Found what can only be described as a coach bolt sticking out of the rear tyre at the weekend I have had nails and screws before but this was massive! I think it is too close to the edge for a repair and as the tyre has already been repaired once then a repair isout of the question anyway.

So thats two new tyres then. Oh hang on, check the fronts and they are at about 3-4mm. So now I'm looking at replacing all four as I'm not comfortable with the difference in tread depths that the new ones would cause.

Looking extensively online I'm going to replace the Dunlops SP01 with Barum Bravuris 2. They get a better review on here:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Barum/Bravuris-2.htm

And they appear to have improved wet weather capability over the original Bravusris. I can get four of these fitted with free pucnture repairs and tyre insurance for £375 from Tyre Shopper - who are part of National Tyres and Autocare. They also score higher than the Dunlops:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Dunlop/SP-Sport-01.htm

I'll let you know how I get on with them, but for less than £100 a corner they seem to offer a good balance of performance and price.

Cheers

Simon

Looking extensively online I'm going to replace the Dunlops SP01 with Barum Bravuris 2.

User reviews of tyres are usually misleading, since everyone thinks their new set is much better than their old set (because the old ones were usually past their best). The tyre tests that are worth reading compare new tyres to other new tyres and take great care to eliminate as many variables as possible. On that basis the Barum Bravuris looks like a good value-for-money choice. It came 9th out of 50 in the Auto Bild test which was perhaps the most comprehensive tyre test ever conducted.

The tyre's weakness is said to be understeer in both wet and dry. I'll look forward to hearing your view of the effect that has on the Yeti's handing.

Barum is the old Czech tyre company now under the control of Continental; noticed the last Barum I bought a couple of years ago, stated Portugal as the country of manufacture. Funny old thing Continental have a factory there :wonder:

Never had a problem with their tyres, having run two or three Skoda's and an Astra van on them.

TP

User reviews of tyres are usually misleading, since everyone thinks their new set is much better than their old set (because the old ones were usually past their best). The tyre tests that are worth reading compare new tyres to other new tyres and take great care to eliminate as many variables as possible. On that basis the Barum Bravuris looks like a good value-for-money choice. It came 9th out of 50 in the Auto Bild test which was perhaps the most comprehensive tyre test ever conducted.

The tyre's weakness is said to be understeer in both wet and dry. I'll look forward to hearing your view of the effect that has on the Yeti's handing.

So what were the top 8?

r999 hits the nail on the head with his comments

As a piece of nerdish information you can see at which plant your tyre was made by looking at the DOT plant code on the sidewall. Lots of other details moulded on the sidewall too including date of manufacture. (My week 12 build Yeti had tyres made in weeks 6 and 7.)

There is a list of codes that show the locations of each factory that you can download at

http://www.etyres.co.uk/glossary-tyre-terms?term=dot-codes

(sorry I can't find the US Department of Transportation original source at the moment)

The articles on Wikepedia are generally good reliable information on all the other markings - search "tire code" or "tire"

That was lucky - choosing a 'top ten' tyre by chance!!!! Having them fitted tomorrow so will report back when they are scrubbed in a bit.

I never really push it so I can't see over/under steer being a real issue.

Cheers

S

Bugger. I've noticed a slow leak from one of my tyres so popped it in to my friendly local dealer today to be checked. Tiny pin hole is the cause of the air loss, but because of how close it is to the edge it cannot be safely repaired ... so it's a new Vector 4 Seasons going on tomorrow. Ouch - wasn't expecting that bill this month, and Betty is in for a 36k mile service next week too.

OK - so new tyres fitted and so far only retraced my steps 2 miles from the fitting station. On a stretch of road where the Dunlops would generate a lot of tyre noise these were remarkably quiet. Now I know this probably the 'placebo effect' of having new tyres and only time will tell if they really are that much quitter than the Dunlops.

One thing I have noticed is that the rim protection on these tyres seems to be greater than the Dunlops - which can only be a good thing!

Bobdog - bad news about yours. Round this way (West Midlands) we have a lot of scrap dealers patrolling in vans. The tyre guys think its stuff falling off their lorries that cause most of the punctures. Having had more punctures since moving up here that before in 25 years of driving i tend to agree with them! The main reason I took the additional £30 insurance that will repair or replace (discount of new if worn) for the life of the tyres.

Cheers

Simon

Hopefully I'll have my 4 Dunlops replaced next week as they are all at 3mm. Thank God the Lease company cover this cost otherwise I too would go for the Barums.

So what were the top 8?

The test is briefly summarised here and the top 15 tyres are listed:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2012-Auto-Bild-Max-Performance-Tyre-Test.htm

The test itself, with full detail, is here (part 1) http://www.autobild.de/artikel/sommerreifen-test-2012-225-45-r-17-w-y-2874787.html and here (part 2) http://www.autobild.de/artikel/sommerreifen-test-2012-225-45-r-17-w-y-2882041.html at a cost of 2 Euros each, and in German, of course. I find that German, Austrian, and Swiss tyre tests are so far in advance of anything done in the UK or the US that they are well worth getting hold of. (Not to mention the tyre trade itself - I'm losing count of the number of times the dozy UK tyre trade has assured me a particular tyre is unobtainable or even does not exist, when I can get it within a few days direct from Germany or Poland. This week I had to tell a Toyota main dealer where to obtain tyres!)

What's the current cheapest source of Dunlop SP Sport 01's for the Yeti in UK (225 x 50 x 17 94W if

memory serves me right)??

Not online supply only as I can't be bothered to source a seperate fitting deal. They seem to be a fairly good all-rounder with good wear characteristics.

A year ago paid £150 at Kwikfit.

Blackcircles (local fitting agent) or Event Tyres (mobile fitting service) are both selling the Dunlops at around £145. The Nokian Z G2 is available at mytyres (local fitting agent) for around £140 - it came 2nd in the above test and I will probably soon be fitting a set to my XF which is currently on SP Sport 01s. I've used all three suppliers with no problems, but would probably choose Event if there was nothing in it on price or availability.

Mark

I can thoroughly recommend Event tyres... been using them for years, back to the days that they were fitting tyres at motorsport events (which is where the name came from). If you can visit one of their fitting depots locally, rather than using their mobile service, they will usually knock a bit more off the price if you ask.