Rang a few tyre places for prices for two new tyres for my A4, size 205/55ZR/16. Big variations in price but one company, true to form in my experience, were offering the best price. £180 for a pair of Michelins, as opposed to £257 in another, bigger chain. The cheaper place also has Pirelli P6000s for £140 a pair.
Should I go for the Pirellis or the Michelins? Road noise and longevity are probably my main criteria.
Thanks
Pat
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Go for the Michelin - Pirelli P6000's are hard-wearing but will therefore be noisy.
Can't believe the prices you have been quoted. I run 195/45/16's and use Michelin Pilot at circa £70/ea and your size is the more common.
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What type of Michelins? they do vary significantly.
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Neither place mentioned which Michelin, but all the quotes were for Z rated tyres.
Pat
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Pat,
If you have a Costco store near you then try and join them. They do Michelin tyres at the best prices you can get. I fitted two 205 * 55 *15 to my 24Valve Mondeo estate for less than £150 all in valves balance etc. Go to Michelin.co.uk and use the tyre selector to choose the correct tyre for your car. By the way there is a joining fee of about £20 to use Costco but its worth it for other things as well. They fit your tyres while you shop.
Bill
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Thanks, Bill. I'd never heard of Costco until a few days ago on this forum. I don't think there's one in this area (Evesham), though if anyone knows better please let me know.
Any thoughts on the Pirellis? I'm all for saving a few quid if I won't notice the difference! I was also quoted about £80 per tyre for Dunlop 2000s. Any opinions out there. (current tyres are factory-fitted Dunlop 8000s, which apparently are noisy but I have nothing to compare them with on this car).
Regards
Pat
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Both are as good as each other ,i'm on p6000 Pirellis at the moment no complaints re grip or wear .Michelins i had on my previous car again no complaints but not a good as the dunlops they replaced in the wet ,but then the dunlops only lasted 8k , hence the change to Michelins.
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Thanks Jud
The car has Dunlops all round, and it's the fronts which now need replacing at 22,000 miles. Rears look okay for the same again.
I think I'll give the Pirellis a whirl as they're a few bob cheaper. I have a suspicion that HJ recommends these???
Regards
Pat
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I ended up with Goodyear NCT5's from the Hi-Q down the road from me. Cost was £98 a corner for the same tyres as opposed to £180 plus fitting quoted by the kwite fast fitters to replaced the OEM Pilots.
10k on the Goodyears so far and they don't look worn but time will tell how well they last. They are significantly quieter than the Michellins were.
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Last oct i payed supply only for an insurance claim £95 for a P6000 245/45/17 from a local tyre supplier
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Pat
Have you tried Exhaust Tyre and Battery (ETB)? They are local to you and usually give a competitive all in quote. I always use them for tyres.
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I'd say Pirelli, closely followed by Michelins. So close, though, I'd go by price.
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With many tyres now homologated to specific cars, ie designed in concert with the car manufacturer and designers to give the handling, NVH values, wear levels and longevity which the manufacturer desires, you can significantly alter any of these values by fitting other makes tyres, although essentially the same size and rating. You may well be happy to trade noise for long life, but things like sidewall stiffness designed to work with specific suspension bush density and spring rates could give you unwanted characteristics.
Hard isn't it?
Mike
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Mike
I take your point, but I wonder to what extent manufacturers fit the brand that's available/cheapest at the time. Or am I just cynical?
Pat
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£140 for 2 P6000 seems pretty good, where was that from ? ATS were running an ad campaign a few weeks back offering P ZERO's for a similar price, but when I asked about P6000's in exactly the same size with same speed rating, they wanted around £100 each.
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Andy,
This is the cheaper of the two places I mentioned (wasn't sure if I could name them on the forum!). Used to be HiQ I think. I got 4 tyres for my Merc there before Christmas, best prices by far anf you can do deal!!!
I'll nip over tomorrow and get the Pirellis - probably!
Thanks to all for the useful comments.
Regards,
Pat
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It's hard not to assume that manufacturers won't fit the tyres which they can purchase most cheaply - always assuming that they meet the design criteria. How else to explain that Audi TTs were supplied new in 2000 with Pirelli 6000, but by 2002 come with Bridgestone and other makes. Implies all are suitable, but one is cheapest?
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Hmmm, nobody has mentioned inflation!
I'll get my coat ...........
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to get back to the original plot - we have a Focus with Pirelli 6000s and they are bloody noisy. Prefer the good old Michelin myself.
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>Nobody has mentioned inflation!
JMD No need to get all pumped up about it - you certainly got Mahatma's coat!
IMHO, tyres with slick centreline treads (with grooves to avoid aquaplaning) which provide quiet running in a straight line, but plenty of grip from the side and sidewall sipes when steering/cornering forces come into play, are going to provide a very fair compromise between noise and grip.
PJ
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Pat,
Beware tyre outlets that say they are quoting Z rated then try to fit V rated.
One Reading outlet tried to do this to me. When I pointed out that they had quoted against my request for 205/55 ZR 15 and actually wanted to fit 205/55 VR 15, they told me that I'd 'never drive that fast anyway'. (Actually I did drive 'that fast' - I frequently visited Munich in those days.)
Naturally, I went elsewhere for my tyres.
Martin.
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