General Which winter tyres are people going for

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General Which winter tyres are people going for

Sorry to bump this thread (and in the wrong time of the year) but sort of on topic: which tyres can you recommend for my GPA? I do around 7K miles a year, mostly town driving, and I want a good all round tyre that will last... I have Pirellis Zero Nero at the moment but they will need replacing soon. Ta very much!

what size?

215/45/R17 91Y (well that's the ones I have on now). Cheers!

EDIT:

Melanabb - can you confirm what sizes are in the manual...

Is there a 205/45 x 17 with a load rating of 88 and speed rating of W ?

In addition is there any listing for a V rated tyre and if so what's the load rating ?
 
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I would be very interested to see what's recommended on here.

IIRC the AGP also has an option of 205/40/R17 88V which should allow a lower speed rated tyre that would be cheaper. In addition it would be lighter than the 215s and would technically have better acceleration and handling but possibly less comfort with the shorter wall.
205/40 R17 is the 500 size tyre.
 
205/40 R17 is the 500 size tyre.

I was in the middle of editing the last post after I realised that I had the wrong profile :doh:
Found Melanabb's relevant post...

... I've checked the manual and it does not mention 16inch wheels at all! It only mentions 17s (215/45 R17 91Y - with ET39 and 205/45 R17 88V - with ET36) I guess that means it will not take 16s... Still in dark tho... This winter tyre business is downright complicated! I might just leave it for next year...:confused:

Surprised to see a V rating with a load rating of 88 - normally it's 84 in that speed. Reckon one would have to go for a W to get that load rating.
 
Thanks for the replies. Excuse my ignorance but what would be the difference in handling and wear between 215/45 R17 91Y and 205/45 R17 88V? I understand that the latter will be narrower but what does it mean in real life? As for the load, if that means passengers or heavy stuff in the booth - I usually drive alone (or with couple small children)- so not much load. Also, I never go very fast (no, honestly :eek:)- as I said, small children and all that...;) Btw, I checked the prices and the 205's are bit more expensive and there is less choice, so if there is no real difference in handling and wear I do not see why I would go with 205's? Many thanks...
 
I was in the middle of editing the last post after I realised that I had the wrong profile :doh:
Found Melanabb's relevant post...



Surprised to see a V rating with a load rating of 88 - normally it's 84 in that speed. Reckon one would have to go for a W to get that load rating.
Michael, the number is the load rating and letter is the speed rating. Personally I would stick with the 215/45 R17 91y's that the car came with.
 
Michael, the number is the load rating and letter is the speed rating.

Maxi, you might have read that post a bit too quickly. I think LH is saying you'd normally expect a tyre with a V speed rating to have a load rating of 84 & that you'd need to move up to a W speed rating to get a load rating of 88.
 
Wow! I checked online for your tire size and my do you have choice at basically all the same price!

Basically choose whichever design you like the Yokohama, Goodyear, Conti, Dunlop, Pirelli all look about the same to me with similar levels of performance. They are all branded as sport performance tires so should all be similar. Mitch is more expensive and i dont think its justified as the other brands have good tires.
Hankook is quite a bit cheaper but i wouldnt get them.
 
Personally I would stick with the 215/45 R17 91y's that the car came with.

My recommendation for Melanabb is on a tyre that is brand new that has come no. 1 in the recent tests (Click here).

It is not geared as a track tyre with stiff walls like the Pirelli or Toyo but is more comfort orientated and is technically classified as a touring tyre. It is also a light tyre which is ‘nicer in the hand’. I would drop the speed rating to a V for a softer walled tyre for more comfort and go with smaller lighter size of 205/45. Only downside is noise and it’s a little pricey & it would be nice to have a rib protection beed. If I was looking for a cheap tyre the Uniroyal Rainsport2 with Camskill at £92 that are fitted to the OH MiTo in 215/45 are performing nicely.

£140 Continental SportContact 5 205/45 R17 88V XL (Click here)

Continentals in the 205/45x17 size are 0.5kg lighter at around 9.5kg than the rest of the brands. (MINI forum gave these differences in Run flats). The difference between a Conti 205/45 and an other manufacturer’s brand in 215/45 is between 1.0-1.5kg per tyre !

Speed rating. Having a higher one means extra ‘belts’ on the tyre and marginally increases weight. On some reviews W rated tyres performed better than V rated so W can be better if you were looking for ultimate performance but would impact comfort. Caravadossi provided a good link(Click here).

Load rating. This has to be correct but a higher loading is a stiffer wall tyre meaning less comfort – the load rating would vary depending on the size and the smaller 205 it ‘drops’ in line with the size.

On the MiTo side all the performance guys with 17s have opted for the 205/45 instead of the 215/45. The size difference is not an issue.
205/45-17 | 24.26in (616.3mm)
215/45-17 | 24.62in (625.3mm)

T 118
U 124
H 130
V 149
Z 150+
W 168
Y 186
 
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No worries people! I wouldn't go with any 'never-heard-of-before' tyre just because someone recommended it, but also- if someone recommends something and it sounds plausible I'd research it before coming to any conclusion... Thanks for all your input. Btw, at the moment I'm leaning either towards original Pirelli ZN or Nokian Z G2 (just because they are underdog and I'm sucker for underdogs - I'm driving a Fiat for goodness sake! ;):D
 
Hmmm a new member with only two posts, both promoting a little known brand of tyres. Now what are the chances of that...?

and with an italian email address, so probably not best person to recommend tyres for uk weather

i still swear by toyo t1r, very good in wet and dry had them on my punto a didn't have to adjust driving in rain at all, even after a long dry spell when roads can be very greasy. only trouble is they have stopped making them so you need to find some one with them still in stock
 
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No worries people! I wouldn't go with any 'never-heard-of-before' tyre just because someone recommended it, but also- if someone recommends something and it sounds plausible I'd research it before coming to any conclusion... Thanks for all your input. Btw, at the moment I'm leaning either towards original Pirelli ZN or Nokian Z G2 (just because they are underdog and I'm sucker for underdogs - I'm driving a Fiat for goodness sake! ;):D


You know my next planned tires will be Nokian! Apparently they are the most profitable tire company in the world as they only rely on aftersales, they dont give them away to manufacturers at huge discounts so they can be sold with the car as new! Surely the finnish dont make bad things and they are reasonable pricewise also and the reviews look good! Shame they are hard to find in Athens but i found a shop that sells them! Also i like how they have wear rate numbers on the tread so you can see how many mm you have left without having to measure it with those annoying things; all you have to do is just look at the tire to know!

I was asked 420 euros for new contis x 4 and 315 euro for nokian x 4!
 
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and with an italian email address, so probably not best person to recommend tyres for uk weather

i still swear by toyo t1r, very good in wet and dry had them on my punto a didn't have to adjust driving in rain at all, even after a long dry spell when roads can be very greasy. only trouble is they have stopped making them so you need to find some one with them still in stock

Good to get a recommendation like that. (y)
In the harder to get 205/45 size they are very keenly priced at £89-£91 (black circles, mytyres) and if I was hard on tyres they would be very tempting. Toyo has been used as the bench mark tyre against a semi slick on a track test. Don't know how true the following statement is which came from one of the mytyres review...

Strengths: harmonious driving characteristics on wet track. short dry braking distances. Weaknesses: regular steering precision and limited cornering on a dry track. long wet braking distances
 
Good to get a recommendation like that. (y)
In the harder to get 205/45 size they are very keenly priced at £89-£91 (black circles, mytyres) and if I was hard on tyres they would be very tempting. Toyo has been used as the bench mark tyre against a semi slick on a track test. Don't know how true the following statement is which came from one of the mytyres review...

Strengths: harmonious driving characteristics on wet track. short dry braking distances. Weaknesses: regular steering precision and limited cornering on a dry track. long wet braking distances

was that for t1rs or the 888's or the new one with a name i cant remember?
 
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