General Tyre Time Again

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General Tyre Time Again

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I’ve been racking up the miles like never before with the Panda. I’ve been driving 30 miles south each day to work and 30 miles north to see a girl... and in between combined am putting between 350-500 miles a week on the clock.

Doing my weekly check I’ve noticed the two tyres I got for the front last year (Hankooks) aren’t looking so fresh and have tiny cracks along the longitudinal tread lines, nearing replacement rather than being dangerous for the time being I presume. They’ll be 1 year old in September.

Then at the back I have two Lassa tyres, must be getting on for two years old. They’re doing exceptionally well in that they’re only starting to wear down now but have stayed in great shape and only light cracking is surfacing now.

The Lassa tyres aren’t really renowned for anything special but they appear to be able to survive a long time before wearing down. The Hankooks I bought believing they’d deliver some sort of advantage but if they are I’m oblivious to it.

Should I go with the Lassa ones or try something new? It’s looking like four new tyres all around. They all seem around £40 a wheel. I’m sure the new Panda Pop in the family came with Good Years, could there be anything to that?

What tyres do you recommend for an ‘05 Dynamic 1.2?
 
I’ve been racking up the miles like never before with the Panda. I’ve been driving 30 miles south each day to work and 30 miles north to see a girl... and in between combined am putting between 350-500 miles a week on the clock.

Doing my weekly check I’ve noticed the two tyres I got for the front last year (Hankooks) aren’t looking so fresh and have tiny cracks along the longitudinal tread lines, nearing replacement rather than being dangerous for the time being I presume. They’ll be 1 year old in September.

Then at the back I have two Lassa tyres, must be getting on for two years old. They’re doing exceptionally well in that they’re only starting to wear down now but have stayed in great shape and only light cracking is surfacing now.

The Lassa tyres aren’t really renowned for anything special but they appear to be able to survive a long time before wearing down. The Hankooks I bought believing they’d deliver some sort of advantage but if they are I’m oblivious to it.

Should I go with the Lassa ones or try something new? It’s looking like four new tyres all around. They all seem around £40 a wheel. I’m sure the new Panda Pop in the family came with Good Years, could there be anything to that?

What tyres do you recommend for an ‘05 Dynamic 1.2?
If I can find a really big name at a bargain price I would go for it. However for a number of years I've been running on BARUM tyres on all the family cars and we are all very pleased with them. I believe Barum are now part of Continental (I suppose in much the same relationship as Skoda is to VW?). They seem to be very much perceived as a budget tyre so, with a bit of shopping around, you can achieve really good prices.

Our cars range from Mrs Jock's wee Panda Dynamic Eco 1.2 which just plods round the shops to younger son's Astra which he uses for his signwriting business to older son's wife's 1.9tdi Skoda which spends a lot of it's life cruising along the M8 out to Livingston and back. My nearly new 1.0 Ibiza Ecomotive is on "special" low resistance "eco" tyres. They probably are saving me a smidgen on fuel but seem quite "hard" both in terms of road noise and grip in the wet, where I find wheel spin is too easily induced pulling out of side streets etc. She'll be going on to the Barums when the time comes as will my older boy's Punto and other daughter in law's Jazz.
 
My local tyre people quoted me £45 a corner (fitted) for the 100HP. That was in 50 wall ratio to slightly improve the ride.


155 x 13 Firestones for the Mrs' Panda were not a lot cheaper.
 
What tyres do you recommend for an ‘05 Dynamic 1.2?

Michelin energy E3B. Probably the best 155/80x13 tyre you can buy for the Panda.

They suit the car well and tick all the boxes; the only downside is the price. But you should get 40,000+ miles from a set and you may even save a little fuel as well, so it's a worthwhile investment if you plan on keeping the car awhile longer.

I'm on my second set now; they've proved to be quieter and longer lasting than the Conti ecoContacts it came with from the factory.
 
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Can't advice on Panda tyres as I don't have my Cross yet, but generally I'd say don't skimp on tyres. They are your only contact with the road.

On the family car here (Seat Leon FR) for summer we have Bridgestone, came standard from the factory. They do their job; nothing more, nothing less. Winter tyres we had Toyo, but not very happy with them. We'll change this winter for Continental TS850.

Rather expensive for the Seat I'm afraid, as the wheels are 18" and we need quite a high speed index...

As for other tyres: I've used Michelin and Pirelli in the past. Pirelli were awesome for comfort and road handling, but rubbish in the longevity department. Michelin blew up twice on me, never again, even though I'm not sure the tyres were to blame.
 
We used 13" Firestones on the 1.2 last time. Cost was very reasonable and they were easily available. Costs of other well known brands were silly money and needed special order.

I suspect 14" wheels would offer better choice.


The Firestones the tread life has not been spectacular but they were under £50 each (fitted) so can be forgiven to some extent. Grip and handling are ok - pretty much what we'd expect for a tyre of that type.
 
I had checked out previous tyre threads to get some info .

I have got Toledo TL1000 on mine they came with the car they have been on for just over a year and look good

I do 16 miles return to work and a bit of running about around
the locality

road noise is well..... bad

i had 4 new Hankooks fitted on my Picasso earlier this year at Kwik fit ....good price and service

I wonder what the Toledos they will be like in the winter months:eek:
 
We used 13" Firestones on the 1.2 last time. Cost was very reasonable and they were easily available. Costs of other well known brands were silly money and needed special order.

I suspect 14" wheels would offer better choice.


The Firestones the tread life has not been spectacular but they were under £50 each (fitted) so can be forgiven to some extent. Grip and handling are ok - pretty much what we'd expect for a tyre of that type.
Firestone and Dunlop always had a reputation for wearing rather quickly in my day. Mind you it's always a trade off, Soft sticky rubber which grips the road well but wears relatively quickly or Hard as nails which lasts for ever but puts you in the hedge! Know which I'd rather have. I remember some of the early far eastern stuff used to last and last and last until it cracked and split but still had 3 or 4 mil of tread!

casing construction can have a small effect on tread life but mostly its down to the rubber the tread is made of. always worth remembering too that as the rubber ages it will harden and grip less well so, depending on your annual mileage, it's not a bad idea to try to buy a tyre that will be worn out (say down to about 2mm, under that and it won't be much good in heavy rain. Yes I know it's legal down to 1.6 but is it worth that last 0.4mm?) after you've had it for 5 or 6 years. Tyre manufacturers are wary about recommending a maximum life time as conditions of use vary so much but I've heard it said that, if nothing happens to it earlier, around 10 years is probably a good max target. I like to check my tyres for condition at least two times a year. - once at service time and then an intermediate check at 6 months. That is for tread wear and general condition (cracks, sidewall damage, perishing, etc) I like to jack the wheel clear of the ground so I can check it all round and on the inner sidewall. This may sound extreme but it costs me nothing and is as a result of the appalling condition of some of the tyres I used to see in the workshop or out on breakdowns.

PS you should find a 4 figure number on the sidewall of your tyre which will tell you how old it is. For instance 1218 would be manufactured in the 12 week of 2018. if you cant find it it's probably on the inside sidewall.
 
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hi, i have Davanti dx240 on my panda, i find it an excellent tyre. Cost£40 a corner fitted. EU label c & c. Firestone c &b they perform well plus they are low noise. Read reviews..
 
Michelin energy E3B. Probably the best 155/80x13 tyre you can buy for the Panda.

They suit the car well and tick all the boxes; the only downside is the price. But you should get 40,000+ miles from a set and you may even save a little fuel as well, so it's a worthwhile investment if you plan on keeping the car awhile longer.

I'm on my second set now; they've proved to be quieter and longer lasting than the Conti ecoContacts it came with from the factory.

Unfortunately Michelin have now completely discontinued making 13 inch tyres. So disappointed. I used Energy in summer and Alpin in winter. Now need a total rethink as to what I'm going to do. :(
 
When times have been tight, I've found a tyre retailer like Mytyres and then paying a local, independent fitter (those that sell and fit second hand tyres) to fit and balance them for me to work out a bit cheaper.

You also get a larger selection of tyres.

I've used Falken Sincera summers and Sava Eskimo winters on our old Active for less than £40 a corner, both were excellent.

Though something like Uni Royals all season expert or Firestone Multiseason might offer a reasonable balance between winters and summers, again should be less than £40 a corner plus around £20 fitting.

Might sound like an additional cost, but when fitting four new, a wheel alignment could save you from uneven wear and I always swap them back to front after around 10 to 15 thou.
 
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Have a look at tyreleader, they normally have some good deals.
tyres take between 3 and 7 days for delivery as they come from all over Europe depending on which depot the tyres are stored.
 
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Tyre Leader have them at £42.72 delivered https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres-155-80-13/?m%5B4%5D=on

Fitting and disposal will add £15 (each) so not a lot more than the Firestones we have on Mrs 1.2 which last time were £48 fitted. Will have to see what my local fitters charge for Michelin.

And note Wee Smurf's earlier post ; if they've stopped manufacture, beware of excessively old stock. But they're a cracking tyre for the Panda; no doubt at all on that. If they're discontinued, there may be some keen prices to be had.

I paid £189.02 all in (supply, new valves, fitting, balance & disposal) for a set of 4 in July last year.
 
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And note Wee Smurf's earlier post ; if they've stopped manufacture, beware of excessively old stock. But they're a cracking tyre for the Panda; no doubt at all on that. If they're discontinued, there may be some keen prices to be had.

I paid £189.02 all in (supply, new valves, fitting, balance & disposal) for a set of 4 in July last year.


Do your homework (as above) and then check what the local independent tyre fitters can offer. Mine are pretty cool.
 
I fit and balance my own car and Bike tyres and the council tip take the old un's for £5 each.

It was free to prevent the large amount of dumped tyres being thrown off the cliff ( Jurassic coast) up until last year...…….
 
I fit and balance my own.

I'd be the first person here to encourage owners to do all that they can for themselves. But not many of us have access to the specialist equipment needed to balance car wheels. And whilst it's perfectly possible to change a tyre with just a pair of good quality tyre levers, the effort involved and the risk of damaging both tyre and rim make this a job that, IMO, is best left to those with workshop equipment.
 
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I used to fit motorbike my own tyres but it really is a pain with tubeless and not exactly easy with tubed tyres. Even at the short life of bike tyres (5000 miles max for a tubeless rear) it's just not worth trying to DIY. I do however find it's better to buy from such as Tyre Leader (my current favourite) and take them to professionals for fitting.


Car tyres are often just as reasonable cost at the local suppliers as they are on Tyre Leader and no hassle. Drive in and drive out with new tyres fitted and balanced.
 
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