Thought i'd share this experience here: Let me first introduce my car history to you people: Learned to drive in a Series IIIA Land Rover for 2 years (dad's) Drove a VW Microbus for about a year (mum's) Drove a Land Rover Defender 110 for about a year (dad's replacement for the 3A) Bought a 1.4 VW Polo in 2007. Sold the Polo in January 2008, bought a Golf V GTI (2.0 TFSI). Sold the GTI in May 2008, Bought a Volvo S40 2.4i. Wrote off the Volvo (nasty accident involving a drunk pedestrian taking out my oil filter with his head, draining the engine of oil, seizing the engine, breaking aircon, radiator, etc) recently, fought with insurance and now drive a Fiat Bravo 1.4 T-Jet Dynamic (110kw). In the light of that, i've never had to replace tires on any car. I never drove them for long enough. I have however got a fair share of experience in quick(ish) cars and aggressive driving (having friends that race regularly on a track helps there - you learn a lot from those people). Seeing as i bought my Bravo second hand (1 year old, 27000km on the clock), the original front tires (225/45R17 91W Bridgestone Potenzas) were approaching their legal limit, and i got the dealership to throw a new pair into the deal. The dealership spent 3 weeks waiting for a new set of Potenzas. When they didn't arrive, they asked me if they can look around for alternatives. The only Tires they could find in my size that were in stock in this town were a set of Kenda Kaiser KR20 225/45ZR17 91W's. I did a bit of research on them, and figured "Well, it's better than the messed up ones i have now" and let them go ahead. I got them put on on Friday afternoon, and all i can say is WOW! I never knew tires could make that much difference. In ALL the reviews of the new turboed Fiats, the main criticism is numb steering. That's a thing of the past. The steering feedback is EXCELLENT suddenly. Planting my foot down suddenly doesn't make the traction control go nuts, but rather slips a bit, then starts gripping. Planting my foot in he corners makes tires scream for mercy rather than just cutting engine power (which makes the bigBravos quite adventurous to drive, as understeer turns into oversteer, etc). Thinking i just imagined all of this, i let an ex-Fiat mechanic mate of mine (who introduced me to the Bravo once by taking a sport model home and letting me have a spin in it) have a go at it... he confirmed all my suspicions: exponentially more feel in the steering, pointier, more direct, better braking, way more grip, more controllable, but not ruining what makes the Bravo fun yet. let's just say i am shocked. I really didn't know that tires can make THAT much of a difference. I mean - theoretically i knew it... just never felt it myself. My question is: If the Potenzas are so CRAP on the Fiats, why does Fiat ship those as standard? Surely, giving a customer a test drive should show the car to be as good as it gets, rather than diluting it with numb steering, less grip, etc. I intially fell in love with the Bravo when i drove that sport model. I think this weekend i fell in love all over again...
The FIAT group are in bed with Bridgestone - hence all their cars are fitted as standard with their tyres. That 1.4 T-jet is a pretty potent engine, I fancy the Grande Punto with it.
Yeah... the T-Jet is a wonderful little engine. Revvy... a bit like a jack russel in a way... it constantly wants to play... i LOVE driving alongside Audis and Golfs (or Beemers), only to have them get irritated with this little Fiat next to them. Then when they accelerate, i push the accelerator a bit and come past them. Good fun. lesson learned, though: No more Bridgestone for me...
To be fair to the Potenza's you don't know how soft a compound those tyres are - they might be completely useless in 5000 miles.
You're comparing a set of tyres with 27000km on them, ones which you said yourself are "messed up", to a fresh set and you're surprised that the fresh set is coming off better? I'm running Potenza RE050a at the moment and I'm pretty impressed with them, go figure.
they are soft... Potenza: Tread Lifespan rating of 140, grip rating: A, Heat: A the Kendas: Tread lifespan: 280, Grip AA, Heat A Obviously, time will tell a complete story, but even the newer Fiats i drove (i.e. with new Potenzas) had numb steering, much like the Bravo with them on it... i just find it funny that Fiat doesn't bother fixing the one issue that most reviews moan about... especially since it's such a simple issue.
I am also sure that your tyre experience varies, dependant on what car you're running. My Experience was specific to my Bravo (and as i said - i have driven a new Bravo, as has my mate).
id never buy the tyres a dealership or the manual says. go into an independant and ask them what would be the best. fiat and all the other manufactorers get a cheaper price on the tyres they put on the car when it rolls off the line if they recommend them in the manual. so people that think theyre doing the best by buying the tyres in the manual keep buying them. its abit of a lie the whole thing. its just a deal they make to get cheaper tyres. i bought a 00 saxo vts in 06/07 and he was still buying the tyres recommended in the manual, but off course better tyres were being made at that stage so i bought different ones. they were probably decided on in 96/97 when they started making the saxos sometimes its a toss up between performance and longevity, sometimes theyre just better you might get the best of both worlds. i know i bought pirellis once and i dont intend ever buying them again, were good enough grip wise but didnt last any time at all. just didnt think they were worth it atm im happy enough with hardish/long wearing tyres im getting a faster car in a few months so will need better tyres for it
A friend of mine had a 205 gti, it was a great handling little car on decentish tyres, after having some work done to the engine and suspension he got some new wheels fitted with toyo 888r tyres, they have to be the best tyres ive ever used! Lifespan was a little flaky aswell as wet roads but in the dry they were awesome!
Tires do make much more of a difference than people think. Other day I came out to my 2002 Astra 1.6 and noticed one of the tires was really quite low on air. A quick check with the pressure gauge showed that it was sitting at not much more than 7 p.s.i! Out with the compressor to find it is completely dead. At this point I really have to be going so I figure I'll take it to the local petrol station about half a mile up the road and get some air. No luck, machine out of order. There is another garage on my way a couple miles up the road so I figure that'll have to do. Also out of order! Now I don't have time to go garage hunting because I'm going to be late for something I cannot be late for. I drive carefully there then after go hunting. After putting all 4 tires up to pressure (the other 3 where still quite soft, about 20-24psi) there was an easily noticeable increase in handling and grip. I knew it would be an improvement I just didn't realise the scale of improvement. I think this is along the same lines as the OP's story. Go tires!
Try some Toyo 888Rs on it, Car magazine (can't remember which one) recently did a tyre test, and had a track tyre section, they had Toyo T1Rs and 888s, the 888s took something like 5 seconds off the lap times, and that was in an Audi TT.
That's if its dry In damp conditions the lap time would be considerably longer, because you'd probably end up in a ditch somewhere in the middle. They're track day tyres, not really comparable to real world tyres. Soon to be made illegal for use on the roads in the EU too afaik.
Going from ditchfinders to Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D2s on my last car made a massive difference. The current car has Michelin Primacy HPs on the front and Nexen something somethings on the back, which are basically a rebranded michelin. If we get snow again this winter I'll be buying another set of steel wheels and fitting them with winter tyres. I can't wait until I can afford Goodyears again, the mondeo struggles with traction at times in the wet.
Yeah tyres make a huge difference - the A4 currently has 'Sunny' tyres on it, which will be getting replaced with something decent as soon as I've worn through them. It's awful, especially in the wet the car constantly tries to find the hedgerows, even at slow speeds! RwD
Good tyres really make a difference like, stop quicker, get away quicker and just generally handle better. I'm currently running 4x Toyo proxy T1R's, great tyre, they lose tread quickly depending on how hard to drive em, but in the dry there animals. Not amazing in the wet but better than nangkang hedge finders.
Personally I like Michelin Pilot Sport's atm - really good wet stability and decent enough dry grip to make them an ideal all-round tyre. For me there's no point sticking tyres on an everyday driving car that feel terrible in the wet in a country where it tends to rain...
Just got the call today that my new tires and wheels have arrived at the shop. The OEMs (Continental ContiProContact) only have 3k miles on them. However, since I was replacing the wheels, I wanted something better. The Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position (ultra-high performance all seasons) should make a noticeable difference all around. I'm excited.
haha, think i am the only one that buys the cheapest crap sold for my rim size. OEM tyres mmmmmmm they squeel so good, and offer no grip in the wet or dry, but at the cost of £45 a corner. Keeps ya on your toes, when your in a 4 wheel slide around a roundabout, rear end breaking, front trying to steer and power in one go. Mmmmmmmm more awakening than caffine!
Mine were put on for the nurburgring last year, they don't feel bad its just I know I could do better in the wet but not like I have to slow down much, but for a good grippy tyre with soft compound they tend to be like that.
£45 a corner? You've been robbed. "Corsa" brand tyres - £25 each including fitting, no problems with grip or responsiveness, and last longer than the Eagle NCT5's I had on there before @ £60-odd each.
