1.3 Mjet needs new front tyres having done just over 24k in 20 months. Was considering replacing car but 2 tyres are cheaper and anyhow what would you replace it with? Have been given price of £50 for Semperit and £55 for Good Year. Does anyone have any ideas on what would be best?

dt900 said:

1.3 Mjet needs new front tyres having done just over 24k in 20 months. Was considering replacing car but 2 tyres are cheaper and anyhow what would you replace it with? Have been given price of £50 for Semperit and £55 for Good Year. Does anyone have any ideas on what would be best?

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What size are they? I'd go for the best you can afford. Try tyres online, remember about £12 per tyre for fitting and balancing, but online you should find some good value good brand tyres - afterall its the only stuff between you and the road so no point in skimping. If you've got 24k out of them then what's £50+ per tyre??!

www.mytyres.co.uk
www.blackcircles.co.uk

24000, not bad, I had to replace my fronts at 18K

As you are only replacing the fronts I'd advise replacing them with the same tyres you are taking off to ensure all 4 tyres are the same. I normally move my tyres around so that I replace all 4 at the same time but never got around to it on the 500. I got my local tyre dealer to source a pair of the Continentals which were fitted as standard.

At the end of the day you need to choose a tyre based on your driving style, if you pottle around then you are probably more interetsed in tyre life. I drive my cars hard, even the 500 and I have to say the Continentals are just not grippy enough for me.

At the next change if I still have the car I'll fit Yokohamas which are much softer.

Simon Bell said:

24000, not bad, I had to replace my fronts at 18K

As you are only replacing the fronts I'd advise replacing them with the same tyres you are taking off to ensure all 4 tyres are the same. I normally move my tyres around so that I replace all 4 at the same time but never got around to it on the 500. I got my local tyre dealer to source a pair of the Continentals which were fitted as standard.

At the end of the day you need to choose a tyre based on your driving style, if you pottle around then you are probably more interetsed in tyre life. I drive my cars hard, even the 500 and I have to say the Continentals are just not grippy enough for me.

At the next change if I still have the car I'll fit Yokohamas which are much softer.

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You don't really need all same tyres all way round, just need to make sure you have 2 of the same tyres on each axle. So for example two Conti's on the front and 2 goodyears on the back is absolutely fine.

Most if not all tyre companies reccomend having the best tyres on the rear of your cars so when you get your 2 new tyres on your car have them rotated to the back because understeer is always easier to deal with that oversteer unless you're a driving god and none of us are

What tyres to buy? Depends a lot on what you want out of a tyre. Do you want long life or do you want grip? If you want long life then stick with the H rated tyres your car was most likely supplied with or if you had V rated tyres then go to H (don't worry if you look in your handbook they're the standard tyre) and go with something like the Goodyear Eagle NCT or any other eco tyre. If you want grip then go for one of the V rated tyres. A guy who works for one of the large tyre companies said to me a couple of years ago that almost always the only difference with higher rated tyres is a softer compound. Softer rubber means more grip. Vredestein Sportrac3 is quite cheap in that size and the Bridgestone Potenza RE040 is worth a look in as well, I'm quite happy with my RE050's as fitted standard on my car. The problem with your 15" wheels is that sporty tyres are less common in that size and actually more expensive than on the 16" rims.

Different wheel size but i went for Hankook's this time round. Got them from a local independant for £30 a corner all in. WOuld be dearer for a 15" wheel, but when you consider kwik fit were looking about £45 a corner for no name tyres on mine it shows it pays to shop around (the hankooks seem to be quite highly regarded and are standard fit on the Fiesta apparently as well as some Audi's!).

Thanks for the replies. I will speak to the boss of the tyre depot. They are a local business and have been very good in the past. I will probably go for a recognised brand in the end.

dt900 said:

I will speak to the boss of the tyre depot. They are a local business and have been very good in the past. I will probably go for a recognised brand in the end.

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What are you running on now – size? brand? model? … are they OE?

I heard early Nuova 500 had Conti EcoContact as OE – more recently they switched to Goodyear-Dunlop Group … Goodyear Duragrip or Dunlop SP Sport 01.

It’s argued that end-of-the-month is the time to haggle with your tyre dealer – when he’s under pressure to meet his monthly target. But be aware that tyre dealers receive rebates &/or prizes from a tyre manufacturer – to push their brands. So you may not get a straight answer when asking them to recommend a tyre. For example, is it not Maxxis (?) that are offering holidays to dealers maximising their brand?

If you must have premier league tyres – then I’d recommend dealers tied-in with the manufacturer. For example: First Stop for Bridgstone-Firestone brands, Hi-Q for Goodyear-Dunlop brands.

Let us know how you get on.

Caravadossi said:

What are you running on now – size? brand? model? … are they OE?

I heard early Nuova 500 had Conti EcoContact as OE – more recently they switched to Goodyear-Dunlop Group … Goodyear Duragrip or Dunlop SP Sport 01.

It’s argued that end-of-the-month is the time to haggle with your tyre dealer – when he’s under pressure to meet his monthly target. But be aware that tyre dealers receive rebates &/or prizes from a tyre manufacturer – to push their brands. So you may not get a straight answer when asking them to recommend a tyre. For example, is it not Maxxis (?) that are offering holidays to dealers maximising their brand?

If you must have premier league tyres – then I’d recommend dealers tied-in with the manufacturer. For example: First Stop for Bridgstone-Firestone brands, Hi-Q for Goodyear-Dunlop brands.

Let us know how you get on.

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They're 15" as they have a lounge on standard wheels.

I also think that tyre dealers are not always the best people to reccomend brands as they get bonuses as you say.

The tyre dealer I will most likely go to is an independent(?). I did enquire about Continental but they dont keep them. The suggestion of putting the newer tyres on the rear would this make much of a difference? Also would any change in tyre profile have an effect on ride comfort if fitted on the rear?

dt900 said:

The tyre dealer I will most likely go to is an independent(?). I did enquire about Continental but they dont keep them. The suggestion of putting the newer tyres on the rear would this make much of a difference? Also would any change in tyre profile have an effect on ride comfort if fitted on the rear?

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Don't fit different profile tyres, just don't. If you were going to you'd HAVE to fit them all round, absolutely no question about that.

dt900 said:

The tyre dealer I will most likely go to is an independent(?). I did enquire about Continental but they dont keep them. The suggestion of putting the newer tyres on the rear would this make much of a difference? Also would any change in tyre profile have an effect on ride comfort if fitted on the rear?

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I don’t have any practical knowledge of the Nuova 500 – so can’t … won’t advise on a tyre outside of handbook spec. Further I’ve no knowledge of the effect of fitting an outside spec tyre may/maynot do to your insurance &/or warranty.

During my Punto era (Mk1, Mk 2, Mk2B) – I can only recall one time of changing a full set to a different size than fitted as OE. That was purely a move to a common size of tyre for the same price level – effectively I got more tyre for the same cash outlay.

However, I have run simultaneously on different front & rear sizes with my GP 1.2/8v. In that case I moved the rear OE 175/65R15 P4 Cint pair to the front & fitted new 185/65R15 Fulda EcoControl on the rear. I ran that configuration for 7 month & 11K miles before making the full conversion to 185/65R15 in Sep 09. The change was mainly due to supply – supplies of the 175/65R15 Fulda (my preferred replacement tyre) I wouldn’t wait for, & took the 185/65R15 that were in stock. I’d say the comfort gain with the extra 6.5mm of side wall with the 185/65R15 all round is noticeable now – although I can’t say there was much noticeable difference when the 175/65R15 were still on the front (heavy) end.

Taking another look at your comments – it sounds like you’re considering changing size, & maybe running different front & rear pairs? Maybe your considering the VW Golf size 195/50R15? Or something with more wall for comfort? Having done that, although I didn’t encounter any problem – in future I’ll probably stay with the OE size for a quiet life. I should perhaps add (in mitigation?), that the different pairs that I ran were within spec - i.e. given in the handbook.

To conclude - I understand that tyre prices rise this month!