It's nearly that time again....New 205/50/17 tyres!!

Got 14k on the current Avon ZV5's on the front and millions of miles off the budget tyres on the back.

I'm expecting all 4 to go at the same time. The rear budget tyres were on the car when I bought it 24k miles ago.

Any thoughts on tyres to replace them. Obvious choice are the Avon ZV7 tyres which replace the 5's. I do like them too, as there were my choice of tyre on my old mondeo  mk3 for years.

But is it worth adding more premium tyres onto the front, and mid range on the back?

Anyway, has anyone got any ideas? Comfort and performance is important. And as long as I get 15k mileage out of the fronts, I'm happy!!

Stick with the Avons on the front and the same as you have on the rears. You seem more than happy with what you have now so no need to change brands/type.

Was keen to improve the road holding at the rear to be honest. Not sure those budget rears are very good in terms of performance, but their wear rate is A grade!!!

I had Falken 914's all round in 205/55/R16. Sticks like brown stuff in all conditions, even the cold and wet. They've lasted about 25k miles, and the rear two still have a bit of life left.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/ZE914.htm

23 hours ago, Micro said:

I had Falken 914's all round in 205/55/R16. Sticks like brown stuff in all conditions, even the cold and wet. They've lasted about 25k miles, and the rear two still have a bit of life left.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/ZE914.htm

Will check them out!

Anyone know much about the Barum Bravuris 3HM tyre? Any good?

11 hours ago, pistolpete1 said:

Anyone know much about the Barum Bravuris 3HM tyre? Any good?

Quick google and 3rd result down from pistonheads... 

I believe that you do get what you pay for - but at the same time you do get ripped off with major name brands.

I had some "Prestivo" tyres on my car when I bought it, possibly put on by the dealer. They were  horrendous things, deadly in the wet, and would wheelspin with very little throttle input even in the slightest dampness. They were the reason I bought winter tyres, because I thought that it was because the car had wider tyres, turned out they were just naff

 

Prestivo are the rear tyres at the moment! Not put on by me I must add.....

I like Dunlop SportBluResponse...  A rated wet grip, B for fuel efficiency, fairly low noise and highly rated in big tyre tests.   They're better than other rain tyres for me as the sidewalls are a bit stiffer for better handling, but not so stiff as to ruin the ride and they last considerably longer than Rainsports.  Sadly my last set were ruined by my tracking, knackered wishbone bushes and rear camber way before the treads were worn out, had about 20k on them with rotation, but still over 3.5mm tread in the centres - mistake was rotating them front to rear as that just doubled the odd wear patterns.

As beggars can't be choosers, I looked for brand new tyres locally on ebay and gumtree to keep costs low this time, but was still a bit fussy about the ratings.  So I have a pair of the Dunlops at the front, and a pair of Goodyear EfficientGrip at the rear.  I was sceptical of drifting every corner with the Goodyears after a bad previous experience but they have massively improved since the last set I had (around 2010!).  Tbh, I don't notice they're there now they've bedded in, they have the same ratings as the Dunlops (A wet, B fuel, 68dB) and they're absolutely fine on the back, can't comment about their handling on the front though.

Like Tom, I've also had Goodyear efficient grip performance tyres all round on mine the last few years and have been very happy with them.  I always go for an A wet rating, the B on fuel is a bonus.

It seems Goodyear efficient grip performance, Avon zv7 and Dunlop sportbluresponse, or a combination of the three are the favourites.

These were the initial shortlist judging from online user reports so it is good to see other users on here recommending them too.

I like Avon zv7 so it would be a vote for them from me. 

On Wednesday November 29, 2017 at 11:49 PM, Micro said:

I had Falken 914's all round in 205/55/R16. Sticks like brown stuff in all conditions, even the cold and wet. They've lasted about 25k miles, and the rear two still have a bit of life left.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/ZE914.htm

Drn the page that you ln

"This tyre has been replaced by the Falken ZIEX ZE914 EcoRun"

Eco always makes me a bit suspicious as it is often a sign that the manufacturer has gone a long way down the 'poor wet grip/lasts a lifetime' route. That said the newer Falken Azenis FK510 has had good reviews.

On Thursday November 30, 2017 at 11:23 PM, pistolpete1 said:

Anyone know much about the Barum Bravuris 3HM tyre? Any good?

No, but I  do know about the Brav 2's. Barum is owned/part owned by Continental and they make very decent budget tyres. The 2's are a bit noisy when fitted at the back (actually a lot noisy on certain road surfaces and on the back of a Mondeo but fine at the front) but are otherwise similar to a 'poor man's SportContact 3'. The production qualty is very good  - well above average - but the tyre design does not have the sophistication of some. I'm confused about the difference between the HM and non-HM (High Mileage...but what actually changes???) versions, but I'd still bet on these being a decent budget option.

Another tyre that has received good comments is the Firestone RoadHawk (and exactly none of the earlier Firestones). BrIdgestone/FIirestone have taken a step forward with their latest designs. User comments on wear seem below average but some of those comments seem to have been made before the tyre was actually released...

Hankook are always good for a well-priced option and don't forget the Nokian Z-LIne.

 

I've had the Goodyear Efficient Grips and can't say I  was all that impressed.They are not available in XL (which is my preference because of sidewall stiffness and on a Mondeo...well, its a heavy lump) they don't grip as well as an F1 assy 2 don't really last longer  and they are more expensive. And the F1 assy 3 is improved from the 2. And they are a bit delicate...maybe an XL version would be better but you can't buy that. Or a tenner cheaper would gve them an advantage over an F1 Assy 3.

If you did want a Goodyear group tyre (and they do tend to be good on fuel economy) and the F1 assy 3 is too much for you a Fulda SportControl 2 might do the trick.
 

1 hour ago, BOF said:

 

I've had the Goodyear Efficient Grips and can't say I  was all that impressed.

I've got a feeling when i last was shopping around that there is a Goodyear efficient grip and a goodyear efficent grip performance.  They have different ratings, the latter being better.  I've just double checked and I'm right.  The former has C rating on Wet roads & a B or C on fuel.  The latter 'performance' being the superior tyre. 

Quote

there is a Goodyear efficient grip and a goodyear efficent grip performance


 

You are right that both exist and the 'efficient grip' is the older design. 'Performance' doesn't cover all the sizes that the older efficient grip did, so you don't necessarily have a choice.
 

36 minutes ago, Albert27 said:

I've got a feeling when i last was shopping around that there is a Goodyear efficient grip and a goodyear efficent grip performance.  They have different ratings, the latter being better.  I've just double checked and I'm right.  The former has C rating on Wet roads & a B or C on fuel.  The latter 'performance' being the superior tyre. 

Ah, I didn't notice that before!  Mine are the 'performance' version, which explains why they're so much better than the previous set of EfficientGrips that I had!  

5 hours ago, BOF said:

"This tyre has been replaced by the Falken ZIEX ZE914 EcoRun"

Mine are the EcoRun version. After reading the reviews and using them, I think they are the same tyre possibly just renamed.

When I first got my Focus (same tyre size as your 1.8), it had Conti sport contact 3's on it. It tramlined under braking and all four had to be changed at about 24k as they were worn out which I thought was pretty poor for a "premium" tyre.

I put 4 Hankook Ventus Prime 2s on it and it was quieter, didn't tramline and I think it did slightly better on fuel. The fronts have lasted just over 26k (although they weren't down to the wear markers - the inside edge were down to the cords which is maybe a track/bush issue).

So, considering I purchased the car at 2k miles and drove it the same on the Contis and the Hankooks, it's obvious which wore better.

I just put two Hankook Ventus Prime 3s on the front which I got for £89 each, fitted etc. So far, so good.

Someone I worked with used to test tyres for OEMs and he first got me onto using Hankook otherwise I'd never have bothered.

Currently in Dunlop Sport Blu Response, 205/55 r16 ony MK2.5 2.0. done 9k and they are still on 6mm. Great in the wet inspire lots of confidence and even better in the dry. Only slight negative is road noise is a tad high 

1 hour ago, Dave1981 said:

Currently in Dunlop Sport Blu Response, 205/55 r16 ony MK2.5 2.0. done 9k and they are still on 6mm. Great in the wet inspire lots of confidence and even better in the dry. Only slight negative is road noise is a tad high 

I could be tempted to try as set of those on my Mondeo next time round. I am a huge fan of Dunlop motorbike tyres (i get through a set of them in 1800 miles  ) but admittedly I've never had a Dunlop car tyre.

I always been Bridgestone for my bikes but saw few reviews for the sport blu response and they were all gd.. and I'm happy to say they were right.. 

1 minute ago, Dave1981 said:

I always been Bridgestone for my bikes but

I used to go for Dunlop Roadsmarts for my bike.  Not sure whether they still do them as not had a bike for a few years....

I am in the minority here I think, I only ever fit budget tyres, have done for years, currently have Kenda KR 20s all round, the only negative I can report is my fuel consumption is crap considering the speed I do, never go much more than 75 ish and always change up at about 3000 rpm.

Had these on the car when I bought it, ( had them on my previous Mondeo MK2 2 litre Zetec) so when the fronts wore down I fitted two more. 

I will be needing 4 new ones in the new year, and after considerable research am going to go for a set of these

£174.95

 ROADSTONE EUROVIS Sport04 225/40/ZR18 92W XL QUALITY TYRES BY NEXEN, A RATED WET GRIP, B RATED FUEL X 4

Going to try them out had good reviews on tyre review website and for £175 delivered you can't go wrong. I'll probably have to pay about £10 per corner to have them fitted and balanced,so about £52 all in per corner.
 

13 hours ago, wilto said:

I am in the minority here I think, I only ever fit budget tyres, have done for years, currently have Kenda KR 20s all round, the only negative I can report is my fuel consumption is crap considering the speed I do, never go much more than 75 ish and always change up at about 3000 rpm.

Had these on the car when I bought it, ( had them on my previous Mondeo MK2 2 litre Zetec) so when the fronts wore down I fitted two more. 

I will be needing 4 new ones in the new year, and after considerable research am going to go for a set of these

£174.95

 ROADSTONE EUROVIS Sport04 225/40/ZR18 92W XL QUALITY TYRES BY NEXEN, A RATED WET GRIP, B RATED FUEL X 4

Going to try them out had good reviews on tyre review website and for £175 delivered you can't go wrong. I'll probably have to pay about £10 per corner to have them fitted and balanced,so about £52 all in per corner.
 

I've found cheapo tyres are okay in dry conditions but when the road is greasy or worse the grip just disappears without any warning.

Case in point, my Focus saloon has Nokian Weatherproof tyres on all 4 corners (quiet, decent MPG and very good water and snow performance), wife used to drive it regularly so got used to how it handled.  Her car now is a MK2.5 1.8 petrol hatchback with cheapo chinese rubber on it, with it being wet recently I got a comment from the wife at the weekend along the lines of "my car has a lot less grip than yours when the road isn't dry, I think there is something wrong with the tyres" and that's from someone who drove a car for 3 months with barely any pad material left and didn't think to mention the "grinding" noise when braking!!!  (new disc & pad time)

The cheapo tyres on her car are rated B for wet grip and aren't bad when straight line braking but pulling off and cornering is another matter.  (I think the tyre rating system for wet grip only considers straight line braking rather than lateral grip so this might explain it).

I find the group tyre tests that Autoexpress do quite useful as the test results for each type are broken down into to sections so you can compare each element of tyre performance against the others.

Lots of the tyre buying sites list tests, mostly from the German motoring press it appears.

I tend to look for tyres that are good value from these outcomes. i.e. No point buying the best tyre if it costs £150 a corner when the one that comes close behind in second place costs £90.