I have just discovered the inner tread of my rear tyres is slicker than a slick thing, first thoughts are alignment issues as it was never checked when I had new lowered springs fitted, or perhaps tracking. Anyway I plan I getting this looked at when the new tyres go on.

The reason for help is in chosing the new rubber, I fitted Hankooks EVO II on the front about 2 months ago and so far I am very happy with them, however the rears will have to be from a more budget range due to an unexpected £700 bill from the vets!!!

Contenders currently are Nankang SP2 or Kumho KU37's both have reasonable reviews from Joe public and are around the 65-70 quid mark fitted. But I open to thoughts or ideas, size required is 225/40 R18.

If you can stretch a little further and can find a local place that will fit them, you'll be able to get a pair of Falken 452s from Camskill for ~£145: http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m61b0s134p6214

Add on ~£10 per tyre for fitting.

Bought a set recently for the fronts and am impressed, though obv remains to be seen what mileage I get out of them!

Remember those little bits of rubber are what keep you out ditches - would be avoiding Nankangs personally but Kumhos are alright.

If you can stretch a little further and can find a local place that will fit them, you'll be able to get a pair of Falken 452s from Camskill for ~£145: http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m61b0s134p6214

Add on ~£10 per tyre for fitting.

Bought a set recently for the fronts and am impressed, though obv remains to be seen what mileage I get out of them!

Hmmm! wouldn't touch 452's with an extremely long barge pole, thats what I have on the rear, admittedly there are other issues with those, but the pair I just swapped on the front lasted a grand total of 5k!! Alignment was checked when the new rubber was applied, all perfect.

Remember those little bits of rubber are what keep you out ditches - would be avoiding Nankangs personally but Kumhos are alright.

I hear you mate, but as long as I don't drive like a b3llend, I think I will be alright. I am leaning toward the Kumhos though.

Hmmm! wouldn't touch 452's with an extremely long barge pole, thats what I have on the rear, admittedly there are other issues with those, but the pair I just swapped on the front lasted a grand total of 5k!! Alignment was checked when the new rubber was applied, all perfect.

Erk, think I'll keep an eye on mine then...

This might be a daft question, but would you consider a pair of part worns to tide you over until you can afford a better pair? That way you don't have to compromise safety (as long as tread is ok) and you could 'test drive' a tyre before you paid top whack for new ones?

Try ebay etc??

This might be a daft question, but would you consider a pair of part worns to tide you over until you can afford a better pair? That way you don't have to compromise safety (as long as tread is ok) and you could 'test drive' a tyre before you paid top whack for new ones?

Try ebay etc??

Not daft at all mate, infact I have about 10 different part worns in my flebay watch list!

Tbh, rather than fitting something inferior, I may just chuck on my winter wheels which currently have summer conti's all round (with 6mm of tread) as a stop gap!

The only problem there is they look..............

.......PANTS!

Looks like that's a no brainer-you can have a 'test drive' of how it feels (& looks ) on winter wheels....and it costs you nowt for now. :yes:

Hmmm! wouldn't touch 452's with an extremely long barge pole, thats what I have on the rear, admittedly there are other issues with those, but the pair I just swapped on the front lasted a grand total of 5k!! Alignment was checked when the new rubber was applied, all perfect.

That's very bizzarre!

The 452's come highly recommended on all the BMW forums and I've now had 3 pairs on my 330d. I find them excellent and the rears last about 20k (extremely good on a rear drive car with 300lb ft!) and the fronts (which are also 225/40/18) last 25k-ish!

That's very bizzarre!

The 452's come highly recommended on all the BMW forums and I've now had 3 pairs on my 330d. I find them excellent and the rears last about 20k (extremely good on a rear drive car with 300lb ft!) and the fronts (which are also 225/40/18) last 25k-ish!

Indeed, but a fact on mine unfortunately. Had Falkens on previous cars with no problems, I can't explain why they've been so carp on the Skoda!

EDIT: Just found these good price for the tyre and only £6.99 delivery for the pair.

I have used both 452's and Kumho KU31's on my Octavia vRS petrol estate. My driving is very mixed and I rarely drive aggressively. Hopefully the following is of hel:

Falkens: Pros - Cheap, reasonable dry and wet grip. Cons - poor wear (totally worn out in 9.9k miles on front - that's to the wear limiters, evenly worn), noisy, poor damp grip.

Kumhos: Pros - Cheap-ish, good wear (10k miles covered on front and still 4mm left), good grip in all conditions, very quiet. Cons - Bit soft in the corners but on balance an excellent tyre.

In summary, would buy the Kumhos again, wouldn't buy the Falkens again.

Not daft at all mate, infact I have about 10 different part worns in my flebay watch list!

Tbh, rather than fitting something inferior, I may just chuck on my winter wheels which currently have summer conti's all round (with 6mm of tread) as a stop gap!

The only problem there is they look..............

.......PANTS!

That's why I changed my Scout's wheels to Zeniths, keeping the originals for winter use.

Just mind how you go with that dangerous sponge though now that it's been on the floor....

If you can stretch a little further and can find a local place that will fit them, you'll be able to get a pair of Falken 452s from Camskill for ~£145: http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m61b0s134p6214

Add on ~£10 per tyre for fitting.

Bought a set recently for the fronts and am impressed, though obv remains to be seen what mileage I get out of them!

Personally, I wouldn't go for more budget brands - as mentioned before, it's the only thing you have between you and a ditch............

I've just bought 2 Conti SC 3's for £131 each (all in) from my local tyre shop (if you want the details, PM me). Fitted to the front where the original Conti SC 2's last 22k miles. The rear's have done the same and have about 4mm to 5mm left.

The Conti SC 3's won the Autoexpress 2010 tyre test (see http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/total_tyre_guide/259477/tyre_test.html).

Sometimes you just have to pay (or put it on a flexible friend for a month or two ), and grin and bear having a bad financial month, especially when such an important part of your car is concerned.

J

Personally, I wouldn't go for more budget brands - as mentioned before, it's the only thing you have between you and a ditch............

I've just bought 2 Conti SC 3's for £131 each (all in) from my local tyre shop (if you want the details, PM me). Fitted to the front where the original Conti SC 2's last 22k miles. The rear's have done the same and have about 4mm to 5mm left.

The Conti SC 3's won the Autoexpress 2010 tyre test (see http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/total_tyre_guide/259477/tyre_test.html).

Sometimes you just have to pay (or put it on a flexible friend for a month or two ), and grin and bear having a bad financial month, especially when such an important part of your car is concerned.

J

Exactly why I swaying toward the fitting the ickle wheels above!

No such thing as a flexible friend in my house.......unless you are talking about swmbo?

Personally, I wouldn't go for more budget brands - as mentioned before, it's the only thing you have between you and a ditch............

Well sure, but I'm hardly advocating ditch-finders. Though obv the OP has had bad experiences with the falkens anyway so it's a moot point.

Update: Car is booked in tomorrow for a pair of fully fitted Kumho KU37's and for the alignment/tracking - £180 all in.

I will chip in my thoughts on the fallen 452's - they seem to wearing ok but when you are pushing on through corners the tyre Walls are too soft and they seem to squirm under cornering load and it doesn't inspire confidence!

Straight line grip is good In the dry and lateral grip is ok, not as good as the factory Dunlops.

I have t really had chance to try them in the rain yet.

If you can stretch a little further and can find a local place that will fit them, you'll be able to get a pair of Falken 452s from Camskill for ~£145: http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m61b0s134p6214

Add on ~£10 per tyre for fitting.

Bought a set recently for the fronts and am impressed, though obv remains to be seen what mileage I get out of them!

Fitted F452s to mine and got 4000 miles before they were illegal tread. The same ones on the front thouygh have lasted 9000 and still have some wear left in them too!

I will chip in my thoughts on the fallen 452's - they seem to wearing ok but when you are pushing on through corners the tyre Walls are too soft and they seem to squirm under cornering load and it doesn't inspire confidence!

Straight line grip is good In the dry and lateral grip is ok, not as good as the factory Dunlops.

I have t really had chance to try them in the rain yet.

I had them on my 5 series running 260hp through the rears and used to take it a good run once a month never had any of those problems you mentioned.

245/30/19 front. 275/35/19 rears.

Infact i might price a set up.

I had a full set of Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas fitted to my previous car, in 225/40 18 and I thought they were great tyres, they get excellent reviews online too. Not cheap, camskill are showing a price of around £112 per tyre, but worth it in my opinion. Thats the tyre I will be going for when the ones on my VRS at the moment are worn down.

I will chip in my thoughts on the fallen 452's - they seem to wearing ok but when you are pushing on through corners the tyre Walls are too soft and they seem to squirm under cornering load and it doesn't inspire confidence!

Straight line grip is good In the dry and lateral grip is ok, not as good as the factory Dunlops.

I have t really had chance to try them in the rain yet.

A review on Tyrereviews mentioned the soft sidewalls actually, and claimed upping the pressure by 1-2psi would sort the issue out.

Fitted F452s to mine and got 4000 miles before they were illegal tread. The same ones on the front thouygh have lasted 9000 and still have some wear left in them too!

Eh? how is that even possible? You mean you had a full set of 4 Falkens on and the rears wore out in 4k, yet the fronts lasted well over double that and are still going?! What the hell were you carrying around in the boot?! Bricks?

Wonder if there's a bit of a QC issue down at the Falken plant...?

Pagey - are you having a proper sus setup done?

You've chosen the Kumho route now, but for what it's worth I thought the 452s worked fine and I had them on the front for the whole time I had my old vRS, with a lot of the time running at stage-1 and they coped and wore fine. For the money, I can't fault them.

Post back about how you get on with the KU37s though

Pagey - are you having a proper sus setup done?

You've chosen the Kumho route now, but for what it's worth I thought the 452s worked fine and I had them on the front for the whole time I had my old vRS, with a lot of the time running at stage-1 and they coped and wore fine. For the money, I can't fault them.

Post back about how you get on with the KU37s though

SUS Setup??????????

I will report my findings on the KU37's, although it may be a while as I chucking the Audi wheels back on!

KU37's fitted, alignment done, passenger side rear was well out, below is a picture of the worse tyre, to be fair on the Falkens, if not for the problem they may have lasted quite well based on the tread left on the good part of the tyre. Still shocking on the front though!