As the title says, Ive got a vrs se with standard wheels, tyre size - 205 45 16 and it time for new tyres on the front.

Im after mid range tyres £60-80. It has conti sport contact 2's on the rear and some cheapo's on the front which are near the limit.

Ive been quoted so far:

Avons £95

Mohawk £69

conti sport contact 2's £95

Kuhmo £66

Firestone £88

Marshall £70

The rears will need changing in the summer so will replace them with what ever i get on the fronts.

Is anyone running kuhmo's? These seem to be a deccent price and ive heard they are a good tyre.

My rear discs and pads are on the way out too and my fronts will need changing soon after. Ive priced some EBC discs for the front and rear with EBC pads front and Brembo pads for the rear for £150 off fleabay.

Anyone got any better sugestions?

Im going to fit these myself with a friend. Skoda wanted £120 for the rears alone! and that was for standard parts.

Cheers, Jay.

Which EBC pads are you looking at? From experience I found the redstuff pads excellent.

Have you looked at Toyo T1R's? They seem to be a good tyre for hot (warm) hatches. Just got 2 fitted and weighted for £173.

Edited 20 January, 201115 yr by TomStarkey

From my experience:

Avons = good, but not outstanding

Toyos = great when warmed up, scary when not

Conti's = wear out really quick, but fantastic in all weather

And not tried the rest.

I'm running Goodyear Eagle F1's (GSD3), and I seriously rate these tyres. They fill me with confidence and last pretty well. My local tyre shop does these on each corner for about £80 all in Now on about my 4th pair, and fronts will be replaced in a few thousand miles.

Always rated EBC greenstuff, but they're quite pricey now - about £100 for all four corners :no: I paid £140 for tasty discs AND mintex pads. They're pretty good, but might splash out for EBC's next time.

Are those discs and pads off ebay? ive seen the drilled and grooved sets on there with mintex pads. Ive been told to stay away from the drilled and grooved as they crack easy .

The EBC discs are smooth and going for a decent price but ive just looked at there feedback :no:

I think i might try the Kuhmo's as there a mid range tyre at a good price. If i could afford the conti's id go for them but i cant :no:

I swear by falkens

I've been though 3 sets of Kuhmos in all across my Ibiza and the Fabia - mainly cos they were cheap.

However i suffered REALLY badly with sawtooth wear on the rears on both vehicles.

They also didn't last that long which i didn;t expect as the gip isn't that strong

Have Pirelli P Zero Nero's all round now and they seem grippy and show hardly any wear after many many miles

Are those discs and pads off ebay? ive seen the drilled and grooved sets on there with mintex pads. Ive been told to stay away from the drilled and grooved as they crack easy .

Yeah, from MTEC..

So far, so good, and I've not (nor my friends) have suffered from cracked drilled discs. Ever.. Some may say they are more prone to, but meh, never happened to me so I don't have a problem with them. Plus they look sooooo good!

Stay away from EBC pads, they are crap. Use the OE pagids, perfect feel and progressive. Discs I would use OE's as well. EuroCar parts are usually have the best price for them. As for tyres, You pay for the best and too many choices available.

Edited 20 January, 201115 yr by Soot1e

Stay away from EBC pads, they are crap.

Why do you say they are crap?

I've always had good experience from the greenstuff (OEM upgrade) ones, on Mini's, Focus's, Mk IV Golf, Mondeo, etc.. Very good braking performance, and very little brake dust ( ).

Not tried blackstuff (OEM) or the Yellow/red stuff (Fast road/Track) so could not comment on them, but Greenstuffs get my recommendation (if you can warrant their price!)

Why do you say they are crap?

I've always had good experience from the greenstuff (OEM upgrade) ones, on Mini's, Focus's, Mk IV Golf, Mondeo, etc.. Very good braking performance, and very little brake dust ( ).

Not tried blackstuff (OEM) or the Yellow/red stuff (Fast road/Track) so could not comment on them, but Greenstuffs get my recommendation (if you can warrant their price!)

I can only give positives about EBC too. My last car had Redstuff pads with "Turbo" disks all round and it stopped in an astoundingly short distance. Plus even with a very heavy foot I couldn't get them to burn.

I found EBC Greenstuff to be ok with a grooved disc (EBC Grooved & 'spotted' disc, 306 GTI6 items fitted to a Saxo VTS - that stopped well!)

On plain discs they were terrible, glazed up and overheated the discs (were new OE discs on a 306GTI6)

Tyres, I have Uniroyal Rainsport 2s, can't fault them wet or dry. Got Eagle F1s on my work tank, great tyre but a bit soft so wear quite quickly...

Thanks for the advice people

Might stay away from kuhmo's then. Think i got quoted around the same price for falkens so might try them, or go without eating for a week and get the conti's!

Has anyone tried the brembo rear pads? there is a set on ebay for £18 which seems good value, or to good to be true

Just to confuse you some more, I've driven on Hankook V12's before and they were pretty good. But I think they're top end budget range (Maybe?)

barum bravuris 2 are excellent tyres. Merc recommend them on there cars.

Also Id go for standard discs Ferodo DS2500. EBC Green stuff fell apart in under 3000 miles on my last car. Heard that happens alot with them though.

I have been running Uniroyal Rainsport 2's on my car all winter - i have been very very impressed.

Low noise, great wet grip, very good snow traction (compared to Toyo's!!), nice and progressive on the limit and pretty damn good in the dry as well.

Got the full set for 300notes and was very happy with that.

I run EBC grooved/dimpled discs on my mr2 with greenstuff pads - very good and had no problems, pads do improve when they get some good temperature into them, have heard that redstuff pads are in a league of their own though!

Saying that though, I run bog standard Mintex discs/pads on my VRS and they have also been very good to date.

Unless you are really planning on spending a lot of time on the brakes at high temps (i.e. track) then just go with some standard pattern parts off Eurocarparts, that is all you will need for normal driving at a good price and you won't waste loads of time searching all the options

Andy

I had EBC yellowstuffs and project Mu discs on my last nissan. I won't buy EBC performance pads again! They dont have a patch on ferrodo DS2500's! Although I'd prob run greenstuffs on my fabia because they arent high performance.

I am a fan of Toyo T1-R's and they seem to be lasting quite well on the fabia, quite like the eagle F1's too! Didnt like the conti sport contacts on a previous car, I had no confidence in them! (might be due to a 50 profile)

Both subjects have been discussed many times on here. Tyres are very common.

People have tried Kumhos before and are a quite good budget tyre, however, I have read that, they are not that good in the wet. Most people recommend Goodyear GSD3s, Toyo T1-Rs and Uniroyal Rainsport 2s. I've had Goodyears and Toyos on my car and like them, I am going to try Rainsports next.

As for brakes, I would go for Mintex, Ferodo, EBC or the OEM pads. I would not recommend because I believe they are not technically road legal also I've read they noisy when cold. You may find grooved discs quite noisy when medium to hard breaking. I have used EBC Green stuff on several of our cars with no problems.

www.brakeparts.co.uk are pretty good for standard replacements.

Yokohama, Michellin and Bridgestone would all be worth a look, all make very good tyres!

I have always used and would recommend Goodyear gsd3 tyres, ok they may not be to clever in the snow but for the three days a year its bad enough I would not worry.

I have used oem pads and updated pads and struggled to tell them apart, then updated to 312 standard setup and the difference was obvious,

In my experience updated pads are not worth theextra, if you want better brakes, get bigger ones

marshall matrac fx tyres on the front of mine, good all rounder for the price, slightly softer than most in this price range so good on grip

the eagle f1's didnt last me, i did 10,000 miles-ish, if that, and they were slick, great tyre, exceedingly grippy, but just dont have the lifetime imo

i used ferrodo brake pads, thought they were rubbish, got bosch ones in mine now i think and theyre far better, no more fade! the mintex race pads are excellent, but only when they warm up haha, appaling when not

hope this helps

I have been running Uniroyal Rainsport 2's on my car all winter - i have been very very impressed.

Low noise, great wet grip, very good snow traction (compared to Toyo's!!), nice and progressive on the limit and pretty damn good in the dry as well.

Got the full set for 300notes and was very happy with that.

+1 - although only £242 fitted for me. Can't comment on on the limit grip though, it's either been used in snow, or a town center/ residentual area since fitment. Would say they're quite a comfy tyre too though - and quiet.

I had some Dunlop sports - never again (uncomfy, loud, not that much grip)! and Falken 912's on it before. The 912 was ok, a bit soft on the tyre wall and you could feel it hop/fold sometimes under heavier turns, and it liked to spin a lot more than these RainSports when pulling off quickly in the wet. Handling wise it seemed ok, except for being quite soft sidewalls. However, the softness adds to the ride comfort so it's not all bad considering I spend more time away from the limits of the cars grip.

OE Pagid disks and pads here - but not tried anything else, so can't really help other than to say I've not come across any fade yet. . .

Edited 20 January, 201115 yr by TriggerFish

I swear by falkens

This tried contis, toyos, yokos and michelins, and found the top price falkens the best all rounder.

From all the tyre threads in this section, this one might be the most useful

Fabia I - Which tyre offers the best performance for price?

People have tried Kumhos before and are a quite good budget tyre, however, I have read that, they are not that good in the wet. Most people recommend Goodyear GSD3s, Toyo T1-Rs and Uniroyal Rainsport 2s. I've had Goodyears and Toyos on my car and like them, I am going to try Rainsports next.

Wish I could find two - I've got Rainsports on the rear but now want to replace the front tyres - however, no stock anywhere :'( . Have Uniroyal stopped making them in 205 45 16?

Wish I could find two - I've got Rainsports on the rear but now want to replace the front tyres - however, no stock anywhere :'( . Have Uniroyal stopped making them in 205 45 16?

Mytyres stock them......... at £122 each

If I can't buy them, I'm not sure what I'll buy instead.

Edited 22 January, 201115 yr by Jim H