDi Scout . Fuel consumption is the same - I cannot comment on life expectancy .

Edited 23 March, 201016 yr by jawsnpaws

Well I spoke to a few people I know who run the Michelin and they all said great tyre life, good fuel economy, sometimes a bit scary in the wet but excellent in the dry.

Spoke to another running the PC2 in my size, who said they were very good all around and the tyre like was fine although not as hard wearing as the Michelins.

On that basis, plus the reviews above I'll be getting a set of PC2 for the car.

It's mainly down to the fact that I'd rather have good grip than longer life, because a tyre isn't much use if the car it's attached to is ruined.

Now that isn't saying the HP are poor, because they are not, but the roads I drive on are regularly very wet in the spring and Autum and lets be honest, who can tell what a British summer will bring.

Best price I got on the Michelin was £312 for 4 fitted (£78 each)

Best price I got on the Conti PC2 was £270 for 4 fitted (£65 each)

I'll probably get them fitted in the next few days and report back once they have bedded in.

Just to explain why I didn't go for the other brands

- I couldn't find the hankook model mentioned in my size anywhere and the one offered was poor in reviews

- The Vred Ultrac are not in my size and the Cento and Sportrac 3 were both more expensive that the Conti.

That plus suppliers were not exactly everywhere.

- Falken FK452.

Excellent tyre in the dry, good in the wet, not so great when it's just slippery and damp.

This coupled with the fact that they have gone up from £45 fitted to about £70 fitted these days means they lost out on price.

There was no way I was going to pay the same money for a tyre I personally know not to be too great in the damp.

- Khumo/Toyo/Others.

Good tyres, somewhat shorter life but not awfully so however they seem to all suffer in the wet in the reviews.

The pricing on them wasn't much, if any cheaper so I decided what's the point.

That plus the fact that the Conti and Michelin are both available across most tyre places means they are an easy option should the inevitable happen.

That is a good price fitted for the Conti.

Toyo T1 R - Fantastic tyre, great price, amazing grip.

You need to get out more!! Toyo used to be great and then they started believing their own hype!

Wouldn't touch em' with a very long ****ty stick now - much better alternatives........

Right well I got the Continental Premium Contact 2 tyres in the end.

Bit of an issue with the fitting, in that I ended up with H-Rated fitted, then they replacements turned out to be sport contacts and finally I have some 91W rated tyres fitted.

The latter are the correct ones, the tyre fitters were very apologetic and good about it and also threw in a brake fluid change and free MOT test.

Certainly can't complain and I'll use them again.

So the tyres.

I ran on the H Rated for the best part of a week and they were very good.

The W's were a bit worrying to start with when the H's came off, but now the release compound is gone they to are excellent in the dry. I also assume they will carry on the H rated tyres performance in the wet.

In short, I'd very much recommend the Conti Premium Contact2 as a tyre.

I also only paid £65 each fitted, which was an excellent price.

Edited 7 April, 201016 yr by cheezemonkhai