Technical Tyres

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Technical Tyres

Daveof49

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I'm due to change the front tyres on my 1.9 8v.

Have been quoted £62.00 for a 'budget tyre' but thinking this may be false economy and maybe should look at a better branded tyre.

Also I am thinking on the amount of 'road rumble' noise which is common with the Croma. Will this be worse with a budget tyre ?

Anyone have any views on this?
 
I replaced two tyres on mine a couple of weeks ago, I was tempted by the Chinese make Jinyu tyres which I had never heard of mainly due to the £60 price, but after reading owner reviews changed my mind. I opted for a mid range tyre which I have fitted before, the Barum Bravarius 2, these are not as cheap as some at £88 fitted from Tyreshopper.com but they are a branch of Continental and in my opinion are really good tyres, this is the third set I have fitted. As for road noise these are rated as quiet, the road noise inside the Croma is nothing compared to my previous car a Mk 2 focus 1.8 TDCI, that WAS loud inside, try this site, it is very good and the reviews are by consumers not manufacturers. Take a look on the link below.

http://www.tyretest.com/
 
Always a difficult subject.

For what it is worth these are the tyres I have used.

Originals : Fiat fit Bridgestone
Then : Kumho Ecsta Sport KU31 - 215/50ZR17 95W XL - front & rear usage
Then : Pirelli P7 - 215/50 R17 91W - asymetric

The original Bridgestones were OK. Fronts lasted 23,123 miles and Rears 11,438 miles(yes 11K miles only).

I had the Fiat campaign for rear tyre wear done and no fault found! (I can / have explained in this forum about this before).

With the high rear tyres wear I chose not to fit expensive Bridgstone tyres but opted for the Kumho Sports. A lot cheaper.

The Kumho's weared as follows: Fronts 23,123 Miles - Rears 31,142 Miles

The rear tyre wear is much better due to a full front & rear geometry alignment.

The Pirelle P7s are still going strong at : 27K miles, although the fronts will need renewing ioon.

I'm very pleased with the P7s, despite being expensive. They do however have 'interesting' characteristics. On smooth tarmac they are dead quiet. On concrete or rough/large stoned tarmac they are noisier. Also ripples and bump edges seem to not be absorbed by the tyre and thus transmit into the chassis more. As with all Pirelli tyres the dry and wet handing is excellent with feedback and early warning of loss of adhesion.

The Kumhos were pretty good. Average noise, good handling wet & dry but not as adhesion informative as the P7s. Long term the Kumhos got noisier due the tread block feathering/ramping.

One final bit of info. I tow a caravan for 3000 to 4000 miles per year and I don't hang around so the fronts get worked hard.
 
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Ah yes, the old emotive issue of tyres.

I had Hankook Ventus V12 Evo fitted all round when I bought it - I think they were somewhere around £95 each. These were fine and quiet, but wore out quickly.

Then I got two Forceum Hexa ones on the front. They have an unusually wide tread, and you could actually feel it through the steering - like driving over lego bricks. So I put them onto the back where they've been for over 2 years. They're fine on the back, but they do roar on the motorway.

http://www.eptyres.com/detil_produc...t=Forceum Series&sub_category=Forceum45Series

After this I got two Accelera Phi ones (made by the same company as above). These are spot-on, and I can't fault them. I've had them on about 18 months-ish, they grip well and wear at a reasonable rate. They're quiet too. I did try swapping front to back, and I'm pretty sure they were quiet on the back, although it was hard to tell as I then had the Forceums on the front, which were roaring away.

http://www.eptyres.com/detil_produc...Accelera Series&sub_category=Accelera45Series

Example retailer (£57.92)...

http://www.tyrewizard.co.uk/car-tyr...-xl-tyre-2254518zac&utm_campaign=froogle#3135

I'm currently waiting for the Forceums to wear out so I can get Accelera Phi ones all round. I wouldn't buy anything else now I've found them.

All the above relates to 18" wheels - you didn't say what size yours are.
 
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Sorry if it's been mentioned before (newbie :eek:),215/50 is used on the Vectra C,a relation to the Croma i think ?,and that size is expensive with little choice,if you change to 225/45 things are a lot easier and Vauxhall list it as an option in the handbook so there's no concerns with suitability.
 
Sorry if it's been mentioned before (newbie :eek:),215/50 is used on the Vectra C,a relation to the Croma i think ?,and that size is expensive with little choice,if you change to 225/45 things are a lot easier and Vauxhall list it as an option in the handbook so there's no concerns with suitability.

What size wheels? The Croma can have 16, 17 or 18". I'm guessing you're meaning the 17".

The 215/50 would have a profile of 107.5mm, whereas the 225/45 would be only 101.25mm, which is quite a drop. The 18" ones have 225/45. Generally the tyre profile decreases as the wheel gets bigger, giving vaguely similar overall diameter. A 17 with this profile might end up a bit small, giving higher indicated speed and mileage.

The manual specifies XL-rated tyres for the 18" wheels with 225/45 tyres. I think the Croma's a fair bit heavier than the Vectra, so it might need the XL if you drop down to a low profile. I'd be inclined to stick with what's specified personally. Particularly as you then know the insurance is valid.
 
I did mean 17's,to get really technical the difference is 1.9% or put simply 1.2 mph on the safe side,i.e less,and as i deal with tyres all day long i understand about Xl and the implications for insurance,and as long as a tyre meets the minimum standards of the tyres specified than there's nothing wrong.Also my Vectra was a v6 diesel auto which ran 225/45 (xl) (as listed in the handbook),does the Croma come with a V6 diesel ?.
 
does the Croma come with a V6 diesel ?.

Not a V6, but a 5-in-line big diesel.

I don't know how the weights of the Croma and Vectra compare. The Croma body's much taller and squarer - the extra weight probably makes the difference between standard and XL tyres.

If you're happy with your choice then good for you. Personally I wouldn't assume that what's good for a Vectra is also fine for a Croma. It may well be, but I'd want to compare weights etc before using less than what the handbook says, which is XL for 225/45.
 
I think the kerb weight of the Vectra C is about 1300kg whereas my 8v diesel Croma weighed in at 1700kg when I put it on a weighbridge a few years ago.

Last summer I got a puncture up past Fort William and the 215/50R17s were rare and expensive. I had a look at changing the 4 tyres to something more common but in the end stayed with the 215's, not least because it's fairly complex topic.
 
I think you're losing track of what i was trying to point out in the first place,which is a 225/45 is a cheaper choice than the 215/50 in 17",that's all !

I understand. I just didn't want to leave advice that you fit the wrong tyres unchallenged. Each to their own I guess - mine had non-XL, lower speed rating tyres fitted when I bought it. Presumably it saved the previous owner a few quid, and nobody died or had their insurance voided. Perhaps I'm over-fussy.
 
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My son is a claims manager for a large motor insurance company, he says if in doubt you should inform your insurance company of anything you intend to fit that may have an effect on your insurance, tyre fitment is a grey area in this country unlike some countries abroad that stipulate the speed and load ratings you must fit to the vehicle. I personally will always fit the correct grade of tyres.
 
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Well an update to what I wrote below.

Today necessitated a in immediate set of new rear tyres.

The P7s listed below were shot on the rear with one punctured/leaking.

This time (due to in stock availability) I've gone for Nexes N8000s 215/50 R17 95W XLs at £82.50 each fitted. These tyres also have rim protection.

Oddly the P7s on front and rear although premium tyres appear to wear worse then budget tyres.

So this is what my tyre history todate is FYI. NOTE! The early life excessive rear tyre wear was before the re suspension was re-jigged.


Front Make Type Size Tread Pattern Fit Date Front / Rear Fit Mileage Replace Mileage Life Mileage
Bridgestone Turanza ER300 215/50 R17 91W 14 December 2006 Front 0 23298 23298
Kumho Ecsta Sport KU31 215/50ZR17 95W XL 31 December 2008 Front 23123 42580 19457
Pirelli P7 215/50 R17 91W asymetric 04 November 2010 Front 42580 60550 17970
Pirelli P7 215/50 R17 91W asymetric 09 April 2013 Front 60550


Rear Make Type Size Tread Pattern Fit Date Front / Rear Fit Mileage Replace Mileage Life Mileage
Bridgestone Turanza 215/50 R17 91W 14 December 2006 Rear 0 11536 11536
Kumho Ecsta Sport KU31 215/50ZR17 95W XL 22 December 2007 Rear 11438 42580 31142
Pirelli P7 215/50 R17 91W asymetric 04 November 2010 Rear 42580 67689 25109
Nexen N8000 215/50 R17 95W XL 31 January 2014 Rear 67689

Always a difficult subject.

For what it is worth these are the tyres I have used.

Originals : Fiat fit Bridgestone
Then : Kumho Ecsta Sport KU31 - 215/50ZR17 95W XL - front & rear usage
Then : Pirelli P7 - 215/50 R17 91W - asymetric

The original Bridgestones were OK. Fronts lasted 23,123 miles and Rears 11,438 miles(yes 11K miles only).

I had the Fiat campaign for rear tyre wear done and no fault found! (I can / have explained in this forum about this before).

With the high rear tyres wear I chose not to fit expensive Bridgstone tyres but opted for the Kumho Sports. A lot cheaper.

The Kumho's weared as follows: Fronts 23,123 Miles - Rears 31,142 Miles

The rear tyre wear is much better due to a full front & rear geometry alignment.

The Pirelle P7s are still going strong at : 27K miles, although the fronts will need renewing ioon.

I'm very pleased with the P7s, despite being expensive. They do however have 'interesting' characteristics. On smooth tarmac they are dead quiet. On concrete or rough/large stoned tarmac they are noisier. Also ripples and bump edges seem to not be absorbed by the tyre and thus transmit into the chassis more. As with all Pirelli tyres the dry and wet handing is excellent with feedback and early warning of loss of adhesion.

The Kumhos were pretty good. Average noise, good handling wet & dry but not as adhesion informative as the P7s. Long term the Kumhos got noisier due the tread block feathering/ramping.

One final bit of info. I tow a caravan for 3000 to 4000 miles per year and I don't hang around so the fronts get worked hard.
 
For what is worth, I'm running with Barum Bravuris 2 225/45 ZR18 in the summer and after 10.000 miles I can say that I wouldn't buy them again. They are mid class, economical, part of Continental, silent, good mileage, good grip, but a failure in the braking area. Now I regret my decision, but next time I will go for something premium, at least better at breaking, because this aspect can make the difference between life, death and living with a handicap for the rest of your life. Just saying..:)
 
I'd say you need different tyres if you're not happy with them. Not necessarily premium-brand though.

I've had absolutely no issues with the Accelera tyres, now well into my second lot of them. You can send me £200 when you buy them, if spending more makes you feel better about them!
 
When I bought them, they were the cheapest on 225/45 18, not that I like to spend more, but when I had a situation and I had to brake quick, I lost grip on dry tarmac and had to spend 1000 euro for the repair of the car. So, budget tyre sucks in emergency situations. Maybe other budget tyre are better, I'll see next time :)
 
Well over the last few days I've given the Nexen N8000s some wet challenges. Nothing like what I could do with over 6K miles of motor sport under my belt, but bearing in mind public roads etc. they have not let go or complained on the rear yet!

Will be some time before I can try these tyres on the front AND do some wet and dry braking tests.

One thing I have noticed, compared to the P7s is the rear end road/tyre noise is less. Purely subjective but even the boss has commented.

Next step is to let the boss take the Croma for a spin ..... she has over 6K MS experience and no wrecks to her name :)

Regardless of tyre choice what interests me more is the tyre wear experience, front and rear.
 
Well over the last few days I've given the Nexen N8000s some wet challenges. Nothing like what I could do with over 6K miles of motor sport under my belt, but bearing in mind public roads etc. they have not let go or complained on the rear yet!

Will be some time before I can try these tyres on the front AND do some wet and dry braking tests.

One thing I have noticed, compared to the P7s is the rear end road/tyre noise is less. Purely subjective but even the boss has commented.

Next step is to let the boss take the Croma for a spin ..... she has over 6K MS experience and no wrecks to her name :)

Regardless of tyre choice what interests me more is the tyre wear experience, front and rear.

I'm starting the shopping around to replace mine. I'm very happy with the current Accelera Phi tyres all-round, but the N8000s are around the same price. What are your thoughts on them after a bit of running on them?
 
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