Help with tyres

[Aij]

I am undecided as to which tyres to go for from Michelin Pilot Sport2, Coninental Contact Sport 2 and the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3's - I was hoping you could recommend which to go for from personal experiences.

A4 1.8T sport 163BHP, 235 45 17

[JustinM3]

I have been using F1's for a while now, and love them. Not tried the others.
One thing I will say in these debates/discussions, other tyres have people saying they love/hate them, but never heard a bad word said about the F1's.
Not a bad price, and last ok, all things considered I believe.

[Dave Avant]

I have used F1s for years and have been great on road and track on several different cars. Michelin Pilots I have also had experience of and they don't grip aswell and are over priced.

you should get F1s in that size for around £100 or quite possibly below.

[JustinM3]

Mine are 235/40R17's and 245/40R17's.
£100 a corner at protyre all in.
Cheaper from mytyres, but only really worth it if you can slip a tyre fitter cash to fit them.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

For ultimate grip, excellent resistance to aquaplaning, superb cornering ability - without a shadow of doubt, the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 are unbeatable.

The Conti SportContact2 are OK, but slightly hard, and outright levels of grip, particularly in hard cornering, are not marvelous.

One problem with the Goodyears, which also applies to any directional tyre, is they are more "tuned" for straight-line performance, rather than being optimised for hard cornering, in the way assymetric tyres, such as the Mich PS2 are.

It really depends what kind of driving you like - if you are happy to blast down the Autobahns at v-max, any of those 3 you mentioned will do the job. If you prefer a bit of back lane and B-road scratching, the Mich PS2 would win hands down, and the tread would wear evenly across the tread width, unlike the Goodyears!

Rgds

[skymaster]

I Have been using the Goodyear F1s for a few years now. I tried Conti sports and swore never to use them again after spinning a 2 litre Mk4 golf sideways through a red light (partly my fault as well)

Also tried some Dunlops that were on a set of 17 inch alloys when I bought them (fitted as standard on a 1.8T Golf) They were so bad I took them of before they reached 5mm. Put the F1s on and have used them ever since.

Although after what Tutonic says I might try those PS2s on the next set.

I have found Pro Tyre in Bristol are always keen on price for the Goodyears. I PAY £69 fitted for 205/55/16s. I always go for grip over wear and change them well before the legal limit. When you need to stop pretty damn fast a good set of rubber makes all the difference.

[mpep666]

well i have no experiance of michellin as i feel they are over priced ive had a few pirellies and found them useless in the wet and noisy on motorways i had a set of goodyear f1s which were ok but and im being picky , i did not like there styling
last four sets ive had on my audi a4 1.9 tdi are dunlop sp01s there smooth and grip in all conditions and they last quite a while got 30k miles out of last pair of fronts and they still have a bit left

[Teutonic_Tamer]

last four sets ive had on my audi a4 1.9 tdi are dunlop sp01s there smooth and grip in all conditions and they last quite a while got 30k miles out of last pair of fronts and they still have a bit left

OMG - 30k miles from the fronts - do you actually drive it, or do you just get the wife and kids to push if from behind !!!! (Que the Skoda joke) . I'm lucky to get 8k miles from all four of mine on the S4, and on the front of the GTI .

well i have no experiance of michellin as i feel they are over priced ive had a few pirellies and found them useless in the wet and noisy on motorways i had a set of goodyear f1s which were ok but and im being picky,

But, but, but - remember, the ONLY component on your car which keeps you in contact with the tarmac is TYRES. You can have the best suspension, best brakes, best wheels, most powerful motor - but with lesser tyres, it could, and probably will go very pear-shaped.

Michelin may seem more expensive than other makes, but they are considerably better throughout their entire product range, than their competators. The "energy" or fuel saving tyres - the Michelin win hands down on tyre life, noise, and wet weather grip, when compared to similar offerings from the likes of Firestone and Continental. At the other end of the scale, the ultra-high performance end, the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 (the new assymetric pattern and not the older directional pattern) absolutely blitz the opposition from Continental (SportContact2), Dunlop (SportMaxx), Bridgestone (Potenza S03), Yokohama (AVS S1Z & AVS Sport). This is all based on personal experience, along with many independent reviews, including the very highly regarded German organisation ADAC.

But depending on your driving style, particulary if you can get a set of fronts to last over 30k miles, the Mich PS2, or the Goodyear F1s may but just too overly specced. My advice, depending on your driving style and roads, would be the Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 (next one down from the PS2) as a sporty tyre very proficient for twisty B roads, or Michelin Pilot Primacy, more suited to M-ways and dual carriageways, with less emphasis on very hard cornering, but more emphasis on quite, relaxing and long life with steady driving.

Rgds

[mpep666]

OMG - 30k miles from the fronts - do you actually drive it, or do you just get the wife and kids to push if from behind !!!! (Que the Skoda joke) . I'm lucky to get 8k miles from all four of mine on the S4, and on the front of the GTI .



But, but, but - remember, the ONLY component on your car which keeps you in contact with the tarmac is TYRES. You can have the best suspension, best brakes, best wheels, most powerful motor - but with lesser tyres, it could, and probably will go very pear-shaped.

Michelin may seem more expensive than other makes, but they are considerably better throughout their entire product range, than their competators. The "energy" or fuel saving tyres - the Michelin win hands down on tyre life, noise, and wet weather grip, when compared to similar offerings from the likes of Firestone and Continental. At the other end of the scale, the ultra-high performance end, the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 (the new assymetric pattern and not the older directional pattern) absolutely blitz the opposition from Continental (SportContact2), Dunlop (SportMaxx), Bridgestone (Potenza S03), Yokohama (AVS S1Z & AVS Sport). This is all based on personal experience, along with many independent reviews, including the very highly regarded German organisation ADAC.

But depending on your driving style, particulary if you can get a set of fronts to last over 30k miles, the Mich PS2, or the Goodyear F1s may but just too overly specced. My advice, depending on your driving style and roads, would be the Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 (next one down from the PS2) as a sporty tyre very proficient for twisty B roads, or Michelin Pilot Primacy, more suited to M-ways and dual carriageways, with less emphasis on very hard cornering, but more emphasis on quite, relaxing and long life with steady driving.

Rgds

well i have no idea what your doing to get just 8k miles out of a full set of tyres!! i cover 8k miles in 2 months ok 90% motorway but i could not afford £500.00 for a set of dunlops every two months let alone £700.00 for a set of michelins. if these michelins are so long lasting why again are you getting just 8k miles ?
From my recollection of last years formula 1 michelin where not that great a tyre compared to the bridgestones!!
As for firestone and continental i wouldent use them on a banger let alone a skoda!!
And finally skodas are vw/ audis in sheeps clothing thats why the law use them
BUT you are right that the only bit between the car and the black stuff is the rubber on your rims and i would like to say that i have never had a blowout ,delamination, or uneven tyre wear on any of the dunlop sp01 tyres that have been on my car

[skymaster]

But, but, but - remember, the ONLY component on your car which keeps you in contact with the tarmac is TYRES. You can have the best suspension, best brakes, best wheels, most powerful motor - but with lesser tyres, it could, and probably will go very pear-shaped.

I could not agree more! Tyres are so important in modern motoring especially given the speeds modern cars travel at. Too many people disregard them as a simple wear and tear item that you change to keep a valid MOT on the car. Bad and worn tyres are the causes of many accidents and road injuries and deaths. We just dont hear about it cos 'speed' is the thing the power that be prefer to blame! Why do you think most police forces change theirs at 3mm? (or was it 4mm)

All I know is that at 4mm my goodyears dont grip anywhere near as well as they do with 8mm on.