I recently bought a 110tsi 1.0 estate. It pulls really well, but felt a bit like it was taking bends at any speed like a 50p coin, understeering . The tyres were at 28psi. I blew them up to about 34, the fully laden figure and it feels better, but it may all be in my head?. I've not driven in poor weather yet through surface water so don't know . I wondered what other people's experience is? The tyres are 185/60/15. 

7 minutes ago, Shaw8670 said:

it may all be in my head?

Never driven a Furbie, but there are places on the A87 through Skye where I know it felt like the road was carrying out detail steering of my Octy.

There's a tyre pressure card slipped inside the filler cap.

 

I've got with 205/40 R17 fitted and 32 lbs is perfect when not heavily laden. I put 36 lbs in the rears when fully loaded. But it is probably different for the 16" wheels.

On my wife's hatch 2015 Fabia hatch the 185/60/15 tyres can be set at 30 or 35psi for eco running.  They're run at 35 psi and it does make the handling noticeably different, not as good, but the rolling resistance is reduced which must improve mpg as the car continues to roll along when lifting off the accelerator a lot more than at lower pressure.

 

You do need to check the pressures with a good quality gauge, that's generally not those on foot or electric pumps or garage or petrol station forecourts.  The gauge doesn't have to be expensive the old PLC pencil type were very good.  If you stick to one good gauge then any small discrepancies should at least be consistent with tyres at the same pressure. 

 

You may already know that the pressures need to be checked when the tyres are 'cold', in the morning when it's cooler and the tyres not in the sun.

 

Then there's the tyres themselves, some are better than others, if they're a few years old and get very little use they can get hard which effects the sidewalls and tread areas and will deteriorate their ability of braking,  road holding, handling and ride comfort and noise. Different makes and models of tyres might suit slight variations from the what's on the petrol filler flap but that would always be my starting point.

 

Being an estate the pressures will perhaps vary more depending on how the car is loaded and used and may need changing with changes in use, do also remember to reset the TPMS at each change.

 

What make and model of tyres are on the car?

 

ETA: The standard Fabia handles OK but as standard isn't the best handling car generally.

 

Edited 12 July, 20214 yr by nta16
ETA:

Tyres are the OE Kuhmos. 

 

5 hours ago, Shaw8670 said:

Tyres are the OE Kuhmos. 

 

Fair enough.

 

My 5 year old Michelins, on my MG Midget, that have not seen a lot of mileage or use for various reason are cracking and feel hard and less responsive so I'm just about to change them.

 

My wife's Fabia came with Nexen (N blue HD) that someone I know said wheren't the best handling tyres but then whilst the Fabia handles OK it's chassis wasn't noted for being entertaining.  When I had the old Estelle 2s very good tyres would really improve their handling but I'm not sure that'd be the case with our Fabia.  I had some Avon ZT7 put on last year but they went on the rear and the Nexen N blue HD Plus from a distress purchase are still on the front so it's difficult to know if the Z7s are any better.

 

Of course the Fabia Estate is going to feel and drive differently to the Octavia and Superb.

 

IIRC I've only driven on Skye once when I paid extra to stop in Flora MacDonald's cottage, but it wasn't really a cottage anymore, and the real ale in the hotel was quite expensive but when I went to the bar myself rather than being served at the dining table I found the locals go it at a lower at a lower price, which was fair enough otherwise they'd never get locals in, the person behind the bar couldn't get me back to the dining room quick enough.  

 

It was the year 2000 and at the time I had a 1999 MX-5 (mk2) which had some too good Yokohama (forget the number) tyres which gripped too much for fun in the dry so I swapped the set shortly after that for a set that gripped better in the wet than dry.  MX-5s (and their drivers) had a habit of losing the rear end very suddenly in adverse conditions, for the driver's I think because they were too use to the grip and handling in good conditions and didn't adjust enough (or at all) out of those conditions.

 

Edited 13 July, 20214 yr by nta16
forgot the T in Avon ZT7

I had original Bridgestone Potenza 205/40 R17s on mine that were over 5 years old. When I had the MoT in January, they warned me thst although they were well inside legal limits (only 60% worn), the walls looked stiff through age and there were cracks appearing. They were rated E/C/72db. 

I've replaced them with Donlop Sports Maxx RTs (rated B/A/68db) and they give an infinitely better ride, are noticeably quieter and give much better fuel consumption. Hooray! 

@TerFar do bear in mind a good set of new tyres should feel better than a 5 year old used set of good tyres.  There are (used to be?) different versions Potenza and getting the right type for your vehicle could make a lot of difference.  That's not to say that the Dunlop Sports Maxx RTs aren't a better tyre than your previous Potenza and that the Potenza you had weren't the right ones for your car.

 

I always promote the importance of good tyres, especially with someone new to classic cars where the tyres could be very old and/or very little use so not be performing well (or even safely in some cases) but they might think old cars are that bad at braking, handling and road holding,

 

Personally, probably like yourself having previously had E rated tyres, I take the tyre ratings with a pinch of salt, as our German (and Japanese?) car manufacturers have shown you can set things up to get good test results.  When the tyre labelling first came in I had some tyres that didn't score as higher for wet grip as their replacements score but in real world use to me it was the other way round for the scoring. 

 

There's a rubber shortage, like so many other things at the moment, but I think the rubber shortage has been going on a while and manufacturers have been looking at substitute materials and blending them in for many years IIRC.  Bear in mind the bits that come off of tyres pollute and the fashion going back decades for oversized wheels and tyres even on things like small city vehicles doesn't help with this.  I'm used to tyres with 80 section sidewalls and 13" and 14" wheels, the Midget has 145/80r13 tyres, and on a previous example where on 3.5" rims  but I must admit looking at 13" wheels on old saloons , like my old Estelle 2s, the wheels do look small on them.

 

BGT photo courtesy of R G Everitt, 20 year old tyres with lots of tread on them and they looked to be good at sidewall.

 

Blue Skoda photo is from 1986, Estelle 2 130 Rapid - the poor man's Porsche. 

 

Edited 13 July, 20214 yr by nta16

I mostly agree with you. My Fabia was bought used (at 2 years old) which already had the 17" wheel option fitted. Personally, had I bought it new, I'd defintely have kept the 16" standard wheels and just fitted premium tyres. 

It's 15" wheels on my wife's Fabia, if it wasn't for the front brake callipers I'd have been happy with 14" wheels and in steel  not that's it's ever anything to do with me of course as it's my wife's car.   

 

14" wheels would give 175/70 r14 tyres, and in Avon ZT7 - and 70 would still be low profile to me.