Tyre Recommendation thread

[SuperDave]

That tyre test is a load of poo...
Marangoni didn't even get any good scores! I wonder how it come out first position on the final results?

My guess is Marangoni paid the most in that test....
A better tyre test was in the November issue of EVO. Tested 9 tyres on a Golf GTi.
1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric
2. Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3
4. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A
5. Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
6. Pirelli Pzero Nero
7. Kumho Ecsta STP KU31
8. Dunlop Sport Maxx
9. Yokohama S.Drive

[quenjose]

Toss up between Toyo T1R's , Potenza RE001's and Yokohama AD07's ? Dont be a brand whore and just say the Advans, but give me reason, atm I have the T1R's and the lifetime feels a lil bit short for my liking, so Im wondering if anyone has compared the 2/3 or 3/3 and give me some feed back

I cant really comment of the AD07s as i've never used them b4, but i can comment on the T1Rs and the RE001s.
I just recently, well about 2 months ago swapped my T1Rs for a brand new set of Re001s (195/55/15).

T1R__ Has got softer sidewall than the RE001s, therefore rides a little softer over the bumps. Lateral and linear grip is pretty good in dry. not as good in the wet, but still very decent. Accelerates quicker over the RE001s because its softer. Treadwear rating 280. Quiet too.

RE001__ Firmer sidewall than T1Rs, harsher ride... but steering response is excellent (just a little dead in the centre). Lateral and linear grip in the dry is excellent, and pretty impressive if not the same in the wet. Although its got a treadwear rating of 220, it seems to be wearing better than the T1Rs. But it might be a little too soon to tell. I thought the T1Rs were quiet, but these RE001s are even quieter!

In terms of pricing, both tyres in my opinion are pretty good BFYB.
Although the t1r is cheaper... it doesnt loose out much from the RE001s.

[markoJEK1]

thanks for that quenjose, Im going to go with the RE001's this time around and see how it goes, only real way to tell in the end

[EG30]

I went thru the same motion again after I bought a set of RE001 for myEG back in June when they 1st came onto the market. I'm planning to put a set of 15"s on my crx to replace the old 14s as the 14" tyres are hardly cheaper than the 15" in the performance range, not to mention the choice of performance tyre in 185/60R14 is very limited. I was going to get something cheaper and prices I got for the lesser tyres were $95 for the bob jane xenon on special, $12x for the T1R, $118 for the wide oval, $145 for the G force sport and the $140 for the Re001. So between middle of road decent tyres in 195/50R15 and the re001 which I have been totally satisfied with was only $15 or so different a tyre and $60 or so in total or just over a tankful worth of fuel in difference. I've decided to buy another set of RE001 to fit onto my EG and the old set of re001 to fit onto my crx early next year.

The re001 is well and truely like no other tyre at any price in terms of balance and progression. It feels firm on centre and the lateral grip builds in a very linear manner as you turn in. For some this sensation may be felt as "dead" or strange esp being so used to the prev set of tyres that the person been driving on for the past tyre life cycle. Personally I find this straight as an arrow tracking ability in a straightline very reassuring. The most amazing thing about the re001 is not so much the obsolute outright grip it offers ( which is still a lot less than say the RE55s semi ) but how it delivers it grip. Their design philosophy is to maximise the grip on the unladen/unloaded wheel by optimising/enlarging their footprints and you can really feel it even when you are not hammering along. The result is a more balance feel between front and rear, lot more predictable handling.

It won Autosalon mag product of the year overall, and they said that they would be just as impressed even if the re001 cost 30-40% more. I can't agree more.

[markoJEK1]

goood stuff

[DreadAngel]

It would seem RE001 is the one to pick for my Rolla...

[T-onedc2]

Coming from a set of Yokohama ES100 (DNA GP) with a wear rating of 280 and excellent performance, I have had RE-001's for a few thousand k's now and although they have a 220 wear rating, they are lasting very well, are much quieter, have softer sidewalls but tonnes of grip possibly a little better than the Yokohamas.

And excellent value.

[EG30]

when a tyre grips well, despite being a softer road compound it doesn't wear as much as you expect even when you throw the car around corners a bit, that's coz the tyres are not sliding much, if at all as you would with less grippy tyres that slide against the bitumen surface where high wear occurs. That's provided the car is not a heavy car for the size of tyre of course.

I sold an old bmw 325i (1200kg w/out driver )to a fren in 2002 where I put on a set of new RE711 prior to delivery. He is still on the set of tyres now! That's just over 5 years of driving and close to 90000kms on the tyres and he corners hard pretty often. That's despite a conservative TRW of 140! Will post some pics of the tyres when I get the time to take some pics. So don't take the manufacturers ratings as gospel guys.

[Bludger]

Coming from a set of Yokohama ES100 (DNA GP) with a wear rating of 280 and excellent performance, I have had RE-001's for a few thousand k's now and although they have a 220 wear rating, they are lasting very well, are much quieter, have softer sidewalls but tonnes of grip possibly a little better than the Yokohamas.

And excellent value.

they must be something if you reckon they're better than es100's

[JohnL]

when a tyre grips well, despite being a softer road compound it doesn't wear as much as you expect even when you throw the car around corners a bit, that's coz the tyres are not sliding much, if at all as you would with less grippy tyres that slide against the bitumen surface where high wear occurs. That's provided the car is not a heavy car for the size of tyre of course.

I sold an old bmw 325i (1200kg w/out driver )to a fren in 2002 where I put on a set of new RE711 prior to delivery. He is still on the set of tyres now! That's just over 5 years of driving and close to 90000kms on the tyres and he corners hard pretty often. That's despite a conservative TRW of 140! Will post some pics of the tyres when I get the time to take some pics. So don't take the manufacturers ratings as gospel guys.

There is something in this, sliding tears rubber off! A lot depends on your driving style, if you habitually hammer it then softer rubber may last longer than harder more slidey rubber, but if you're more sedate harder rubber will last longer. This is assuming that 'hammering it' means you corner faster, but not so fast that you're sliding even with the softer rubber, where you would be with the harder.

Keep in mind that tread wear numbers are not absolute, not very helpful when attempting to second guess the likely tyre wear between one brand and another. More useful when comparing different tyres from the same manufacturer, but a tyre from manufacurer X with a treadwear number of say 200 may be quite soft, but the same number from manufacturer Y may be relatively quite hard...

[JohnL]

RE001__ Firmer sidewall than T1Rs, harsher ride... but steering response is excellent (just a little dead in the centre). Lateral and linear grip in the dry is excellent, and pretty impressive if not the same in the wet. Although its got a treadwear rating of 220, it seems to be wearing better than the T1Rs. But it might be a little too soon to tell. I thought the T1Rs were quiet, but these RE001s are even quieter!

It occurs to me that this 'dead centre' feeling may be associated with stiffer case construction. Remember when I talked about increasing caster angle also increasing 'trail'? To re-iterate; trail is defined as the longitudinal distance from the nominal centre of the contact patch to the point at which the steering axis intersects the ground, steering axis being a line drawn to infinity passing through the upper and lower ball joints (with double wishbone), or the lower ball joint and the top of a Mac strut.

This longitudinal distance at ground level is the 'trail' (as you see on shopping trolley 'casters', which strangley have no caster angle, but do have substantial trail), and is what causes the wheel to want to follow behind the point at which the steering axis intersects the ground when the car is travelling straight ahead (i.e creates self centring, steering 'weight' and much of the on centre feel). The greater the trail the stronger the self centreing effect will be, contributing to on centre feel.

However, this is not the only source of trail. There is a phenomenon called 'pneumatic trail', whereby the rolling deformation of the tyre casing causes the centre of the contact patch (whole contact patch really) to move backward relative to the rest of the tyre, and thus to move backward relative to the point at which the steering axis intersects the gound. With a stiffer case constuction this rolling deformation will tend to be less than with a softer case construction, as it also will be with lower inflation pressures. So, if we have a stiffer case (or higher psi) we will probably have less pneumatic trail, and thus less self centring and less on centre feel.

Higher case stiffness will promote steering response at the expense of pneumatic trail and thus give more response and lighter steering but less self centring and on centre feel. Lower psi will will increase pneumatic trail giving increased 'weight', self centring and on centre feel, but reduce steering response (sound familiar?, this is what you feel strongly when driving on very underinflated front tyres, though it can be masked somewhat by PS, and on centre feel may be 'wooly' due to lack of meaningful response).

It's a trade off, stiffer case (or higher psi) means less torsional case deformation as you steer the tyre, but less pneumatic trail, which gives a more immediate steering response, but may mean you have less self centring, less steering 'weight', and less on centre feel. (did I say that twice?, can't be buggered editing this again!).

[nd55]

> The re001 is well and truely like no other tyre at any price in terms of balance and progression.

Hmmm,

Surely Bridgestone RE-01R, Yokohama AD-07, Falken Azenis RT-615 are up there.

Local availability is not the best amongst this group though.

Nick.