Tyre recommendations

[Rich306]

I am after a tyre that performs well in the following:

Wet grip
Dry Grip
Track use
Tread wear not being too major
Decent price per tyre delivered.
Speed rating around the 140mph mark to allow for the Rallye on track

I have a couple of examples below that i've found, ideally i'd like to get a set of 4 in 195/50/R15 for as much under £200 as possible.

Any decent advice in tyre would be appreciated thanks!
Bridgestone

Goodyear

[chrisrallye]

R888 mate great in the dry and ok i wet

[4WayDiablo]

Pirelli P6000
/thread

[Rich306]

4way... Make a serious suggestion

[Curt]

Uniroyal RS2's, £33 on Camskill. Only issue may be the soft-ish sidewalls, but I love them

[ozonehostile]

i bought a set of pro race wheels off sam recently wrapped in Marangoni Zetalinea rubber, im pretty impressed so far, quite a soft tyre so once they warm up and get sticky they are amazing, you get the authentic race car sounds of little rocks sticking into the hot tyre and rattling against the underside when they come off lol

anyway, Marangoni Zetalinea, amazing in the dry, ok in the wet but i don't advise trying to go too fast into corners as i notice they make the rear end a bit vague, i think its more to do with the water cooling them down than their ability to remove water from the contact area though.

they are certainly an 80% improvement over the toyo proxes i had previously, those things were totally useless unless they were hot and near the illegal tread depth. premium pirrelli tyres are good for a while but i find they wear too fast, michelins are good for a road car and last for ages, just i find they tend to suddenly break traction at times you don't expect.

avon are amazing but i cant justify the cost when Marangoni are very nearly as good but no where near the avon rrp

[chrisrallye]

i have used Marangoni Zetalinea and yeah they are a very good tyre.

[Toms306]

I have rainsports and hate them tbh.....good for rain grip, but not 'sports' driving.... They don't like torque, are incredibly soft and wallowy despite tonnes of pressure, and they wear quickly.

I don't like proxes either, crap in the rain, again can't handle torque and they wear quickly too, but they are less wallowy and turn in better than the RS2s, however they also 'snatch' badly (rather than letting you know you're starting to lose grip, they just go) which lead to a clenching over-correcting moment on more than one occasion.

I don't like Goodyear NCT 5s either, they're just shit basically, but to be expected consindering they're an Eco tyre.

I can't tell you what to get though, jus none of the above haha!

[Niall]

Don't get Goodyear eagle f1s. Dry grip is good but wet is absolutely shocking.

[C.A.R.]

Utter bollocks, all of it.

Rainsports will lap up torque no problem and have plenty of grip. Soft sidewalls as curt has said, but this is largely irrelevant most of the time. Obviously very good in the wet, very predictable tyre. Can't comment on wear rate as I've only had them on the 306 for a couple of months! My only disliking is the noise they generate, but that's the price you pay for better grip.

Eagle F1s are great in the wet? I ran them over 2 years and only killed one 306 in that time. Although it was wet....the one thing they are is 'twitchy' in the wet IMO, there's no gradual break-away like other tyres I've experienced. SNAP! And closely followed by a wallop.

[cwspellowe]

Dont listen to Tom, even if VW themselves made a tyre he wouldnt't be happy.

Personally i dont think you can tick every box for a decent price. Rainsport 2's have been my tyre of choice ever since i had them on the gti6, they inspired so much confidence,.probably too much in the wet. Falken 912's are on the estate at the minute. Bear in mind i have 195/40's on 8.25J wheels so a bit of stretch, but they're ok for the money. Wear rates seem good and dry grip is spot on, only issues i have are wet grip in low gears, but thats what 300lbft does for you, pretty much any road tyre wouldnt like that coming out of a corner.

Given that you have about half the torque of a big blown XUD i wouldnt worry about that being an issue

[Toms306]

Dont listen to Tom, even if VW themselves made a tyre he wouldnt't be happy.

They recommend the NCT 5's...which are awful!


But honestly I was really disappointed with the RS2s, expected a lot more from them considering how much people on here rate them. They do seem to grip wet corners....but that's about the extent of their advantages for me. Although obviously I realise you can't have a tyre that does everything.

[Slam Wagon]

Ive always ran kumhos, really like them, they did jump up in price last time i bought them though, now £80 a corner.

[ozonehostile]

Ive always ran kumhos, really like them, they did jump up in price last time i bought them though, now £80 a corner.

oooh yeah, i forgot about kumho, brilliant tyres and they last ages!

[Rich306]

I had a set of Kuhmo Ecstas and they were shocking tyres!

I'm finally down to two choices of tyre:

BF Goodrich Gforce Profiler 2
Falken ZE914

[Jonny b]

Agree with the above I had khumos on my 205 and that kept trying to kill me, very vague on the edge! They would have grip then feck all wasn't really a feel able line between the 2

[ozonehostile]

depends which kumho your using, admittedly i was using kuhmo semi slicks which were awesome

[306Puggy]

Apart from special circumstances (such as darren's car) there really is no need for a premium brand of tyre. I have 2 Savas, one Admiral Powermax and one Autogrip, all part worn and they have been perfect in all weather conditions. I drive hard in the dry as well, they have never let me down, not once. No wheel slip either on a dturbo running 26psi. A lot of what people talk about is just the placebo effect.

[Niall]

Apart from special circumstances (such as darren's car) there really is no need for a premium brand of tyre. I have 2 Savas, one Admiral Powermax and one Autogrip, all part worn and they have been perfect in all weather conditions. I drive hard in the dry as well, they have never let me down, not once. No wheel slip either on a dturbo running 26psi. A lot of what people talk about is just the placebo effect.

Rubbish. Tyres are one of the most important safety items that you can buy for your car seeing as its the only thing that keeps you stuck to the ground. Even on a 1.0l matiz, you should be looking at spending as much as you can afford on a tyre.

[Andy]

Apart from special circumstances (such as darren's car) there really is no need for a premium brand of tyre.

So you're telling me you think premium aren't worth it?
Sorry mate but I have to disagree. I've been in plenty of situations where if the tyres were budgets I'd probably have had my arse handed to me.

Being in cars with things like kyotohama oompah loompah mickey mouse Korean tyres makes my arse go like a rabbits nose.

[306Puggy]

I can't say I've had any bad experiences on my budget tyres in four years of driving on them.

[bigcheez2k3]

I've got some ling ling chinese whatevers on mine atm and I don't know what you're on about. I have no confidence in them compared to the TR1's and Rainsports I had on the old wheels. Can spin them up easily in the dry and in the wet can get wheelspin at 30.

I can't wait to get some grippier stuff on there.

[Toms306]

No wheel slip either on a dturbo running 26psi.

I think you need a new clutch then.... You can't possibly drive hard and not slip a wheel now and then, unless your clutch is slipping before the tyres!


It's also not all about driving to conditions either, have you never come round an NSL corner at ~45mph on a damp road and there's been a cyclist/mobility scooter/dog walker/debris in the road that you've had to brake/swerve for? Obviously doesn't happen round town but happens all the time on the country roads round here.

[C.A.R.]

I can't say I've had any bad experiences on my budget tyres in four years of driving on them.

Don't let this bloke follow you folks, he won't be able to stop!

Seriously, they're cheap for a reason. People that think tyres are a ripoff are dellusional. People who look to save the most they can by running cheap budgets, re-moulds or part-worns deserve to be sectioned!

Typical dumbass responses-
"But I only drive xx miles per day"
"I never go over the speed limit"
"it's only a runaround"
"I haven't crashed on my hong-kong ling-long velcrogrips in xx years"

Can we get a facepalm?

[Toms306]

I don't agree with you on the part-worns though Chris..........you don't replace tyres when you buy a new car or wheels do you? They're part worns then....

I'd much rather have premium PWs that new budgets.

[bigcheez2k3]

Mine are that bad I've had wheel spin when on boost up a steep hill, another reason they are shit.

[Toms306]

Mine are that bad I've had wheel spin when on boost up a steep hill, another reason they are shit.

Yeah I also get that, - I expected the (aparently epic) rainsports to cure that on the slow broken Vec considering they're 215mm wide as well....but trust me, they don't, still slips one wheel and with no traction control I have to put some effort in to stop it slipping. The HDi would slip both wheels on that same hill on Proxes though lol.

[Rich306]

I'm running on what I can only describe as budgets, I Span out at 60mph on a slight bend in the dry. Hell no am I getting the bottom rack again.

[306Puggy]

I've got some ling ling chinese whatevers on mine atm and I don't know what you're on about. I have no confidence in them compared to the TR1's and Rainsports I had on the old wheels. Can spin them up easily in the dry and in the wet can get wheelspin at 30.

I can't wait to get some grippier stuff on there.

I do not have ling longs so I don't know what you are on about.

No wheel slip either on a dturbo running 26psi.

I think you need a new clutch then.... You can't possibly drive hard and not slip a wheel now and then, unless your clutch is slipping before the tyres!


It's also not all about driving to conditions either, have you never come round an NSL corner at ~45mph on a damp road and there's been a cyclist/mobility scooter/dog walker/debris in the road that you've had to brake/swerve for? Obviously doesn't happen round town but happens all the time on the country roads round here.

Not really, clutch was done in 2010 and have only done 20k since then. Yes and 99% of the time I have had enough time to react because I have been IAM trained and am driving to the conditions, taking into account visibility and road conditions to determine what speed I travel at. Besides, the brakes do not lock the wheels anyway so having more grip is pointless and unnecessary.

Mine are that bad I've had wheel spin when on boost up a steep hill, another reason they are shit.

Again, I do not run ling longs so I cannot comment.

I'm running on what I can only describe as budgets, I Span out at 60mph on a slight bend in the dry. Hell no am I getting the bottom rack again.

I regularly drive upto 60 miles per hour and have not had this scenario. Perhaps the tyre treads are low? Hell, maybe that is what the problem is for all you guys, if the tread gets low the tyres won't grip as well, especially in the wet.

[Midnightclub]

"having more grip is pointless and unnecessary."




Pfftt.. who needs grip it's obviously overrated