Hi all, some of you may remember that I was recently seeking opinions on Avon tyres. I've decided against them and have narrowed my choice down to Dunlop SP2000 Sport or Goodyear Excellence.
Does anyone own a set of these so they can offer an opinion? Key drivers for me are comfort, road noise and longevity.
Thanks.
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A lot depends on the car they are fitted to; all cars behave differently with different rubber. However both the Police and other emergency services use both makes for High speed vehicles. I would happily use either.
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I have no experience of Goodyear but I have just swapped a set of Dunlops for Michelins and the Michelins are a far superior tyre and certainly much quieter.
Also the Which tests always rate Michelin as the best tyre in most (but not all) sizes.
I could not recomend a Dunlop over a Michelin.
Looking at the which site they do rate the Excellence though.
Edited by Pendlebury on 09/05/2008 at 19:40
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BTW - The goodyear is not very good envoronmentally apparently - where the Michelin energy excels.
Goodyear has a way to go towards meeting the new environmental requirements with this tyre is what they said.
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I have Goodyear Excellence and thoroughly recommend them, they are the latest tyre technology. The SP2000 seems to have been out a fair few years now. The GY Excellence is also factory fitted to the new Merceded S Class.
Edited by Hamsafar on 09/05/2008 at 19:39
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Thanks for the replies. They're to be fitted to a Ford Galaxy. It needs reinforced or "extra load" tyres. It currently has the original Michelin Pilots fitted but they're a bit pricey at £135 a corner and, IMO, it doesn't need performance rubber for the school run. I was offered Avons at about £80 but I can get the Dunlop or Goodyears for about £100
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GOODYEAR
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I had some issues with Dunlops on an E46 BMW, once about half worn they became very prone to aqua-planing on wet roads. Really quite scary. As a comparison, the replacement Michelins handled really well without a hint of aqua-planing right down to 2.5mm.
My top tip would be to look at the tyres that have been fitted at the factory to the particular car you have. Liklihood is there will be a couple of different brands that have been used. If you replace with one of these you are pretty much guaranteed good performance. It is worth spending a couple of quid more per corner - after all this is the only bit of the car connected to the ground!
gabble
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I agree with pendlebury, having replaced Pirellis with Michelins on our Audi A4. The car, which is almost 8 years old, has never felt better - smoother and quiter than ever. In almost 30 years of motoring these were my first Michelins! And when the Dunlops on the Passat need replacing I know what brand I'm going to buy.
And it's always worth ringing round to get the best deal. I've always been amazed at the variation in prices.
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fitted to a Ford Galaxy. It needs reinforced or "extra load" tyres.
In that case go for either the Dunlops or Conti's my wife had both fitted to our VW Sharan and they both lasted well ie 30 K plus. If avalible for £100 a corner there a good deal.
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Just out of interest. Why did you decide against the Avons?
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I got the impression from my previous thread and surfing various sites that Avon are a mid range brand as opposed to a premium brand, plus I have no previous experience of them.
I admit to being more comfortable sticking with brands I have used previously ie Pirelli, Continental, Goodyear, Dunlop & Michelin aka the "big five".
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I have Goodyear Excellence and thoroughly recommend them, they are the latest tyre technology.
Ditto.
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I'm sure I've written this before:
I've thrown away so many Dunlop and SP brand tyres, with remaining tread, that I refuse to consider them as an option.
My current car had five of them fitted when I bought it - sigh!
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I had Dunlop SP Sport 200Es fitted to the front of my 306 once, and they are without a doubt the worst wet weather tyre I have ever experienced. The 306 was a fine handling car, but fitted with these things started understeering and washing out on wet roundabouts at ridiculously moderate speeds.
I swapped them to the back and the car became a terrifying oversteerer. I don't mean the well known (and fun) Pug lift-off variety, but trying to swap ends mid-corner on a constant throttle. Dangerous tyres.
The Volvo is currently wearing SP Sport 01s all round (not my doing), and in fairness, these seem perfectly OK.
The most consistently good tyres in my experience are Goodyear, Michelin and Continental. Sport Contacts were OE fit on my old Focus and were brilliant tyres.
I would always go Goodyear, Michelin or Continental personally.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 10/05/2008 at 02:35
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I fitted Dunlop SP2000Es to my 2002 Mondeo. Very pleased with them, handle well and have all done 40k miles. Just about thinking of replacement although remain legal. Will probably stay with the same tyres.
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On my old car it came standard with Conti Ecos, I switched to Michelen Ecos and they were truly awful tyres, absoloutely useless in the wet, amongst other things, I ended up getting rid long before they were even half worn and went back to the Contis.
The current car has Dunlop SP2020s and they seem fine over the past 8k.
I read somewhere that manufacturers of cars design the ride/handling to a specific tyre, so its often best to replace with the make/model of tyre it had originally - don't know how true this is, though that experience I had would certainly back it up!
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My car came with Michellin Energy tyres on the front with a fair bit left, and I have to agree that these were particularly poor in the wet to the point I changed them early. The primacy's on the back seem better.
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I read somewhere that manufacturers of cars design the ride/handling to a specific tyre ............
A lot of cars come with a range of makes. If they only had one supplier and that supplier had production difficulties the car manufacturer would have to temporarily stop production until they had arranged another source.
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b308.
I really like Continental tyres. Good in the wet and better ride than the Dunlop.
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Yes I agree - my test for tyres is a local roundabout - the michelens were on the back and losing grip in damp conditions and I ended up with slight opposite lock, on a fwd car! Changed back to contis and no problems in the same conditions...
My new car has 15" wheels (for some unknown reason) and 50 profile - currently shod with Dunlop 2020s, but I'm not sure I'll risk changing makes, though a change to Contis is tempting...
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Tyres, so many sizes, brands and tread patterns. So little information to help distinguish between them all.
So, what do I do? Well, firstly I buy nothing from mainland China or Eastern Europe.
Then I decide on my tyre usage, in my case as I have a semi off roader, Panda 4x4, I go for M+S tyres. For any road use car driven below the Scottish border I would use Summer tyres.
Then I go to Mytyres and look for a compromise between price and the ratings they publish, which are independent.
Result is usually a hard-wearing but grippy tyre for the chosen environment and conditions at a fair price.
Don't forget that those old names we loved and relied on,eg Dunlop, are often made far from our shores and even in countries that we no longer trust for reliable consumer goods.
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When I bought my 530i Sport it had the OEM tyre fit - Dunlop SP Sport 2000E.
They were so poor I threw them away despite the fact I had 5mm on the fronts.
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Looks like it's the Goodyear Excellence then.
I've had good experience with Goodyear NCT5s on my Vectra - gone through several pairs with good mileage. My experience with Dunlops were the Grandtreks on our previous RAV4.
Thanks for all the comments.
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My recently bought 330 has Dunlop SP Sport 9000s fitted and they compare well with the Goodyear F1s I had on the previous car.
Next change I think I may go for Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas as they seem to be well regarded and reasonably priced.
Edited by Marc FourSix on 10/05/2008 at 23:46
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Don't forget that Vredestein is now owned by the Russians!
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I have no experience of the goodyear Excellence, but the Goodyear GSD3 and NCT5 are very good tyres and I would certainly prefer them over anything from Dunlop.
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I've never wanted anything made by Dunlop after having a pair of their dreadful plimsolls as a child!
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............"I've never wanted anything made by Dunlop after having a pair of their dreadful plimsolls as a child!"
I have a pair of Dunlop Green Flash trainers and remember having the skin taken off my buttocks regularly with one named 'Jasper' by a teacher who now, 27 years later, is my 10 year old daughter's favourite teacher!!
Goodyear Excellence by the way, as I've endorsed them in numerous similar threads. Fantastic in the wet, better in the dry, lovely and quiet and still showing no signs of wear on the front after 6 months.
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I have had good service from NCT5s on 3 occasions. Quite cheap as well.
Anyone had experience of Michelin Energysavers, the very new ones first fitted to the 307?
They are supposed to improve the plague of longlasting hard compound tyres, ie. wet performance.
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