Ride quality and tyres...

[birch]

New to the site and suspect it better to add to this thread than start a new one. Bought a 2nd hand 2013 Rapid 1.6DTI Elegance eco-tech a couple of years ago (a bit noisier & slightly harder ride than old 2004 Octavia Est. TDI that became too expensive to repair). Rapid has 3 x Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 215/45 R16 86Hs (originals?) + 1 x replacement Nanking Noble-Sport 90V (rear offside). Both rear tyres + 1 front tyre need replacing (and other front before too long), so shall replace all 4.

 

Qs include:

1. Which are the best-buy tyres?

a. SP Maxx again? Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance? Avon ZV7? (All possible front runners?)

b. Other strong contenders? Maybe Continental Premium Contact 5? Firestone Roadhawk? Vredestein Sportrac 5? Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125? Any other Asians?

c. Turanzas & Michelins sound like a turn-off (and more expensive). And had never heard of Goodride or Aelous before finding this thread.

 

2. Any benefits in going for 90V& XL (for greater load-weight & tyre reinforcement rather than higher max. speed!), instead of 86H? Potholes a rapidly increasing menace, so reinforcement & wheel-rim protection near-essential if possible?

 

3. Given mentions elsewhere in thread, what are key pros & cons of switching to 205/50 16R (not least for this model)? And covered by insurance?

 

4. Any other Qs I should be asking? (+ pro/con answers if possible).

 

Don't really want to pay more than ca. £100 per tyre + fitting etc. if I don't need to. And reliability, safety, good tread life & no worse fuel economy more important that high(est) performance. Choice these days is baffling, and many reviews seemingly conflicting and  counter-productive for those of us who are technically-challenged! Thanks for reading and answering.

 

 

 

[camelspyyder]

SP Sport Maxx are long lasting, very noisy and hard-riding so that's a definite no from me.

Bridgestones RE50A seem to be the same but less so.

I would have bought ContiPremiumContact 2 again, but they were a shade pricey.

I settled on the Falken ZE914 but ended up changing the car instead of the tyres.

 

I've only driven the ones in bold.

 

 

 

Your size sorted by consumer rating here:

 

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Search/Size/215-45-16/Order/Rating

 

 

I wouldn't bother with "Budget" or "Economy" brands but Vredestein Sporttrac 5 looks a highly rated good bet in the "Mid-range".

 

If you must have a "Premium" top 6 label, then the Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance look quite good.

 

 

 

 

[birch]

Many thanks - a good start. Thoughts on the other 2 Qs welcomed too from those in the know - pros/cons of 86H vs. 90V and/or switching to 205/50 16R? You'd have thought I'd have looked into all this decades ago, but better late .....

[camelspyyder]

XL gives stronger sidewall so probably a worse ride.

 

86H should be cheaper. Does your car go faster than 130mph? (H rating)

 

I choose comfort, quiet and treadlife over massive grip. Read some reviews and choose the sort of tyre you actually need.

Edited 22 April, 2018 by camelspyyder

[birch]

Thanks again - getting there!

[chrisgreen]

As above - the factory Dunlops are long-lasting and very effective in everyday conditions. However, they are very noisy and the ride is not as good as it could be (but mostly the big problem is the road noice they generate).

 

I replaced all of mine with Michelin CrossClimate all-weather tyres. Substantially quieter and excellent performance in both the dry and the wet (and the snow).

 

As I don't do the commuting miles I used to (Doing well under 10k a year) I can't justify the cost and hassle of swapping between summer and winter wheels like I used to. The Michelin CrossClimates have produced a happy medium in that regard. Did all four corners of the car at Costco for £260 fitted.

[birch]

These sound interesting. Shall look into them. Many thanks.

[k7aus]

On 4/25/2017 at 21:54, RickTT said:

 

Goodride... Chinesse ditch finders made by Zhongce.

 Bought MK2 Golf GTD with Goodride tyres on 15 years ago, was very impressed by the dry grip and handling, but any damp conditions would result in 4 wheels drifts around roundabouts, living in Edinburgh at the time meant i had to had to change tyres.

[Ootohere]

I used Goodride Tyres on a Mk2 vRS Fabia and they were good in dry, wet, cold and snow.

Also used TIGAR Tyres that ATS sell,  made in Serbia in a Michelin owned factory, all that is cheap does not mean they are rubbish or ditch finders.

£50-60 each fitted.

The Tigar reinforced sidewalls were particularly good on bad / potholed roads.

Edited 23 April, 2018 by Offski

[camelspyyder]

You cant judge all tyres from a brand the same way - not even if they are a premium one.

 

e.g. Dunlop make some cracking tyres (eg SP Fast Response) and some crap ones  eg (SP SPortMAxx)

 

Equally I have had 1 set of Goodride in a 185/65R15 that were comfortable, reasonably grippy in all conditions and very quiet, but I don't doubt some other Goodride products deserve the ditch-finder label.  

 

My last car's premium Continentals were excellent for 25000 miles, but then they became ditch-finders when down to a completely legal 3mm tread all round.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 23 April, 2018 by camelspyyder

[birch]

More grist to the mili. Many thanks.

[Gerrycan]

I think there is an element of luck involved.

I've had two Octavia from new that were fitted with Dunlop SportMaxx.

The first was a 1.9pd with 15 inch alloy wheels and initially I was very pleased with handling, ride and noise but the car had (unknown) wheel alignment problems so that the fairly course tyre tread of the SportMaxx developed a scalloping that made them incredibly noisy. After only 20k km I was forced to go in for a four wheel alignment and fitted Yokohama at dealers recommendation as a very quiet tyre. They were quiet but never handled as well as the Dunlop at their best.

The second car was a Mk3 1.4tsi again fitted with the Dunlop but with 17 inch alloys. Again good first impressions, but this time the satisfaction for ride, noise, handling braking and particularly low rolling resistance lasted for the near 4 years it took to wear them down to the bars after 42k km.

Now obviously there is a huge disparity between my reports on the Dunlop and the others and I think this can be explained by poor quality control in some of the  factories where they are made. 

One UK Octavia owner with them fitted reported how awful they were, as he was a very high mileage driver he anticipated wearing them out but had to give up after 80k miles and replaced them despite their not being fully worn. Surely that indicates a very hard compound from production.

 

What do manufacturers do with a bad batch? It is not like they can just recycle them so I think they just quietly put them out on 'special'.

 

I decided on Michelin Primacy at replacements as I found virtually no real bad reviews and they are proving to be more than satisfactory replacements at the price except I'm not sure they roll quite as well as my old Dunlops (go figure). They are very quiet though at this stage.

 

As an aside I have a large16 inch spacesaver spare (205x50x16?) and when I have had to use it during anyone of the 5 nail/screw punctures the Dunlop suffered in their life (not the tyres fault) the noise from that one Nexen spare tyre is incredibly loud and at any speed. I cannot imagine what it would be like having four of them fitted.

 

Personally I would not risk buying cheap Chinese manufactured tyres because most are rubbish. I'm sure there are the occasional good ones though.

 

 

[Ootohere]

Tyre manufacturing and more so retreading is so strictly controlled and bad batches are not 'Sold off as seconds / specials' or the likes, 

Biggest Corporations in the world are in enough trouble with dodgy tyres when you have the likes of Firestone / Bridgestone.

(I have friends that worked all their working life for Michelin in Dundee and around the world, at BF Goodrich as well, 

i used to get free tyres from Michelin which was a staff perk with them running tyres for real world testing, and something that had lots of local people running tyres for free.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controversy 

 

 

When VW Group cars / Skoda, Audi, VW SEAT have pulling to the left issues because from the factory right hand drive vehicles are aligned poorly then Dunlop Sport Maxx or Continental or whatever Directional tyres might eventually get blamed and under Warranty Pirelli Zero Nero might be fitted.

This disguises the issue with the stronger and sometimes taller sidewall.

 

Yet a proper alignment of the car and tyres fitted with the correct runout markings / matched can sort out the pulling to the left.

 

Odd that the 2nd biggest Car manufacturers in the world blame tyres from among the biggest tyre manufacturers in the world, but you will never get that in writing from VW Group, 

and they keep fitting whatever tyres they source cheaply in huge numbers.

 

?

Do people really believe Dunlop have quality control issues, or do car manufacturers have fitting on the rims and on the car issues, and fitting the right tyres for different cars.

& also Quality Control issues from the factory, ie car alignment when not building left hand drive cars.

Unless Left Hand Drive cars have 'Pulling to the right' issues.

 

Top picture,

  Dunlop Sport Maxx in 205/40R 17 and the Pirelli Zero Nero in 205/40 R 17 that Skoda will fit when owners have Pulling to the left issues.

Main difference not the directional or not but the stronger pirreli sidewall, less tread on the ground and the Pirelli crap performance in the wet and not great in the dry, and that they are almost indestructible.

 

Bottom pic, 

i have used Yokohama on road and offroad vehicles, 

you get good and bad or not best for the job Yokohama tyres as well. 

Yokohama Geolander great IMO,  Yokohama Parada can be dodgy in some uses.  But then they come in different Specs as do Dunlop Sport Maxx.

Edited 24 April, 2018 by Offski

[Ootohere]

 

 

 

Edited 24 April, 2018 by Offski

[birch]

Well I've made a choice, went for the Goodyear, and shall wait and see if a wise one! Local Skoda main dealer online fully competitive with mytyres and only marginally more expensive than seemingly cheapest onliners.  Thanks to everyone for feedback - well beyond the original queries. Signing off now, but shall look in again from time to time. Interesting discussion!

[Gerrycan]

Goodyear were on my shortlist and recommended by others so I don't think you will have any problems with your selection.