tyres

iamlost666 said:
Hi all just asking which tyres are the best to get for my 2001 a2
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Hi

Do you means the best make or the right size?

As for makes, get the best within your budget, price wise.

If it is sizes we would need to know your current wheel size (there is also a tyre and wheel thread on here with lots of information.

Steve B
 
iamlost666 said:
there are 185/50/16 h or v best make
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The tyre market seems to be flooded with tyre manufacturers. It is difficult to separate them within similar price bands

Bridgestone, Pirelli and Continental are all well trusted brands.

Continental ECO Contact 5 s are ones I have used with great results, nit cheap but you did ask for the best.

They are not mega expensive, probably around £75 each.

Steve B
 
I have EcoContact5's all round. Good tyre/performance. Don't expect massive mpg increases just because it had the word ECO on it.

Chris
 
"Best" is so subjective that there isn't a definitive answer.

Have a look at local tyre places and the online shops such as www.blackcircles.com and see what you can afford then check out http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/ for some real world reviews of just about every tyre you can buy.

You probably won't go wrong with any of the "premium" or "mid range" tyres listed in ^that^ website, but personally I'd avoid the "Economy" ones like the plague as often their level of grip leaves a lot to be desired often verging on the edge of downright dangerous IMO.
 
I have continental (185/50/R16) fitted at the moment and have been REALLY impressed with the low noise and the grip.

These are the choices my tyre fitter gave me in Feb when I got them:

Quality budget - Nexen NFera SU1 - £65
Mid-range - Kumho KH31 - £70
Mid-range Kumho HS51 - £73
Mid-range - Falken ZE914 - £73
Premium - Continental EcoContact5 - £95

Kumho are very good value for money too and I would happily have fitted these.
 
I have 195/50 R16 Nexen N blue HD plus on my summer wheels, which in this particular measurement offers very low noise (only 68dB) and wet grip A Class according to new EU labeling. They do not have a 185 measurement tyre for R16 wheel. But it might worth to consider I think :) and they are sold as a different name - Roadstone also, they have same patterns, etc. I paid something ~62 euro per piece.
 
Dal said:
but personally I'd avoid the "Economy" ones like the plague as often their level of grip leaves a lot to be desired often verging on the edge of downright dangerous IMO.
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Hi Dal,

I can see the logic you have used behind that statement.

Lower rolling resistance equals increased economy, and lower rolling resistance equals less grip.

BUT all tyres now have (amongst other things) a wet grip rating and these are a "B" abd that is hard to beat for a mid range tyre.

There are many that have worse economy and a lot worse grip.

And to be honest (as Chris said) the difference in economy is hardly noticeable.

I selected that tyre because it had the best ratings of economy AND grip.


I used to have a Volvo that was the drivE version (a massive car with amazing economy (as economical as the A2 (same figures) and yet probably double the weight.
The economy saving was achieved by lots of minor tweaking (lowering the car, smoother wheel faces and ECO tyres) none of which by themselves would save much fuel, but all together they did the trick.

So ECO tyres CAN have the same or better grip and a marginal (almost unnoticeable) improvement in grip.


We also have to remember that our A2s are not performance cars and so the extra performance of top quality tyres etc is sometimes wasted (such as speed ratings up to 140MPH) .

So as I say, I can certainly see the logic you have used, but personal experience of very economical tyres did not show any reduction in grip or safety.

Steve B
 
If you look at the link I posted to it separated tyres into "Premium Brand Tyres - Continental, Michelin etc" "Mid Range Brand Tyres - Avon, Uniroyal etc" and "Economy Brand Tyres - Landsail, Zeetex etc" based on their cost as Chris mentions.
(You can go down even further to the "Budget Brand Tyres - sunew, wanli etc" but in my opinion these should be invalidate your insurance as in my experience they can be dangerous - especially on heavy cars as they induce extreme understeer in anything but bone dry conditions)

As a general rule of thumb (not fact) the higher the cost, the bigger the brand, the better grip (or eco running but still with grip) you get. The cheaper the tyre, the worse rain and dry grip / performance you get. If you can find a cheap tyre with great low wear, low rolling resistance and superb grip then it'll be a complete winner.

But that's why there's more than one make of tyre as we all see and want different things albeit cost, grip, availability will take precedence with different people.


Eco - environmentally good - high mpg tyres - tick!
Economy - hard as stone rubber, cheap as chips, probably dangerous - no!!
 
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Hi Dal

in that case I owe you an apology for misreading your post.

I am sorry about that.

Hipefully you you will not remove me from your "Christmas card list" because of that.

Steve B
 
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The EU ratings for noise, wet grip and economy can safely be ignored - they're provided by the tyre manufacturer itself and there is no standardised testing procedure.
 
Philip said:
The EU ratings for noise, wet grip and economy can safely be ignored - they're provided by the tyre manufacturer itself and there is no standardised testing procedure.
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are you sure?? Because the tests are standardised and it is the key of this labeling, that every tyre is tested under same circumstances and it's easier for the consumer to choose. The same is with the electrical appliances.

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/faq_-_tyre_labelling.pdf question no.6 says what test need to be carried out, not the manufacturer decides how he is going to measure wet grip, fuel efficiency and noise.

I found this in here: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-efficient-products-and-labels/tyres
 
It's a typical EU fudge.

There's no external control of the manufacturers' testing, meaning there are big inconsistencies (I think it was AutoBild who found that, under independent testing, some tyres should have been in much lower categories than the label said). Manufacturers also do not test each individual tyre - they're just grouped by compound and size; the categories themselves aren't consistent (there's no D rating in rolling resistance, for example), etc.

Magazine tyre tests are the only viable objective method to make a decision on performance.
 
IME budget tyres rarely perform as well as more premium brands in terms of grip (cornering and braking) in wet or dry, and almost never handle or feel as good to drive with. But the deal-breaker for me has always been that when I've bought budget tyres, for any reason, they just wear out faster, which makes them hardly any cheaper than a premium brand which goes for 30-40% further.
 
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