Just to feedback, only had the Michelins on for a few hundred miles but they feel noticeabley smoother and just seem to take the edge off the firm ride and NVH of the VRS suspension set-up. Not tested any wet grip or anything as just been pottering about for work. 

 

If they last a while too, I might be a Michelin convert

Has anybody tried Michelin Super Sports?

 

Suppose to be brilliant in the dry as mong as quite warm.

I run Michelin Pilot Sport 3's on my vRS and are the best tyre I've ever run. Had more grip than the car naturally had which forced me to put on Bilsteins and Eibachs. Tried looking for Super Sports but they don't do it in that size

To answer the question above from goneoffSKi. "Gone off" in my terms means that the tyre material has lost its natural grip due to age.  Due to the fact that I don't do a large mileage each year now I'm retired (although a much bigger mileage than when I was working) I can be running tyres that are over 5 years old but have done no more than perhaps 12k miles.  So plenty of tread but not much grip.  I have always assumed, perhaps wrongly, that there is a trade off between grip and tyre life and I was hoping to maximise grip and ignore the life.

Very surprising on a car which is no more than 2 1/2 year old and the tyres are likely to be more than 3 years old.

Cars in countries with extreme weather conditions do not have tyres which go off in that short time.

 

I would be asking Skoda who are covering the Manufacturers warranty on the car but not covering Wear & Tear on tyres 

to have a Continental Rep have your tyres inspected, with a view to getting them replaced by Continental or Skoda.

 

Many with a vRS do not get 12.000 miles from tyres, but others get double that, and to still have tread but no grip 

is really odd, lots of 3-4-5 year old vRS are still on the original Continentals or Dunlops.

Very surprising on a car which is no more than 2 1/2 year old and the tyres are likely to be more than 3 years old.

Cars in countries with extreme weather conditions do not have tyres which go off in that short time.

 

I would be asking Skoda who are covering the Manufacturers warranty on the car but not covering Wear & Tear on tyres 

to have a Continental Rep have your tyres inspected, with a view to getting them replaced by Continental or Skoda.

 

Many with a vRS do not get 12.000 miles from tyres, but others get double that, and to still have tread but no grip 

is really odd, lots of 3-4-5 year old vRS are still on the original Continentals or Dunlops.

 

The OE Contis, I found went from poor grip to being molten fairly quickly.

 

Michelin PS3s sorted that out after OEs were junked but they were expensive.

 

Nexens have proved to be a good choice for Summer and Winter versions and half the price of the Michelins.

 

Dunlops on the Octy VRS started to chunk up on the rear and sounded like travelling on 50p peices about half way through their life.

Not that tyres are on a car with me for more than 2 years but after 2 years you start to see signs of them going off. Cousin had cheap tyres fitted to the rear of her Astra. About 8mths later she reported the rear would slide out on certain roundabouts. Had a look and while they had plenty of tread the rubber was quite hard and had gone off. I know of driver courses some Lotus owners go on and the instructors always ask that tyres aren't older than 2 years.

Always worth moving wheels / tyres front to back annually id directional tyres, or directional corner to corner if not.

& checking and setting tyre pressures regularly. It extends the usable and still safe life of them.

 

NSL's in the UK and back ends going out with front wheel drive cars on roundabouts suggests moisture on the road, incorrect tyre pressures etc.

& melted tyre compound will be clear enough to see where someone has still plenty of tread.

 

Sawtoothing on Octavias is a common issue, and not something Mk2 Fabia or MK2 Fabia vRS are known for.

Good tyres need not be expensive tyres on the Fabia Twinchargers, lots of choices in 205/40 R 17 or 215/40 R 17's

 

There are tyres available fitted in the £50-£80 range that are improvements on the tyres fitted by Skoda at the factory.

What car manufacturers put on as OE is usually a "premium brand" but which one could be based on which manufacturer will go that one Euro a tyre lower and whether they have a tyre plant next to the assembly line.

 

VAG motor-sports go with Michelin rather than Continental for much of their sports tyre ie overcome national loyalty.

 

That said Continental do seem to suit some cars.

 

Even the budget Dacia just bought came with Ecocontact 5s and so for a car costing £10K the tyre must make up quite a bit of the production cost but then I suspect OEMs get the tyres at half the price we pay for them.  

 

With an El Nino year/winter coming up, like 2010/11 winter was, some All Seasons/Winters will be the order and well in time before autumn gets to far in as shortly supply is likely.  

Thanks for all your comments.  From what you say it seems there isn't one particular tyre that is so much better than the others that I have to go for that one.  So when I need tyres I may well go for something cheap and then be prepared to change them in a year or two, three or four even if they still have good treads.

 

At the moment I have Pirelli P Zero Nero fitted.  I don't know if these were the OEM fitment but they seem to work OK at the level I drive the car.  In a few weeks I will have the car on the Ford test track at Dunton so will be able to explore the handling at a higher stress.

 

Not sure I agree with the earlier comment about tyres in hotter climates as the tyres are made with quite different material mixes.  I destroyed a pair of Pirelli Cinturatos (made in Europe) in South Africa because they could not stand the temperatures. Local tyres we OK.

I need to replace the fronts - probably be Rainsports again - £78 a corner at Performance Tyres (though need to check if they're in stock) - that price is from mytyres (link from Performance's website), so should be available across the country.

Try Camskill for tyres! Got 2 X Uniroyal Rainsport 3 tyres for £123 incl delivery! Having wheels refurbished next week so will get them fitted then