Tyre recommendations - diesel vRS Estate

[northo]

About time for me to change the tyres on my 56 plate Octavia 2 vrS tdi estate. Currently has a set of magnificent Lego Wanli Tyres!

I do about 20,000 miles per annum, live in Scotland (60 days of snow this year) and use my car mainly for commuting, with a quarterly blast through the Highlands and perhaps the odd track day.

What do I want from my tyres?

1. Good wear
   
2. Good performance
   
3. Good price (preferably under £85 per corner)
   
4. Low noise
   

Any suggestions? The only good thing about the Wanli's is that they don't appear to wear at all.......

Suggestions in the box please people :yes:

[LaceSensor]

About time for me to change the tyres on my 56 plate Octavia 2 vrS tdi estate. Currently has a set of magnificent Lego Wanli Tyres!

I do about 20,000 miles per annum, live in Scotland (60 days of snow this year) and use my car mainly for commuting, with a quarterly blast through the Highlands and perhaps the odd track day.

What do I want from my tyres?

1. Good wear
   
2. Good performance
   
3. Good price (preferably under £85 per corner)
   
4. Low noise
   

Any suggestions? The only good thing about the Wanli's is that they don't appear to wear at all.......

Suggestions in the box please people :yes:

Falken 454 are well regarded and cheap (£65 ish per corner)

[VRsMatt32]

Bridgestone Potenza REO50a

[partyboy1101]

You don't ask much do you!!!

What do I want from my tyres?

1.Good wear

2.Good performance

3.Good price (preferably under £85 per corner)

4.Low noise

You're likely to be able to get some of these but not all.

Generally, good wear = hard compound

Good performance = softer compound (I'm assuming that by good performance you mean good grip, wet and dry)

Good price = lower quality, therefore poor wear or poor performance or both

Low noise = hard compound

You're bound to get loads of responses as there are so many tyres in the marketplace and everyone seams to rate whatever they are using.

Personally, I am most concerned with good performance so tend to go for a softer compound tyre. Have had full sets of both Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetrics and Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas and rate them both well. Vredestein are cheaper and their performance is largely comparable so thats what I'll be getting next when the fronts die in a month or so.

[Raglits]

Main trouble is 1,2 and 3 don't normally come together...

Having said that, I'm impressed with the vredstein Ultrac Sessanta I put on mine (fronts only) at 8500 as the factory fit Dunlops were completely shot by then, I've put nearly 7000 miles on the vreds now and there's still loads of tread left.

Including delivery (but not fitting) they're about £89 a corner from Camskill

[jlwah]

Main trouble is 1,2 and 3 don't normally come together...

Having said that, I'm impressed with the vredstein Ultrac Sessanta I put on mine (fronts only) at 8500 as the factory fit Dunlops were completely shot by then, I've put nearly 7000 miles on the vreds now and there's still loads of tread left.

Including delivery (but not fitting) they're about £89 a corner from Camskill

+1 for the vredstein Ultrac Sessanta's and they have the bonus of looking really good!

[Richf]

Falken 452 or Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3

[peanut18]

Kumho Ecsta Sport Ku31.......currently delivering on all 4 requirements. 2000 miles so far and little sign of wear. Falkens only lasted 12k on my petrol estate, so the Kumhos look like they will last a bit better. Apps £90 a corner fitted (18 inch rim)

[Guest]

The Vredsteins are very grippy in the wet and dry but beware they wear quick on the diesel I have discovered. I have done about 7k on a set and they need replacing already.

[Raglits]

The Vredsteins are very grippy in the wet and dry but beware they wear quick on the diesel I have discovered. I have done about 7k on a set and they need replacing already.

And I thought I had a heavy right foot, mine are lasting way better then the Dunlops that came on mine... I've got 4 or 5 mm left after 7500 miles

[awwatsonisajedi]

I can only comment on the Conti sport contact 2's as they're the only tyres I've had on the Octy. Still tread left at 17k miles and I rate their dry and wet performance highly. Some say they're noisy but I don't find them bad and I'd quite happily have tyres I'm confident in over a little road noise.

Michelin PS2 or PS3's seem to get the best reviews in general but then they aren't exactly cheap.

[northo]

Thanks for the ideas guys. Due to my mileage, good wear is most important. I've heard a lot of good things about the Falken's , but wonder if the compliments are because they are cheap. I had Toyo Proxes T1-R's on my track day Porsche and loved them, but am not convinced they will last. I don't want to be shelling out £4-500 every 9 months on tyres. The Wanli's are diabolical, but they do give you about 20,000 miles of wear!

Anything that will last upwards of 15k sounds good to me. Still undecided though....

Any ideas how the Falken's wear?

[Shahoff]

I am currently really enjoying BF Goodrich Profiler.

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.info/index.php?a=tires.passenger&id=140

Very good value for money.

Maybe on really wet (pool type) roads profiler is not the best , but on dry roads it unbeatable.

Edited 2 August, 2010 by Shahoff

[Brimma]

Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas - currently £84.40 including VAT at Camskills for 225/40/18 - factor in delivery and fitting (my local tyre fitter charged £10 per corner all in, and were agreeable to me having the tyres delivered directly to them)

[northo]

Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas - currently £84.40 including VAT at Camskills for 225/40/18 - factor in delivery and fitting (my local tyre fitter charged £10 per corner all in, and were agreeable to me having the tyres delivered directly to them)

I've considered these - what's the wear rate like?

[peanut18]

With a light right foot on a petrol vrs estate I only managed 12k miles on the FK452's on the front axle. That's from new right down to the wear markers. So far I am much more happy with the KU31's they grip In greasy damp conditions, unlike the Falkens, and the wear looks better too. They are also considerably less noisy.

[northo]

Think I've narrowed it down to Falken's or Vredstein's. My main priority is wear. I like the sound of the BF Goodrich gForce Profiler's but can't find them for a sensible price. The Scud is my commuting chariot, so even though I live in rural Scotland, I don't see ultimate grip on the limit as my main priority

Any thoughts?

Amazing how differently everyone wears their tyres - I used to run a supercar club, and even our hired supercars would get 7k out of a set of tyres.......

[Nelspeed]

It's funny reading through these threads ans seeing what peoples driving characteristics must be. I am still on my original Michelin Exalto's on my Diesel VRS LE and currently on over 30000 miles. They are due for a change as they are now touching there wear markers. They've been good tyres but find them quite noisy to the point of irritating on some road surfaces. problem is there current equivalents are over £100 a corner.

Am genuinly interested in the comments as i am about to change boots.

[a_Duncan]

Bridgestone Potenza REO50a

Pricey but good

[Auric Goldfinger]

You will not find a better tyre for ultimate grip in the wet, excellent grip in the dry and very good wearing. It's got to be UNIROYAL SPORT (RAINMASTER) 2's

Edited 3 August, 2010 by Auric Goldfinger

[northo]

Ended up getting a set of Hankook Ventus V12 Evo's. 350 Quid all in. They're superb. :yes:

[cjb]

Ended up getting a set of Hankook Ventus V12 Evo's. 350 Quid all in. They're superb. :yes:

After the Wan-Li, anything would be!