14k on my vRS Mk3 and happy with it so far.

 

However will need to change front tyres soon and wondering what people are going with.

 

Came with Continental sport contact 2 225/40/18 on anthracite geminis.

 

I'm generally a motorway driver - not particually wild on the tyres. 

 

Can get the same tyres again for around £95 a corner. I guess I need to change all 4 if considering a change of tyre manufactuers etc?

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

OK to change in pairs.

 

Put the new tyres on the rear of the car is the advice of the tyre industry, although I ignore it

 

General consensus on the MkII was that Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 were the best tyre to have in 225/40R18

I'll throw this tyre into the mix....

 

Nexen N3000

 

Cheap but very good, I've had these on for about 15k that I know of (they were on the car when I bought it)...  I'm having to change them now due to splits in the tyre wall on the inside edge...  The tread is still a good 4 - 5 mm deep...

 

EM

And you did a track day Damo!

Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 2

Best tyre Ive ever had

Buy here

And you did a track day Damo!

 

And I did a track day...  The MOT guy said the tyres are perfect from the outside but the split on the inside wall was a failure so I've had to swap.... :'(

For what it's worth, blackcircles.com are doing GoodYear Efficient Grip Performance for £104/corner at the moment (and double clubcard points if you're bothered), saving £40/corner.

 

Fuel/RR, Grip and Noise ratings are all much better than most.

The Goodyear Efficient Grip are great tires. I ran them on both my 3-Series and Renault Megane before getting the Octy.

Make sure you get something that has side walls that protrude past the rims. The Bridgestones that came with mine dont. Got paranoid after 1 day and had Alloygater protectors fitted. Getting sick of knocking them back in though.

If you can get Continental sport contacts (whichever number, the 2's are pretty old) at £95 a corner you might as well stick with them, they are the best tyre I've ever used for wet weather grip and that means stopping if your mainly motorway use, which maybe of more importance to your no-claims discount !  They do wear a little quicker than others but changing tyres more often is more important to me than having a crash.

You want to try the F1s in the wet - they were better than the SC5s on my MkII

Not sure what the Octavia will be like but with previous front drive cars, I've tried to switch front to back once fronts are about 2/3rds worn and then they all waer out at the same time and I have the benefit of having 4 news tyres again rather than unequal ones...just my personal preference ...

 

Steve.

If you choose efficientgrips (they get better ratings than the eagle f1) Look at tyreleader and all the others and if you've time watch for a few weeks as they go up and down in price. I got a pair at about £92 each, fitting locally another tenner.  Oh and take care when comparing prices, there are several versions with different side wall construction etc.

 

Digressing a moment, I've swapped fronts and rears in the past but is there any real advantage?  Swap in pairs and keep identical tyres on each axle, put new tyres on the rear to reduce risk of lift off oversteer and to wear out the older tyres more quickly on the front, yes, but unless your changing width/profile why swap 4 at a time?

Sorry to go off thread..But I did mean to swap in pairs..

And..Liftoff oversteer is a good thing... ;-)

Steve

Always found Continentals are good, but wear a bit quick. On this car my fronts are illegal after 12k - though this may not be helped by the Skoda recommended tyre pressures, which seem a bit high (tread has gone illegal just off centre).

 

I'm getting Michelin Pilot Sport 3's fitted Friday - and may also try running them a couple of psi lower !

Not sure what the Octavia will be like but with previous front drive cars, I've tried to switch front to back once fronts are about 2/3rds worn and then they all waer out at the same time and I have the benefit of having 4 news tyres again rather than unequal ones...just my personal preference ...

Steve.

This was my plan as the fronts are 2/3'rds worn and backs look new. Been putting it off for the last couple of weeks and now picked up a puncture in one of rears which means a full new set all round now.

I would got for the Sport Contact 5's ... Good All Rounder.

 

(Also, stick the new tyres on the driving wheels - so fronts. When the rears need replacing, move the fronts to the rear and place new tyres on the front)

Michelin Pilot Sport 3's, Conti CS5's or Goodyear Eagle F1's are generally the 3 best "sports" tyres you can get. Stick with them and you wont have any issues. CS2's Were good (had them on a mk2 vrs) but wore quick.

Another vote for Eagle F1 asymmetric 2.  Had them on a previous car and want them again.  Anyone actually put them on an O3 vRS yet? 

 

Also another vote for new on the rear, much easier to control understeer than oversteer in a FWD car.

Top work gents - will let you know in due course but by the looks of things the Eagles F1's look best of the bunch.

For what it's worth. Michelin always seem to give the best life on my motorway cruiser. My car came with primacy hp from the factory. It's done 15000 since March and still 5mm tread all round. Just replaced one due to nail killing it £100 quid fitted on 225/45/17

The Michelins do seem to last forever, but that is because they are a hard compound, so it is at the expense of grip.

 

You always have to compromise - the grippier the tyre the more it wears as a general rule, there are of course exceptions

I like my CONTI Sport Contact 2's, much more so than the SC3's I replaced them with.

Ended up with a set of sporty Bridgestones on, found them excellent at communicating front wheel behaviour & grip as the side walls were rock solid with little flex compared to the CONTI's.

As for swapping tyres around, when the fronts wear down, change them and put the old rears on the front & new tyres on the rear. The reason this is done is because over the years the rubber in the tyres gets old, less flexible and drys out, a bit like your skin. It gets abuse from the road surface, the weather (hot n cold, dry n wet), the sun UV etc and all the abuse dished out by the drivers right foot!

If you leave the rears alone they will last 20,000m if not more, but you could suffer the sidewalks splitting thereby giving you a much increased chance of blow out occurring. That's why you put the rears on the front so their working life is reduced quicker limiting the aging process.

The aging effect is even more pronounced with winter tyres as after four'ish years the rubber has hardened up (cured) enough to reduce their winter properties considerably. That's why in Europe you see ppl running winters in the summer as they are either past the recommended winter thread depth or at four / five years old. Time for some new shoes, so get all you can outta your old winters before the next one arrives.

The mileage I do, a set of winters just lasts 3 winters!