I would like to hear people experience with different tyres.
I had a set of Bridgestone Turanza ER300 size 205/65R15 fitted to a Falcon. Best tyre ever for grip on dry or wet road, but they only last 20,000Km. It is my second set and again only 20,000Km.
Looking for the next set, but not sure about the ER300.
Best value tyres for family car (Falcon, Commodore) 205/65R15
Mad Max on 12/05/2014 - 15:45
Comments
After having Yokohama, Kumho and Nexen tires on my car I tried the cheapo Supercat tires that Bridgestone centres sell. I had already decided to try the cheap set but the salesperson was trying his best to convince me to take the Supercats. I needed immediate replacements as I had a Tek screw in my sidewall and the other tires were nearly worn out. The sales guy even resorted to flat out lies, like stating that there is no difference in tread compound between the cheap Supercats and more expensive tires. He claimed the sole difference lay in the stiffness of the sidewalls. Yeah right.
The Supercats are fine in the dry but don't feel settled in wet conditions. It's easy to make the tires squeal when starting off a white painted line and just turning on smooth concrete makes them sing. Yeah, not good. They are about half worn after 25,000km.
If you're in a Bridgestone tire center give the Supercats a miss.
Yes Tuba, Falcon EL. And yes, wearing on the edges, especially the internal edge (and the ER300 cannot be turned inside out). Wheel alignment and front end is all good. I tend to drive it a bit hard, but nothing excessive. The car is quite heavy though, that may have something to do with the tyre wear. But 20,000Km is really not enogh.
Inside wear is not from cornering, its too much negative camber. Generally Falcons wear the outside edge when cornering too quick. Both edges if under inflated though. Inside wear is fixed via shims on the wishbone. Could also be, but less likely your stub axles are slightly bent, it happens due to potholes. Is one worse than the other?
Falcons have bugger all simple alignment adjustment, toe in/out is pretty much it. The camber is adjusted by adding or removing shims. Its not as easy as adjusting tie rods for example. It takes time and most tyre fitters dont do it as part of an alignment as that is a set price deal. Its more involved. They will if you pay extra but most are mugs and I wouldnt pay them too. Go to a specialist aligner, but it will cost.
You can buy camber kits for Falcons too, these make it easier to adjust, if the halfwit tyre fitter knows how. They often dont, its not by the tyre fitters book.
Choice recommended the Maxxis Victra Asymmet M35 (85% score, RRP $119) and the GT Radial Champiro BAX2 (79% score and RRP $135) in an updated comparison test last week.
I can't see why the 15" jobs should be any different.
I have a set of the Maxxis tyres on my V6 Sonata, based on the Choice rating at the time, and am very happy with them.
Enough grip for me, and really quiet.
Tyres that grip well are soft compound and don't last.
Tyres that last are hard compound but don't grip that well.
Depends what you want, I always go soft compound and grip and pay the price to protect my life
Sorry, but not entirely true… And in some cases completely untrue!
Firstly, it depends what grip you're talking about? Wet, dry, cornering, braking, acceleration, can all be affected for completely different reasons… And rubber compound (in the way that you see it) is the least likely thing to make any difference in a passenger car tyre!
For dry conditions, whether accelerating, braking or cornering nothing will beat a slick tread, (not bald tread, just no grooving)! The bigger the contact area with the road, the better!
Wet conditions is the real fun. It's a fine balance between creating a tread design that will expel as much water as possible and efficiently without sacrificing too much of that dry handling contact patch!
Then there's noise issues. They can help this with techniques like using variable pitch tread block sizes, tapered leading edges, etc. But once again, every bit of rubber they remove from a tyre, the quicker it will wear and the less contact patch with the road!
And let's not forget the actual tyre carcass. It's probably just as big a factor to how a tyre handles as what the tread design is. I won't get into that because I'm not an engineer… and even though I know what works, I couldn't completely explain the reasons how or why!
They're also now trying different chemical compositions in the tread other than just that of carbon black to try give the tyre a combination of both better grip and better longevity.
So you see it's not as simple as you put it, hence why leading brand manufacturers spend multi millions on R&D and testing!You could easily write a book on this topic (and I just about have here), but I'll leave that up to the well compensated / well rewarded journos and editors of publications like Motor and Choice!
Ps. These published tests aren't even worth the paper they're printed on nowadays!
i run kumhos at the back and they're ok actually for a cheap $120 tyre
wear well, good wet grip, quiet, good ride, i'm impressed
i dont expect more than 15,000km out of them though (i have a v8 and it rips thru back tyres)
Cant comment on those tyres, but generally the longer they last, the less they grip. Being an E series Falcon are they wearing on the edges (I assume E series based on 15 inch tyres)? E series Falcons can be hard on tyre edges, a sign the front end needs work or you corner too quick. The Falcon is not set up to corner hard without ruining the tyre edges. And no, Im not a Holden man, I prefer the Ford. For all I know the Commodes are the same.