ok peeps i need 4 new boots for the octy and was going to buy another set of what the car came with (continental eco-contact 3) but can't get them as they're no longer made. i've narrowed it down to these:

pirelli p6

continental premium-contact

the eco-3s have lasted 22k and performed well (save for a bit of rumble on certain road surfaces), any opinions on the above choices and how they compare to the eco-3s?

cheers.

Do a search there are lots of threads on selecting new tyres

Check the AutoExpress and Evo tyre tests.

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric and Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta usually get rated the best.

I've got the Vredesteins, - they're very good and less than £100 a corner.

Just bought for £300 4 Bridgestone Turanza ,valves and balancing.Had Bridgestone on before,done 23650 miles and still had tread left on them. Also tow caravan, about 5000 miles

Check the AutoExpress and Evo tyre tests.

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric and Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta usually get rated the best.

I've got the Vredesteins, - they're very good and less than £100 a corner.

I've just got a set of the Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas as well. Even though I've only done a couple of hundred miles on them so far they compare very favourably with Michelin Pilot Exaltos I had before and they are 25% cheaper.

Yup,

I got vredesteins also. They get my vote.

Vredestine ultrac sessanta's all the way, cant fault them.

Beware any suspiciously cheap looking goodyears, (in fact, check full price Goodyears too) as there is a current trade in importing the cheaper Goodyears from Thailand, they have a different compound due to being a warmer climate, make sure they have 'Made in Germany' on them not 'made in Thailand'. The Thai imported ones are rubbish, and I mean rubbish to the point of being dangerous, the European market tyres will have 'Made in Germany' as mentioned above moulded into them as well as an 'E' marking that is followed by some numbers, the Thai version is 'E' marked also but apparently it's just the 'E' with no numbers after it.

Also I've read alot of reports of Goodyear Eagles distorting and causing osscilating noises like a bearing has gone.

I also need 4 new boots, was thinking of Fulda carat progresso. They have a really low tyretest.com score of 1.9 (thats good). And at £44.20 each from mytyres.co.uk a real bargain.

Also I've read alot of reports of Goodyear Eagles distorting and causing osscilating noises like a bearing has gone.

got any links for that john. My four goodyears have just started making the same noise before christmas. A quick check at the dealers has ruled out the bearing so i was planning to go to see the garage that fitted the tyres

Falken 452 are good and I'm trying to find out more about some of the wintrac xtreme tyres.

got any links for that john. My four goodyears have just started making the same noise before christmas. A quick check at the dealers has ruled out the bearing so i was planning to go to see the garage that fitted the tyres

I'll have to dig around, a couple of the guys on the ST drivers forum have had the same issue confirmed to be the tyres (both on Goodyears) one of them posted photos of his obviously distorted tyre, and they report that others on various other forums are having the same problem, think one of them is a seat forum, I've also read of the same problem on a Volvo forum.

I'll try and find the tyre website that mentions it too.....

Get them checked by someone independant, then go back to whoever fitted them if they are found to be faulty, a number of people have complained directly to Goodyear, but they refuse to acknowledge the issue, and infact blatently lie and say it's the first time they've ever had such a complaint, I know of 2 for a fact, plus a few more who say they have complained (no reason to doubt them) so they are lieing!

I also need 4 new boots, was thinking of Fulda carat progresso. They have a really low tyretest.com score of 1.9 (thats good). And at £44.20 each from mytyres.co.uk a real bargain.

Fulda are Goodyears budget brand. Older tread patterns and compounds, but still very good tyres, especially for the money. I've had a few sets over the years and never had any complaints. I also like Hankook Ventus as a budget choice. I've never been suitably impressed with Michelin, Goodyear, Pirelli et al to splash the extra cash, but I was impressed with the Vred Ultracs (pre-Sessanta) on my mates Scooby, and have heard not one bad report on the Sessanta's. The Conti's on one of our Fabia's when we bought it were good with regards to wet and dry grip, but they had side-walls as soft as push-bike tyres and gave no confidence in corners for me.

I teach driving on steel wheels, so £50 a corner Hankook/Fulda's are a good compromise of quality and cost without resorting to Korean Ditchfinders such as Wanli's. My alloys will be getting some of these babies in readiness for this years track-season....CLICKY

I've had 2 sets of Hankook Ventus on the ST and I rate them very well, I wouldn't call them budget at £120 a tyre though (225/18"), the Vredestines are cheaper and IMO much better though.

Apparently Ford now fit Hankook as standard (according to my tyre fitter).

I've never paid more than £50 for a Hankook. Usually around £40 a tyre, fitted, for the K103 Aurora and K104 Ventus. The RS2's I'm getting will be £65, but they're a track tyre so a bit more pricey.

I recently bought 4 Continental Premium Contact 2 and having done just over 1000 miles on them the jury is still out. They seem to have very little feel when the weather is cold, so much so that I thought that I had hit black ice on a number of occasions due to the steering feeling so very light. On the plus side grip in the wet and dry seems good when above freezing and they were £58 a corner from black circles.

Had Falken FK452s on the front for several hundred miles now and am very impressed indeed.

Had Potenza S-03s before that and they were light years ahead of the stock Dunlop Sport 01As, but the FK452s are even better

Only thing I preferred about the S-03s was a slightly stiffer sidewall but the falken's grip is significantly better, with amazing feedback and progressive when they do finally start telling you they are at their limits.

They can cope much better with my remap than the S-03s did too... much less complaining while using WOT - in any gear... even in the damp/wet.

Think it'll be the first tyre I buy again when they are worn... so I've seen a *few* makes/models of tyre in my time

A few ppl mentioned Hankooks... they are surprisingly ok for a budget tyre, replaced the stock Potenza RE040 on my EP3 CTR with Hankook Ventus Sports K104 and they were slightly worse in the dry, but slightly better in the wet... they are still a budget tyre IMHO, even though their current pricing would suggest Hankook are starting to believe otherwise

ok peeps i need 4 new boots for the octy and was going to buy another set of what the car came with (continental eco-contact 3) but can't get them as they're no longer made. i've narrowed it down to these:

pirelli p6

continental premium-contact

the eco-3s have lasted 22k and performed well (save for a bit of rumble on certain road surfaces), any opinions on the above choices and how they compare to the eco-3s?

cheers.

have a look on www.mytyres .co.uk,lots of info and excellent to deal with.

Managed to get 30,000 out my originals.

I fitted what came with the car and they were Pirelli P6000 tyres £45 each not too bad price

Just for my two penny worth, remember, bike or car, the only things in contact with the road are the tyres, always go for the best you can (budget allowing). It makes no sense to scrimp on tyres.

I'll be replacing my oe's (900 miles only at the mo) with the same exaltos at about £200 each. My road bike tyres cost £50 each, so by comparison, I don't mind that much.

Billy