Hi,

I will need new tyre's for my Superb II 170 Tdi soon. On my last 170 I put Toyo T1R tyre's and found them to be quite good, but not great wearing. I am reading a lot of good reports on the Michelin Pilot Sport 3 PS3, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric and Continental Contisportcontact 3.

The Goodyears seem to be the best on price with pretty decent performance. I had bad Michelin experiences before and am slightly biased against them. I have left most of my mad driving days behind me and spend most time now transporting a car pool group and family outings. The roads I travel are generally poor, rough, potholed and uneven and my part of Ireland is very wet. While road tests are good for some info they are not based on real world every day experiences and thats why I would like some help here from real drivers. I am looking for the best balance of cost and performance but do not want a cheap tyre that dosent perform.

With all that in mind, what do drivers here recommend? :S

Thanks,

Anthony.....

Contis and Toyos dont last long enough for me , give great dry weather grip far more than the car needs

Mich and Eagles are both very good but the Eagles are better in the wet than anything imo and still give great dry weather grip

Personally I would go for the Michelin's, as they usually give the best mileage and good grip, what was your bad experience with them?

The F1's are a good tyre also - providing your car wears the tyres flat, as the F1's have a very square profile, if you have any negative camber on the car (or carry a lot of weight in the car) they will wear the inside edge very quickly, more so than a tyre with a more rounded shoulder.

Bad experience?

Best tyre in the world, has been for over 30 years now.

If you want something less from the pocket, try Hankook's mate.

Hi,

Sorry for not getting back to this thread sooner.

Many years ago I had Michelins on a VW as the OEM tyre. Could not trust them in the wet at all. In fact I hated driving in the wet which in Ireland meant I was fearful every day. :yes: I am sure that things have improved a lot since and that my michelin phobia should be put to bed. They lasted for ever though.

What about Uniroyal Rain Sport II tyres? I have read good reviews and the price is attractive.

Thanks

Anthony......

Edited 30 September, 201015 yr by Pandybelly

My Yeti is currently running on Goodyear Excellence tyres (factory fit), for a summer sports tyre there not bad at all in most conditions, only gripe I've had is with Skoda fitting them; not compatible with the capabilities of a 4x4 in snowy conditions.

However for a saloon car I think they would be a good choice.

Regards,

TP

Hi,

Sorry for not getting back to this thread sooner.

Many years ago I had Michelins on a VW as the OEM tyre. Could not trust them in the wet at all. In fact I hated driving in the wet which in Ireland meant I was fearful every day. :yes: I am sure that things have improved a lot since and that my michelin phobia should be put to bed. They lasted for ever though.

What about Uniroyal Rain Sport II tyres? I have read good reviews and the price is attractive.

Thanks

Anthony......

Wet tyre grip has improved tremendously over the years, except for some eco tyres.

As to experiences with Michelin tyres, I recall having a Hillman Hunter (rear wheel drive) in the 1970's (see how old I am) with Michelin X tyres. In the dry, no problem. In the wet, the tyres broke away early and could not put power down. I recall on one occasion I tried to accelerate quickly away from a junction in the wet. I was sat there with the rear wheels spinning furiously, and the car did not move an inch. But the tyres lasted for years.

My more recent experiences with Michelin tyres have shown a much more acceptable balance between wear and grip.

I am currently still running my Superb on the oem Conti Sport 2's, and haven't made my mind up what to replace them with when the time comes. They seem to do a good job, if a little noisy, and they are wearing rather faster than I like.

Reading the various reviews, one thing is obvious, and that is tyre performance is not only a function of the tyre itself, but also a function of the suspension set up of the car they are on and whether it is front or rear drive (or 4wd). Even the same tyre in different sizes can produce different results.

From reading comments on this forum, the drivers preferences also come in to it.

What would be good from my point of view would be if the magazines did tyre tests on a Superb using 225/40 R18 Y92 tyres.Then I would have a valid comparison. In the absence of that, the nearest I have seen was the tyre test of 225/40 R18's reported a few weeks ago by Autoexpress 98-14 Sept. issue 1,131) using Skoda Octavia's. I found that test report interesting and IMHO it was helpful. A similar test reported in the Autocar on 18th August using a VW Golf and 205/55 R16 tyres and a Merc. C280 on 225/45 R17 tyres was interesting, but in some ways confusing. In fact it served to prove the point I was making earlier about different suspension set ups suiting different tyres.

My Superb is running a set of Michelin Primacy's in the 205/55/16 size. I had the same tyres on my Octy and was mightily impressed with the longevity (front 20k+ miles and rear 40k+ miles), wet and dry grip and low road noise.

The Superb came from the factory with Michelin Energy's which were also very impressive, however, the leasing company would not authorise so I opted for the slightly cheaper Primacy's. The factory fitted Energy's lasted for 25k miles on the front and 40k on the rear. When the fronts were worn I moved the rears to the front where they gave another 15k miles.

I'm surprised how many people rate the Continentals highly , I thought they were awful on both my Octy and Superb

Avon ZZ3. Great tyre. I've fitted them to my TT.

I've been running Goodyear F1 Asymmetric 2 for the last year...covered 25k+ and found them to be great in both wet and dry. I'm not the slowest driver in the world and regularly run both M-way and lanes.

I'm in the market for a new set....today....but I have to admit....these are bloody good!

Goodyear Efficient grip won this years Auto express tyre challenge. I had them on my Mondeo before I got the Superb. Silent and surprisingly grippy for a tyre with an 'Efficient' label. they were heading for 40,000 miles when I changed the car. Would happily have them again.

I eventually purchased Uniroyal Rainsport II tyres and have used several sets since. Have been very happy with their grip but they wear put quickly.

A friend has put Goodyear Asymetrics on his vRS and I will follow his progress with them as I would like to try them at some stage.

My Superb is running a set of Michelin Primacy's in the 205/55/16 size. I had the same tyres on my Octy and was mightily impressed with the longevity (front 20k+ miles and rear 40k+ miles), wet and dry grip and low road noise.

Anyone with a Costco account can get big savings on their already competitive prices for Michelin tyres. The fact that both my wife's car, and mine use the same tyre size and speed rating means we take advantage of their 'Buy 4, get 25% off' offers that usually come round a couple of times a year. You can take all four away with you, and then just turn up at their fitting bay when you need a couple putting on.

The 205/55R16 Primacy HP is usually around £80, so on an offer, you are getting a premium tyre for £60.