Best 16" tyre for the SE alloy?

I get that the tyre in the picture is recent (either under-inflation or a manufacturing fault would be my diagnoses by the way) - but if you were driving around on tyres from the last century relatively recently (this is my interpretation, perhaps I have misunderstood), then I'm afraid you would have deserved all you got if they had let go. Other road users around you would not have on the other hand, so please consider changing them as a necessity before using them again.

You clearly don't know me or my car experience, or understand what i've written. This information was given in a friendly freely giving and honest nature. My wife has just used a few choice words to what you've written since it's her that drives these vehicles mostly. Best i don't replicate them here, the old saying goes,..........'There's always one'

Read carefully before you decide to jump down someones throat. The Dunlops on the A4 competitions as of now are - oldest being 23 years old. They were put on the A4 tdi 5 1/2 years ago and taken of the road 3 years ago. Looking at them now they are still in perfectly good condition, ie, they display no cracking or any kind of defect that any self respecting mot place would flag up as an advisory. The spare wheel in my minty 2.6 80 Avant, still has it's original 1994 unused factory supplied Dunlop and in absolutely perfect condition! The thrust of my point was, we are all getting taken for a ride, things just don't last like they used to and are deliberately being manufactured to last a set time only! I'm very particular about my cars and any axe or rant you have should be directed elsewhere!

Regarding your other statement, "(either under-inflation or a manufacturing fault would be my diagnoses by the way)" The less than 4 year old Assymmetric 2's are checked weekly for correct pressure, and have never been run on low pressure! My wife would have travelled half a mile like that to where she could pull over safely on a country road awaiting me to come to the rescue.

In general to all who have seen this, it's hopefully a warning to all concerned. The defect is on the inside of the rim where you cannot see and the fact Government relaxed the mot due to Covid, otherwise this would have been picked up.
 
You are being overly defensive. It is not an attack - Perhaps I could have worded the observation differently, however the fact remains that nobody (including Dunlop) would condone your continued use of tyres of that age

There is no way of knowing the true condition of an aged tyre, outward appearance cannot guarantee the condition of the carcass.

Again, I urge you to consider them as unfit for public road use, for yours / your wife’s safety and for that of other road users.
 
You are being overly defensive. It is not an attack - Perhaps I could have worded the observation differently, however the fact remains that nobody (including Dunlop) would condone your continued use of tyres of that age

There is no way of knowing the true condition of an aged tyre, outward appearance cannot guarantee the condition of the carcass.

Again, I urge you to consider them as unfit for public road use, for yours / your wife’s safety and for that of other road users.
I think you had better go back reread the start of this thread
 
Back to topic.

I have 185/50 R16 continental eco contact on mine currently but I don’t like them as the low rolling resistance makes for scrabbling under hard acceleration, they understeer more than I’d like especially in the wet and find them noisy. Whilst this is probably to the benefit of economy, maybe 1-2 mpg, I have an FSI and would forgive 2mpg for better grip and be able to make the most of the power.

I’m however a big fan of Goodyear tyres and have them on my current merc (Goodyear Eagle F1 so not the same) and have directly compared Goodyear/continentals on my previous merc (my company car had different tyres to my friends exact same company car) and the Goodyear’s performed substantially better from a drivability point, they were quieter with no noticeable difference in economy, contis did 15k miles, Goodyear did 25k miles (somewhat surprisingly).

Pre-lockdown I did masses of research, limited availability of 185/50 however the tyre websites stipulate 195/45 R16 for my 16” SE wheels. I then went ahead and bought 4x Goodyear Efficientgrip (super cheap offer on blackcircles at £52 per corner) which incidentally are the same brand/type specified by VW on the Up GTI. Whilst there is marginally less tyre profile I expect more grip and a bit more turn-in precision. They’re even quoted as 6 db quieter at 66 db (that’s massive) which on an already quiet FSI is making me look forward to them going on.

I haven’t put them on yet (stored properly in my garage) as I’ve only done a grand total of 450 miles in 7 months so I might sit the winter out and put them on in spring.

Have a read around the Goodyear Efficientgrip and see what you think, they tick lots of the boxes I wanted in a tyre so the right tyre for me.
 
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We are running the same Continentals on our tdi 75 and they are fine although i wouldn't say they are the greatest in the wet but good overall.

With the standard 185/50 size our speedo over reads by around 3mph so when it says 70mph we're actually doing 67mph which annoys me.

I'm contemplating going up a size to 185/55 or 195/50 to rectify this when i replace them and gain a little more sidewall and comfort to boot.

It's very easy to check the specifications of tyres now as it's all stated on the label but i tend to go for the best wet traction rating and then noise level ?

I had Pirelli Cinturato P1 - NOT Verde, NOT XL - 190/50/16.
They are really hard to find now. They were excellent tyres indeed, a bit on a softy side yet so stable on the road! They are advertised as 69dB and they really are silent.
When I had to change them after 5 years I have not found them and went for Conti EcoContact 6 to save a bit on petrol and for the brand. Being XL they are more rigid than Pirelli but I had never thought that the difference of only 3dB (Contis are 72dB) would be so horrible.
Whereas Pirellis produced "shu shu shu" sound while driving, the Contis give a sound of a loose bolt in a metal barrel. I got accustomed to them in one year yet NEVER EVER. When they are finished my first priority will be the level of noise when choosing another set...
 
Back to topic.

I have 185/50 R16 continental eco contact on mine currently but I don’t like them as the low rolling resistance makes for scrabbling under hard acceleration and they understeer more than I’d like especially in the wet and find them noisy. Whilst this is probably to the benefit of economy, maybe 1-2 mpg, I have an FSI and would forgive 2mpg for better grip and be able to make the most of the power.

I’m however a big fan of Goodyear tyres and have them on my current merc (Goodyear Eagle F1 so not the same) and have directly compared Goodyear/continentals on my previous merc (my company car had different tyres to my friends exact same company car) and the Goodyear’s performed substantially better from a drivability point, they were quieter with no noticeable difference in economy, contis did 15k miles, Goodyear did 25k miles (somewhat surprisingly).

Pre-lockdown I did masses of research, limited availability of 185/50 however the tyre websites stipulate 194/45 R16 for my 16” SE wheels. I then went ahead and bought 4x Goodyear Efficientgrip (super cheap offer on blackcircles at £52 per corner) which incidentally are the same brand/type specified by VW on the Up GTI. Whilst there is marginally less tyre profile I expect more grip and a bit more turn-in precision. They’re even quoted as 6 db quieter (that’s massive) which on an already quiet FSI is making me look forward to them going on.

I haven’t put them on yet (stored properly in my garage) as I’ve only done a grand total of 450 miles in 7 months so I might sit the winter out and put them on in spring.

Have a read around the Goodyear Efficientgrip and see what you think, they tick lots of the boxes I wanted in a tyre so the right tyre for me.

There is a brand new tyre out from GY - The Efficient Grip Performance 2 - that’s receiving rave reviews at the moment, they’re still rolling out the sizes but there should be a good choice of 15 and 16” sizes, so it’d be good to try them on our cars, as they are extremely low rolling resistance yet their braking performance is superb - a better all-round performer than the Conti.

Amazing how far tyre tech has come on just in the last decade.
 
There is a brand new tyre out from GY - The Efficient Grip Performance 2 - that’s receiving rave reviews at the moment, they’re still rolling out the sizes but there should be a good choice of 15 and 16” sizes, so it’d be good to try them on our cars, as they are extremely low rolling resistance yet their braking performance is superb - a better all-round performer than the Conti.

Amazing how far tyre tech has come on just in the last decade.
Yeah fully agree on tyre tech. Saw the GY P2’s too and the reviews and concur.

Tyres are in my opinion are something people should never skimp on, if you ever needed to stop in and emergency, 1-2 car lengths maybe the difference between life/death. You might have saved £50-100 but what price do you put on your/your family’s other people’s lives?

The disappointing thing about the contis is that they are made to a spec dictated by manufacturers which is driven by CO2 emissions and legislation, hence being specified as OEM. To achieve this and get a half decent amount of grip they compromise on compound which is why the low rolling resistance tyres on my previous merc’s contis did just 15k miles where as the GY on my current merc will easily pass 45k miles on one set (33k miles with 4mm left on rears, fronts will be better).

Don’t get me wrong, there are good tyres in every brands tyre range, it just so happens that there are some stand out tyres now that are better than what was specified as OEM.
 
I'm in need a set of premium summer tyres from mail order as will be getting wheels refurbed at the same time.

I've just had a look at Camskill but there's little choice other than Continental. Maybe you know of something else? Was hoping for Michelin Pilot sport 4 or Goodyear Assymmetric 3's but nothing in this size which is a real shame but is the way it's been going for years now, the best tyre technology only available on 17" and above.

Must be premium tyre would rather the factory 185 / 50 x 16" - any suggestions? Cheers.

In the meantime, because the Assymetric 2's that were made in 'Poland' have disintegrated,? one has almost split all the way round today, the rest will surely follow, will be changing over to the set of SE wheels i bought of greywolfhound early February. Although it's not long ago seams ages ago with whats been happening since............
I have just ordered a set of Kumho Ecsta HS51’s on 185/50 R16 from Black Circles for £223.30 which I think is excellent value. These are highly rated in the reviews.. might be worth looking into?
 
Back to topic.

I have 185/50 R16 continental eco contact on mine currently but I don’t like them as the low rolling resistance makes for scrabbling under hard acceleration, they understeer more than I’d like especially in the wet and find them noisy. Whilst this is probably to the benefit of economy, maybe 1-2 mpg, I have an FSI and would forgive 2mpg for better grip and be able to make the most of the power.

I’m however a big fan of Goodyear tyres and have them on my current merc (Goodyear Eagle F1 so not the same) and have directly compared Goodyear/continentals on my previous merc (my company car had different tyres to my friends exact same company car) and the Goodyear’s performed substantially better from a drivability point, they were quieter with no noticeable difference in economy, contis did 15k miles, Goodyear did 25k miles (somewhat surprisingly).

Pre-lockdown I did masses of research, limited availability of 185/50 however the tyre websites stipulate 194/45 R16 for my 16” SE wheels. I then went ahead and bought 4x Goodyear Efficientgrip super cheap offer on blackcircles at £52 per corner) which incidentally are the same brand/type specified by VW on the Up GTI. Whilst there is marginally less tyre profile I expect more grip and a bit more turn-in precision. They’re even quoted as 6 db quieter at 66 db (that’s massive) which on an already quiet FSI is making me look forward to them going on.

I haven’t put them on yet (stored properly in my garage) as I’ve only done a grand total of 450 miles in 7 months so I might sit the winter out and put them on in spring.

Have a read around the Goodyear Efficientgrip and see what you think, they tick lots of the boxes I wanted in a tyre so the right tyre for me.



Thanks Jeetesh I agree with you, i'm a big fan of the Goodyears, got them on all the cars, particularly the F1 Assymmetric 2 tyres, these ones were superb to start of with until very recently and this severe cracking/slitting problem for want of a better word. My hunch is the tyres 'we did have' now consigned to history, are not the same quality as German made Assymmetric 2's?? It's the only explanation i can come up with. Thankfully the other 3 sets i have are all made in Germany, new set bought last year on the cabriolet no miles, a 'now' older set on the S6 still in excellent condition and superb handling on the 255/40 x 17 and the still not fitted set of A8 D2 18' Avus's 255/30 x 18, you could say i'm a fan.

You couldn't put these Goodyear Efficientgrip 195/45 R16's on now could you? I'm intrigued, i hope they are as good as your hoping?

Do you think the Contis are a little harder compound and perhaps the reason your getting "scrabbling" ?
 
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Thanks Jeetesh I agree with you, i'm a big fan of the Goodyears, got them on all the cars, particularly the F1 Assymmetric 2 tyres, these ones were superb to start of with until very recently and this severe cracking/slitting problem for want of a better word. My hunch is the tyres 'we did have' now consigned to history, are not the same quality as German made Assymmetric 2's?? It's the only explanation i can come up with. Thankfully the other 3 sets i have are all made in Germany, new set bought last year on the cabriolet no miles, a 'now' older set on the S6 still in excellent condition and superb handling on the 255/40 x 17 and the still not fitted set of A8 D2 18' Avus's 255/30 x 18, you could say i'm a fan.

You couldn't put these Goodyear Efficientgrip 195/45 R16's on now could you? I'm intrigued, i hope they are as good as your hoping?

Do you think the Contis are a little harder compound and perhaps the reason your getting "scrabbling" ?
I had a manufacturing fault on a Goodyear tyre on my current merc so replaced it, had it sent to Goodyear for testing who concurred there was a manufacturing fault (front), they refunded 70% of the price of the new tyre at MB retail price, it then happened again a couple of months later on a rear and refunded 65%, Goodyear were fantastic and contributed £405 to the cost of two new tyres which is unreal. I replaced the other rear myself for tread depth consistency and the dealer replaced the other front since they damaged it so I’ve had £1200 of tyres at a total cost to me at of £595. All have about 7mm and expect to get at least 40k miles on these tyres. Chuffed if ever.

A2. I expected to do about 3-4K miles p.a. hence buying the Goodyear’s. At current rate however it might only be about 800 miles (who’d have guessed we’d have a pandemic??). If this becomes the norm I dont want to sit on the tyres for a long time, I’d rather they be on the car so what I’ll do is see if I can offload my 185/50 R16’s all have about 3mm and I usually change by 2mm (personal preference) if I can offload I ’ll get them swapped over.

Yes in answer to your question they are indeed a harder compound (impacts noise and scrabbling). Tread pattern also makes a difference to noise, grip and expelling water, eco tyres tend to have a typical block pattern which benefits economy but little else. I know someone who works for Michelin so have a insight so sorry for going all super geek.

What’s your timeframe for changing?
 
I have just ordered a set of Kumho Ecsta HS51’s on 185/50 R16 from Black Circles for £223.30 which I think is excellent value. These are highly rated in the reviews.. might be worth looking into?
Kumo ecsta These are what we ran on our a2s for many years with no issues great tyres ... It was purely personal taste to swap over to Nokian a couple of years ago we run the weatherproof on Sally’s and and wra3 on mine ..
 
I had a manufacturing fault on a Goodyear tyre on my current merc so replaced it, had it sent to Goodyear for testing who concurred there was a manufacturing fault (front), they refunded 70% of the price of the new tyre at MB retail price, it then happened again a couple of months later on a rear and refunded 65%, Goodyear were fantastic and contributed £405 to the cost of two new tyres which is unreal. I replaced the other rear myself for tread depth consistency and the dealer replaced the other front since they damaged it so I’ve had £1200 of tyres at a total cost to me at of £595. All have about 7mm and expect to get at least 40k miles on these tyres. Chuffed if ever.

A2. I expected to do about 3-4K miles p.a. hence buying the Goodyear’s. At current rate however it might only be about 800 miles (who’d have guessed we’d have a pandemic??). If this becomes the norm I dont want to sit on the tyres for a long time, I’d rather they be on the car so what I’ll do is see if I can offload my 185/50 R16’s all have about 3mm and I usually change by 2mm (personal preference) if I can offload I ’ll get them swapped over.

Yes in answer to your question they are indeed a harder compound (impacts noise and scrabbling). Tread pattern also makes a difference to noise, grip and expelling water, eco tyres tend to have a typical block pattern which benefits economy but little else. I know someone who works for Michelin so have a insight so sorry for going all super geek.

What’s your timeframe for changing?

So you've had problems with tyres too.

I bought a set of Michelin Primacys for the 80 Avant about 13 years ago. All the tyres were cracking slightly in less than a year in the outer tread blocks and by the following year the cracking was worse! So at 2 years old and 5k miles complained to the tyre place that sold them too me. They said it was the tyre dressing i use which i was having none of it! Long and short, after a chat with Autoglym one tyre was sent back to Michelin who promptly refunded 75% towards a new set of tyres. I swore i'd never buy another Michelin and haven't since.

I was hoping to order a new set of tyres straight away as the replacement 16" wheels came with budget tyres but i think i may just hold off for a while. I've had a chance to drive on the wheels bought of here, tyres dated 2018 with almost new tread, and they drive ok so no rush at the moment.
 
At the moment i'm leaning towards blue response, ive never bought a set of Dunlops. However after hearing about GY P2’s i'm off to look at the reviews. If Michelin did the PS4's in the size i need i really would have given them another chance.
 
So you've had problems with tyres too.

I bought a set of Michelin Primacys for the 80 Avant about 13 years ago. All the tyres were cracking slightly in less than a year in the outer tread blocks and by the following year the cracking was worse! So at 2 years old and 5k miles complained to the tyre place that sold them too me. They said it was the tyre dressing i use which i was having none of it! Long and short, after a chat with Autoglym one tyre was sent back to Michelin who promptly refunded 75% towards a new set of tyres. I swore i'd never buy another Michelin and haven't since.

I was hoping to order a new set of tyres straight away as the replacement 16" wheels came with budget tyres but i think i may just hold off for a while. I've had a chance to drive on the wheels bought of here, tyres dated 2018 with almost new tread, and they drive ok so no rush at the moment.
My tyre issue was a known Goodyear issue with a batch. It was a nick in one of the inner layers so when it wore down it I had a slow puncture (exactly same on both tyres) Goodyear were brilliant and sorted it.

I’ll let you know when I’m planning on changing them over and give you a verdict.
 
I've been looking at these GY P2's and they are indeed a top tyre for this type of segment, such a shame they don't do them in either 185/50 or 195/45 R16. They do remind me of the Assymetric 2 in looks too.

having checked on the Dunlop website Blue response isn't available in 185/50, smallest they do is 195/45 which Camskill have in stock and are the cheapest supplier for the umpteenth time i've looked for tyres.

Has anyone any experience of running both 185/50's and the 195/45's and can compared the difference?
 
Back to topic.

I have 185/50 R16 continental eco contact on mine currently but I don’t like them as the low rolling resistance makes for scrabbling under hard acceleration, they understeer more than I’d like especially in the wet and find them noisy. Whilst this is probably to the benefit of economy, maybe 1-2 mpg, I have an FSI and would forgive 2mpg for better grip and be able to make the most of the power.

I’m however a big fan of Goodyear tyres and have them on my current merc (Goodyear Eagle F1 so not the same) and have directly compared Goodyear/continentals on my previous merc (my company car had different tyres to my friends exact same company car) and the Goodyear’s performed substantially better from a drivability point, they were quieter with no noticeable difference in economy, contis did 15k miles, Goodyear did 25k miles (somewhat surprisingly).

Pre-lockdown I did masses of research, limited availability of 185/50 however the tyre websites stipulate 195/45 R16 for my 16” SE wheels. I then went ahead and bought 4x Goodyear Efficientgrip (super cheap offer on blackcircles at £52 per corner) which incidentally are the same brand/type specified by VW on the Up GTI. Whilst there is marginally less tyre profile I expect more grip and a bit more turn-in precision. They’re even quoted as 6 db quieter at 66 db (that’s massive) which on an already quiet FSI is making me look forward to them going on.

I haven’t put them on yet (stored properly in my garage) as I’ve only done a grand total of 450 miles in 7 months so I might sit the winter out and put them on in spring.

Have a read around the Goodyear Efficientgrip and see what you think, they tick lots of the boxes I wanted in a tyre so the right tyre for me.


I'll second the Efficientgrip, I've had them all round for the last 5 years, they are showing no signs of wear with plenty of tread still left. They handle well, return good economy. (I average 68+ every year)
 
Has anyone any experience of running both 185/50's and the 195/45's and can compared the difference?
[/QUOTE]

Not on the same vehicle back to back but we have a set of 185/50 Aoteli P607s on my other half's 1.4i, and a set of 195/45 Uniroyal Rainsport3s on my project car, all on 16" SE rims. To be honest, I have been surprisingly impressed with the Aotelis in all conditions and handling given they weren't a make I'd heard of (a tyre guy at my fitting place said they were used by a lot of taxis and offered good value for money as well as adequate performance). If anything I'd have difficulty separating these and the 195/45s - similarly light handling feel, decent braking in all conditions (we get a lot of rain here) - about 10 quid difference in price (Camskill specials) each. Reason for similarity I suspect is that they are both 84 rated tyres and relatively lightweight fitted. I have 195/55 Rainsport3s (88 rated) on my everyday A2 and those are a bit chunkier and have quite stiff side walls - just feel like they'll go over anything pretty well; not quite as spritely in the bends but maybe a slightly sharper turnin if you are performing an avoiding manoeuvre (has happened a couple of times with cars nosing out of entrances on my way to work without looking).

Hope this isn't too much of a digression.
 
Thanks Robin, all info is appreciated so definitely not a "Digression" more often than not very beneficial so thanks. ?
I've noticed going from 205/40 17 to 185/50 16 the power steering is lighter and the car feels lighter although the turn in is worse.
 
Thanks Robin, all info is appreciated so definitely not a "Digression" more often than not very beneficial so thanks. ?
I've noticed going from 205/40 17 to 185/50 16 the power steering is lighter and the car feels lighter although the turn in is worse.
Probably a corollary of substantially lighter wheel/tyre combination weight on each corner and smaller contact patch, but perhaps less stiff sidewalls? I really noticed the difference in weight the first time I changed all 8 summer to winter wheels last year - going from my other half's car to mine there I really noticed what feels like a couple of kg difference. I should get the bathroom scales out and do the comparison for all 6 wheel sets when I do the swap (3x summer, 3x winter all on SE rims except one set of winter steelies).
 
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