Hello everyone!

 

My 10 plate Yeti needs new front tyres and I'm interested in what other people have fitted to their Yeti's and their experiences.  The Dunlop Sport SP01's have lasted 21k and I quite like the way the Yeti rides on them, although a little bit more grip wouldn't go amiss at times (maybe the fact there is only 2.5mm of tread left has something to do with that though!)

 

My local tyre dealer has suggested the Dunlop Sport SP01 is on the verge of being discontinued and is in his words 'ancient' and I could do much better buying a more modern tyre.  They have suggested either the Dunlop Sportmaxx RT or the Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance.  Looking online both of these have really good reviews and both have far better scores on the EU tyre label.  Does anyone have any experience of either of these on a Yeti or similar vehicle?  I only have the 1.2tsi but do like to give it some right foot occasionally (as you do) so really not sure what to do. I don't won't worse handling for the sake of a few extra miles of on each tank of fuel but likewise if I could get the same or better handling and increase mpg then that's a no brainer!

 

From what I understand the Goodyear Efficicientgrip Performance is a touring tyre and the Dunlop Sportmaxx RT is a sport tyre but I'm not sure which category the current SP01 fits into?

 

Any views, comments or experiences greatly appreciated!

 

ps:  please don't menton winter or all season tyres as for reasons I won't bore you with neither are of interest to me.  Thanks.

Edited 25 November, 201312 yr by ashabristol

Continental Contisport Contact 5 are good but the Bridgestone Potenzas are the quietist....

Edited 25 November, 201312 yr by looby

Bridgestone Potenzas are the quietist....

Thanks for that info but how do they compare handling-wise and mpg-wise to the Dunlop SP01's?

Never used the Dunlop's, but I have been using Kumho KU39's for 3 years and am very happy with them.

Thanks for that info but how do they compare handling-wise and mpg-wise to the Dunlop SP01's?

The Bridgestones are good all rounders and are usually near the top plus I think you will find they are a very competitive price..

_{If you can find them, as they are only just on the market, try the Uniroyal Rainsport 3.}

 

_{Oh forgot to mention Skoda have replaced under warranty the factory fitted Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres on our Fabia MC, because they were causing the car to try turn left all the time. Replacement Pirelli's are much better.}

 

 

_TP

I've got SportMaxx GT MO on my E Class, and in all conditions (apart from Snow, RWD of course) they are very good. 

 

Al. 

How did you get there??? Two new tyres on the front and old on the back are not a god idea. Better to rotate front to back occasionally, so that al four need replacement at the same time.

 

I do about 20 000 miles/year and swap front to back every 6 months, so as the fronts wear faster than the back, they are more or less equal all the time.

 

I have been very happy with the Michelins (see below), but any tyre rated high on WET performance would be OK.

How did you get there??? Two new tyres on the front and old on the back are not a god idea. Better to rotate front to back occasionally, so that al four need replacement at the same time.

 

I do about 20 000 miles/year and swap front to back every 6 months, so as the fronts wear faster than the back, they are more or less equal all the time.

 

I have been very happy with the Michelins (see below), but any tyre rated high on WET performance would be OK.

That's a very outdated view. For years now most tyre manufactureres have recommended that you do not rotate the tyres. If you google it, the explanations why not to rotate are there.

Only ref I could find on tyre rotation on Google was from Kwik Fit. Forgive me but do they not sell tyres, so telling you not to do something that would make you tyres last longer, would be of benefit to them would it not?

Oh and if you buy new tyres for the front, they will rotate your tyres anyway and but the rears on the front and the new ones on the rear.

So don't rotate - and wear out the fronts in a couple of years or three. New tyres are with a different compound, put on the back. Different slip angles and different grip. Do you think that makes sense and is safe?? Ohhh....and did you expect the exact same tyre would be available??

 

There is still a theory left out there that the best tyres should be on the back. This was sensible with rear wheel drive and no ESP, but today with Front wheel drive (yes also on the Yeti 4WD) and ESP, the safest and most predictable handling is that all 4 have the same tyres and close to the same wear. Most economical too.

That's a very outdated view. For years now most tyre manufactureres have recommended that you do not rotate the tyres. If you google it, the explanations why not to rotate are there.

 

 

If it is an outdated view then I wasn't aware of that being the case.  I'm not saying you're right - or you're wrong....I just wasn't aware of that school of thought. Not sure who collates the collective data for it to change from it being a favourable practice to an unfavourable but it hasn't, as yet, reached me.  Both my servicing main dealers seem happy enough to accede to my request to change the fronts to the back (and vice versa) at every service -and give me a written report of the tread wear every time, so are clearly conscious of what they are doing.

 

It happens that I'd sooner have four of the same make and with equal amounts of wear all round.  It happens I'd sooner buy four new tyres rather than two...that way I feel happier that I have no possibility of any sort of conflict and also have a choice of make/type when it comes to replacement given that I don't want a mix of makes back and front. And I also tend to find myself in a better bargaining position to buy four rather than two.

'....a better bargaining position to buy four rather than two.....', says Oldstan.  How true!

Why not look at the results of the various European tyre tests:

 

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre-Tests/#summer

 

That way you're looking at results produced under controlled conditions - objective data rather than subjective.

Let's not start another who's right who's wrong debate. If you want to rotate your tyres do so, if not, don't.

I agree it is preference. I always want to have matching tyres and regard a car with different tyres front and rear as having been neglected.Using winters and having a below average annual mileage means I expect to have to change summers on a 3yr cycle and have no idea what may be my choice in 2.5 years. I like the dunlops and will look there first when the time comes.

Why not look at the results of the various European tyre tests:

 

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre-Tests/#summer

 

That way you're looking at results produced under controlled conditions - objective data rather than subjective.

Thanks. I have been looking at the tyre reviews website extensively but as the breadth of cars and tyre sizes reviewed is so huge I'm not sure what relevance any of it will be to my humble yeti! I was hoping more yeti owners would tell me what they fitted as they would be better placed to compare tyres to the factory fit sp sport 01's.

I have to make a decision and I think I'm going to go for another set of sp sport 01's. No one has offered a better alternative and most yeti owners seem happy with the sp sports 01's. They might not be the best in terms of reviews or fuel consumption ratings, but I'm happy enough with the ride and wear qualities and they offer a useful amount of rim protection for the alloys. I think it's going to be a case of 'better the devil you know'.

My personal choice would be the new Goodyear efficient grip performance.

Check out the comparison ratings on mytyres website.

The Dunlop sport SP01 is an old tyre now, and outclassed by some of the new tyres,especially in rolling resistance.

My personal choice would be the new Goodyear efficient grip performance.

Check out the comparison ratings on mytyres website.

The Dunlop sport SP01 is an old tyre now, and outclassed by some of the new tyres,especially in rolling resistance.

I accept the points you make. That was one I was considering but after reading lots of reviews I'm not sure it's characteristics would suit the yeti as well as some other cars. It's claimed to be soft and not an ideal choice on vehicles with hard suspension like the yeti - although it might be perfectly adequate it would be a somewhat expensive gamble but it does look good in terms of grip and fuel efficiency. Has anyone any actual experience of these tyres?

You can put whatever tyres you want on a Yeti, as long as they are the right size for the model, it's up to the individual whether they are "GOOD" or not. There are no tyres just for a Yeti, regardless of what was on it when you bought it. If you want cheap Chinese at £50 a go, fine, or spend £200 a tyre it's up to you. The same as everything else in this world, if you think it's right then it's right.

Disagree. Entirely true that an individual may be happy with "who flung dung ditchfinders" but that does not equate to them being good. Tyres are capable of independent testing and so good ones will be appreciably more efficient, more grippy or longer lasting than others. Even a cautious driver at moderate speed may be put into a position by other drivers of needing a high level of grip beyond the capacity of the £50 tyre. It may not happen often but once is more than enough. 

You can put whatever tyres you want on a Yeti, as long as they are the right size for the model, it's up to the individual whether they are "GOOD" or not. There are no tyres just for a Yeti, regardless of what was on it when you bought it. If you want cheap Chinese at £50 a go, fine, or spend £200 a tyre it's up to you. The same as everything else in this world, if you think it's right then it's right.

 

 

Can't see any logic in that point of view.  To say that "if I think it's right then it's right" has nothing to commend it at all.  It can't possibly be right for all the obvious reasons that don't require reiterating here.

 

And I honestly don't think it's "fine" to recommend fitting cheap Chinese ditchfinders either.

 

And it's not just the size of the tyre either...it's the rating and the type of tyre as well....winter/summer/all season/mud and snow/rain/off road tyres...there are loads of different types.  Why do tyre manufacturers spend all that money developing the tyres we now have available?  Years ago we drove on cross plys...and now they're part of motoring history.

 

Really can't agree with this at all.

Just caught up with this thread and Skoda Auto themselves recommend moving tyres round stating the following in their handbooks;

 

Changing wheels around
If significantly greater wear is present on the front tyres, we recommend replacing
the front wheels with the rear wheels as shown in the diagram » Fig. 190 .
You will then obtain approximately the same life for all the tyres.
We recommend that you change the tyres around every 10000 km in order to
achieve even wear on all tyres and to obtain optimal tyre life.

 

 

TP

In the 17 or so years I've been driving I've never had any tyre fitter suggest that new tyres go on the back instead of the front but since I do little mileage (6k a year) and usually only keep a car for five and a half years I've never had to replace rear tyres due to wear on any vehicle I have owned. My rears are still looking good at 5mm!

Whilst I'm aware I can fit any tyre to suitable to the yeti my aim in opening this topic was to find out what other yeti owners had fitted. After all, in my mind an amateur review from someone who has experience of certain tyres on the yeti is worth more in my mind that an expert review of the same tyre in 15inch diameter on a Peugeot 206!

Also, I did find a good article that said not to give too much credence to eu ratings as they only cover 3 criteria and it would be easy enough for a company to create a tyre to meet those three criteria in the same way as car manufacturers tweak engine output at certain outputs for co2 purposes. The eu ratings do not cover dry grip, wear, expected mileage or handling characteristics so anyone buying a tyre based purely on these ratings might be missing a trick!

Edited 29 November, 201312 yr by ashabristol

Car originally on SP01's, changed front to back same side when winters fitted(x2)ran about 5k on winters rest on SP's changed to 4 more SP's in Sept, got the 4 from Mytyres at about £120/corner and a local to my mums UK bay fitted, balanced etc for £5 a corner(lunchtime job I think) the original Sp's had covered about 32k and changed when 3mm tread left(I realise not good economics, but a good safety policy for me)

They suit me, my driving style, and the the twisty roads here in west finistere - if I lived elsewhere maybe a different choice would have been made, horses for courses!

Just my sixpennouth