OK, not truly a thumbs-down but I had some rather awkward moments on my drive from head office to where I normally work. Regular kind of A road, quite quiet, bendy in places, some long straights, and I was trying to make some good progress. Weather was not totally wet, but the road was deffo NOT dry.

Anyway, approaching a left hand bend at about 60 (not that tight, but I should have slowed to 50 to be totally safe) I started to drift from the apex out to the centre lane, and there was a damn truck coming around the bend... :eek: So, I couldn't do much more than hang on to the slight slide and everything was fine. I think I gave the lorry driver a little bit of a worry with my car wobbling a bit so close to him. Anyway, as I came out the bend and the lorry was past, I gave myself a sharp :nono: and went the rest of the way wondering what would have happened if I'd side swiped him, or worse lost total grip (unlikely) and had a head-on. Dead, methinks!

Now, I think I've got SO used to the Toyo Proxes performance in the dry (outstanding, totally outstanding) that I was being too complacent in the wet, also not keeping myself aware that I'm going faster due to the remap. Anyway, the performance of the Toyo's in the wet is NOT special, better than my old marshalls definitely, but nothing to write home about.

From now on, I'm going to keep my eyes on the sharpness of corners, and make sure I know what the road conditions will do to my ability to make the bend.

Here endeth the sermon!

I'll agree the Toyo's weren't the greatest of tyres in the wet, but then they are pretty cheap for the great job they do in the dry! The Premacys on the vRS are useless in the wet and next to useless in the dry! Need new tyres!

I didnt find the Toyos too bad in the wet, but I think its because grip is higher in the dry, it can catch you out in damp/wet conditions as you said.

Try slowing down a bit Jason

Try slowing down a bit Jason

This option is non-acceptable. Hope it's dry around Wales...

Ive got Toyo's on mine.

And i'd agree they aint terrible in the wet, just they are very good in the dry.

This option is non-acceptable.

Thought that might be your response! :drive:

I would have thought that the Toyos would suit the Fabia very well in all weathers.

On saying that, I had some put on my first A4 Quattro and didn't think they were that great - a bit coarse riding and 'knobbly' for want of a better word. They also bubbled very badly on a track day, but that might be my fault.

The Subaru Impreza Driver's club always raved about them in the wet - for the money.

Run these on my old Mondeo with no prob's wet or dry.

Steve

Ah the joys of uni-royal rallye 540's! Cheaper than Toyo's, ok not quiet got the same level of grip in the dry, but even on my favourite roundabout to try and slide and squeal its been very difficult since they where fitted! Now as for when it turns wet or damp they just get better!!!! Oh and did I mention how quiet they are....... Personally I have had or driven cars with toyo's and as great as they are in the dry I would always choose the uni-royal because of the shocking wet performance of the toyo, but to be fair it could be they are so good in the dry you really notice the difference when its wet. IMHO I prefer a tyre thats the other way round and then you dont get the experience Jason got!!!

I don't like Toyos, never have.

Jason, out of interest, was it cold?

Ahem, yep, quite cold, possibly around 6 or 7 deg C as a guess.

I think the no.1 job treatment for this little experience is to not rush about so much, and probably slow down around corners. I blame Jon showing me his roundabout tactics for this. Legal papers are in the post, Jon! :p

BTW - This morning, I took a sweeping bend off the A30 onto the M5 northbound, in the "wet" (road was) at about 80 mph, and it hugged the corner nice and barely made a shudder! I guess one of the contributory factors yesterday could have been a slightly dodgy road surface, compared to a dual carriageway. I'm definitely still happy with the Toyo's though, but look what tyres I came from!

Jason,

We've found that below about 6 degrees, the Toyos have a compound and grip level on a par with plastic

Only cost us a Porsche front and rear bumper to "discover" this :(

My Contis were fine

oh aye? Think I'll be keeping my eye on the temperature reading in the car more often now... :eek:

As it happens then, my better cornering this morning could have been due to it being 9 or 10 deg C... Roll on Summer!

Get yourself some Pirelli PZero Rosso.......found them excellent in the wet......in the dry they're even better.

Would be interesting to see what they're like on the trakc as they're supposed to get better when they've had some heat in them.

I thought they were quite reasonable on price compared with Michelin/Contis.....

P Zero Rosso are very good, as you say. Not bad at all on track, although do make sure they are worn in as you will get tread block shift if they are too new. Personally I prefer the Neros as they are stiffer in the sidewalls than the Rossos. Makes them harsher (noise, vibration) on the road but they suffer less sidewall deflection when cornering

I'm looking for new tyres for the Furby vRS as hate the Pilots in the wet.

Have no idea what to go for (not Marshalls - good amps but bad tyres I believe). I had Dunlops on my Colt which were good an grippy so long as the pressure was right. If the pressure dropped they scared the crap out of people at roundabouts.

I do like the Continentals on the wife Octy.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Cheers Jon .......always good to know for the next time I get some tyres.

Andy,

P Zero Nero! :D :D

I have a theory, which I have discussed at length with someone who was stupid enough to listen, so here goes:

It all comes down to directional v asymmetric. I have tried both and in my opinion the assymetric (well one the 2 ways I've spelt it must be right ) ones are my preference. I found that the initial turn in is much sharper with the directionals, almost twitchy in fact, but that ultimate cornering grip is better form the assyms. I also feel that the wet weather handling is better and they seem to clear the water better. I think its due to the tread pattern ie wide snipes and a smoother, less grooved outside edge.

I have tried various tyres, I've posted my opinions before on them and to save you the hassle I've shamelessly cut and pasted them below:

Conti SportContact 2: A nice allround tyre, not bad in the dry, if a bit squeally. Very good in the wet with nice progressive breakaway and very good traction. Seems to go off a bit once below 4mm of tread. I put that down to it being German and their min tread depth is 3.5mm IIRC. Good ride quality and not that noisy. 91W is the better of the 2 load ratings available in this size (think the other is W).

P Zero Nero: Seems to be as rare as rocking horse droppings! Excellent in the dry and very good in the wet. Very, very stiff sidewalls that give awesome turn in. Grip right down to the canvas (witness Alconbury in the wet!). The downside to this excellent tyre is that it is noisy and is quite harsh over road "rash".

Yokohama AVS: Not that impressed with this tyre, but it was cheap. Lasts incredibly well, predictable limits and fairly progressive, but the limits aren't as high as the others. Needs to get warm to perform, so at this time of year not the ideal tyre.

Conti SportContact (had this in 205/50 17): I liked this tyre, lasted well and was very, very similar to the SportContact2, but not quite as good in the wet. Better ride quality, probably due to the profile.

Toyo Proxes: Not a great fan of this tyre (I know, I know, other swear by them, but I don't like them). In my opinion their level of grip and traction is not as high as the Contis and the Neros and this is reflected in their price. Nice predictable handling though.

Also add to that list, P Zero Rosso. Not as harsh as the Nero, but still a very good tyre.

As for where to buy them, highly recommend Protyre who have Neros in stock (I think they bought the UK supply of 225/45s ) or if you fancy on-line for better prices try these people. You'll get charged about

Have no idea what to go for (not Marshalls - good amps but bad tyres I believe).

ahem [cough] yeah' date=' avoid the Marshalls, from personal experience which has been widely talked about on here. [cough']

I'd recommend the Toyo's all round, I think me still having a pair of Marshalls on the back isn't helping my grip, but on the front they're lethal (in a good way)

Marshall amps? I didn't know they did them. - Oh hang on DOH! it's electric guitar amps they make isn't it! hee hee

Anyone got any comments on Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s?

Hard wearing, average in the dry, slightly better in the wet. Not a fan.

My vote goes for the Pirelli PZero Rosso........much better than the standard Dunlops (on Octy RS).

I have the assymmetrical pattern although you can get the directional (for fronts only) apparently.

I also went to a 225/45 size.

Found the tyres to be excellent in dry or wet and they're much quieter than the Dunlops. Only apparent downside I've found is that they have made a difference to the mpg...about 3mpg less. Put this down to stickier compound.

Lots of nice comments guys, why not use the Review section as well? It only takes a couple of seconds to cut and paste your review in there and it helps others finding the information...

hat>

Q - where's the Xmas spirit. Put that serious hat down for a while and stick a snata one on. :santa:

Point taken though - copy pasting about to commence!

edit: Q... reviews section doesn't seem to work with Netscape browser. It just says document done and the screen is blank. Could you do the modding honours if you wish to add these proxes opinions into that section? Or I may look in at home.

I have had Toyos for quite a while now and I think they're pretty good tyres.

POSITIVE POINTS:

They're Cheap

They are amazing in the dry

They are better than a lot of other "budget" tyres in the wet (and better than some "premium" tyres in the wet too!)

They look good.

NEGATIVE POINTS:

They last about 5 minutes on the front (well, 3 Months in my case)

They aren't as good as specific "Rain" tyres in the wet.

I have Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3's on the front and Toyo Proxy T1-S on the back.

I find this to be a good combo!