36 minutes ago, FabiaGonzales said:

..going down to a 15" with 185 width tyres is less rubber contact, less grip..

 

185/65R15 tyres have more rubber contact than 215/45R16 tyres. Although the contact patch of a 215/45R16 tyre is wider, the length of the contact patch on a 185/65R15 tyre is much longer.

 

It's been shown in tyre reviews that after a certain point, wider tyres take longer to stop a car in the wet. For example, 195/65R15 tyres stop a car quicker in the wet than 205/55R16 tyres.

Edited 30 June, 20205 yr by Carlston

Narrow with good water dispersal great and good in reducing aqua planing. 

Wider with good design and water dispersal properties and you are sorted.

 

None of it is rocket science really as most here are drivers and know the theory and the practice.

 

Actually most here will be Mk3 Fabia owners or drivers on a regular basis.

Some maybe that old that they remember when a 195 tyre was considered wide.

Narrow with good water dispersal great and good in reducing aqua planing. 

Wider with good design and water dispersal properties and you are sorted.

 

None of it is rocket science really as most here are drivers and know the theory and the practice.

 

Edited 30 June, 20205 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

2 hours ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

Some maybe that old that they remember when a 195 tyre was considered wide.

 

Some maybe that old that they remember when a 70 aspect ratio was considered low profile.

 

19 hours ago, Lamont1980 said:

So, on the front, I have a Riken and a Kormoran, both in terms of tread depth are very similar. Riken only on last weekend. 

 

Never heard of Kormoran tbh. 

 

There is a pair of Dunlop's on the back, tread not ass good as the front but they are probably the better brand. 

 

I'll check pressures when it's not torrential. 

 

Rule 1. NEVER mix tyres on an axle. Preferably use the identical tyres all round.

Rule 2. Budget tyres are cheap for a reason: they're inferior. Most tyres seem OK in the dry, but in the wet the inferior tyres will show their worth.

 

I suggest you scrap all tyres and get Continental or Michelin premium tyres such as the Continental PremiumContact. It's your life and probably your family's you have to consider. Those few scant inches of tyres in contact with the road may save your life.

Edited 30 June, 20205 yr by TerFar
spelling

Not all inexpensive tyres are ditchfinders or crap, and Michelin , Continental, Pirelli and other premium brands turn out horror show tyres as the world's biggest car manufacturer fit as OEM. Eg in the past 4 years Continental premium contact 2 Contiseal. Or Bridgestone duelers.  All that has a good reputation is not a guarantee of being worth the inflated price. Michelin Primacy as another example.

57 minutes ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

Michelin Primacy as another example.

 

We've done this one, Root.  You'll just have to come out with me in my Mk5 Golf with 210 bhp and 330 lbs-ft in the wet to be convinced you're wrong about them.  😆

@Schtum  210bhp is lovely. But not unusual in the Fabia section for members to drive similar or more.

It is just a car forum, and people have cars and driving experiences and tyre fitting stories to tell.

Tyres are something i have a fetish for and i have tried plenty over the years, often take offs from Skoda approving new tyres because the Dealerships can not sort the alignment and the pulling to the left that is so common with right hand drive cars they build.

 

Pirelli Zero Nero the favored tyre with hard sidewalls to hide the issue rather than resolve it.

 

We did in another section and the Michelin Primacy on my new car are still poo.

Since you do not have just Primacy from 2019/20 and Primacy 4 or what ever maybe best you try them on something like a 1.0TSI DSG or a Hybrid or an EV.

ECO crap to give MPG or Range and sod the grip / traction / friction. 

?

Is it Primacy 4 you have on?

 

A set off inexpensive tyres from TIGAR in Serbia, a Michelin owned company are a far better purchase then some of the OEM tyres fitted by the VW Group.

 

Edited 30 June, 20205 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

10 minutes ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

@Schtum  We did in another section and the Michelin Primacy on my new car are still poo.

Since you do not have just Primacy from 2019/20 and Primacy 4 or what ever maybe best you try them on something like a 1.0TSI DSG or a Hybrid or an EV.

ECO crap to give MPG or Range and sod the grip / traction / friction. 

?

Is it Primacy 4 you have on?

 

Primacy 3   225/45/17 91 W  Treadwear 240 Traction A  Temperature A   Made in Spain.  

 

They last me about 30k miles on the front, driven hard. 

 

Maybe the ones they put on crap wee cars aren't as sticky....🤔

They certainly are not sticky. 

& they put them on £30,000-£40,000 plus KIA, PSA Group etc Hybrids and EV's.  So not so little cars.

Cars with plenty Nm going to front wheels, or soon to the rear of VW Group EV's.

Edited 30 June, 20205 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

I possibly am a fan of Michelin tyres, but only for summer use when driving North of the Border, it was Exaltos that forced me to start using winter tyres on my wife's Polo 9N in Winter, and a year later Primacy HPs that forced me to do the same thing on my Passat 4Motion, I'll still have Michelin on my shopping list for Summer use on her 2015 Polo when it comes to tyre changing time.  

 

Even the local Costco tyre fitter checked the last time I bought some new Exaltos , that I had no plans to use them out of town in Winter, I expected that I had already discovered that!

Cheers for all the responses, been working so hadn't had the chance to go through them. 

 

Checked pressures, new tyre, 2.4, front driver, 2.1. Both rear 2.1

 

The Dunlop tyres on the back from the dealer I'm afraid are older than the car.

 

I should really have checked this when I bought from AC. I'm now suspicious that they are PW tyres, which in my opinion are am absolute No No.

 

Strongly worded email to the dealer I think. 

Hum, best to avoid that outlet, but then unfortunately some of us can't, my older daughter bought a prereg SEAT Leon Cupra through in Embra, everything went well, many faults logged in the car's memory at hand over time, but she was tight on free time  to pursue that, I've cleared faults a few times and the odd fault returns, okay not AC's fault, but they could have checked cleared and maybe even investigated the original faults at PDI or before handing it over to the owner.  I just wonder what will happen on Tuesday when it gets handed in for its first service, it should be getting its  memory checked for logged faults , reported and cleared, but will they bother, time will tell.

2 hours ago, Schtum said:

Treadwear 240 Traction A  Temperature A

 

These figures are the American DOT ones not the European ones.

 

Thanks AG Falco

Regarding the age of the rear tyres. I don't know the age of your car, or the mileage, but it's feasible that they are the tyres from the factory. And you would expect them to be older than the car though probably only a few weeks. Also it's possible the car was actually made some time before it was registered. Put those together and it might explain it.

On 29/06/2020 at 23:00, Lamont1980 said:

So, on the front, I have a Riken and a Kormoran, both in terms of tread depth are very similar. Riken only on last weekend. 

 

Never heard of Kormoran tbh. 

 

There is a pair of Dunlop's on the back, tread not as good as the front but they are probably the better brand. 

 

It appears that Riken and Kormoran are both made in Poland's biggest tyre factory which is owned by Michelin. It's possible they are also made elsewhere.

 

One reviewer on tyrereviews.co.uk described the Riken Road Performance tyres in size 225/45R17 as "frightening in the wet". Another reviewer driving on 215/55R16 said "on very wet roads the feel on the driving wheel is light".

https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Riken/Road-Performance_2.htm

 

Kormoran Road Performance and Riken Road Performance look like the same tyre.

 

Kormoran Road Performance 215/45R16 90V

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-details/kormoran-road-performance-215-45-r16-90-v-xl#303344123_reviewslist

Riken Road Performance 215/45R16 90V

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/tyres/riken-3528700976434-097643

 

On the tyrereviews.co.uk website, tyre brands are put into three classes. Premium, mid-range, and economy. Both Kormoran and Riken are put into the economy class.

 

Kormoran Tyres

https://passenger-car.kormoran-tyres.com/products/road-performance/

Riken Tyres

https://passenger-car.riken.com/products/road-perfromance/

 

As you can see from the above two links, the Kormoran Road Performance tyres and the Riken Road Performance tyres look identical.

Edited 1 July, 20205 yr by Carlston

3 hours ago, lowedb said:

Regarding the age of the rear tyres. I don't know the age of your car, or the mileage, but it's feasible that they are the tyres from the factory. And you would expect them to be older than the car though probably only a few weeks. Also it's possible the car was actually made some time before it was registered. Put those together and it might explain it.

 

Possibly, I'll need to dig out the paperwork. Car is a 16 plate with 30k miles on it when I bought it in Jan. 

 

Tyres were manufactured in 2015 so it's not entirely outrageous to suggest they may have been on since purchase, although having the tyres last more than the 30k, I'm not too sure. 

Our previous car was a 16 plate and still had the original factory tyres on when we sold it just over 12 months ago. Its had new fronts just after we sold now the rears are either only just changed, or about to be (lockdown has intervened and I haven't spoken to the current owner about it). It has way more than 30k on it (59k in March), but apart from its early life (6 months as a staff car at Skoda UK Milton Keynes) It always had winter tyres on while we had it. So at least 4 months of the year the factory tyres were stored in the shed and not wearing.

6 hours ago, Lamont1980 said:

 

Possibly, I'll need to dig out the paperwork. Car is a 16 plate with 30k miles on it when I bought it in Jan. 

 

Tyres were manufactured in 2015 so it's not entirely outrageous to suggest they may have been on since purchase, although having the tyres last more than the 30k, I'm not too sure. 

If the date code has a high week number 2015, could be originals.   Reasonable to allow tyres to be made few weeks before fitted, then car to take few weeks being delivered, may have sat in a compound before being registered.
 

I think a lot of people are stating the obvious that cheap tyres are not as good, without giving the reasoning.  Quite simply the laws of physics mean there is a trade off between wear (hardness) and being grippy (soft), and the optimum point for single material is at a specific temperature.   It costs more to use compounds that have a mix of materials that are good on warmer days and cooler days.

 

Without sounding harsh, Scotland does not get warm tropical thunderstorms, so need tyres that like cold rain, (not average or warm rain).  All season tyres tend to be better suited to this than summer tyres.      
 

The other thing as pointed out early in the thread is Scottish tarmac can be greasy.   I think they use pure bitumen, whereas in South East roads often use polymer modifed tar (so they don’t go slippery when it was 33c air temp like last week) as a binding material.   This is common in Europe (and therefore European summer tyres are likely to be optimised for it).

 

I don't think anyone has actually stated it, but the Fabia handles pretty well, front end grip on ours is very good. Its running Continentals on the front and Dunlops on the rear, both set to the higher ECO pressures. On our other car I run Michelin Cross Climates and the road holding of these in the dry is very good, in the wet or on ice/snow they are excellent, Goodyear Vector All Seasons are also very good.  

 

I would suggest its the combination of two different tyre makes of less well known make, perhaps made worse by pressure differences.

 

 

What I find helped my handling massively was to reduce the pressures only slightly which not only improved front end grip but also gives you a much more comfortable ride 

You could of course take more care in the wet 😉 I have the Korean tires on mine and run them at 2.2bar

I have just upped them to Eco 2.5 for a camping load and will take care to re-learn the new handling characteristics

At 2.2 they are really good even in the wet but I am always circumspect on wet roads as even the best tires will aquaplane

if the water beats just one tire. Concorde used to aquaplane at around 20mph (if I remember correctly)