Must be the worst tyres in the world

[only_happy2109]

Bought my Puma back in September, 4 good tyres all round. Unfortunately they're all budget, and must be bargain basement budget, could be from a pound shop. They're called 'A-One' (anyone heard of them?) with mis-matched rubbish on the rears too. absolutely no lateral grip. Can't accelerate out of corners as I end up going sideways, and in the wet - OMG I'm driving like it's icy.

I used to put Pirelli P6000's on my Volvo's, excellent grip in all conditions and lasted about 18 months which I was happy with given the punishment I gave them and mileage I did. But money got tight and I started exploring other options.

Goodyear Eagle F1. Remembered the hype when they came out, gave them a try. Excellent in the wet, but very noisy in the dry and useless in the snow.

Yokohama A259's on my Mini - Brilliant, but didn't last long.

Avon - Put them on the wifes Bravo, 10 days later got I got hit by a truck so couldn't evaluate them.

Bridgestone - Budget tyre, premium pricetag.

Was looking at Avon's for the Puma.

Whats peoples recommendations? - I've got stock alloys (15")

I personally know the owners of my local tyre shop and they said that 15's are going up in price as standard wheels on small cars have moved from 15" to 16" over the last few years, so there's less demand for them (and I have found that the 16" equivalent are cheaper then the 15's in a small bit of searching)

Would I be better upgrading to 16" rims in the long run over a couple of full sets of tyre changes?

or are 17's a comfortable fit without modification to body work and without the brakes looking lost in the middle?

 

[Brian']

I currently have the standard 15'' propellors with Uniroyal Rainsport 2 tyres. Really good tyre.
Not noisy, very very good in wet weather and not that expensive. Look up some reviews!

 

[Neil]

Avons are a good mid range choice - I had ZZ-3's on my FRP. These days I'm a total convert to premium tyres - Michelin pilot sport 3's were fab on my Clio 182.

 

[grayfox]

I'm running uniroyal RS2 as well, well happy with them just wouldn't recommend taking em on track... much. Had Bridgestone ER300 before that they were great from what I remember, come high on a few multiple tyre tests too and only a little dearer, wet performance isn't as good but they are more comfy than the rainsports, depends what u want out of them.

 

[Midnight Blue]

I used Goodyear Efficient Grip on my Pumas. Excellent in all weather.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Goodyear efficient grip performance during summertime season. Really, really good!
In winter michelin alpin A4. Very credible performance, slightly less precision in snow, but overall well rounded performance

 

[BigAl]

These are a great tyre at a great price! They replace the already good Rainsport 2's & have even better reviews. I run them on my Mondeo (all be it in 19's) I would certainly recommend them as a good all round tyre. Although if you're looking for something more track/fun biased I'd look at something like Yokahama Paradas!

I hope it hepls! :grin:

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m53b0s99p111610/Uniroyal_Tyres_Car_Uniroyal_RainSport3_Uniroyal_Rain_Sport_3_-_195_50_R15_82V_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_E_Wet_Grip%3A_A_NoiseClass%3A_2_Noise%3A_71dB" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m53b0s99p95924/Yokohama_Tyres_Car_Yokohama_PA01_Parada_Spec_2_Yokohama_PA_01_-_195_50_R15_82V_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_F_Wet_Grip%3A_E_NoiseClass%3A_NA_Noise%3A_74dB" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[oli8925]

I think a lot of people forget that what makes a good tyre for a bigger heavier car doesn't necessarily make a good tyre on a smaller lighter car, or a sporty car with quick steering response.

I think I had a couple of A-Ones on some wheels I bought for my Saab 9000, they had good tread and the plan was to get them refurbished and new tyres fitted anyway, but yes they were utter crap. I've never been remotely impressed with any ditchfinders - Linglongs...can't remember any others now thank god.

I now use Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance and they're excellent. A soft ride and really quiet but tonnes of grip in wet and dry. I've been really impressed by them and all the reviews I've read agree.

Have also had Pirelli P6000s on the same car - useless tyres, and Bridgestone ER300 which were great. The other two I've considered and read really good reviews on (but chose the Goodyears over) are UniRoyal Rainsport 2s and Avon ZV5s. Apparently Rainsport 3s are even better.

As an outside, cheap midrange but supposed to be as good as premium tyres choice, Falken Ziex ZE-914s are supposed to be really good too, but all these reviews have been focussing on bigger cars as that's what they'd be going on to.

Puma has a mixture of ditchfinders and I think a Bridgestone ER300 and Kuhmo Ecsta. I'd planned to get a fresh set of something proven on small light cars with great dry performance such as a Toyo T1R, but I have too much to buy for my own cars before splashing out on new tyres for the gf's. The fronts do spin at will in the wet though.

On the Classic Mini I had Continental ContiSports which I thought were awful. Ok in the dry but dangerous in the wet. And on the Viva I had Yokohama A-Drives which were great and I couldn't get to let go properly even in monsoon weather.

 

[yippeekiay]

Tyre recommendations and reviews :roll:

My advice is to pick a tyre, try it, if you don't like it try another the next time.

No one persons recommendation or review will mean it's going to be the same for you. Unless your car is the exact duplicate of another persons there is going to be a difference. And in exact I mean, same condition to suspension components, steering components etc etc etc, and then there's your own driving style and more importantly your own unique perception of what is good and what is not to contend with too. As we humans are even more diverse than the cars we drive only you will be able to decide which are the best for you.

:thumbs:

 

[zinc2000]

Agree totally with above, we all treat our cars and tyres differently so a good tyre can become a bad tyre in different hands.

I currently run budget (goodride directional tread) tyres on the family barge and they give fantastic grip wet or dry, are quiet and seem to last well and at under £220 for a full set suit my budget as well.

Each to their own :grin:

 

[adampuma]

+1 goodyear effecientgrip, amazing tyres