Technical Tires

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Technical Tires

ahmett

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I have to be honest, despite me enjoying the security of the high grip Michelin Pilot Sports at the size 195/50 R15, the car is not so much a joy to drive as the tires are simply too wide for such a small car. The car feels considerably slower and less natural in its handling with the wider tires. Not to mention the fuel consumption being at least 5% worse, 10% if you consider that the Michelin Pilot sports have a fuel efficiency EU rating of F-G!

I therefore cannot wait to switch back to the stock 185/55 R15, which i consider to be better suited to the car. I am most likely going to get these tires, http://www.toyo.co.uk/tire/pattern/proxes-cf2

which in Greece cost 280 Euros for a set of 4 and seem to have good EU tire Ratings. The competing and according to EU tire regulation with A grip in wet weather Dunlop Sport Blu Response is 330 Euros for a set of 4 so i dont think they are worth it.

The only problem is my tires are refusing to wear, they have plenty of life in them at 30,000 kms age so i guess i will have to live with these for another year or so.
 
Just drive it a bit harder ;).
= ). I can't haha i think i push the car to its limits enough. My driving style is always conservative though, i hate sliding the tires under acceleration and avoid doing this as much as possible. I also notice having tire pressures 1/2 psi above recommended (or at least at full load recommendations), the tires last much longer!
 
Dang! However hard I drive, my oversize tyres are refusing to wear out!

What can I do to hasten the process so that I can go back to the original tyre size and change them more frequently?
 
I changed the Conti premium contact 2s on my 1.4 Sport to Michelin EnergySaver + and the Michelins are so much better in every department, especially noise. I've never found them wanting for grip and I reckon they should wear well.They come in 185/55/R15s

I'm sure the Rainsport 3's will be good performers. I had Rainsport 2's On my other car - a Fabia 1.9 tdi. Their wet grip was superb and they were fairly quiet but I was disappointed with their wear rate - fronts down to 3 mm at 10,000 miles. I hope the 3's have a harder compound! My Fabia now wears Goodyear F1 Eagle Assymetric 2's and these are superb - comparable wet grip to the Rainsports, better dry grip, quieter, more comfortable ride and shoukd last a lot longer.
 
I changed the Conti premium contact 2s on my 1.4 Sport to Michelin EnergySaver + and the Michelins are so much better in every department, especially noise. I've never found them wanting for grip and I reckon they should wear well.They come in 185/55/R15s

I'm sure the Rainsport 3's will be good performers. I had Rainsport 2's On my other car - a Fabia 1.9 tdi. Their wet grip was superb and they were fairly quiet but I was disappointed with their wear rate - fronts down to 3 mm at 10,000 miles. I hope the 3's have a harder compound! My Fabia now wears Goodyear F1 Eagle Assymetric 2's and these are superb - comparable wet grip to the Rainsports, better dry grip, quieter, more comfortable ride and shoukd last a lot longer.
yes the mitch energy savers do come in that size but they are 335 euros for a set of 4 versus 280 for a set of 4 for the Toyos so thats why i didnt consider them.
 
60,000km:eek:
struth - we only got 24,000km out of the stock Conti Premium 2's on our TA Dualogic -
Were rotated twice and 2 of them were to the wear strips

Agree with "rubbish" as well - details here
https://www.fiatforum.com/abarth-500/355316-wind-buffering-noise.html post #8


Funny thing is the tires were at 4mm when I decided to replace them at 60,000 km I am soft on the tires! Could have probably done 80,000 km and still be legal. The Contis had low grip even when new so I didn't want to risk any lower than 4mm thread depth on those !

In my opinion 1.6 mm is too low a legal limit, it should be 3mm as below that wet weather performance really suffers.
 
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Funny thing is the tires were at 4mm when I decided to replace them at 60,000 km I am soft on the tires! Could have probably done 80,000 km and still be legal. The Contis had low grip even when new so I didn't want to risk any lower than 4mm thread depth on those !

In my opinion 1.6 mm is too low a legal limit, it should be 3mm as below that wet weather performance really suffers.

How on earth can you get that sort of mileage - well kilometerage ?

I haven't been to Greece but my understanding is that it is similar to here in Queensland (Oz) temperature wise
We live in semi rural, meaning about 20km to the major shops and freeway and sped limit is 80kph to the south and 100kph to the north
On the northern road there are some tightish 90 degree bends that have 50kph advisory speed signs and the TA takes them nicely at 100kph.
No tyre sequel or sliding - quite comfortable - well for me anyway

But still I wouldn't think that would make almost a 4:1 difference in wear rate
 
How on earth can you get that sort of mileage - well kilometerage ?

I haven't been to Greece but my understanding is that it is similar to here in Queensland (Oz) temperature wise
We live in semi rural, meaning about 20km to the major shops and freeway and sped limit is 80kph to the south and 100kph to the north
On the northern road there are some tightish 90 degree bends that have 50kph advisory speed signs and the TA takes them nicely at 100kph.
No tyre sequel or sliding - quite comfortable - well for me anyway

But still I wouldn't think that would make almost a 4:1 difference in wear rate
I think there are several reasons.

A) I make sure my pressures are a bit higher than stock as i believe with slightly higher pressures the tires wear less.
B) Greek roads are extremely slippery and are like glass due to the tarmac not being replaced often and the heat melting the low quality tarmac away. This makes the surface more slippery, but at the same time less abrasive.
C) Driving style also, braking and acceleration need to be very smooth and also the load on the car, I usually drive the car alone so the weight on the car is very low (75 kgs of payload total).

As mentioned before, my set of Mitchelins show no sign of wearing at all after 35,000 kms of driving i think they are at about 6 mms.
 
I think there are several reasons.

A) I make sure my pressures are a bit higher than stock as i believe with slightly higher pressures the tires wear less.
B) Greek roads are extremely slippery and are like glass due to the tarmac not being replaced often and the heat melting the low quality tarmac away. This makes the surface more slippery, but at the same time less abrasive.
C) Driving style also, braking and acceleration need to be very smooth and also the load on the car, I usually drive the car alone so the weight on the car is very low (75 kgs of payload total).

As mentioned before, my set of Mitchelins show no sign of wearing at all after 35,000 kms of driving i think they are at about 6 mms.

Agree on the tyre pressures - run ours 36psi front and 34 back
Road surface would be it then for sure - our roads are all bitumen but sure not smooth - needed for when it buckets down
I usually drive fairly gently - don't accelerate "flat out" or brake hard and always in "econo" mode -
Wife always drives with "econo" off but I take the corners harder than she does
Finally, well over 50% of our driving is 2 up - that's another 100kgs

Still it seems strange that road surface could make that much difference
 
yes the mitch energy savers do come in that size but they are 335 euros for a set of 4 versus 280 for a set of 4 for the Toyos so thats why i didnt consider them.

That is a pretty hefty price difference but if the energy savers give you an additional several thousand kms over the Toyos then the price difference will be wiped out. (y)
 
That is a pretty hefty price difference but if the energy savers give you an additional several thousand kms over the Toyos then the price difference will be wiped out. (y)


I doubt it toyo is a good tire make none of that Korean or Chinese or ex communist European rubbish
 
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