Tyres for RS...

[TheWanderer]

Can someone give me some advice on some decent tyres for my abysmal RS, I've got Michelin PS4s on at the moment and they are absolutely 💩 TBQH. 

 

They're checked for pressure and they are correct, but put the car into any moderate bend and I have to fight it and this has only started to happen since I changed to them.

 

So I want rid, which is really annoying as they've only done about 3½-4k miles. It's so annoying that they are going to be sent to the tyre scrap yard so soon and I've wasted £360 on what are very poor tyres. 

 

Generally I like Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric tyres, Conti's, Hankook aren't bad... Pirelli are also naff, had more than a few of them go pop or had sidewall problems..

[Ecomatt]

I use Asy 5 and never had an issue with grip, well apart from when it snows.  They are wearing well as still have over 4mm left and done nearly 14,000 miles on them so far. I think they came with around 7mm of tread new (from memory)

 

[SC03OTT]

Thought you were getting rid of the car? Didn’t trust it?

[Ecomatt]

Have you had the alignment done recently?

 

[vrs'burks]

Are they pilot sport4 or pilot sport4S you have fitted?

 

At £360 I'm guessing just pilot sport4

 

I've just had the pilot sport5 fitted to my vRS and upto now they seem awesome.

 

As said above, alignment check might be worth doing. .

 

Or are you "putting it into a moderate bend" a bit too quick. . The octy is certainly no up gti in terms of size or weight, you can undo traction pretty easily in every direction if not carefull.

[Kenai]

What did you have on before?

 

You'll struggle to find many objective recommendations for tyres better than the PS4 (assuming you're running 18" wheels as you've not mentioned PS4S) as they led the way in virtually every objective test they've been tested in, only really being bested relatively recently just prior to their replacement with the PS5.

 

Your experience is very much at odds with my own experience of them too, albeit on my Mk2 - whilst they might not be the most feelsome tyres out there (and subjective feel is where they are often criticised in tests), for outright grip they're immense and the car could carry frankly ridiculous speed through corners for such a lump of a car once I swapped the FK510s for PS4.

 

The only thing i'd personally be interested in running outside of the PS4/PS5 would be the latest Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric - I think they've just released the 6 - not sure if it's available in the correct size yet so if not, the 5.

[PetrolDave]

I had many different tyres on my previous Audi RS4 - by some distance the PS4 and PS4S were the best in terms of grip, ride, handling and lifetime so @The Wandererexperience seems strange to me and suggests something may be amiss such as tracking and alignment (they are very sensitive to tracking and alignment).

 

The other tyres I had were: Pirelli PZero Rosso, Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 5 and Vredestein Sessanta.

 

P.S. The PZeros Rosso' were SO BAD I vowed never to buy another Pirelli tyre again - zero wet grip, unpredictable dry handling and ridiculously short lifetime - even the 'cheapo' Vredesteins were miles better.

Edited 25 April, 2022 by PetrolDave

[CookieMonster87]

I have Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5’s on mine, no complaints from me.

 

Surprised you’re struggling on PS4’s, you won’t get much better than those, however you can’t wholly rely on tyres for handling especially on a 4 door saloon.

 

May be worth getting an alignment check done or investing in some ARB’s, springs if you’re looking to upgrade the handling. On from that coil overs and LSD’s are a bit pricier (not sure if the Petrol vRS has an LSD as standard).

Edited 25 April, 2022 by CookieMonster87

[TheWanderer]

4 hours ago, SC03OTT said:

Thought you were getting rid of the car? Didn’t trust it?

 

Yes, that's about 10 months or more away. Another RS and I'm starting to have reservations about it, but I can't find anything that would be as good as an RS for practicality. 

 

Still a bit of vitriol there I see. 

Edited 25 April, 2022 by TheWanderer

[TheWanderer]

1 hour ago, vrs'burks said:

Are they pilot sport4 or pilot sport4S you have fitted?

 

At £360 I'm guessing just pilot sport4

 

I've just had the pilot sport5 fitted to my vRS and upto now they seem awesome.

 

As said above, alignment check might be worth doing. .

 

Or are you "putting it into a moderate bend" a bit too quick. . The octy is certainly no up gti in terms of size or weight, you can undo traction pretty easily in every direction if not carefull.

 

Pilot Sport 4's. They don't inspire any confidence at all, even on some of the lovely sweeping bends on some of the West Country Moor roads, even the long sweeping curve on the M40 I don't trust them, yet the old Asymmetrics stuck like glue to the road, not the slightest loss of grip. 

 

The alignment was done a while ago (<6 months) , so should be fine

Edited 25 April, 2022 by TheWanderer

[TheWanderer]

1 hour ago, CookieMonster87 said:

I have Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5’s on mine, no complaints from me.

 

Surprised you’re struggling on PS4’s, you won’t get much better than those, however you can’t wholly rely on tyres for handling especially on a 4 door saloon.

 

May be worth getting an alignment check done or investing in some ARB’s, springs if you’re looking to upgrade the handling. On from that coil overs and LSD’s are a bit pricier (not sure if the Petrol vRS has an LSD as standard).

 

Getting rid of the car in about 10 months or so, so no modifications are going to happen, the car is just on routine maintenance until it goes. 

[roaddetective]

I am another one who has the Michelin PS4s tyres all round, in the size of 235/35/R19. In fact I have just had fitted another 2 new ones on the front I like them so much. I find they give really good grip on corners, as well as minimal wheel spin when I really put my foot down in a straight line in low gears. Okay, in those cold winter months I did get less straight line power down grip, but that is to be expected when the temp is far less than 7 degrees with a remap. They are not winter tyres after all. 

[PetrolDave]

3 hours ago, TheWanderer said:

The alignment was done a while ago (<6 months) , so should be fine

I wouldn't be so sure, as I said above the PS4 and PS4S are, in my experience, very sensitive to alignment - cheaper to get that checked (and corrected if necessary) than buy a whole new set of tyres?

[TheWanderer]

It's going to have to wait until payday anyway, because I've got a £700 bill for repairs to the car, thanks to a courier driver who bashed the front bumper and wing and did one without leaving any details and I've now got a chipped tooth, so looking at another £200 there, so it's about 3rd on the list of priorities at the moment. 

 

I'll book it in for an alignment check at a test centre around payday. 

[ChoonDoode]

I'm very surprised and saddened to read you're finding the P4's to be substandard. I've found them to provide such an improvement, especially in the wet (I was able to get lift off oversteer too easy with the Bridgestones). Can't say I've ever noticed them to be noticeably down in grip when cold.

 

Just going off the back of what people are saying with alignment, I wonder if the thinner sidewalls are to blame. You know how shoddy roads our roads are, wondering if that's possibly causing a bit of jip for the suspension with the car being shaken about? Just a thought, clutching straws.

 

The ol' fella's new beamer rolls on 20's and he's already had one alloy in the repairers. They're great for stability, but poor as for comfort.

[TheWanderer]

I just find them fidgety, I can be on the perfect line entering the corner and it's like bad under or oversteer and I need to react fast to correct it and this isn't at high speeds, this is at 30 or 40 mph!

 

The car seems to dive down on the appropriate side, depending on whether it's a left or right hand corner. 

 

At higher speeds they don't seem to do it, but they still don't inspire me with any level of confidence in their grip or handling...

 

Two of my favourite roads are the A358 and B3224, which have some lovely twists and turns, but with these tyres I have to drive like a granny! 

 

My car has ACC, so it should be able to deal with our cart track roads in Surrey, NE Hampshire and West Sussex. 

Edited 25 April, 2022 by TheWanderer

[Kenai]

Can you elaborate on 'the car seems to dive down'?

 

That sounds more like failing suspension somehow rather than something tyres would cause, there isn't enough travel in the sidewall of a tyre to make a car feel like it's 'diving down', unless i'm completely misinterpreting what you mean

[Gerrycan]

Is  @TheWanderer the unluckiest man in the world?? 😞

 

Joking apart, I agree that the handling issues sound strongly like wheel alignment issues and, a long shot here, I suppose the lane centring facility has been turned off?

[TheWanderer]

3 hours ago, Kenai said:

Can you elaborate on 'the car seems to dive down'?

 

That sounds more like failing suspension somehow rather than something tyres would cause, there isn't enough travel in the sidewall of a tyre to make a car feel like it's 'diving down', unless i'm completely misinterpreting what you mean

 

When I say dive down, it's hard to describe it, I suppose wallowing sensation, even with the suspension on normal, I've had the car checked and everything is fine, all good. 

 

It's just plain weird. 

[TheWanderer]

31 minutes ago, Gerrycan said:

Is  @TheWanderer the unluckiest man in the world?? 😞

 

Joking apart, I agree that the handling issues sound strongly like wheel alignment issues and, a long shot here, I suppose the lane centring facility has been turned off?

 

The Lane Assist function is normally switched on, all of the time. That's the way its always been.

 

Is it meant to be normally switched off?

 

I don't know? I took it for a quick spin this morning on the A25 Newlands Corner and the bends on the loop of Clandon and Trodds Lane and it just feels a little vague. It's in the workshop now for a few days to have the bumper, wing and headlight washers fixed, so won't be able to give it any further tests until Friday. 

 

I'm certain that the tyres are the issue as it never handled like this on the original tyres. 

[Gerrycan]

Personally, I would not like like unexpected steering inputs, mid bend while pushing it a bit.

[Kenai]

Lane assist won't be active, in either the 'active' guise or the normal mode below 65kph/40mph - so if the issues are occurring at speeds down to 30mph as suggested, it wouldn't seem likely it's anything to do with the lane assist functions.

 

My thinking regarding the suspension was that the 'diving down' sounded a bit like when a rear spring broke on my old Golf (which happened after the wheels had been off with the car on a ramp and the suspension was allowed to fully unload) but if the car has been fully checked over and no such issues are present, it all sounds a bit odd.

 

Running out of ideas that don't involve spanking another £300+ on new tyres (though on the plus side, plenty of people will snap up some barely used PS4 tyres in 225/40/18, so you should be able to get something back).

 

Not that I imagine it would make much difference in the dry but would be worth checking for daft things like inner/outer markings to make sure they're not fitted incorrectly.

 

Ultimately it maybe that the difference you're noticing is the softer sidewall of the PS4 vs the (by comparison) stiffer Eagle F1 Asymmetric sidewalls but i've never personally found this to be such an extreme difference as to cause the car to be described as wallowy or vague. It might benefit from running the pressures slightly higher (closer to the 'eco' pressures on the fuel cap) if it is the sidewalls you're feeling, perhaps enough to put up with until you're rid of the car. 

 

 

Comparison between the MPS4, EF1AS5 and CPC6 on an Octavia vRS, he describes the difference in feel from around 4 minutes in - maybe it's this that you're noticing? Though as I say above, i'd be surprised if it was such a difference as to cause the car to be described as 'wallowy'.

[nidza]

PS4S is a wonderful tire. It believe it is not nearly warm enough in the UK for them to have proper grip, unless you take them to a track day.

 

Top segment is so close that it is likely you will not be happy with either under these conditions. 

[Noms]

On 25/04/2022 at 13:29, roaddetective said:

I am another one who has the Michelin PS4s tyres all round, in the size of 235/35/R19. In fact I have just had fitted another 2 new ones on the front I like them so much. I find they give really good grip on corners, as well as minimal wheel spin when I really put my foot down in a straight line in low gears. Okay, in those cold winter months I did get less straight line power down grip, but that is to be expected when the temp is far less than 7 degrees with a remap. They are not winter tyres after all. 

Where are you getting them from?

My current tyres are 225/35/19, and PS4's are not available in this size..?

[roaddetective]

12 hours ago, Noms said:

Where are you getting them from?

My current tyres are 225/35/19, and PS4's are not available in this size..?

I buy them from the online site, Blackcircles. They deliver to a garage on their list of your choice and you just turn up and have them fitted there.