Continental Tyres

[PassatNoMore]

I just replaced my two front tyres - originals were Continental 205/45W16s on a Fabia 3 Estate.

Some comments that might be of use or interest.

The reason for replacing them was due to a bulge in the left hand tyre - plenty of tread left so annoying but bulges are maybe not surprising given the state of Edinburgh roads.

My original plan was to keep the non bulgy one as a spare and put the unused spare on the front - thwarted because the spare is a space saver version!

So I wanted these replaced in a hurry on Saturday but no one in Edinburgh (or maybe even the whole World) had Contis in stock - two day lead time. Farmers said they'd get them for me first thing on Monday but failed to deliver - "Dont know who you talked to sir but there's nothing on my system!" - useless gits.

Went down to Kwik Fit instead who supplied two CEAT tyres at about 70% of the quoted price for Continentals - good by product is that they're very quiet. Over rough surfaces at low speed, the Conti's made a helluva racket sounding like knackered wheel bearings.

Both Farmers and Kwik Fit advised that the tyre size is very unusual and not normally in stock.

I'll be buying a VRS Estate sometime next year so maybe I'll do some homework on tyre sizes!

[The Plumber]

Hi,

noticed myself that a number of manufactures are fitting tyre sizes that are apparently less easy to obtain. My wife's latest shape Corsa for example runs on 195/55 R16 H but I found these to be difficult to obtain and expensive when she got a non repairable puncture 18 months back.

Ended up with Avon ZV5 'V' rated tyres as they were the cheapest decent brand I could find at the time; from tyre shopper My link and like yourself put the other part worn Conti in the garage for a rainy day.

Would recommend the Avon's by the way in all conditions bar snow and slush.

As a side note she's ordered a new Fabia II FL Elegance to replace the Corsa and I've noted this has the same daft tyre size as your Fabia II 3. Probably a good size for a race track and driving round Milton Keynes but I imagine pretty poor for the rough roads of the Yorkshire Wolds, similar to your finding in Edinburgh I suppose.

Looking at the current crop of tyres available in this size I note you can at least get H an V rated tyres which would be far better for a 85bhp Fabia than the rigid high speed W tyres fitted as standard.

Regards,

TP

[nbramwel]

I also have a Fabia 3 hatchback 1.9TDi with Continental Sport Contact 2 205 45 R16 83W tyres. I managed to get hold of a V rated tyre for one of my front wheels at a local independant fitters today and he put my new spare on the other front wheel to give me 2 new front tyres. One of the replaced tyres is now my spare and it is good enough and legal.

I got the impression that this model and size of tyre had been phased out by Continental so I was lucky to get hold of one. But Continental don't seem to have replaced it with something else from their range.

I agree a W rated tyre on this car is overkill - a V rated is still overkill. By fitting these tyres, Skoda is giving owners a costly maintenance problem when they come to replace them. I'd much sooner have a more conventional sized wheel and tyre but this is not an option on my model.

[PassatNoMore]

Agreed guys - it's ovekill to put the same tyres on a TDi estate as was on my old MK1 vRS. However, maybe Skoda have a commercial arrangement with Continental that keeps their build costs down by mass purchase at a huge discount ?

Do you agree with my comments on the Conti noise ?

[Fatbloke]

Agreed guys - it's ovekill to put the same tyres on a TDi estate as was on my old MK1 vRS. However, maybe Skoda have a commercial arrangement with Continental that keeps their build costs down by mass purchase at a huge discount ?

Do you agree with my comments on the Conti noise ?

I agree entirely with the comment on the noise. I have a tsi elegance estate which is very well insulated from engine noise, is pretty good on wind noise but is terrible for tyre noise. You don't realise that it's the tyres are making so much noise until the road surface changes to one of the new low noise surfaces.

Very poor tyres for noise

[nbramwel]

I agree you can tell the difference in noise between standard road surfaces and the new low noise road surfaces. What I don't know though is how well other tyres perform noise wise on standard roads. Can anyone recommend a low noise, good mileage, good all round performing tyre in this size please?

[MarginWalker]

I've just replaced the Bridgestone Turanzas on my Fabia 3 1.9 TDi estate with a pair of Uniroyal Rainsport 2s in 205 45 R16 83W - I wanted these after reading plenty of favourable reviews. They were very hard to find; none of the local fitters in my area had them, nor could they get hold of them from their suppliers in this size (Rainsport 2s in other sizes were available). I was just about to give up and go for another pair of Turanzas, (which to their credit, lasted 22000 miles - noisy and poor grip in the wet though), when I found a pair of RS2s on BestBuyTyres( http://www.bestbuytyres.co.uk/) and got them fitted locally.

Very happy indeed with the Rainsport 2s and I can heartily recommend them. Much quieter then the Bridgestones and they knock them into a cocked hat when it comes to grip in both wet and dry. I just hope they're able to last as long...

[Brian69]

Agree on Rainsport 2s - just order and pay online with Kwikfit or Black Circles.

My previous car was a Lupo GTi - if you think finding tyres in 205 45 16W is hard then try 205 45 15 .