I am NOT recommending buying cheap Chinese tyres, just stating if that's what you want go ahead. "If I think it's right it's right" is why people buy things, you may have a panasonic TV because you think it's right for you, some else will disagree, that's life.

What I was trying to say was, buy whatever you want,( obviously the correct size )as that is what you think is right.

Sorry if some of you mis-understood what I was saying.

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

Thanks for your comments. Another thumbs up for the sp01's then.

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.

I think the point is that tyres are one of the few expensive purchases in life that you can't try before you buy therefore gauging opinions of people with the same car is useful and subjective. If money isn't of primary concern then on what basis are you meant to make a decision? I thought the whole point of forums like this was to ask questions of people who have been there and done that and learn from their experiences?

I've just replaced the fronts with the same type as the Yeti was supplied with, the Dunlop SP01's. I've been happy with them so why change. I don't think I could detect a difference in rolling resistance or petrol consumption so the sales blurb is lost on me.

There was still some legal tread left on the tyres after 16,000 miles but I changed them as I'd damaged one of them after hitting a large pot hole in the dark.

My driving style is not aimed at economy. I would never buy budget tyres as I feel the main brands offer better safety.  

I'll mention again the Oponeo site which lists hundreds of tyres in all flavours...summer and winter.  The Dunlops are there, of course, but in several ratings, so make sure to compare apples with apples.

 

The 225 50 17 size starts as cheap as chips with all the names you can't pronounce unless you hail from Asian extremities but you see the more respectable names Avon and Falken starting at around £90 (delivered but not fitted). Kumhos are are a bit more and are shown in numerous specs. The established and well known  names are around £110/£120 upwards.

 

I saw that the Uniroyal Rainsports are there at around £117.  I frequently hear excellent reports of those....summer tyres but evidently good in the wet (could be the name gives it away)....and I've read bods report they're respectable in cold weather - as in ice and snow - but clearly they're not full blown winter tyres.

 

There is a school of thought (including that of the likes of Honest John) that the Michelin Alpins are frequently used all year round with good effect and that they don't wear any worse in the summer than equivalent summer tyres...but I have no scientific evidence to offer and can't be arsed to trawl the tyre review sites...but I've seen that said more than once from different sources. They're offered at between £137 - £157 depending on spec.

 

I've used them myself and recommend their service.

The link below may be of help:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyres_For/Skoda/Yeti-4-x-4.htm

November last year I had fitted 4 Matador Hectorra 2's. They get good reviews and I had no issues with them throughout the winter months. Ended up having to change in March due them being condemned by the Dealer when car was serviced due to flints cutting through to the cords. This isn't the fault of the tyre but more down to the the roads I drive on where the local farmers decide to bring their fields onto the roads along with associated stones etc.. Combined with an over zealous mechanic,.

When the tyres were changed at my local fitters, they questioned why I was changing as in their opinion they were OK. By that point I couldn't change my mind as the new tyes,(4 -Season for reasons I won't go into), had already been fitted. So, I'm keeping them for Summer use .

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. It seems most yeti owners who have had experience of the Dunlop sp sport 01 seem happy and have replaced like with like. Since there is no clear alternative endorsed by more than one actual yeti owner I think I am going to go replace mine with another set. Will have one last night to sleep on the decision but I think that replacing like for like seems like the best bet, after all I'm happy enough with their handling and the fact that nearly four years on I still have alloys without any scrape marks! In the big picture I guess a few pounds extra spent on fuel is worth the peace of mind.

I think it has been posted that the Dunlops are soon to be discontinued so maybe you need to to fit them quick.

I got about 26k miles from fronts and expect at least 35k from rears and more than happy with performance.

Quiet too.

Edited 3 December, 201312 yr by kibby

Generally once I have found a tyre that works for me in both grip and longevity (grip having the greater weighting) I tend to stick to them because:

1. I have familiarity of the grip levels
2. I have familiarity of how the car will handle
3. I try and keep all tyres the same front and rear.

So for now I will stick to my Dunlop SP01 boots whilst I can still get them. After that I'll probably give the Dunlop SP01 replacements a try.

 

The same arguement goes for my Conti winters.

I think I mentioned the Dunlop sp01's being discontinued in my original post, although having spent 20mins trawling through the internet there is only mention of them being discontinued in the USA and Canada. Everyone in the U.K. seems to have stock and there is no mention of them being discontinued in Europe, at least for the time being.

try mytyres.com/co.uk etb fitted mine, don't know if they are elsewhere apart from west/sw mids

Just changed front Pirelli Zero Rosso's to Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance, I've been naughty and haven' rotated. The rears still have half their life... , fronts did about 27000 miles

Really pleased with the Goodyears - softened the ride a bit and quieter running - all the tyre roar is from the back now. Once they've run in - another 300 miles to go I'll get back with a progress report.

Oh bought them at Formular 1 auto centre.

The reason it is recommended that the newest tyres are put on the rear is that there are an awful lot of cars out there that do low mileages mostly around town and whilst the fronts keep wearing out thanks to lots of stopping, starting, cornering and kerb hopping , the rears never wear out and can be 6, 7, 10 or more years old. Tyres deteriorate with age and their performance "goes off" significantly as they get older. Add sidewall cracking which is also common on older tyres and it does make sense to put the oldest tyres on the front so that all tyres are replaced over time.

 

Another factor on 4x4 cars is that ideally all tyres should have the same diameter so that the transmission isn't having to compensate for different size tyres (which is another reason for the "max 50mph" sticker on the Yeti spare).

 

BUT it is not advisable to change tyres side to side, just front to back. The direction of rotation of the tyre should ideally be maintained for its full life. Of course, a directional tyre must never be transferred to the other side of the car as the direction of rotation will change and the tread won't't then clear water correctly.

The expression "rotating your tyres" does therefore cause some confusion, better to refer to the excercise as "swapping tyres front to back" - which is perfectly ok and is recommended by responsible tyre fitters!

Edited 13 January, 201412 yr by speedsport

Me again, just had Yeti serviced (annual) and it seems that rear tyres will need replacing earlier than originally thought, as one is down to 2.5mm on one side (garage checked tracking), will be doing this next week again at Formular 1 as they seem to be the cheapest locally. Service and mot didn't highlight anything else. Yeti's 4th birthday 12 Jan.