Mondeo Mk4 Tyres

[chris f]

Please help

I know we have a Tyre section in the forum, but i am posting this hear as would like help / advice from mondeo drivers.

I had front tires fitted last year went with Dunlop Sport max rt as this is what is on the rear, my size is 235 / 45 17. had my service and mot and they reported that my fronts are down to 4 mm, i have only covered 9000 miles this year, to say that i am disappointed is an under statement. I do not do wheel spins or heavy breaking, to add i do not really throw the car around, i am more about getting max millage from tank of fuel.

Sorry back to what i want your advice / help with.

What tyres would you recommended and how do they last i do need to know that if i push the car i am going to be safe. As i now need new boots on all corners thinking of changing, have seen Michelin, Yokohama and good year in my size, i had Continental on my mk 3 56 plate not impressed with them.

Any advice or own use reports great-fully welcomed.

in advance thank you for your help.

[pragmatix]

I'm on Avons and so far I have done 10k on them fronts are about 4 mm and the rears about 7 mm, the mondeo is a heavy car with a lot of weight on the front so I don't expect to high a mileage from my tyres, just about to swop them round to even out the wear.

[BOF]

All tyres have advantages and disadvantages. As it happens, those sport Maxx RTs are good for noise, fuel economy, wet grip, etc, but at the price of wear. If that's not a compromise that suits you, you won't like them.

(Also, on a side note, fronts do wear a lot more heavily than rears. My preference is just to accept that the fronts need changing more often, and to replace two tyres at a time, but people do swap them around, to equalise wear. That seems to imply that you will change four tyres at once, and that can be more painful.)

You might want to say which Contis you had on your Mk III and in what size, and what you didn't like about them. There are appreciable differences between Eco Contacts, Premium Contacts and Sport Contacts, and even between SC3s and SC5s. In any case, SC5s are good tyres, which are probably not what you want (probably the best braking performance of any available road tyre, and decent fuel economy, but at the price of some noise, and, if you use the grip, they can wear pretty quickly).

If you want to go for something that wears better, there will be compromises that have to be made, most likely in wet grip and in grip, more generally, and there may even be losses in fuel economy (reduced FE is very commonly a compromise in the cheaper options...so, on more of a system wide basis, are these tyres really cheaper???).

If you want longer life, and don't mind paying in purchase price for it (and aren't prepared to go for cardboard-like, no wet grip, really cheap options), then something like a Michelin Primacy 3 might be good (but, not cheap).

There would be some mid-range tyres that you should consider: Barum Bravuris 3 (err, quite like an SC5, but cheaper, which might put you off; there is an HM and a non-HM version, and I'm a bit unclear on the exact differences), Vrederstein Ultrac Cento, Kumho KU39 come to mind.

There are also some 'eco' tyres; Pirelli Cinturato Blue, Dunlop Blu Response - these will give good fuel economy, but I am less sure about the wear lifetime, but, if total cost is your focus, these are probably good, and don't have the poor wet grip of some earlier fuel economy tyres.

Sorry, meant to add:

Goodyears - probably not F1 assy 2, with your set of priorities, but Efficient Grips ought to be good, but on the expensive side, and not really top in anything in particular, and, while the wear life is probably rather better than the Dunlops, there probably are better wearing tyres out there.

And, in general, the extra load/97 rated tyres are much easier to recommend than 94 rated on a vehicle as heavy (fully loaded) as the Mondy; which is a slight shame, as, eg, Toyo CF2s seem only to be available in the lower rated size, and they are otherwise quite good.

If you can describe something about your priorities in detail, maybe something else will come to mind.

[pragmatix]

I had the Bravius 2 on my mk3 and have had the Bravius 3s on this current mk4 only went to the Avons because of the deal, wearing a little quicker than the Bravius but not much think the grip was better with the Bravius but hard to tell, the Bravius can be had at good prices and are a good tyre

[chris f]

Thanks for getting back

My mk3 was an ex demonstator that had the jag style 18in i think they 235 40 18 but not 100% they only lasted about 7000 miles, I have just been informed by the wife that she wants to split so i will poss take the hit and keep with the dunlop, will be putting my foot down a lot more now as no melting ear once i go 1mph over the limit. it is good to know that others are only getting about he same milage from diffrent makes.

I have pushed the car when late for work and that was in the wet, i must admit the bmw that had been trying to over take could not keep up once we hit the twisty stuff. I must admit i was at a rather silly speed. the dunlops proved themselfs and i was very impressed (hence the saying below), have driven the work mondeo that sits on good year and at speed they did not seem to hold as well.

once again thanks

[BOF]

OK good to hear that you are taking this philosophically. Well, the tyre bit, anyway.

If you are acclimatised to the compromises involved with sports tyres (roughly, good grip, poor wear) and are happy with that, then the best tyres are probably

Conti SC5

Goodyear F1 Assy 2

Dunlop Sport Maxx RT

Uniroyal RS3

The Goodyear probably closely challenged the Cont for top spot a few years back, but time and development have been less kind to it than the Conti. If quietness is a big priority, the Dunlop is probably best. I've included the Uniroyal because, even though it isn't far off (wear life in partic), it is sometimes available more cheaply than the bigger names. Michelin Pilot Sport probably ought to be there too but they are usually expensive, although they are probably just a fraction less sporty and a little more wear-orienetated than the others, even though it is Michelin's sport tyre.

The other thing to be aware of is that Conti and their associates (Uniroyal, Barum) are probably worse at making tyres that work at low temps than Goodyear and associates (Dunlop), and, in greasy conditions, around 5 degrees C or lower, you'll probably notice them go off a bit. Not really a problem if you use winter tyres though (in Continental Europe, it is probably the norm or at least unexceptional, to use Winters, so they probably don't look at this as their biggest issue to improve)...

Anyway, at the risk of confusing the issue, have a look here at user reviews, which, while they aren't absolutely reliable are better than nothing (or, at the user reviews here, or the recent tyre test here).

I still suspect that you wouldn't be unhappy with a modern compromise tyre, such as the Dunlop Sport BluResponse, Pirelli Cinturato Blue, as you wouldn't give up much grip to the grippiest.

[chris f]

Thanks for the link. I have gone for the Goodyear F1 Assy 2. Found on line fitted £92.26 each. As to Dunlop £90.87. Looked at the reviews and as good years came out better we'll for less than £8 had to give them a go. Will not be disappointed if last the same and get same road holding.

Once again thank you for the help.

Oh side note have got a Dunlop sport maxx RT. It's brand new being sitting in garage for about 6 mths as was going to get a full size spare but well to shallow. Any good to any one. Make an offer, and you will need to collect I'm on Herts/ Beds border.