Which tyres?

[Anton]

Hey guys,

Having trouble on which tyres to go for! Narrowed it down to these

Spec 2
Proxes
Falkens

Any one recommend any? Also these are going on my zx sp do I go for 195/55 or 195/50?

Cheers

[Daniel306]

I use Proxies, and 50's are cheaper than 55's

[Dan!]

Out of them 3, Spec 2's are easily the better tyre. Toyo proxies and Falken (ZE-912's?) are just good mid range tyres. Price should easilly reflect that tbh.

And as Daniel said, 50 profiles will be considerably cheaper, usually £20-40 per tyre!

[Anton]

I'm leaning towards the spec 2, will wait for Ed to give some feedback!

Prices are roughly £40 for the proxies and £46 for the spec 2s

[THE_Liam]

I've always liked Proxies, great for the price

[4WayDiablo]

Ed doe will say parada spec 2 as he's just got some on his 6 lol

Best bet would be spec 2 or Uniroyal rain sports. They're underrated as a dry tire and although I've not had spec 2 they're the best tires I've had.

[kingy]

ive had proxies before and i thought they were good for the money. never had spec 2's so no comment on them. im running falkens at the minute and tbt ive not got as much trust in the wet with em. not to bad in the dry.

[Dan!]

... although I've not had spec 2 they're the best tires I've had.

:?

But yeah, for an extra £6 the Spec 2's are deffinately the ones to go for imo!

[Kezzieboy]

Spec 2's or Uniroyal Rainsport 2's, the former from recommendations, the latter from experience.

[Connor]

Avons

[Niall]

Grant has spec 2s and the grip is unreal BUT the wet isn't brilliant. I've got the proxies and they are still bloody grippy but also hold their grip in the wet. Depends what you want really. I went for the proxies as it was a daily so wanted something all round.

[Toms306]

Of that list, at that price, SPEC 2s imo. Proxes are good and I have them on my clones....but if its only 6 quid difference I'd go for the spec 2.

[Ed Doe]

I can't rate Spec2s highly enough. I had Proxes before, they were ok, the Spec2s are definitely a lot better.

As already said though, the Spec2s aren't as good in the wet as proxes. The '6 is a sunshine only car now, so it wasnt even a consideration. Short of R888s or A048s, I wouldn't get anything else; certainly not within the same price bracket...

Ask Fooby as well, he's got em too, and he went autotesting on them in November.... (in the dry lol)

[Niall]

Tbh actually I was being a bit harsh on the spec 2 for rain driving. There not that bad but the proxies are better for rain so it was a case of offsetting safety in the wet for marginal dry performance - no brainier when it's a daily.
However it no longer will be soon so spec 2s are Definately going on next!......oh and the tread pattern looks quality

[mark_airey]

Spec 2's provide massive amounts of grip in the dry, not great in the wet and wear pretty damn fast in my experience.

Falkens are good in the dry, OK in the wet and wear really well

Toyos are good and wear somewhere between the 2 above but you need to get a fair bit of heat in them before they work properly.

IMO rainsports are amazing in the wet great in the dry and wear really well, if they still made them in 16" I would still be using them!

[Jacko]

I can't fault my Michelin Pilot Exalto 2's They're bloody fanctastic!

[Grant]

I have spec2's and i love them. Super grippy, and get good squeal out of them for lolz

People say they're not great in the rain, and yes perhaps they may lack a little in the moist road surface department, but a lot of reviews on the internet are written by people who are expecting the tyre to act in the wet, as well as it does in the dry which will never happen...

And i wouldnt say theyre unsafe in the wet, only as unsafe as how much of a dick you drive on wet roads...

[mark_airey]

People say they're not great in the rain, and yes perhaps they may lack a little in the moist road surface department, but a lot of reviews on the internet are written by people who are expecting the tyre to act in the wet, as well as it does in the dry which will never happen...

And i wouldnt say theyre unsafe in the wet, only as unsafe as how much of a dick you drive on wet roads...

^^ have to agree with this, if you expect them to grip in the wet like they do in the dry and drive like a dick in the wet then you deserve to end up in a hedge TBH

[Ruan]

Spec 2s are epic in the dry, they aquaplane easily in the wet, but that's understandable as they have a very large contact patch...

Just don't drive fast in the wet, or go near standing water... They seem to last FAIRLY well IMO, I'm still a big fan of Yoko S.Drives, I know Mark Airey hates them with a passion, but he hates lots of things

Best part of the S.Drives is that they have an awesome sidewall... Spec 2s and the likes aren't anywhere near as rigid in the sidewall, killing turn-in...

[Jonny b]

R888 are my next tyres lol great in the wet ha ha

[Ed Doe]

Spec 2s are epic in the dry, they aquaplane easily in the wet, but that's understandable as they have a very large contact patch...

Just don't drive fast in the wet, or go near standing water... They seem to last FAIRLY well IMO, I'm still a big fan of Yoko S.Drives, I know Mark Airey hates them with a passion, but he hates lots of things

Best part of the S.Drives is that they have an awesome sidewall... Spec 2s and the likes aren't anywhere near as rigid in the sidewall, killing turn-in...

wait to pass judgement till you've got my spec2 part-worns on the front

I agree with the general comments above though, dont drive like a knobber in the wet!

They do last fairly well; I did 5-6k on mine before handing them over to Ruan. I'm sure they'll last pretty well on his car too...

[Anton]

5 or 6k!!? I do 2-2.5k a month! How much were yours Ed?

[4WayDiablo]

5 or 6k!!? I do 2-2.5k a month! How much were yours Ed?

if your really looking at wear rates, the goodyear eagle f1's can do 30k+

[Ed Doe]

5 or 6k!!? I do 2-2.5k a month! How much were yours Ed?

Please remember since I got the Spec2s on I only drove the car when I wanted to, therefore they were used hard for almost every one of those miles...

I just got 4 new spec2s fully fitted & balanced for £228 off blackcircles. I googled "black circles discount code" and found one off the '6 forum, or they'd have been about £270...

Basically it's not much money for a pretty epic tyre....

[Toms306]

5 or 6k!!? I do 2-2.5k a month! How much were yours Ed?

if your really looking at wear rates, the goodyear eagle f1's can do 30k+

I've never had F1s but I currently have Eagle NCT 5's all round on the Golf and they last surprisingly well, bearing in mind the torquey diesel and the fact they get used hard and like spinning/squealing quite a lot until the TC/ESP cuts in....they've barely worn in the last 6 months (7000miles) that I've had them on! :o Infact, I took more off the Proxes on the 1.4 in the same amount of time!

And I belive the F1s are supposed to be better than NCT 5's so depending on price, they're not a bad choice imo.

[Anton]

Ed did you go 55 or 50 profile? And also what's the code? Lol black circles are one of the cheapest....

[Ed Doe]

I've never had F1s but I currently have Eagle NCT 5's all round on the Golf and they last surprisingly well, bearing in mind the torquey diesel and the fact they get used hard and like spinning/squealing quite a lot until the TC/ESP cuts in....they've barely worn in the last 6 months (7000miles) that I've had them on! :o Infact, I took more off the Proxes on the 1.4 in the same amount of time!

And I belive the F1s are supposed to be better than NCT 5's so depending on price, they're not a bad choice imo.

You probably wont wear them as hard Tom, as with the TC kicking in they'll stop spinning, and in any case you wont really have enough torque to spin 2nd, meaning when you spin 1st you'll just sit at peak power until the wheels catch up. that'll be like 20mph which wont take too much out the tyres.

[Toms306]

I've never had F1s but I currently have Eagle NCT 5's all round on the Golf and they last surprisingly well, bearing in mind the torquey diesel and the fact they get used hard and like spinning/squealing quite a lot until the TC/ESP cuts in....they've barely worn in the last 6 months (7000miles) that I've had them on! :o Infact, I took more off the Proxes on the 1.4 in the same amount of time!

And I belive the F1s are supposed to be better than NCT 5's so depending on price, they're not a bad choice imo.

You probably wont wear them as hard Tom, as with the TC kicking in they'll stop spinning, and in any case you wont really have enough torque to spin 2nd, meaning when you spin 1st you'll just sit at peak power until the wheels catch up. that'll be like 20mph which wont take too much out the tyres.

Hmm, that makes sense I guess, hadn't thought of it like that........I was just expecting to ra*e through tyres with a little more than 130BHP haha.

You can't sit at peak power though as the TC cuts engine power as well as applying brakes, even if you sit with your foot flat (which I don't do btw lol). And the torque in second is surprising tbh, I really can't floor it till I'm in third as it just spins in second then obv TC cuts in and kills power (not ideal), but also with such a small power band you get through 2nd bloody quick anyway so might aswell wait till 3rd.

[Anton]

Please remember since I got the Spec2s on I only drove the car when I wanted to, therefore they were used hard for almost every one of those miles...

I just got 4 new spec2s fully fitted & balanced for £228 off blackcircles. I googled "black circles discount code" and found one off the '6 forum, or they'd have been about £270...

Basically it's not much money for a pretty epic tyre....[/quote]


Ed did you see my post above?

[Ed Doe]

Whoooops! I went for fiddy's (yO!)

Discount Code I used is: EDROYAL215