Just released.
1. Goodyear Hydrgrip
2. Vredestein Sportrac3
3. Continental Contipremium-Contact2
4. Michelin Primacy HP
5. Bridgestone Turanza ER300
Size tested is 215/55/16 V or W rated
More from autoexpress website.
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Interesting read, the Michelin is expensive but the first one I got is still on the front after 45k miles. Doesn't look too expensive when it has done 50% more miles than the original Pilot Premacies and possibly twice as many as some of the cheaper brands will achieve! Never noticed any issues in the wet, but then I back off a little in wet conditions anyway - as we all should!
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With these tests, you need to look closely at what you want from a tyre.
Most will stop reasonably in the wet, yet sometimes the best one for wet handling maybe the most noisiest.
I'd rather have a quiet tyre that is adequate in the wet, rather than a noisey tyre that is brilliant in the wet...But it is all down to personal preferences, so check out the scores by category first before automatically going for the Top one (price can be an issue as well).
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I too highlight quiet, thus went for Bridgestone Turanza ER300s. Slowing down is more pleasant than having to turn up the volume.
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With these tests you need to look closely at what you want from a tyre.... I'd rather have a quiet tyre that is adequate in the wet rather than a noisey tyre that is brilliant in the wet
It seems to me that a remarkably high proportion of the final score is for aquaplaning. I reckon that I have driven about 300,000 miles in my life, and can't remember ever having a problem with aquaplaning. I might have aquaplaned two or three times, but it was never particularly serious.
Do other people aquaplane more often than I do?
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I only recall aquaplaning once myself and that was in some rain filled grooves on the M4 in a Polo Coupe GT.
Scary and the car and tyres were only a few months old. Continentals IIRC.
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Only once ever to me. This morning in fact. Car slewed sideways in heavy rain on the A14. I slowed down considerably after that. Tyres are down to ~1.6mm so are desperate to be replaced and I'm getting them changed tomorrow. Wish I'd changed them at around 3mm. Tyres are Sportrac3s in 195/60/15 but it's irrelevant cuz they are so badly worn.
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Agree, noise levels matter to me.
I had a quick look at the report, but could not see any mention of noise levels.
Is it there and am I not looking in the right place?
Edited by jbif on 05/12/2007 at 17:52
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I used to get Aquaplane quite frequently when I had the SP Sport 2000's on the car. This was not at high speed either.
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I used to get Aquaplane quite frequently when I had the SP Sport 2000's on the car. This was not at high speed either.
There is not an unbranded, budget tyre on the market that I have experienced that comes close to the abysmal wet performance of these (and the Sport 200's)
I replaced the well worn Firestones on the front of my old 306 with these and it wrecked the handling, traction and stability in the wet.
IMHO, these are among the worst tyres ever made.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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SnIpQuOtEIMHO these are among the worst tyres ever made.
I agree entirely, when I was in the company car scheme my heart used to sink when we used to get cars fitted with these tyres. They are the fleet operators friend because they last forever (even if you are actively trying to wear them out !), but in the wet they might as well be teflon coated !
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 06/12/2007 at 10:19
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All tyre's should be tested to a certified wet grip test - any tyre's that are 75% of best should come with a large sticker in reverse wording to put on your windscreen "I have quiet tyre's that don't grip so well in wet so please allow more stopping distance for me if I am tail gateing you" - I understand that those who prefer quietness drive sensibly and safely.
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'Sorry I hit you when performing an emergency stop in the wet, but I chose my tyres to suit the play on Radio 4, not safety'
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My criteria for choosing a tyre are, in order of importance to me:
Wet grip
Dry grip
Noise
Tyre life
Cost
To deliberately choose a less grippy tyre seems madness to me. It might cost you your life one day.
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I get the impression AutoExpress is linked to , or a version of, AutoBild. In Germany they tend to drive at max speed whatever the weather. I suspect aquaplaning is more relevant there. The article should be recommended to all Chief Constables and wannabees....
Edited by nortones2 on 05/12/2007 at 20:30
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somebody's got to say it.
How did the Chinese ditchfinders fare?
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I've looked at the results a bit more closely now.
Other than testing rolling resistance, noise, and cost, they did 7 tests - 5 in the wet and 2 in the dry. We would therefore expect the result to be heavily biased in favour of tyres that do well in the wet.
And what do you know? It is. Goodyear Hydragrip came top despite being 13th out of 16 for dry braking and 15th out of 16 for dry handling. Overall, it was 14th out of 16 in the dry.
Hmmmm.
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They don't give the numbers but maybe the differences in grip between best and worst are greater in the wet than the dry.
The eyebrow raiser for me is how little they liked the Pirelli P7 despite it being the 4th most expensive tyre of 16.
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Can someone give an authoritative answer to this? Which are the "second" brands to the major tyre manufacturers? Just as certain brands of cereals, coffee, sliced white, TVs, etc. are made in the same factory for both a high end and low end label, I believe something similar goes on with tyres and other accessories.
At the end of the day, is there such a huge difference in performance and safety between a tyre costing 20 quid and one retailing at 100 or more? (Given that both will meet minimum European safety standards, etc...) Are we being duped, once again, by the magical forces of marketing?
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Can someone give an authoritative answer to this?
Not authoritative, but our leasing company on works company cars used to fit Firestone replacement tyres and they were *hugely* different to the orginally fitted Pirelli's etc. We had several incidents (luckily nothing serious) when cars had Firestones fitted and then the driver cariied on as if on the OEM tyres.
I contacted Peugeot after an incident where my 406 did a four wheel drift on a wet dual carriageway bend at gentle speed and they were at pains to point out the tyres were OK, but they said they weren't specifically approved and that, in the event of a serious accident, Peugeot would point out that the tyres were not of an approved type. That was enough for our fleet manager to wet himself and all tyres were replaced like for like after that!
I must say though, that I'd rather pay less than more for something, but I rationalise tyre cost by thinking that it's next to nothing per mile. I do have a general aversion to "value" labels though - although my kids comment that all their richer friends live totally on Tesco value products!
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Bilboman... A consumers guide to tyre brands can be found here. tinyurl.com/ytm7ec
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>>>The eyebrow raiser for me is how little they liked the Pirelli P7
It surprised me too. I had P7s on my car and thought they were very good in the wet. Perhaps Pirelli are not advertizing much in Autoexpress!
I agree with a previous poster regarding Dunlop tyres. I had them as original tyres, I hated them they were useless in the wet. When I changed to the P7s the car was much better in the wet or dry.
As for Chinese tyres, well I think they said they were only for real skinflints and there should be warning stickers on the front and back of the cars!!!
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SNIPQUOTE once again for the person who seems to ignore the message "to quote ONLY relevant text" and NOT the whole damn lot!
It surprised me too. I had P7s on my car and thought they were very good in the wet. Perhaps Pirelli are not advertizing much in Autoexpress!
Didn't surprise me, I've always had a deep seated suspicion of Pirelli tyres.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 06/12/2007 at 19:00
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I too was surprised by the P7, it came first in their last mega tyre test.
I had a few sets and found them excellent in every way except for they would puncture easily.
I'll probably try the Goodyear Hydragrip winners of this test next, or the second place Vredesteins (more expensive though at my tyre shop). Maybe a new Pirelli P7 replacement will be out by then anyway.
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I've read this test carefully and to be honest I wouldn't set a lot of store by it. Some of the ratings are very very close together (just 3/100 points from best to worst). Is their equipment accurate to 0.5% - which is what they are implying in their scoring? I suspect the final ranking has a great deal to do with the weighting attached to each category - change the weighting slightly and the ranking would change considerably.
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I suspect the final ranking has a great deal to do with the weighting attached to each category - change the weighting slightly and the ranking would change considerably.
Excellent point!
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