Tyre Recommendation thread

[JohnL]

Just in case anyone is remotely interested…

Tried the Falken ZE329 on the front at 47psi (up from 45). This resulted in a very slight improvement in steering response (still not good), not much (if any, might be my imagination?) reduction in front grip, and slight increase in harshness.

Then I tried them at 33psi. This resulted in a slight reduction in steering response but some improvement in front grip and reduction in harshness. I retrieved some response by adjusting front Konis to nearly full stiff, but response still sub standard. Not that it really matters, but at higher psi they howl a bit near their limit, but at lower psi this changes to a sort of ‘scrubbing’ sound.

All in all these tyres don’t seem particularly sensitive to psi changes, even big ones! Having said this, it does worry me somewhat running really big psi. At 47psi, after a fastish run on a warm day they gained 4psi so hot tyres are up to 51psi! (right on the max inflation marked on tyre).

These tyres also suffer from another unforgivable sin, they have very little road feel and give little direct information as to whether they are near their limit. You can’t really feel it at the wheel, the only way you know the tyres are at / near the limit is by the increasing under/over steer and the sound they’re making! Having said that, in their defence they are very forgiving as when they approach their limit they ‘let go’ very progressively, but this is more or less what I’d expect from a soft cased, unresponsive tyre.

Now trying them again back on the rear at 33psi. This seems somewhat better than when on the rear at 38psi, but they’re still far from good. When on the rear these tyres make the car ‘wobbly’ (technical term) in the back end and want to oversteer, but not in a nice way (you can feel the tread moving laterally as they load up and slip angle rises). Compared to (some) other tyres, when fitted on the rear they also adversely affect turn-in, so whether fitted front or rear they aren’t good for steering response, though less badly when fitted to the rear than front. The car also feels like it’s rolling more with these tyres (fitted front or rear, but more so when on the rear).

The problem is probably the number of sidewall plies/cords. Upon close inspection of the sidewall blurb I find they only have one polyester sidewall ply (yes, that’s 1, singular). I can’t ever remember seeing sidewalls marked as having less than two sidewall plies. Unless this is a particularly stiff ply (I doubt!) then the sidewall must be very soft compared to nearly any other radial tyre I’ve seen (i.e. bothered to read sidewall). No wonder they generate large slip angles and thus poor steering response.

This also has implications for the tread stiffness because sidewall plies (ply) aren’t only sidewall plies. They’re wrapped from bead to bead and thus form part of the tread construction as well, i.e. the tread is denoted as having one poly ply, two steel and one nylon ply, which is also one less poly tread ply than I can remember seeing on any other tyres. If a tyre had two poly sidewall plies then it would also have two poly tread plies, since they are the same plies. This also suggests that the ZE329 tread isn’t likely to be particularly stiff either…

I don’t like these tyres, at all. No amount of pressure adjustment etc seems likely to turn these pig’s ears into anything remotely resembling a silk purse (perhaps putting them on a 7.5J rim???). It amazes me that they are so much worse than other similarly priced tyres like the Sonar SX608 or Sava Intensa (that I have tried on this car), and probably a number of others (that I haven’t). I suppose things could be worse, I might have bought 4 of these bloody things…

[JohnL]

Hi everyone, my dad is looking for some new tyres for his Mazda 6. I'm not exactly sure of the size 205/55/R16? at a guess.
He doesn't drive much (less than 10k per year).
He's not after performance. Comfort and quiet is what he's after. Old tyres are the stock Potenza RE030's i think.

I know c.drives are highly recommended here, but how "performancy" are they? for that money (or cheaper) could he get something more comfortable and quiet?

Falken ZE329 perhaps? They are comfortable and quiet, definitely not "performancy" at all!

[V205]

In that case, probably the Yokohama decibel series.

But RE001 is a tyre designed for enjoyment of daily driving too in terms of steering ease and response, not just at the limit.

I think they'd be too sporty for him. comfort and quiet are way more important than outright grip.

[EG30]

The Michelin Precedas might just fit the bill perfectly for your dad's Mazda 6 Hullabaloo...

Very quiet tyre and comfortable, highly rated by the Autosalon mag. Still corners hard despite what the tread pattern looks tame. I specified this tyre on many frens' Euro cars such as Audi A4s and Saab 95s and they are all very happy with this tyre and most importantly it retains much of its grip all the way down to the treadwear indicator.

They are on sale at Bob Jane from memory for $199 each for 205/55R16.

[Hullabaloo]

Great, thanks for all the advice guys.

[aaronng]

Hi everyone, my dad is looking for some new tyres for his Mazda 6. I'm not exactly sure of the size 205/55/R16? at a guess.
He doesn't drive much (less than 10k per year).
He's not after performance. Comfort and quiet is what he's after. Old tyres are the stock Potenza RE030's i think.

I know c.drives are highly recommended here, but how "performancy" are they? for that money (or cheaper) could he get something more comfortable and quiet?

If his car is not lowered and you have 1cm space to the guard to spare, consider 225/50 R16. It's actually similar or cheaper than 205/55 R16 because it's not an OEM size. S.Drive and C.Drive were about $215-220 in 225/50 R16 and $210 for 205/55 R16. Consider the RE001 Adrenalins (I didn't check the price for those though)

[20EG]

Hey all,

Although not impressed with the fact that Bridgestone do not make left and right tyre in the RE001. I made a decision to try them anyway.

Ordered tyres from the local BS dealer yesterday and went in to have them fitted this morning as I was advised they would be there about 9am. So I turned up and was told they had their delivery but some tyres were stuck at the bottom when they packed and would be dropped of at another store so they could go and get them. I was told they would call me when they come in...

At this point (Pissed off with BS as I'd taken a day of work to get this done and booked into have a wheel alignment with the suspension place) a decision was made to see what else is available in the same sort of bracket as the RE001 did a bit of running around to some other tyre places and found Federal tyres firstly found the 595RS which has been mentioned previously in this thread and is marketed as a " Street legal semi slick" the tread wear rating (TWR) of 180 stamped on the side made me smile... They weren't going to last long but they were definitely going to grip! In the end decided this might be a bit overboard for a car which is mainly driven on the street. The next tyre in Federal’s line up is the 595EVO I’ve searched the posts and found nothing on this forum about this tyre.

First thing for this tyre though I’d compare it to what I had intended to buy. So the 595EVO has a TWR of 240 Traction AA and Temperature A. Remembering the BS RE001 has a TRW of 220 and from what I had previously read here Traction A and Temperature AA.

In the end I thought someone has to try them or we’ll never know. I’ve made an executive decision to be the guinea pig so I’ve bought four of them in a 205/45/16.

Obviously I haven’t had much of a chance to get a feel for them as they were only fitted about lunchtime today. However, my initial feeling is that these will be a reasonable compromise as a high performance street tyre. They seem to have good turn in, stability in a straight line and under brakes. Federal calls them “Street Competition”.

I don’t have much to compare them to... I had a set of G3’s on a pulsar a while ago and so far would have to rate these higher than the G3 even though I haven’t even had them on the car for 24hrs. The only other good tyre I’ve driven on was an FM901 which they don’t make any more and I don’t think that this would be on par with the FM901 which had a TWR of 200.

I’ll try and keep you updated and if it ever rains I’ll let you know what they’re like in the wet...

As for price I was quoted $230 by most for the RE001 in a 205/45/16 but they were going to do them for $213 each – Oh yeah, they never called me...

I picked the Federals up for $205 a tyre and looking at their catalog there are plenty of sizes to cater for pretty much everyone.

Got a couple of pics up on my myspace page here for anyone that’s interested
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...albumId=949036

Oh and here’s the Federal site as well - http://www.federaltyres.com.au/motorsport

[Hullabaloo]

If his car is not lowered and you have 1cm space to the guard to spare, consider 225/50 R16. It's actually similar or cheaper than 205/55 R16 because it's not an OEM size. S.Drive and C.Drive were about $215-220 in 225/50 R16 and $210 for 205/55 R16. Consider the RE001 Adrenalins (I didn't check the price for those though)

20mm extra seems quite a lot. are there any factors to consider when trying to increase by this much?

[aaronng]

20mm extra seems quite a lot. are there any factors to consider when trying to increase by this much?

On the Mazda6, there is enough space. The only thing to consider is that the minimum rim width must be at least 6.5" to run 225. If you want quiet and grippy (for a normal driver, not an enthusiast), then try Yoko C.Drive. About $200 in 205/55 R16. It's quieter than most OEM tyres!

[Hullabaloo]

Cheers. Been offered an alternative for slightly cheaper. Bridgestone Turanza ER300. Does anyone have any thoughts/experience/comparison with C.drives with those?

[DreadAngel]

If you're talking about ER30, C-Drive > ER30... lol... I don't really like ER30s...

[jay-bee'z]

Brigdestone Adrenalin RE001 is getting very good feedback for the latest release product.

Good.. I just got them today

Hopefully they go alright, got them through K-Mart T&A for 159.00ea. (195/55/R15). I didn't have time to research them so don't know much about them at all.