Hi

I picked up my 2007 petrol VRS a few weeks ago and I am really pleased with the car.

There are alot of posts re tyres so I had a look at mine and while they appear to be new with loads of tread the rear ones are made by Sunitrac (Focus 3000) and the fronts by General (Altimax UHP) I had never heard of these makes but a quick search on Google revealed that the General tyres are a economy brand and the Sunitrac from what little information I could find are super budget.

I am a little worried that with the power available from the car (it is standard) that these tyres just will not cope and while I do not drive like a mad man, I do like to push on every now & again.

Should I change? Just seems wrong getting rid of nearly new tyres

I've had my Vrs for 6 months and the tyres on mine are also a budget brand (planning to replace for the winter).

In my experience, the handling has been fine in the dry. However, in wet conditions, the grip can he pretty poor and the esp has been known to cut in on quite a few occasions!

Just be careful until you get some decent rubber

I've had my Vrs for 6 months and the tyres on mine are also a budget brand (planning to replace for the winter).

In my experience, the handling has been fine in the dry. However, in wet conditions, the grip can he pretty poor and the esp has been known to cut in on quite a few occasions!

Just be careful until you get some decent rubber

Just the same as the standard Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's mine came with then!!! :wonder:

Get new tyres problem solved

Hello 'wheelsofsteel'

Seems odd to buy a brand new car with odd tyres fitted, I would have approached the dealer about that.!!

Front tyres don't last very long, so you'll be replacing soon, that would the time to upgrade, perhaps.?

DAH!! OOoops!!

I see now it's a 2007, eyes only read new car.

its not a brand new car, its a 2007. The car is new to wheelsofsteel.

My superb is currently running on 2 different brands of budget tyres. I have done 20K on the fronts and they are still going strong, the rears have not been on that long but seem perfectly fine to me in both wet and dry,

Personally I would replace them with something better. After all it's only the tyres that keep you on the road. You could sell the others to someone for a track day so you could recover some of the cost for new tyres.

Just a thought.

Hi

I picked up my 2007 petrol VRS a few weeks ago and I am really pleased with the car.

There are alot of posts re tyres so I had a look at mine and while they appear to be new with loads of tread the rear ones are made by Sunitrac (Focus 3000) and the fronts by General (Altimax UHP) I had never heard of these makes but a quick search on Google revealed that the General tyres are a economy brand and the Sunitrac from what little information I could find are super budget.

I am a little worried that with the power available from the car (it is standard) that these tyres just will not cope and while I do not drive like a mad man, I do like to push on every now & again.

Should I change? Just seems wrong getting rid of nearly new tyres

I would be worried about the speed and load rating not being a match for the original fit tyres. If this is the case you potentially do not have any insurance!

You don't need to spend a fortune to get decent tyres - Continental Sport Contact 2's or Vredestein are excellent.

People go on about how cheap tyres have come on in recent years etc but the proof is in the eating - your tyres will stop you around 3M further down the road than a known brand and lateral grip levels will also be lower. Cheap tyres are a false economy. If you have a VRS, fit decent tyres

I would be worried about the speed and load rating not being a match for the original fit tyres. If this is the case you potentially do not have any insurance!

** Slightly off Topic **

But this does not apply when fitting winter wheels and tyres. They are of a lower speed and load rating but this is acceptable.

I have just Informed my Insurance company that I intend to fit Winter wheels and tyres to My Vrs and also the wife's Vrs

I explained that the wheels would be a different size and the tyres would be a lower speed and load rating

I don't have to tell them when there on and no Increase in premium.

** Back on Topic **

But this does not apply when fitting winter wheels and tyres. They are of a lower speed and load rating but this is acceptable.

Are you 100% sure about the load rating?

I know you can fit lower speed rated tyres, probably because you theoretically will be driver at lower speeds during the winter months anyway and certainly should not be exceeding the tyres speed rating anyway.

BUT the load index is all about the weight of the vehicle, this does not change when you fit winter tyres, so for example if your can can run on 205/55/16 94XL tyres (the manufactures spec for a Superb) then surly fitting say a 89 load index tyre could potentially roll the tyre off the rim during hard cornering? (do a google search for 'Superb Elk test' to see how this can happen)

** Slightly off Topic **

But this does not apply when fitting winter wheels and tyres. They are of a lower speed and load rating but this is acceptable.

I have just Informed my Insurance company that I intend to fit Winter wheels and tyres to My Vrs and also the wife's Vrs

I explained that the wheels would be a different size and the tyres would be a lower speed and load rating

I don't have to tell them when there on and no Increase in premium.

** Back on Topic **

Yep and thats common but these are not winter tyres and if (god forbid) the OP has a serious accident, this type of thing will be checked. I recently had a 70+mph multiple RTA with injuries and I can tell you that despite my vehicle being a 59 plate and only having 20K, it was gone over with a fine tooth comb to ensure everything was up to spec. Not worth the risk IMHO and anyway, whats the point in having a performance car with cack tyres!

Yep and thats common but these are not winter tyres and if (god forbid) the OP has a serious accident, this type of thing will be checked. I recently had a 70+mph multiple RTA with injuries and I can tell you that despite my vehicle being a 59 plate and only having 20K, it was gone over with a fine tooth comb to ensure everything was up to spec. Not worth the risk IMHO and anyway, whats the point in having a performance car with cack tyres!

Totally agree with you.

The thing I can't understand is that people buy fast motors, mod them and then run cheap budget tyres. ( not having a dig at the original poster here as he seems to be concerned about his tyres and rightly so)

A driver at work has an high end Audi and is complaining about the front end tyre wear, they scrub off so soon I just stick cheap tyres on the front...............D1ck !!

Not worth the risk IMHO and anyway, whats the point in having a performance car with cack tyres!

+1.

Just the same as the standard Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's mine came with then!!! :wonder:

Won't be changing to these then! Thinking about Vredestein, I've heard some decent reviews about their winter/all weather tyres.

Won't be changing to these then! Thinking about Vredestein, I've heard some decent reviews about their winter/all weather tyres.

All weather tyres on a VRS? Unless you live in the highlands and don't have a spare set of winter wheels / tyres, why would you fit anything other than a good sport tyre to a VRS?

Vredestein Sessanta, Conti Sports 2 / 3, Dunlops, Bridestones etc.........

I got conti sc3's after reading this. I think on some of the test the budget tyres are still doing 20ish mph and take a extra car length to stop after the contis have stopped.

"The Enduros needed a fraction under eight metres more to stop than test winner Continental and were still doing 24mph when the German-shod car was at rest."

Thats during wet braking test

Many thanks for all your replies, much appreciated.

They seemed OK in the dry but with a little bit of rain the rear seems very light going round corners and the traction control light keeps flashing.

It hurts but I know that the best thing to do is get new tyres as I think that weather is just going to get worse from now on. It's just going to be tight to buy 4 all in one go so I think that I will replace the rears first as from what I have read it is a good idea to have your best tyres on the rear.

I will have a look at the many past posts of tyre discussions and try to decide what to get

I remember a while back, Autocar did a similar comparison test between cheap ditchfinders and premium tyres. In fact some of the cheaper ones were not tested fully as the testers refused,they were that bad. As said above it's only tyres between you and the road ,if a few pounds means safety for you and your loved ones, buy decent tyres, especially on a performance car.

Many thanks for all your replies, much appreciated.

They seemed OK in the dry but with a little bit of rain the rear seems very light going round corners and the traction control light keeps flashing.

It hurts but I know that the best thing to do is get new tyres as I think that weather is just going to get worse from now on. It's just going to be tight to buy 4 all in one go so I think that I will replace the rears first as from what I have read it is a good idea to have your best tyres on the rear.

I will have a look at the many past posts of tyre discussions and try to decide what to get

Your car is front wheel drive and most of the braking effort will also be through the front wheels so the perceived wisdom is best tyres on the front (not the back).

Have been on this forum for sometime but not posted. This one though is quite topical for me so thought I'd stick my comment on!

I part ex'd my old VRS for a newer one in June this year and love it to bits. However a week after I got it I hated driving it because the slightest bit of moisture on the ground and the thing seemed to have a mind of it's own.

Turns out it was running something along the lines of "Firestone Ice Plus".....presumably named because they made every road seem like an ice rink....?

Anyway I had a look around for some in my budget to replace them and ended up popping along to Falkham Tyres in Longfield, Kent. They put 2 Falken 912s on the front for me and the car was immediately more enjoyable to drive. I decided to sort the rears nearer to autumn and save some pennies in the mean time.

However my hand was forced yesterday as I had a nail the size of a toothbrush appear in my rear nearside tyre as I left Bluewater. Straight along to Falkham and decided to just get both rears while I was there - especially with the current poor weather!

So yeh - I know where you're coming from and for what it's worth I'd say go Falken 912s. You'll definitely appreciate the car more when you feel more confident driving it!

Somebody I know had sunitrac tyres on their car (not sure which tyre model), but even on a medium power car, they were scrabbling in the wet.

If you intend to push on, I'd get some tyres that you can trust and are well rated for wet conditions. Perhaps even get a set of winter tyres, then just wear the budget ones out in the summer.

Front tyres don't last very long, so you'll be replacing soon, that would the time to upgrade, perhaps.?

Depends if you wheelspin everywhere and drive hard. Otherwise there's no reason for them not to last unless there're rubbish cheapo's

Your car is front wheel drive and most of the braking effort will also be through the front wheels so the perceived wisdom is best tyres on the front (not the back).

This is false wisdom. If you read the reports on this basically what happens is you hit the brakes and the back end immediately tries to overtake the front. Dodgy tyres on the back and this means you lose control, good tyres and the back is kept in check. Therefore best tyres should always be on the back.

This is false wisdom. If you read the reports on this basically what happens is you hit the brakes and the back end immediately tries to overtake the front. Dodgy tyres on the back and this means you lose control, good tyres and the back is kept in check. Therefore best tyres should always be on the back.

+1

All weather tyres on a VRS? Unless you live in the highlands and don't have a spare set of winter wheels / tyres, why would you fit anything other than a good sport tyre to a VRS?

Vredestein Sessanta, Conti Sports 2 / 3, Dunlops, Bridestones etc.........

As it happens I do live in Scotland and don't have a spare set of wheels for the winter...at the mo