All Weather tyres and Summer tyres

[Carlston]

2 hours ago, Othen said:

... I checked the summer tyres (in storage) today, they are all 'MO' marked - I'm guessing they are just what is easily available to replace Continental SportContact 225/40R18.

 

Mercedes owners with 225/40R18 tyres have the choice of the latest high performance summer tyres such as the Michelin Pilot Sport 4. It maybe that your local tyre garage was simply offered them at a low price because Mercedes owners have moved on to something better.

[Othen]

2 hours ago, Carlston said:

 

Mercedes owners with 225/40R18 tyres have the choice of the latest high performance summer tyres such as the Michelin Pilot Sport 4. It maybe that your local tyre garage was simply offered them at a low price because Mercedes owners have moved on to something better.

I think that is quite likely - perhaps there is a glut of MB tyres sitting in depots. I may well have bought the current tyres at different depots , either King's Lynn or Corby/Kettering.

[AGFalco]

A lot of tyres are in short supply at the minute.

 

Along with Tyre Manufactures having too many types of tread patterns in a size.

Continental will make over 30 different tread patterns in a common size.

 

Most Tyre manufactures are trying to reduce the number though.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

[Camlobe]

On 23/11/2020 at 21:10, AGFalco said:

No.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

 

Sorry, yes it can make a difference, but probably not that much.

 

There is an article here on Manufacturer specs, generally. The bottom line is that Man specs freeze the tyre specification at the initial level. If the tyre spec changes - and tyre manufacturers can change tyre specs annually, and an OE spec will stay at the old level.

 

Broadly, tyre manufacturers aren't going to redesign a tyre for a vehicle OE, but they may tweak the spec a bit. By this I mean they may set tighter limits on some parameters, for, say, Mercedes. Which all sounds good, but remember that bit about being stuck with the older spec of tyre.

[Camlobe]

18 hours ago, Othen said:

I think that is quite likely - perhaps there is a glut of MB tyres sitting in depots. I may well have bought the current tyres at different depots , either King's Lynn or Corby/Kettering.

 

I think you may have found a Tyre Depot with these tyres that they have an excess of.  As far as I am aware, depots tend not to send tyres back to the centre, if they can avoid it, so their preferred route will be to sell directly, if they can.

 

It may be that the next depot is short of these, but they won't tend to equalise the supply, unless they really have to, and maybe not even then.

[AGFalco]

Did they make Conti Sport Contact 5's in 2013 when you bought the car, or was it 3's back then?

 

4 hours ago, Camlobe said:

Sorry, yes it can make a difference, but probably not that much.

 

In which case you probably have a newer / better version than originally supplied.

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Camlobe said:

As far as I am aware, depots tend not to send tyres back to the centre

We send about 100 tyres a month back. 

 

 

Thanks, AG Falco

[Othen]

9 hours ago, AGFalco said:

Did they make Conti Sport Contact 5's in 2013 when you bought the car, or was it 3's back then?

 

 

In which case you probably have a newer / better version than originally supplied.

 

 

 

We send about 100 tyres a month back. 

 

 

Thanks, AG Falco

I would not have known about the difference between Sport Contact 3 and 5, when the tyres needed changing or had a puncture I'd have just read the stuff on the side of the tyre that I thought was important to the depot over the phone (so: Continental Contact Sport 225/40R18...). It may well be that the tyres have all been replaced by version 5 instead of 3, that won't have been a conscious decision on my part.

[Othen]

14 hours ago, Camlobe said:

 

I think you may have found a Tyre Depot with these tyres that they have an excess of.  As far as I am aware, depots tend not to send tyres back to the centre, if they can avoid it, so their preferred route will be to sell directly, if they can.

 

It may be that the next depot is short of these, but they won't tend to equalise the supply, unless they really have to, and maybe not even then.

You may well be right, but as far as I remember the 4 tyres on the wheels at the moment were not all changed at the same time due to punctures (I had a spate of them at one point, the lower profile tyres are certainly more prone). I wonder if Continental just had a glut of the MO marked tyres for a period?

 

It is not really important, the tyres seem to work okay, so I'll stick with them whenever they need to be changed.

 

Alan

[SurreyJohn]

49 minutes ago, Othen said:

You may well be right, but as far as I remember the 4 tyres on the wheels at the moment were not all changed at the same time due to punctures (I had a spate of them at one point, the lower profile tyres are certainly more prone). I wonder if Continental just had a glut of the MO marked tyres for a period?

 

It is not really important, the tyres seem to work okay, so I'll stick with them whenever they need to be changed.

 

Alan

225/40 R18 has no less than 8 types of tyre from Continental (and some of them are old designs), which is useful if you have piecemeal replacement as above, but means you can easily be buying old technology.

Sort of like finding IPhone 7 on sale alongside IPhone 12

 

For the record the 8 currently listed are :

All season contact (a new design ideal for all year use in UK)

Conti Sport contact 5 (summer tyre, been around for few years)

Eco contact 6 (new summer tyre)

Premium contact 6 (more comfort based summer tyre)

Conti Winter Contact TS810 sport (winter tyre, about decade old)

Conti winter contact TS 830P (winter tyre, also out for years)

winter contact TS850P (winter tyre, highly rated)

winter contact TS 860S (newer winter tyre)

 

Of the list, only one is suited to all round use in UK,

also since the introduction of the all season, the new summer tyres have become more summer like (more likely to be hard and not grippy in cold).  I suspect those in Scotland might be able to use the winter TS850P all year (not a formal recommendation)

 

[Camlobe]

6 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

For the record the 8 currently listed are :

All season contact (a new design ideal for all year use in UK)

Conti Sport contact 5 (summer tyre, been around for few years)

Eco contact 6 (new summer tyre)

Premium contact 6 (more comfort based summer tyre)

Conti Winter Contact TS810 sport (winter tyre, about decade old)

Conti winter contact TS 830P (winter tyre, also out for years)

winter contact TS850P (winter tyre, highly rated)

winter contact TS 860S (newer winter tyre)

 

 

You can also buy the Icecontact 3. I really don't know anything about that beyond its name, and it may even be a grey import, but you can get it.

6 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

Of the list, only one is suited to all round use in UK,

I'm not sure what you meant by that: So, in winter you would be naturally drawn to the 'winters' or the  'all seasons', but, in summer you would be better served by the 'Sport Contact', the 'premium contact or possibly the 'eco contact'. So which is the one?

 

Also there are some severely daft prices on Conti tyres. £520 isn't even the daftest price on the Sport Contact 5 (although not by much). Why would you pay that for a tyre you could get for £80? I am truly amazed. Is there really a valid market in either the stupid or the very, very desperate? I can't see you ever getting any return business, except amongst the drivellingly incapable. (That was a 'Y' rated tyre, but before you think that was the reason, you can also get a 'W' rated one for £567. Bizarre.)

 

The only time I've seen comparable pricing is on a few trackday tyres and some alpine tyres (not even most trackday tyres, which are rather more sensibly priced), and there you can, at least, understand they are a somewhat niche product...and the Alpine jobs have lots of rubber and are niche.

 

Ho, hum.

Edited 27 November, 2020 by Camlobe
missing word!

[Othen]

7 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

225/40 R18 has no less than 8 types of tyre from Continental (and some of them are old designs), which is useful if you have piecemeal replacement as above, but means you can easily be buying old technology.

Sort of like finding IPhone 7 on sale alongside IPhone 12

 

For the record the 8 currently listed are :

All season contact (a new design ideal for all year use in UK)

Conti Sport contact 5 (summer tyre, been around for few years)

Eco contact 6 (new summer tyre)

Premium contact 6 (more comfort based summer tyre)

Conti Winter Contact TS810 sport (winter tyre, about decade old)

Conti winter contact TS 830P (winter tyre, also out for years)

winter contact TS850P (winter tyre, highly rated)

winter contact TS 860S (newer winter tyre)

 

Of the list, only one is suited to all round use in UK,

also since the introduction of the all season, the new summer tyres have become more summer like (more likely to be hard and not grippy in cold).  I suspect those in Scotland might be able to use the winter TS850P all year (not a formal recommendation)

 

Thank you for that, my knowledge of tyres (even those fitted to my car) has increased enormously in the past week or so. Coincidentally I do have 4 identical tyres (all Sport Contact 5 MO) which has been more good fortune than judgement on my part, I had rather naively thought that Continental 225/40R18 would have given me the same tyres each time.

 

The tyres have generally been changed in pairs on the same axle when they wore out, plus a few for punctures near the sidewalls. I will have all the records (i keep everything) but I'm not sure I'm concerned enough the build the time lime for the car's tyres as long as they are appropriate for the motor car.

 

I'm happy to keep using 18" Continental tyres on the alloy wheels for summer only. The Yokohama winter tyres (on steel rims) seem to suit the car well (although we have not had any winter weather to test them yet), so I'll perhaps go with those again when they need changing one day. I quite like the routine of changing summer/winter cars twice per year - it forces me to have a good look around and clean everything. In fact I've just bought a spare set of wheels and had some winter tyres fitted to my 40 year old Volvo 244, so convinced am I of the efficacy of the summer/winter tyre strategy.

 

Alan 

Edited 27 November, 2020 by Othen
Spelling

[SurreyJohn]

1 hour ago, Camlobe said:

You can also buy the Icecontact 3. I really don't know anything about that beyond its name, and it may even be a grey import, but you can get it.

I'm not sure what you meant by that: So, in winter you would be naturally drawn to the 'winters' or the  'all seasons', but, in summer you would be better served by the 'Sport Contact', the 'premium contact or possibly the 'eco contact'. So which is the one?

 

I didn’t include Nordic winter tyres, only the 8 on Continental UK website

 

Continental go for S (sport) and P (premium), sport tends to be firmer for sharper cornering, and spirited driving,  whereas premium are softer and more comfortable ride.  
 

Eco contact is new, my understanding is it gives better mpg by being harder, great for motorway cruising in summer to riviera, but the downside of this is usually means they are not grippy in cold weather.  I think official testing is done at +25c so not that relevant to UK real world.
 

There is evidence in recent tests that in wet, braking and grip falls rapidly below +10c (and suggested it is bit higher still for Eco summer tyres).  What you have to consider is how many days (and nights) there are below this (probably below this by long way currently)

 

All season tyres are often considered ideal for -5c to +25c.   So not as good on hot summer days, (but these tend to be fewer than days below +10c).  They have only really been introduced in last few years, even 5 years ago all season tyres were rare.

 

Winter tyres are happy upto about +15c, and will deal with frost, slush, cold rain and snow.  You are likely to get up a snowy slope if required with these fitted.  A common misconception is winter tyres are only for snow, this is wrong, it is temperature based.  Remember a salted road can be damp at well below zero, so don’t assume a summer tyre is fine if road is treated, do you really want to be doing 70mph on a salted damp motorway at -5c with little grip

 

 

[AGFalco]

2 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

Eco contact

Tend to have more silica in them to reduce the rolling resistance. They can last longer as well.

The older Ecocontact EP and CP also worked very well during the winter. These were around 20 years ago.

 

Don't forget they also do this size in different speed ratings, different weight ratings, in runflat type and some are manufacture approved as well. MO, AO AR and BMW *. 

 

Conti don't import in to the UK every tyre they make.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

 

[farty]

11 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

225/40 R18 has no less than 8 types of tyre from Continental (and some of them are old designs), which is useful if you have piecemeal replacement as above, but means you can easily be buying old technology.

Sort of like finding IPhone 7 on sale alongside IPhone 12

 

For the record the 8 currently listed are :

All season contact (a new design ideal for all year use in UK)

Conti Sport contact 5 (summer tyre, been around for few years)

Eco contact 6 (new summer tyre)

Premium contact 6 (more comfort based summer tyre)

Conti Winter Contact TS810 sport (winter tyre, about decade old)

Conti winter contact TS 830P (winter tyre, also out for years)

winter contact TS850P (winter tyre, highly rated)

winter contact TS 860S (newer winter tyre)

You forgot the ContiSportContact 6 

[SurreyJohn]

1 hour ago, farty said:

You forgot the ContiSportContact 6 

Not available in size being discussed, 

[Othen]

This is interesting, the local F1 Autocentre (where I normally buy my tyres) lists the Sport Contact 5 in both MO and AO flavours... note that the Mercedes version gets 5 stars and the VAG only 3 (which I think says more about the review system than it does the tyres) - see the photo.

Alan

[farty]

31 minutes ago, Othen said:

This is interesting, the local F1 Autocentre (where I normally buy my tyres) lists the Sport Contact 5 in both MO and AO flavours... note that the Mercedes version gets 5 stars and the VAG only 3 (which I think says more about the review system than it does the tyres) - see the photo.

Even more interesting are the fuel efficiency labels; one is 'C' and one is 'E' - how is that possible?

 

Oponeo confirms the labels for MO and AO1

 

Why does F1 Autocentre put a 'Y' in the tyre designation?

Edited 29 November, 2020 by farty

[Ootohere]

?

Are they not speed rated as a Y so up to 186mph?

 

This size was OEM with MK2 Fabia vRS & when owners had issues with 'Pulling Left' when there were Dunlop Sport Maxx or Continental tyres fitted and dealership were too stupid to actually sort things Skoda UK paid for Pirelli Zero Nero to be fitted and they disguised the issue with the stronger sidewalls.

 

 

Edited 29 November, 2020 by e-Roottoot

[Othen]

6 hours ago, farty said:

Even more interesting are the fuel efficiency labels; one is 'C' and one is 'E' - how is that possible?

 

Oponeo confirms the labels for MO and AO1

 

Why does F1 Autocentre put a 'Y' in the tyre designation?

I noticed that about the fuel efficiency labels - which is one of the reasons I thought the rating system was not up to much.

 

I don't know enough about tyres to understand what the 'Y' means.

[PetrolDave]

1 hour ago, Othen said:

I don't know enough about tyres to understand what the 'Y' means.

There's a simple table of what the tyre speed rating letters mean here.

[farty]

6 hours ago, e-Roottoot said:

?

Are they not speed rated as a Y so up to 186mph?

 

This size was OEM with MK2 Fabia vRS & when owners had issues with 'Pulling Left' when there were Dunlop Sport Maxx or Continental tyres fitted and dealership were too stupid to actually sort things Skoda UK paid for Pirelli Zero Nero to be fitted and they disguised the issue with the stronger sidewalls.

 

 

But that does not explain the 'Y' in the middle of the tyre SIZE designation in Ofhen's post at 07.34 today.

 

 

 

[SurreyJohn]

11 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

There's a simple table of what the tyre speed rating letters mean here.

Originally the letters increased with speed

however as cars got faster and tyre technology improved some additional letters were used for some intermediate speed limits.

 

There are now such a large amount of tyre sizes that manufacturers often find it easier to make just a single (high) speed rating, than multiple speeds for a size.  So you might have a 160+ mph rating on a car that only does 115mph

 

[PetrolDave]

2 minutes ago, farty said:

But that does not explain the 'Y' in the middle of the tyre SIZE designation in Ofhen's post at 07.34 today.

That's the F1 Autocentre showing the Load Rating combined with the Speed Rating.

 

Load Ratings

 

The clue is it says 92Y XL - which means the tyre has a Y speed rating (186mph/300km/h) and a 92 XL load rating (630kg, higher than a non-XL version of the same tyre due to stiffer sidewalls).

[farty]

8 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

That's the F1 Autocentre showing the Load Rating combined with the Speed Rating.

 

Load Ratings

 

The clue is it says 92Y XL - which means the tyre has a Y speed rating (186mph/300km/h) and a 92 XL load rating (630kg, higher than a non-XL version of the same tyre due to stiffer sidewalls).

You did not read my post carefully.  I'm on about the SIZE designation 225/40YR18.  I asked why this number has a Y in the middle.  The previous explanation covered a Z.

[PetrolDave]

45 minutes ago, farty said:

I'm on about the SIZE designation 225/40YR18.  I asked why this number has a Y in the middle.

Y is the speed rating, i.e. 186mph - simples!