My Fabia is coming up to 25k miles and needs two new front tyres. It is currently on Bridgestone Turenza ECO. I thought about keeping it original, but they are coming in at around £165 each. A local tyre dealer that I have used for years has some Falken at £95. What have other owners fitted and your experiences?

I have Falken Ziex ZE310 Ecorun 195/55 R15 85V tyres on all 4 wheels of my 2009 Skoda Roomster and, when one of the tyres needed to be replaced quite recently following a puncture, the cost (including provision, fitting and balancing at a local garage) was around £70.

My 2024 Fabia SE L DSG has (factory-fitted) Goodyear 195/55 R16 91V XL tyres and I've seen Falken Ziex ZE310 Ecorun tyres with that specification advertised online for around £70 (tyre only).

I've no complaints about the performance of the Falken tyres fitted to my Roomster and I would have no hesitation replacing my Fabia's Goodyear tyres with the Falken equivalents.

(You haven't said what size wheels/tyres your 2022 Fabia Colour Edition has, nor whether the £95 price is 'tyre only' or includes fitting/balancing, so I can't comment on whether that's good value or not.)

Yes, I've Falkens on another car too and they're fine. Tyre size is 195/55x16 91V. I'm just have two fitted now.

£95 is fully fitted including getting aero trims off, which took two fitters to pull them LOL

It is a shame, didn't read the handbook, and switch them front to back around 10k - 12k miles

Then wouldn't have needed any new tyres yet, and could have not spent any money for few more months/years

Yes, I would have done that if I had owned the car at 10k miles. I'll probably get new rears anyhow as one was a cheap Chinese replacement when the car had a puncture. It is the wrong speed rating and has an uninspiring name like Triangle or Wanda....

3 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

It is a shame, didn't read the handbook, and switch them front to back around 10k - 12k miles

Then wouldn't have needed any new tyres yet, and could have not spent any money for few more months/years

Yep, I always have rotated my wheels/tyres annually so that they not only last longer as a set, but can replace all four with tyres of my choosing rather than feeling the need to replace like with like. Also in recent years I have being using National Tyres, now owned by Halfords, and if having four tyres fitted they are fitted free at home address. Their online prices have been unbeatable for me for several of our family cars for very many years. Our local mobile fitter is excellent, takes his time cleaning tyre locating edges on wheels with a sanding tool, then paints on a sealant, also has replaced TPMS rubbers and valves rather than just replacing the inner valves. Also balances tyres properly, ie. fitting balance weights, and spinning wheels again to check no more balance weights are required. Really annoys me when a tyre fitter does not do a recheck. Anyway, boring story over, just my tuppence worth.

At 22,000 miles it’s time for the first tire change on my Fabia MK4 1.0 TSI. From the factory, the car came equipped with Continental Eco 6 tires in size 195/55R16 V 91XL. I’m looking for something "soft" and compliant that can absorb bumps on poor road surfaces and warm up quickly. In short, I want something focused on comfort and a quiet ride. Tread life is of little concern to me as the car only covers about 5,000 miles per year and i always replace the tires every four years due to aging (the Greek summer sun is unforgiving), even though they always have plenty of usable tread left. I’d welcome your experiences and recommendations.

Been using GT radial FE2 and GT radial all season. Mid priced tyre and so far been excellent. Have them on my Octavia MK2 and sons Fabia mk1. Good in dry and wet plus all season excellent in wet as well. Been getting discount if ordered online through tyre service I use. £15 off for two and £40 off for four. Working out after discount at around £75 fitted (205/55/16)

Alasdair

@Alasdair1

The specification of the tyre fitted to the 16"-diameter wheels of Skoda Fabias Mk4 cars is 195/55 R16 91 V XL with the 91 Load Index figure indicating that the tyre has been tested as being capable of carrying a per-tyre load of 615kg. The V Speed Rating indicates the tyre is suitable for a car with a maximum speed capability not exceeding 240km/h (149mph). And XL indicates Extra Load (ie. reinforced construction).

Assuming you plan to fit replacement tyres with that specification, there is plenty of choice at a wide range of prices. Each different tyre should carry a label having the data explained here

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/tyres/what-do-your-tyre-labels-mean/

(The Noise Rating relates to the noise the tyre produced when the vehicle is being drive, but it's reasonable to assume that, if a tyre produces a lot of 'external' noise, that noise will find a way into a car's interior.)

However, although the tyre label is helpful and independent testing and car ownership comments can confirm the accuracy of the label, the 'softness' of a 195/55 R16 tyre and its ability to absorb the bumps on poor-quality road surfaces will depend directly on the pressure that the tyre is inflated to. The Skoda recommended pressure for Fabia Mk4 tyres is 2.5 bar (36.26psi). This is on the high side for a car of the Fabia type and undoubtedly will result in a firm/harsh ride, particularly on rough roads.

This has been discussed here a couple of times in the past, but, for a genuinely 'softer' ride, the only realistic option is to use a tyre-pressure well below the 2.5bar recommendation - say 2.1bar (30.46psi).

Edited Sunday at 09:444 days by DerekU

I don’t understand why a supermini like the Fabia which has an official top speed in the vicinity of 200 km/h and weighs approximately 1,150 kg requires V-91XL rated tires. In my opinion, these are excessive specifications who inevitably call for a reinforced carcass and rubber compound, resulting in a "stiffer" tire. An 88-H rating tire would be technically more logical and appropriate for a supermini hatchback. After all, the same car when equipped with 15-inch wheels in its base trim levels, comes with 88-H rated tires. I believe that the V-91XL specification, combined with the excessively high recommended tire pressure, leads to a less comfortable ride on poor-quality roads than the car is otherwise capable of delivering. Skoda could at least allow for an alternative speed/load rating for those who prioritize comfort. However, for the sake of standardization and economies of scale, they likely opted for a single specification for all 16-inch wheels—one that also covers other, heavier or more powerful models.

The current UK-marketed Skoda Fabia range comprises 5 models and (depending on the model) the road-wheel diameter can be 15", 16", 17" or 18" and ALL of those wheels are fitted as standard with XL (Extra Load) tyres except for the tyres fitted to the 15" wheels. The Load Index/Speed Rating of the original-equipment (OE) tyres are

15" - 88H 560kg 210 km/h 130mph

16" - 91V 615kg 240km/h 149mph

17" - 91W 615kg 270km/h 168mph

18" - 89W 580kg 270km/h 168mph

Car manufacturers will ALWAYS specific OE tyres that have Load Index/Speed Rating values that significantly exceed the car's weight and speed maxima. The unusual thing with the Fabia Mk4 is that, irrespective of the specification of the model, the tyres it has and the 'load it is carrying, a single 2.5bar (36.26psi) inflation-pressure is recommended - and that's going to result in a firm ride.

It's more common for a range of inflation pressures to be recommended that depend on the load the car is carrying, (eg. 2 people + some luggage, 4 people + a lot of luggage) - that's the case for my 2009 Skoda Roomster, but not for my 2024 Fabia Mk4.

My Roomster's has 15"-diameter alloy wheels and its current tyre are Falken 195/55 85V. Its OE tyres were same-size Continental products, but with an "H" speed-rating (and an unpleasant propensity to 'tram-line'). The Falken tyres I chose happen to have a V Speed Rating, but an H rating would be perfectly adequate for the Roomster. If I inflate the Roomster's tyres to the recommended '2 persons' pressure of 2.2bar/32psi, its ride is quite firm, but if the pressure drops to 2.0bar/29psi (say in very cold weather) I can notice the ride has softened until the tyres warm up.

There is plenty of online information about reinforced tyres and their pros and cons (example here)

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/blog/reinforced-tyres-advantages-and-disadvantages?srsltid=AYCX9vIGhJmxcwleoqvmkKT3jXlu30Pdd7Xvt3STUArNoCiiXKa

but the reality is (and whether you like it or not) except for the OE tyres fitted to Fabia Mk4 cars with 15" wheels, Skoda has chosen to use XL tyres and - unless you change your car's tyres to the non-XL variety in the hope this will make a real improvement comfort-wise - if a Fabia Mk4 has 195/55 R16 91V XL tyres, all that can be done in order to obtain a softer ride quality is to reduce the inflation pressure.