Technical 15" Sporting Alloys - Rubber....

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Technical 15" Sporting Alloys - Rubber....

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Hi,

I currently have cheap brand 185/55/15's on my wheels.

Am I right in thinking I can change these to 195/45/15 Toyo Proxes TR-1's?

Set of 4 brand new are only £125 on eBay at the moment with free delivery!

Thanks,

Charlie.
 
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You seem to have made up your mind, presumably on the basis that:

1) They are cheap (yes they certainly are...)

2) They are wider than standard and therefore "better"

3) They are a known brand and model

4) They have an aggressive, sporty tread pattern.

Fair enough, but in many ways you will (probably) be making the car worse than the correct size and existing "cheapo" tyres.

1) 185s were perfectly wide enough grip-wise for hot Fiats such as the Punto GT / HGT, Tipo 16V, Bravo 2.0 20V HGT, etc...

2) The Punto is a light car so wider tyres will have less pressure on the tarmac but more area... bad for low grip situations (wet / snow / mud...)

3) Your acceleration and economy will suffer, there is more weight around the rim of the wheel and it is harder to speed up and slow it down.

4) The T1-Rs are an obselete budget tyre with poor wet grip characteristics.

Obviously the cheap price compared to a better tyre in the correct size is a huge attraction, but you should know the drawbacks.

There were huge discussions on the 500 forum a while ago about the drawbacks of bigger, wider tyres and rims...
 
You seem to have made up your mind, presumably on the basis that:

1) They are cheap (yes they certainly are...)

2) They are wider than standard and therefore "better"

3) They are a known brand and model

4) They have an aggressive, sporty tread pattern.

Fair enough, but in many ways you will (probably) be making the car worse than the correct size and existing "cheapo" tyres.

1) 185s were perfectly wide enough grip-wise for hot Fiats such as the Punto GT / HGT, Tipo 16V, Bravo 2.0 20V HGT, etc...

2) The Punto is a light car so wider tyres will have less pressure on the tarmac but more area... bad for low grip situations (wet / snow / mud...)

3) Your acceleration and economy will suffer, there is more weight around the rim of the wheel and it is harder to speed up and slow it down.

4) The T1-Rs are an obselete budget tyre with poor wet grip characteristics.

Obviously the cheap price compared to a better tyre in the correct size is a huge attraction, but you should know the drawbacks.

There were huge discussions on the 500 forum a while ago about the drawbacks of bigger, wider tyres and rims...

The reviews I read showed good overall handling characteristics including wet, so thats why I thought they might be worth a punt.

I currently have a mixed bag of budget tyres on my Punto from the previous owner (2x Arrowspeed 2x Briway) which are not the best.

Appreciate the info, will bear that in mind when looking, expecially as winter is upon us.
 
Well having read through the MM thread for your car it seems that you are trying to do things "properly" when modifying your car, and the tyres seem to be the last step in getting things right.

With that in mind I'd definitely stick with the correct, standard sized tyres i.e. 185/55 x 15. The steering will be responsive and precise, and after your lowering there should be no clearance issues.

As regards the current tyres, I'd agree that the Briways are cheapo no-name rubbish to be used up or binned fairly quickly, but don't dismiss the Arrowspeeds too quickly...

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Nexen/Arrowspeed-CP661.htm

It seems they are made for Kwik-Fit by Nexen, who are a large reputable Korean brand with development in Germany. If these are your tyres they are a rebranded Nexen CP661 and therefore a perfectly good lower-midrange tyre.
I'm not sure if they're still available, but they're an OK option.

I run Nexen N2000s 185/55 x 15 all round on my Brava and I think they're great for the price, they have a similar tread to the Toyo T1-Rs but have been superceded now, I think by N-Blue ECO or something. They sit nicely on the 6J Rims...



If you wanted tro spend a bit more then you could go for say Continentals, most of the new 500s etc come with them from the factory in your size.

Anyway you could start with 2 decent new tyres and take it from there..
 
i run standard sizes for 1 simple reason

A - there are tyre pressure listing, there isn't any for the 195's
B - Technically, its a modification, you need to inform your insurance company about the change
C - Wider tyres doesn't = Better grip as said before, but yet again, skinny tyres dont = better grip, its a medium between the 2
D - Changing tyre sizes outside the manufacture spec, is going to cause speedo to off read (bearing in mind there always gonna be a difference)
E - 185 are cheap enough :)


Me - im running a Full set of Uniroyal Rainsport 3's
There an agressive pattern, that takes time to click in your head how it works
There cheap - i think there £50 a corner - bearing in mind you also need fitting too!

There very good reviews for better wet driving vs in the dry, but there pretty darn good in the dry as well

They are one of the few tyres to have an A grip wet rating

Uniroyal are either contiential or michelin's sister company, so its not a cheap tyre

Also
if you have 2 with good depth, and 2 ready for replacement

I'd run 2 good ones down, and fit 2 new ones to the REAR of the car
You would think the fronts need it, but your wrong, since you can influence the fronts by braking more vs rear, direct them via steering, or apply power
Your rears, well have nothing....
In a slide, the front gripping is nothing if the arse is still spinning around, you need the BEST grip on the rear

Ziggy
 
i run standard sizes for 1 simple reason

A - there are tyre pressure listing, there isn't any for the 195's
B - Technically, its a modification, you need to inform your insurance company about the change
C - Wider tyres doesn't = Better grip as said before, but yet again, skinny tyres dont = better grip, its a medium between the 2
D - Changing tyre sizes outside the manufacture spec, is going to cause speedo to off read (bearing in mind there always gonna be a difference)
E - 185 are cheap enough :)


Me - im running a Full set of Uniroyal Rainsport 3's
There an agressive pattern, that takes time to click in your head how it works
There cheap - i think there £50 a corner - bearing in mind you also need fitting too!

There very good reviews for better wet driving vs in the dry, but there pretty darn good in the dry as well

They are one of the few tyres to have an A grip wet rating

Uniroyal are either contiential or michelin's sister company, so its not a cheap tyre

Also
if you have 2 with good depth, and 2 ready for replacement

I'd run 2 good ones down, and fit 2 new ones to the REAR of the car
You would think the fronts need it, but your wrong, since you can influence the fronts by braking more vs rear, direct them via steering, or apply power
Your rears, well have nothing....
In a slide, the front gripping is nothing if the arse is still spinning around, you need the BEST grip on the rear

Ziggy

All 4 tyres have good amounts of tread left but just thought it might be nice to get a full decent set.

I was looking at the Uniroyals too but got out off by the reviews in regards to the speed in which they wear.

I do a good 1k miles a month.

Thanks Ziggy, will def bear this info in mind.

I'm new to motoring so all this info is helpful :)
 
All 4 tyres have good amounts of tread left but just thought it might be nice to get a full decent set.

I was looking at the Uniroyals too but got out off by the reviews in regards to the speed in which they wear.

I do a good 1k miles a month.

Thanks Ziggy, will def bear this info in mind.

I'm new to motoring so all this info is helpful :)

If you have say a Kia Sedona People carrier and fit uniroyals, they'll work great
But it will destroy them.... there soft rubber

Fitting them to a punto isn't so bad, there light and nimble, its not gonna destroy them as quick

If your tracking is out - it'll destory tyres, softer rubbers will scrub faster because of them been softer

I split my tyre wear out between winter and summer, and wasn't till i realised i had tracking issues, mine were doing okay....

Ziggy
 
tracking must be rly out to destroy tires quickly, as i had tracking out slighty and front tires got partially destroyed on inner side after 8 years

Mine was out - it was feathering edges up
But what didnt help, my roundabout near my house i drive like my arse is on fire and pushing a tyre to its limit, when its already pointing out of limit, kinda wears them faster

Ziggy
 
I'd say that you should get your tracking checked (unless the garage did it already) since you have lowered the car, then you'll know that the steering is working at its best and you can get a feeling for the tyres you've got on now. You can check the tyre pressures are correct too as Ziggy said.

Then just use up the tyres as they are... if you're doing a fair mileage you should get through them OK unless they are rock hard, in which case you'll soon lose confidence as the weather gets worse. Obviously the fronts will be the ones to wear out, the rears are important but they don't do much work.

Ideally you would wear out the older tyres first, there are codes on the sidewall that give the week and year of manufacture (e.g. 32 11 = week 32 of 2011).

See how you get on then make a decision.
 
I dont wanna keep tyres over 5 y/o

At that point the rubber goes hard
Sidewalls crack
The tyre is dying


Dont get me wrong you can get 10y/o tyres that are fine
But id wanna uts whole 10years
Not a 10year old scrap yard tyre


Ziggy

currently driving on 4 spare tires 135 80 13 from mk1 only 21 years old, they offer rly good control especially in rain and on left corners
 
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