Good afternoon

I need 2 front tyres for my fabia size 215/45/16.

Any recommendations of good tyres been looking at Michelin ps3, my car is on pcp and goes back Dec 2026 possibly so not wanting to Spend a lot on them if can be helped but also don’t want ditch finders.

Thanks in advance

PS3 is quite outdated now. Something like the PS5 offers more grip, from a firmer compound that lasts longer.

That said, whilst I haven't looked, I highly doubt Michelin make the PS4/5 in 16 inch - which tells you all you need to know!

There's a big difference between a UHP (ultra high performance) summer tyre and a ditch finder. You really don't need anything special for your car, IMHO. I would suggest something all seasons-y from Falken, Hankook, Yoko or Toyo.

Stuff from other brands will be expensive - 215s are less common and generally quite pricey.

1 minute ago, OccyVRS said:

PS3 is quite outdated now. Something like the PS5 offers more grip, from a firmer compound that lasts longer.

That said, whilst I haven't looked, I highly doubt Michelin make the PS4/5 in 16 inch - which tells you all you need to know!

There's a big difference between a UHP (ultra high performance) summer tyre and a ditch finder. You really don't need anything special for your car, IMHO. I would suggest something all seasons-y from Falken, Hankook, Yoko or Toyo.

Stuff from other brands will be expensive - 215s are less common and generally quite pricey.

Hi thanks for your advice, won’t I need all four tyres changing though?

Not necessarily! The general rule of thumb is that you need to have the same type of tyres, with roughly the same wear, across the axles. In other words, you can have brand new Michelins on the front and year old Continentals on the back, with no issue.

It's a common misconception that a FWD needs the newer/better tyres on the front wheels. This means that if/when you lose grip, you lose it at the rear, leading to oversteer. This is when the rear of the car kicks out, and is much harder to correct than understeer, which is when the front of the car loses grip. TLDR - get the new rubber fitted to the back. It's also a misconception that lower tread on tyres reduces grip. This is only true in wet - in the dry, the more worn down the blocks (tread) are, the more grip!

Usually, the front tyres wear out faster than the rear, due to these being the driving/steering wheels that have more weight on them than the rear. The only reason you need to change a tyre is because it is wearing down, or it is cracking/in poor condition. The garage should be able to tell you how much tread you have left, and you can check the shoulder/sidewall of the tyre for any cracks yourself.

I'm sure if you put some photos up here, people would be able to tell you :)

1 minute ago, OccyVRS said:

Not necessarily! The general rule of thumb is that you need to have the same type of tyres, with roughly the same wear, across the axles. In other words, you can have brand new Michelins on the front and year old Continentals on the back, with no issue.

It's a common misconception that a FWD needs the newer/better tyres on the front wheels. This means that if/when you lose grip, you lose it at the rear, leading to oversteer. This is when the rear of the car kicks out, and is much harder to correct than understeer, which is when the front of the car loses grip. TLDR - get the new rubber fitted to the back. It's also a misconception that lower tread on tyres reduces grip. This is only true in wet - in the dry, the more worn down the blocks (tread) are, the more grip!

Usually, the front tyres wear out faster than the rear, due to these being the driving/steering wheels that have more weight on them than the rear. The only reason you need to change a tyre is because it is wearing down, or it is cracking/in poor condition. The garage should be able to tell you how much tread you have left, and you can check the shoulder/sidewall of the tyre for any cracks yourself.

I'm sure if you put some photos up here, people would be able to tell you :)

Both front tyres are now between 2mm and 3.5mm from checking between different points around the tyre.

They are definitely overdue then. How are the rears looking?

Just now, OccyVRS said:

They are definitely overdue then. How are the rears looking?

They are around 4-5mm

It's up to you. At 4mm you are at the point where performance in the wet is starting to degrade. Equally though, we are approaching summer.

I would either do four new tyres and call it a day until you hand the car back, or put fresh rubber on the rear, and swap the rear tyres onto the front. You should probably expect to replace them towards winter time, depending on how often you drive.

I'm going to vary slightly, I normally got to 3mm and summer light rain can make roads greasy so not thinking of tread depth now but caution when drying when it's wetter the stuff on the road surfaces can be washed away more, so swings and roundabouts.

I've just replied in Fabia Mk3 so won't repeat here - but I had forgot what number Pilot Sport are on but the PS3 appear to still be available - but of course as with anything you do need to check and cross reference to confirm accuracy or amount of accuracy of any info.

Edited 27 March27 Mar by nta16