Car magazine tyre test results??

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Thu May 20, 2004 7:22 pm

I remember recently leafing through one of the aussie
car mags and they did a tyre test on performance
tyres. Does anyone have the results of that article???
I have a freind who's looking for a set for his V8
Falcon and has no idea what to go for.
hes thinking of going for some dunlop Formulas but
wants to check others,(maybe TOYO t1-s??)

Greg McBain · Post by **Greg McBain** » Thu May 20, 2004 8:17 pm

Hi, Glenn (& everyone else)

Sorry - can't help with the Falcon tyres - but being an Orstruckafailian
myself, I'm a fan of Wheels - try here
http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/wheels/homepage.asp

Falcons aside, I would be interested in views on tyres for MX5s.

I need to replace a worn set of Michelins that were on my 1990 MX5 when I
purchased it.

I've been quoted the following (& no, I've not yet spoken to Owen at
Performance Tyres as recommended by zorruno - but I will). Tyre size is 195 /
50 /R15

Sava $152.50
FM901 $172.50
Falken ZE S12 $139
Triangle Steel $99
Firestone SZ50 $160
Bridgestone Grid 3 $249

In this size, most are directional & are claimed to be mid to high
performance.

My driving is daily commuting around the city & motorway, with the weekend
obligatory blat out on the open roads (as you do)

Thoughts, collective wisdom on both selection & price ?

Regards,
Greg

1Miata · Post by **1Miata** » Thu May 20, 2004 8:28 pm

I've had a set of Yokohama A539 195/50 15 on for about 25000 kms; they have
been great wet and dry, and still have a couple of mm tread left on them.
I'm pretty sure these came out tops in the "Wheels" test too (confirming my
good taste

Can't remember how much they cost.
Another good tire guy in Auckland is Paul Weir at "Pneumatico" in Beach
Road. He's done a lot of wheel/tire/suspension work on various MX5s.

Andrew Witheford · Post by **Andrew Witheford** » Fri May 21, 2004 1:18 am

From memory, the Yokos came a strong second (I have them on my 5 and love

them). The winner was a BF Goodrich tyre, but I can't remember the model -
"G sport" or something like that?

Cheers,

Andrew

[...]

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » Fri May 21, 2004 9:33 am

I have, after 250K of trouble free driving in 4 years, recently dropped my old Diamante in favour of a BMW 528i which is sitting on Bridgestone Potenzas. Having done a couple of long, fast, trips on these, (and acknowledging that there is no comparison in the handling of the two cars) the Potenzas are pretty good on a fast and heavy car, the car feels like it is on rails and they are very quiet. They are good to 250 Km/h, which should be fast enough for your mate! The tyres had done about 15000 when I bought the car and I would think there is at least 50,000 to 75,000 total in them the way I drive them.

For what ever value this is.

Eric

Voodoo · Post by **Voodoo** » Fri May 21, 2004 10:34 am

Check the list archives on the website. This has been discussed at length in the past year.

On Thu, 20 May 2004 20:17:13 +1200, Greg McBain wrote:

Hi, Glenn (& everyone else)

Sorry - can't help with the Falcon tyres - but being an Orstruckafailian
myself, I'm a fan of Wheels - try here
http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/wheels/homepage.asp

Falcons aside, I would be interested in views on tyres for MX5s.

I need to replace a worn set of Michelins that were on my 1990 MX5 when I
purchased it.

I've been quoted the following (& no, I've not yet spoken to Owen at
Performance Tyres as recommended by zorruno - but I will). Tyre size is 195 /
50 /R15

Sava $152.50
FM901 $172.50
Falken ZE S12 $139
Triangle Steel $99
Firestone SZ50 $160
Bridgestone Grid 3 $249

In this size, most are directional & are claimed to be mid to high
performance.

My driving is daily commuting around the city & motorway, with the weekend
obligatory blat out on the open roads (as you do)

Thoughts, collective wisdom on both selection & price ?

Regards,
Greg

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » Fri May 21, 2004 10:53 am

Our 1.8 runs on Kumho tyres and gets used for pretty much the same things yours does. They seem to be lasting well and do what we need them to do. I can't quite recall what they cost but they were not too bad at all

Eric

Bill Rehm · Post by **Bill Rehm** » Fri May 21, 2004 12:14 pm

I'll soon be ready for another set of tires and will go for Firestone
GridIIIs. My GridII's have been fantastic (nearly 50Ks on them) and the
service at Firestone Newmarket great!

Regards
Bill

Stuart & Chaanah Oliver · Post by **Stuart & Chaanah Oliver** » Fri May 21, 2004 5:41 pm

To all,

I have also used GridII's and they were great ,getting similar mileage to
Bill and also used FM901 on my Suburu and they were crap ,ok in the dry but
once it got slippery or wet they were dangerous ,and that was with 4wd.

Cheers Stu

Lou Girardin · Post by **Lou Girardin** » Fri May 21, 2004 8:39 pm

I'm using Pirelli Diablos, great grip and response and I'll probably get
9000 km's out of them.
Oh, Sorry wrong forum.
Lou

alan flatt · Post by **alan flatt** » Fri May 21, 2004 9:08 pm

I've got grids on my 1990 . What pressure do you run them at? I was told to
keep the pressure low 22 psi to keep the noise down, but that seems low to
me. Any comments?

Janet & Jeff Curtin · Post by **Janet & Jeff Curtin** » Fri May 21, 2004 9:22 pm

I have been running mine at 26lb during Summer, have gone to 30 lb for
the Winter but actually feel after a 10 or so miles they are probably
running hot enuff, so 26 lb would be a fairly good compromise anyway, I'm
gunna leave mine at 30 4 a while the car feels really good at that
poundage .

cheers jeff.

ghead · Post by **ghead** » Mon May 24, 2004 8:56 am

Return Receipt

Your Re: Car magazine tyre test results??
document
:

was Graeme Head/R&SA/NZ
received
by:

at: 24/05/2004 08:56:56 a.m.

Fletch · Post by **Fletch** » Fri May 28, 2004 10:31 pm

Unfortunately, "Bridgestone Potenza" doeasnt tell us which tyre was on your
car...
It covers a whole family of tyres, ranging from the 13" ones on Michael
Schumaker's Ferrari, down through the S-03 and G-III models, which are very
good road tyres, down to the SF-325 which was original equipment on MX-5's
from 1989 till about 1996 or so... which was fun in the dry and scary in
the wet.

Toyo Proxes, Firestone Firehawk, and several other "familys" of tire also
cover a wide range of performance levels... unless you know the model
number, your experiences good or bad are hard to relate as they dont apply
to the other models in the same range...

Fletch.

Fletch · Post by **Fletch** » Fri May 28, 2004 11:05 pm

Sava $152.50
FM901 $172.50
Falken ZE S12 $139
Triangle Steel $99
Firestone SZ50 $160
Bridgestone Grid 3 $249

I'm currently running B'stone G-3's in 195/15-50. Best tyres I've
personally had... Great in the wet and dry. Still less than half worn, so
cant say how they age.
Before these, I had the B'stone RE-711. These were nearly as good as the G-3
and sat above the grid-2 in the product line. Wet performance was maintained
through their life, dropping only minimally even when worn.

I used to have Falken ZE-512's in 195/60-14, and their predecessor FK-06 in
185/60-14. They were good value for money. Stick quite well in the dry and
reasonably well in the wet. Wet and dry performance dropped noticeably
during their life-time.

I've had Toyo T1+, also in 195/50-15. No longer avialable, replaced by T1-S.
They were nearly as good as the RE-711's. People I trust who've had T1+ and
T1-S say the newer model made good gains, so I expect they are near the
G3's?

Currently, the Dunlop F1 GS-D3 is getting VERY good reveiws, especially on
light-weight cars like the MX-5. No personal experience. They were released
about a year ago, and are said to be miles better than the F1 GS-D2... so
if you've heard about those, dont apply the comments to the upgrade.

Dunlop FM901's... again, no personal experience. below F1 GS-D2/D3 in
product line up.

Never even heard of the Triangles?

Firestone SZ50... no experience, not heard any rumours about that specific
model. Have heard both good and bad things about "Firestone Firehawks", but
as that term covers many tyres its had to know what to think...

Sava... no personal experience. My friend Chic didnt mind them when he had
them, but has since had far better tires (Toyo T1-S) which were "miles
better than anything I've had before"

Buying tires is tricky... Some people will tell you they love their tyres,
but unless you know what they've driven on before, its hard to judge what
that really means.

If you drive sedately, and never push the boundaries, and slow at least 30%
in rainy corners, even a re-tread will probably make you happy?

If you like to get maximum performance, you probably dont want to spend less
than $140 per corner for 185/60-14 or $200 for 195/50-15.

Fletch.

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:43 pm

My thanks also to Fletch for the summary.

As is pointed out, buying tyres is tricky - comparisons are always hard with
different cars, different drivers etc - & unless you have the luxury of a
back to back comparison, it seems to be a bit of a leap of faith.

Anyway - where I've got to is a toss-up between the Bridgestone G3s (which
have a bunch of fans) & the Yokohama A539s - which also have their faithful.
At the end of the day it does seem that you get what you pay for.

Interesting talking to some of the suppliers recommended by people in the
club - while acknowledging that most of the tyres at the $200 or so price
point are great, some say that the G3s are noisy & the A539s are not -
others say the exact opposite. Directional vs. asymmetric also has quite a
debate ... One supplier also mentioned a recently released Michelin
(the Proceda I think) - at $250 a pop it'd want to be good !

Seems like with a combination of the current Firestone Direct promotion
(which brings the G3s from $249 to $185) & someone who's prepared to supply
the A539s at the same price (normally $220 to $240+), I should be a lot
safer than I am now for about $180 per corner.

The price for the G3s mentioned by David sounds excellent indeed ... I was
quoted $179 including GST, fitting & balancing. Key message - shop around !
It's worth half a dozen phone calls to get the best deal. Finding price
differences of $70 a tyre times 4 tyres is quite an incentive.

Thanks, all

Regards,
Greg

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