Hi all,

Newbie here! Collecting a 2010 1.8 TSI Elegance tomorrow. Really pleased with the car, it is on 17" alloys and I am told with the sports suspension too. It is coming from a non Skoda franchise and is in great nick but has a set of brand spanking new Arrowspeed N1000's on the front.....dealer refuses to change them as part of the deal so what would you do?? Gut feeling says change them but they are brand new!! Do I (a)see how they go and then decide (b)swap to rear and put Potenzas on front (modern advice seems to be best tyres on rear?) or © change immediately?? Is there are a market for nearly new tyres??

Previously had a 2004 petrol VRS and Mk6 GTI DSG so not new to the VAG group!

(a)

(a) you never know, they might be ok - quiet, good grip in wet and dry?

(d) send em to me and ill do all that hard work testing them for you, now theres an offer, ill even let you know how many miles they will do in a working environment....... Bargain

(a). But be prepared to ditch if required.

I ended up putting budgets on the front of the Wifes Fabia and they're actually not bad! Grip in the wet is pretty good (you've got to push it to break traction) and in the dry they're like any other tyre. Not too noisy either unlike the Rainsport II's they replaced which also bulged the tyre walls if you drove over so much as a slight bump. :(

No use talking about feedback as this is a Fabia and has no steering feel anyway.

So on that basis, Option (a) - see how they go. If they turn out to be pants just wait till they wear out and replace accordingly. This is a FWD car with a moderate amount of power after all so that won't be too long.

Give them a go, although i have a mate with a passat. Bought it with 4 budget tyres on it and nearly sold the dam thing due to handling. It was terrible !

He's now running goodyear F1's and says its like driving a different car.

I've ran Khumos for a few years, but the latest solius version I've had fitted are terrible in the wet.

I'd keep the budgets on the front. I had a car years ago that had cheap tyres on it. changed the fronts and found out one morning that the poor grip on the rear v's good grip on the front meant for some unwelcome oversteer.

Edited 1 July, 201213 yr by swil00

Looks like the general consensus is a 'suck it and see' then! I believe they are Kwik Fits own brand and made by Goodyear and identical (?) to one of the Nexen tyres so may not be all that bad?!

I called Kwik Fit and asked what they were like (before I knew they were their own brand) and they said they sold thousands fo them....not sure that necessarily filled me with confidence but there you go!

I am more sensible now and car mainly used for dull commute so probably be fine. Hopefully wear through quickly and then decision made!

I understand that you haven't fitted these tyres but I cannot understand why people fit Cr@p tyres

You buy a car for £XX,XXX and the only thing that keeps you on the road and out of the ditch is your tyres.

160bhp, fantastic brakes, remap and...........................Ditch finders

Rant over

I understand that you haven't fitted these tyres but I cannot understand why people fit Cr@p tyres

You buy a car for £XX,XXX and the only thing that keeps you on the road and out of the ditch is your tyres.

160bhp, fantastic brakes, remap and...........................Ditch finders

Rant over

The car was serviced not long before previous owner sold it and guess it needed new fronts, they knew it was going to be traded in so put cheapos on.....

These are Kwitfit specials. Get rid of them - they are appalling in the wet and not that good in the dry.

In theory, they should be OK as they are an old Michelin design (made in Poland).

Drove a customer car with these on - made it drive like a Smart car :(

Change em. Have you used Potenzas before? I only ask as I have them for my summer tyres. The grip is great but the road noise is insane! Its so bad that when I had a set of Kleber Quadraxers (all season tyres) fitted last autumn (for the winter that never was) I have not swapped them back yet.

Change em. Have you used Potenzas before? I only ask as I have them for my summer tyres. The grip is great but the road noise is insane! Its so bad that when I had a set of Kleber Quadraxers (all season tyres) fitted last autumn (for the winter that never was) I have not swapped them back yet.

No never had Potenza's - generally go for Conti's given the choice. Fancy trying some Vred Sessanta's though, if I can get hold of any!

Will see how things go for the first week or so and then decide what I do....

Leave them on and see how they feel. It's not like they're remoulds or anything horrendous like that!

First thing I'd do is take the car out and drive it hard in most conditions available - see what you think. Reason being these are "controlled conditions" where you're expecting the unexpected. If you get less grip than you'd like etc then at least you know what you're dealing with and have the option. Obviously snow is out of the question but all summer tyres are garbage in that. Don't be complacent and think "they'll do" and then realise when the roads are a little damp and greasy and you're not expecting it (worse than plain wet IMO) that they're not quite cutting it......

First thing I'd do is take the car out and drive it hard in most conditions available - see what you think. Reason being these are "controlled conditions" where you're expecting the unexpected. If you get less grip than you'd like etc then at least you know what you're dealing with and have the option. Obviously snow is out of the question but all summer tyres are garbage in that. Don't be complacent and think "they'll do" and then realise when the roads are a little damp and greasy and you're not expecting it (worse than plain wet IMO) that they're not quite cutting it......

+1

First thing I'd do is take the car out and drive it hard in most conditions available - see what you think. Reason being these are "controlled conditions" where you're expecting the unexpected. If you get less grip than you'd like etc then at least you know what you're dealing with and have the option. Obviously snow is out of the question but all summer tyres are garbage in that. Don't be complacent and think "they'll do" and then realise when the roads are a little damp and greasy and you're not expecting it (worse than plain wet IMO) that they're not quite cutting it......

+2 - also if you have alignment problems then it will be far cheaper to notice on these tyres than it would be fitting new premium ones.

Maxxis MAZ1 and Falken 452 are decent budget tyres if you need something but are short on cash.

I've got Maxxis all round now, bit noisy but plenty of grip in wet and dry and only £86 a corner fitted.

Edited 2 July, 201213 yr by Aspman

maxxis victras (Z1's) rock! I had them on my car last , but couldn't get them this time round :( settled on kumho KU39's instead....

if these budgets are the same as the nexen N1000's they get pretty good reviews here! http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Nexen/N1000.htm

i have fk451's all round,which are stretched on but still offer very good grip in the wet or dry

I have Nexen N6000 on mine & am more than happy with them,just had 2 fitted for £135.00,i had falken f452 on before that & they were fine,however they have only lasted around 11k on the front(but the alignment has been out for the last 2k)now sorted by ABC,the original fit conti;s did 21k.

We had a (sorry to name it...) C-Max with a pair of those on the front, & it wasn't bad.

Then again, it wasn't driven harshly, just a lot of motorway miles by wife, & they were fine for the price

not B.

I had an original part-worn front tyre puncture beyond repair and had put on a single £50 (fitted etc.) Sunny. Never heard of them before.

I also thought it might be cr*p, but thought it might last out till all the rest needed replacement.

However I find no difference whatsoever in performance,wet or dry, but a bit of extra hum road noise. So I put it on the back instead and now hardly notice it.

Cheers for all the advice guys.

Unfortunately the workshop couldn't get my car through today so have to wait till Wednesday to collect. It's p***ing it down here so would have been good opportunity to test out the tyres in wet conditions!

On a slightly different note, bit disappointed car doesn't have ESP, this was standard in my old Mazda 6 years ago! Perhaps more reason to have decent rubber!