I'm looking to replace my OE Dunlops. Seen a lot of comments about road noise from these, but has anyone got suggestions for good, reasonably priced alternatives?

If you search the site you will see that a lot of people swear by the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta.

I have just 'popped' a Dunlop after hitting a pothole after 5,500 miles :'( Gives me an excuse to start getting rid of the Dunlops though :yes:

I have decided to have a go with the Michelin PS3 - expensive compared to the Vred, but only £10 more than the Pirellis that I would normally use.

I have decided to put two tyres on, and will keep the other Dunlop as a 'spare' for the two Dunlops left on the car.

I think some people use the Vreds, some Michelins, some Falkens etc

here is a nice comparison chart

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyres_For/Skoda/Octavia-vRS.htm

I have Continentals on my car and i must say its very quiet.

Once they are done though im switching to Falkens as ive used them all my previous car and they were great.

Conti Premium Contact 2 are grippy and quiet in 205/55/R16

Vredestein Ultrac

Mine have covered 8K, I drive in a "sprited" manner and yet they show minimal signs of wear. Quiet, grippyu, progressive breakaway when they do let go and inspire real confidence in the wet. I've had Pilots, Pirelli, Contis etc in the past and can honestly, hand on heart say IMHO its utterly pointless spending more on supposed "premium" tyres as they offer absolutely no noticable improvement on the Vreds in any key areas.

personally I'd by Vreds and have a nice meal on the difference!

I have to say while they are good, the tyre tests do point to the vreds as great in the wet, good in the dry, but pretty noisy due to their very open structures.

This is just one of those things because an open structure will deal with water better, but is obviously more noisy.

FWIW, I paid less for my PC2 than I would have for the vreds in my size (not the sessanta), however I don't think that's quite a repeatable deal.

That is as maybe but my experience is that they are not noisy at all, in fact they are considerably quieter than the OE Bridgestones the car had when I got it. I would also ALWAYS trade noise for improved wet grip.

I tend to take tests with a pinch of salt...........and rely on my own judgement (and bank account!)

I like the PC2 but they were considerably more expensive in 225/40/18 than the Vreds.

Edited 5 May, 201016 yr by wardth

I've just put Vred Ultrac Sessantas on the front of mine to replace the original Michelin Pilot Exaltos and getting noticeably less road noise.

Can't fault the Exaltos for durability though - almost 30k miles on one set of front tyres.

Edited 5 May, 201016 yr by Mercurio

Thanks for the responses. Given me a starting point. Time to go shopping.

If you search the site you will see that a lot of people swear by the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta.

I have just 'popped' a Dunlop after hitting a pothole after 5,500 miles :'( Gives me an excuse to start getting rid of the Dunlops though :yes:

I have decided to have a go with the Michelin PS3 - expensive compared to the Vred, but only £10 more than the Pirellis that I would normally use.

I have decided to put two tyres on, and will keep the other Dunlop as a 'spare' for the two Dunlops left on the car.

Got the PS3s fitted to the front, and they immediately feel grippier and the turn-in is more positive, bearing in mind the Dunlops had plenty of tread left, and the PS3s are not bedded in yet.

They don't appear to be any noiser/quieter than the Dunlops. I plan to move them to the rear of the car in the next day or so (long story about locking wheel nuts which I need to post), and it will be interesting to see what the noise levels are like (bearing in mind most of the road noise seems to be from the back of the car).

Just picked up 4 Michelin PS3's for £380 (add £40 to that for fitting, etc), cheaper than I could find a set of Ultracs anywhere. Really wanted to try the Vredestein's but getting them proved ridiculously hard, expensive or both! PS3's are sounding like a good tyre though, glad to be rid of the factory Potenza's, although I have got 18,000 miles out of one set!

I have to say while they are good, the tyre tests do point to the vreds as great in the wet, good in the dry, but pretty noisy due to their very open structures.

Not noisy at all in my experience.

From past experience of replacing tyres I swear by Hankook Ventus V12 Evo's. Had a set on the back of the s2000 to replace the god awful potenza RE050's that were on as standard. Noticable improvements in the wet and dry

Michelin PS3 came standard on my VRS Octy2

To start with they werent much cop.. but they soon have shown then true colours

Nice tyre, grippy, but havnt pushed the car to the extreme to see how much grip they do have lol

Search is your friend when it comes to tyres

I have Continentals on my car and i must say its very quiet.

Once they are done though im switching to Falkens as ive used them all my previous car and they were great.

I've got Continental Sport Contact 2's on mine and they're noisy as hell. Looking forward to them wearing out.

Just picked up 4 Michelin PS3's for £380 (add £40 to that for fitting, etc), cheaper than I could find a set of Ultracs anywhere.

WHERE FROM?!

Michelin PS3 came standard on my VRS

Jammy

I've got Continental Sport Contact 2's on mine and they're noisy as hell. Looking forward to them wearing out.

SC might be as SC2 are a very old design, replaced by SC3 in many sizes and about to be replaced by SC5 now.

The problem is that SC, PC and EC are very different tyres with different characteristics engineered in at the expense of others.

Are Michelin PS2's much different from the PS3? My local Kwik Fit haven't got the PS3 in stock but have said they'll price match Costco's PS3 price against the 2's...

Are Michelin PS2's much different from the PS3? My local Kwik Fit haven't got the PS3 in stock but have said they'll price match Costco's PS3 price against the 2's...

Markedly different tread pattern. Similar in the dry, PS3 significantly better in the wet they say.

Apologies, can't cut & paste with a Wii!

Got my rubber from a place called Crayford Tyres in Kent, but it was his last set i'm afraid! He advertises on ebay. (Should I tell you delivery was included in that?!)

How the hell did you VRs come as standard with ps3's; they've only been out 5 months?? Assuming you've got a '10 plate facelift?

Markedly different tread pattern. Similar in the dry, PS3 significantly better in the wet they say.

Thanks! They've managed to find some PS3s at their central hub so are collecting them to put on later today, my front Dunlops are shot with an irregular wear, so going to get the tracking looked at at the same time,...not as cheap as the £420 for 4 quoted below, but only a few quid more expensive than Costco.

Thanks! They've managed to find some PS3s at their central hub so are collecting them to put on later today, my front Dunlops are shot with an irregular wear, so going to get the tracking looked at at the same time,...not as cheap as the £420 for 4 quoted below, but only a few quid more expensive than Costco.

Personally I wouldn't trust that lot with tracking

Personally I wouldn't trust that lot with tracking

You're probably right, although they didn't think it needed looking at...

Having said that, I'm not 100% confident in their fitting of the new PS3s yet, had what seemed to be a false-positive TPM warning after 150 miles on them (smallish pothole on motorway could be to blame) but will see if they're still inflated in the morning!

First set was Continental SC2. This tyre is pretty hard and can get loud. In the wet it isnt that good.

Second set was Dunlop SportMaxx. This tyre is softer, quieter but tends to get loud if the tracking isnt upright (cupping on the rear). Tends to cupping because of the negative profile amount on the shoulders. Tyre was better in the wet and also better on track. Although it tends to smear if it gets hot.

Last set was Michelin PS3. Best set I had sofar. Good in the wet, even better in the dry. Not a smeary as the dunlops. Tends to keep grip if it gets hotter. Feels more stable. Isnt the quietest tyre, but quieter as the Conti, on par with new Dunlops.

All in 225/40 R 18 92Y extra load.