Tyres

[Auris Girl 08]

Hi guys..

Once again, its time to change my tyres...which ones are people suggesting??

Also, I replaced 2 of my tyres with Michelin primacy 3 last year and they are already half worn.. is this normal, coz I thought michelin tyres were very good ones and lasted a long time.. I have only done 10k or there abouts in the whole year.. I just really surprised as the dunlop ones im about to change have been on there for the last 3 years nearly...

Am I right in believing that my Auris would weigh 1.5 tonne and could it be the weight of the car that would impact this quick wear? Then the Dunlops were sitting at the front which I moved to the rear last year..

[FROSTYBALLS]

With the Auris being diesel and front wheel drive, the higher torque will wear the front tyres more quickly.

Presume you have 225/45/R17 tyres. Which? recommend either (in descending order):

Continental ContiSportContact 5

Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 2

Pirelli Cinturato P7

[smudge-1991]

I've ran the eagle asymmetrical 2 and uniroyal rainsports 2 and 3 and all have worn very well and have been outstanding

Also the figures say that the Auris 2.0 comes in at bang 1400 kilos

[Mike169]

Hi

On 'my other' car, an older Mercedes E class which my wife's uses doing about 70 miles round trip a working day, say 15,000 a year working a 4-5 day week, anyway I fitted 4 brand new Michelin Primacy 3 tyres on that as I believe them to be as good as tyres get and safety is paramount in my mind, and incidentally were the dearest to buy at the time. I am dismally surprised how quickly they are wearing out as Michelin tyres from the past seemed to last forever. Even though I have been very loyal to the brand I will be changing them for a different make when they are soon due for replacement.

Like FROSTYBALLS has mentioned I think Continentals are very good and will be my choice.

Mike.

[Heidfirst]

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/88478/tyre-reviews-best-tyres-2014-2015

[smudge-1991]

Whatever tyres that where on the car from from factory pasted the longest ended up throwing them away before the ran out of tread due to bad cracks in the sidewall and stepping of the tread .... I'm sure they were Michelin pilot sport or primacy or something like that I was shocked how long they lasted I had done nearly 45000 and had about 3.5mm on those ... the uniroyals 3 have done about 12000 and have about 3.5 to 4 mm left

On my Sr180 ( the wife's drive) the eagle asymmetrical 2 has lasted a about 20000 and have loads of life in them

[BLUEJ]

I put 4 Goodyear Eagle F1's on mine about 5 months ago, but since you have experience of them you'll know all about them, i have to say they stick to the road like glue, you can really push them into the corners with confidence, speaking to a traffic cop up here they said they use Goodyear Efficient grip or Bridgestone''s (don't know what Bridgestones), don't know if they get a deal with tyres or they actually test them themselves, does anyone know what tyres the car came with originally from factory new? Michelin?

p.s. The reason i mention traffic cops is as we all know they push the tyres to the limit everyday & they would need to have complete faith in them but i don't know if every traffic force use the same tyres or if they just use them in a manufacturers deal, i've no idea how the tyres i mentioned wear through time though.

[FROSTYBALLS]

According to a Toyota spreadsheet I have access to, for cars with 225/45/17's, OE fitments were either Dunlop SP Sport 01, or Bridgestone Potenza RE050A.

[BLUEJ]

Reference the original fitted tyres, do car manufacturers actually test tyres for every car to see what tyres suit the car best, how do they pick the tyres for cars? the reason i ask is i had my car in at my local Toyota dealer last wk for a full service, whilst mingling about the showroom i noticed the new cars had different tyres on them, some cars e.g. the Yaris had Michelin, some had Continentals, some had Bridgestones etc, baffled ha, thanks Mike.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Car manufacturers do work with tyre manufacturers to determine the best compromise for tyre fitments on certain models, and for some models, tyre manufacturers have either designed or tailored fitments for specific models. When we had a new Mazda Premacy, Toyo supplied the OE tyres and had designed a specific fitment for that car. This is why, when you go onto tyre retailer sites, in addition to asking for the tyre size, they usually ask for the make of car.

Often car manufacturers will source tyres from 2 or more manufacturers to ensure continuity of supply. For example the current Yaris, depending on tyre size, OE tyres may be either Bridgestone, Dunlop, Goodyear, Continental or (until 2012) Yokohama.

[Mike169]

In the early days at Fords (Sorry for swearing Mod's) if you wanted Michelin tyres on your specially made car, not one from the showroom, then you had to pay a surcharge as then they were by far the best tyre or in other words cost Fords more to buy in.

Today I still believe they are a premium tyre and still expensive compared to other makes, but reading the tyre reports kindly posted on this thread by Heidfirst it appears there are other makes that are just as good if not better and I believe at a cheaper price.

As I said earlier on this thread I fitted Michelin Primacy 3 tyres to my 'other' car as I wanted a high mileage from them but I think they will be worn out at around 20,000 miles which is far less then I expected.

Mike.

[TomdeGuerre]

In my opinion Michelin tyres are the best if you get the right ones. My 09 Auris SR came with 225 x 45 x 17" Michelin Primacy tyres when new, they were great tyres for grip and I got 30,000 miles out of them no problem. When I went to get new ones, the guy at the tyre place said I was lucky 'cos my tyres were all manufactured in France and he said that the Michelin satellite factories eg in Eastern Europe don't make them nearly as well. If I had been keeping the car longer I would've bought Michelins again but I knew I would be getting rid of it so I fitted Continentals for over £100 cheaper. They were OK but not a patch on the Michelins in the wet.

Another thing I changed was the tyre load rating. The originals were W94 and I changed to W91's which is a lower rating but well within the load limitations for my application. They helped to make the hard suspension a tad softer.

[Whitewagon]

Tyres are the most important parts on any vehicle so choose them carefully as they are the only things that keep you on the road when cornering and braking. The driver clearly also has a part to play as no tyre can overcome a driver who puts the vehicle into a compromised situation through coubik steering or braking. Tyre wear and performance are subjective to the user and the conditions to which they are being put. Every vehicle has different characteristics which have a bearing on tyre wear, the road surface has a bearing on wear too as does the manner in which the vehicle is driven. One driver can get high miles from a tyre whilst the next may not.

Over the years I have driven and managed vehicles of various types from scooters to high performance cars to LGV's and from running high motorway mileages to predominately town or city mileages. I have also been involved in the examination of vehicles involved in serious accidents where tyres have been a contributory factor. I have seen tyres that have lasted in excess of 60,000 miles and less than 5,000 miles. In every scenario there has been a reason for the extremes or causes and that is predominantly down to the type of use the vehicle has been put and/or the quality of the tyre.

In general manufacturers produce tyres to fit all vehicles to cater for the use they are designed for and then sub class them according to budget. As with most things in life you get what you pay for but even tyres from the same price range can and do offer differing wear and performance characteristics. Tyre manufacturers are constantly refining and changing the compounds and characteristics of their products so what is produced one year may not be as good the next. The best advice is to follow the vehicle manufactures recommended fitment, they do work with the tyre manufacturers and there is always more than one supplier of tyre for any given vehicle.

Maintenance is crucial for safety and longevity, check the condition and pressures regularly, if fitting only a pair of tyres always put them on the rear. Choose a reputable make, check out some of the reviews available on line. But no one can say how long they will last on your car because of the many variables involved.

[Converted]

I can't speak for Toyota but I have experience of both the Goodyear F1 and Continental tyres on two Volvo S60 diesels.

The Goodyear's were great on my S60 D5, really handled the torque, 400Nm. I got over 20,000 miles out of a set.

The Continentals are not so good. My S60 D3 with 470Nm torque bought used came with two brand new Continentals 5s on the front and two part worn 4mm 3s on the rear. After fewer than 10,000 miles all tyres are down to 3mm.

The Goodyear's really work on a Volvo. Just to qualify that, I had Pirelli P6000 tyres on a Peugeot 206 1.6 petrol, they were fine and lasted over 40,000 miles, My S60 D5 came with Pirelli P6000 tyres and they were shocking. Car tramlined and wandered all over the road. What works on one model doesn't necessarily work on another car.

Edit: Just to add, switched from Bridgestone BT16 to Michelin Pilot Power 3 tyres on my GSX-R 750 L1, the difference is unbelievable. It has totally transformed the handling of the bike.

Whatever the OP has gone/goes with, some feedback would be really good to know what works or otherwise with the Auris.