Looking to get new rubber on my mk1 Fabia vRS.  Within the last 12 months,the previous owner replaced all four tyres with budget brands and while they have loads of tread, a couple of close calls in the past have taught me that you get what you pay for with most tyres, and I don't feel comfortable driving a relatively powerful car on cheap rubber. 

 

I've run a quick search on Black Circles, and read some reviews and opinions on a range of brands here on the forum, but wanted to just get a bit more of an idea of others' experiences with various brands. Irritatingly, I've read a lot of good things about Falken's tryres for this size, but they're the one brand I can't find online.

S0... In general terms, how have people got on with the following tyres?

 

 

On a more specific note, Has anyone got any experience of the different noise levels between, say the Kumhos and Dunlops? There's 7dB between them. How noticeable is that?

 

Cheers all

I would not have the Dunlops. They usually perform badly in independant tyre tests, and IME have a high wear rate without offering good grip.

 

The Goodyear and Michelin are usually close to best performer in those same tests.

Try Camskill for Falkens.

ZE914 is the current version of their performance/comfort tyre. 

from that list, I'd choose the Goodyear. My buddy has found them reliable and robust on track. The Yokohama AD08R is a new and very good track day tyre, the successor to the very good AD08. While I run AD08s (in summer/track), I wouldn't run them on a daily driver and certainly not in winter. The Hankooks are rated by the R56 MINI community, but I haven't used them.

I've got the Hankooks on the front of mine and getting them fitted on the back soon. Can't fault them so far and always feels like i have plenty of grip even in really heavy rain.

I have had the Hankooks and really didn't rate them,  they were noisy with little wear on them, the sidewalls are too soft and give stodgy feel.  I switched to Vredestein Ultrac Cento's which were 3db quieter, had more communicative feel due to stronger sidewall, have very useful built in rim protection edge and grip for days wet and dry.

 

On the DB level, I believe 3db difference is a 50% change in noise level!!!

 

Those prices don't look very competitive at all for that tyre size.  Have you looked at what fitted prices Event Tyres offer? and they come to you?  A good few of those up there would be £20 cheaper a tyre fitted than those prices.

 

Hope that helps a little.

Those prices don't look very competitive at all for that tyre size.  Have you looked at what fitted prices Event Tyres offer? and they come to you?  A good few of those up there would be £20 cheaper a tyre fitted than those prices.

 

Hope that helps a little.

 

Helps a lot.  Looks like average £5 cheaper per tyre. That's still £20 better off  :beer:  :beer: :beer:  :beer:  :beer:  :beer:  

 

Edit:

Looked a bit further, top pick, the Michelin Pilot Sport 3s are on offer with a £100 fuel voucher. Effectively brings them down to £83 a corner. No brainer??

Edited 1 April, 201412 yr by Maieth

result

 

best bit for me is they come and do mine in the works car park without inconveniencing me trying to find time to go get them fitted on a weekend.  I know the guy who works in my area and he is always careful and has done tyres for a few friends too.

I use Goodyear on my company cars and have done around 350,000 mile on them in the last 10 years with no issues.

Actually, just a note on the noise ratings - They're "drive-by noise" rather than cabin noise, so do you really care?

Actually, just a note on the noise ratings - They're "drive-by noise" rather than cabin noise, so do you really care?

The accerala alpha tyres on my car are rated at 74db whilst the vredestein sportrac 5 on swmbo's Leon are rated at 70db and there is a noticeable difference in noise when driving. Wear levels are similar.

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Actually, just a note on the noise ratings - They're "drive-by noise" rather than cabin noise, so do you really care?

 

I'd think that differences in drive by amplitude would be just as noticeable inside the cabin, the overall volume would just be lower.  I wouldn't expect to hear 65-70dB while in the car thanks to modern soundproofing, but I wandered whether the 5dB difference, for example, would still be as noticeable.  From others' feedback, it seems 'Yes' is the answer.  So while the Kumho's look fine in terms of grip and economy, it's likely to be worth the extra money per corner to get something that runs more quietly, particularly on a 20k annual mileage.

 

So, three votes cast for Goodyear, one each for Michelin, Vredstein and Hankook.

Anyone got any experience with the Michelins? Obviously they have an excellent reputation as a brand, and with the current offer on Event Tyres, I wonder if they're a better bet then the Goodyears? Any more inupt?

Edited 2 April, 201412 yr by Maieth

I think that the Pilot Sport2s are rated better than the 3s but do have a look at tyrereviews.co.uk for some other views, albeit from drivers of wildly varying cars...

I think that the Pilot Sport2s are rated better than the 3s but do have a look at tyrereviews.co.uk for some other views, albeit from drivers of wildly varying cars...

 

Plenty of good reading there. Michelins and Goodyear Eagel F1 Assymetrics both rate very, very highly. Goodyears rated higher and have a lot more awards. Need a conversation with SWMBO to convince her how important new rubber is, and then see if the offer is still running on the Michelins. If they're full price it looks like the Gooodyears are definitely the front runners