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Tyres in the wet - Ross D
Hi all.

One last question about my Corrado, hopefully!

Well it's more to do with the tyres, they all have good amount of tread left on them, however I was duped into buying Kwik fits centaur supreme range.

In the dry I dont have a problem with these tryes. However whe it's wet they are an absoloute knightmare, The car tends to just nose through corners and rounabouts.

Is it possible to get better performance out of the tyres by running them at a lower pressure. (I saw this mentioned somewhere else on the site)

Ross
Tyres in the wet - Flat in Fifth
Only if you are already running them at too high a pressure so that the area of contact is thus reduced is my offered suggestion. If you are already at the correct pressures, how about raising the rears a little to affect the balance?

Play about with tyre pressures a bit to see if you can affect grip and handling, and achieve a different compromise that you are happier with.

Surely the complete absence of wet road grip is more likely to be due to having a hard compound. Thus longevity is improved at the expense of grip in wet/cold/winter conditions.





Tyres in the wet - Peter D
Running at lower pressure 2/3 lbs can increase grip in a stright line but under breaking the side wall distortion is severe enough to ripple the tread contact area and reduce the contact foot print. This is not good and is unpredictable. you should have the tyre pressure within +/- 2 psi of the recommended pressure by the car/ tyre manufacturer. Good Luck Peter
Tyres in the wet - Steve S
If you can, however reluctantly, you ought to change the tyres. I really think playing with the pressure won't bring the confidence you need in the wet. Not if you're going to enjoy the handling of the Corrado to its full potential anyway. It gets said many times but the rubber is our contact with the road - I wouldn't compromise.

Hope you enjoy the Corrado Ross, I had one back in '91 it's a great car.
Tyres in the wet - jc
Nothing should be that bad;having said that,if you pay peanuts,you get what you've paid for.I would always want to see Firestone or Goodyear (or similar)on the side of the tyre.I've had bad experences with Kwik-fit;I would recommend Formula1 where I have only had excellent service.
Tyres in the wet - Dizzy {P}
Just goes to show how difficult it is to give or receive recommendations regarding good service. If I had to name the company that gave me the worst service in the whole of my motoring life it would have to be Formula1 in c1996. Too long and complicated a story to tell here but the bottom line is that I got nowhere at all until I convinced the area manager that I really was going to instigate legal action (and I was!) at which point he returned my money in full plus £50 compensation.
Tyres in the wet - Humpy
My Goodyear Venturas are great in the wet. What a difference from the michelins I had before!
Tyres in the wet - Cyd
no surprise there - check out www.autoexpress.co.uk and look at the 2001 tyre test.
Tyres in the wet - Humpy
can't get to it, the link on the archive takes me back to the front page. Shame would have been an interesting read.
Tyres in the wet - Cyd
Get some new tyres.

I had Uniroyal 440s on my Rover Vitesse Sport when I bought it. The characteristics were not unlike what you describe (though not as severe as yours sound). I looked very hard at lots of new tyres and rang round loads of motorsport outlets before narrowing the field to Dunlop SP9000 or Goodyear Eagle F1 (Yokohama were illiminated because the 540s hum like mad on Rovers for some reason, apparently). I plumped for the F1s because everywhere reckoned there wasn't much between them and the SP9000s but they were £20 a tyre cheaper. I can report that these tyres are fantastic in the wet - superb grip in corners and excellent ABS threshold even on known 'tricky' tarmac. The only niggle (and it is only a niggle) is that the straight ahead precision is not quite as good - in this respect the SP9000s would be a little better if www.tyres-online.co.uk is anything to go by (I only discovered this site after buying).

Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Tyres in the wet - Vansboy
And we did just the opposite on the Jaguar-got shot of the Dunlops for Uniroyal!
First Uni's VR rated the second ZR, excelent road holding and comfort even better, quieter too!
Not too keen on own brand or obscure budget brands anyway, but they have to come out of some big names factory somewhere.
Mark
Tyres in the wet - Mikey Jay
Ross D, dont play around with the tyre pressures,it may upset the handling of the vehicle. I bought the same make of tyre.They are hard wearing. I don't like them. See what the tyre survey said about them on Tyresonline. Mikey J
Tyres in the wet - John S
Ross

Tyres vary enormously in wet road performance. It's down mainly to the compound and somewhat to the tread pattern of the tyres and frankly, juggling with pressures will make no difference, and is best avoided. If you're really unhappy, the only answer is expensive - change the tyres. I did this many years ago when I bought an Escort which came on Michelin ZX. Famed for long life but poor wet grip I came to the conclusion I couldn't trust the car so fitted a set of Goodyear which transformed the grip.

Regards

John S
Tyres in the wet - M.M
Like John I remember that Michelin character from a few years back, I don't think they suffer in that way now though.

I had a Saab 900 with Michelins all round and the fronts were down to about 3-4mm. They never seemed to wear any more below this and were lethal for locking up at the front and understeer in the wet. A new pair of Goodyear Grand Prix S made a massive improvement, new to the front of course ;-).

Folks would say then (over ten years ago)that a Michelin would resist wearing to the legal minimum for ages compared with other tyres but you just couldn't risk the wet road grip.

Having said that the last set of Michelins on my Xantia were the best wet weather tyres I've ever driven on.

I would say in general if you value wet grip to avoid all budget tyres.

David W
Tyres in the wet - Trisha TR
It may have been my post about running tyres under the recommended PSI (on a '98 Neon). I think I'd got the Kwik Fit Centaur's on at the time and as they were new there was no-way I could afford to ditch them for better rubber. I found running them at 3-4lb below handbook guide helped no-end. I was still 'edgy' on the country roads but at least I was a little more comfortable accelerating off round-a-bouts without fear of being pitched into the car alongside.

I was convinced of the 'problem in the wet' when the old man borrowed the car and said he liked it other than fact that it was "a bit 'twitchy' in the wet" - so it wasn't just the way I was hammering it!

Obviously this is matter of personal preference and you have to weigh up various aspects (as given above) as the pressures are given in the handbook for a reason..... oh and if nothing else the lifespan of the tyres is reduced!

www.TriumphTR7.com - get 'Wedged'
Tyres in the wet - blank
Many years ago when I bought my beloved Mk2 Golf GTI, the service manager at the VW dealer who checked the car out for me told me that to enjoy the car I must buy some decent tyres for it. It had some worn out pair on the rear and some budget no-grip items on the front.
I couldn't afford new tyres at the time, so I hunted around and found a set of 4 part worn GT2's. Others will probably council against part-worns, but with these on I began to really enjoy the car and push the handling. What a difference! Happy days!!

Wish I had never sold that car!
Tyres in the wet - Steve S
Have to differ on the Michelin debate, I've got Pilot Sports on two different cars (one front wheel drive, one rear wheel) and they are very good in the wet. The best wet tyres I used were Bridgestone's but they are not cheap and a front wheeler will scrub the tread off within 10k.
Tyres in the wet - Harmattan
Interesting experience above about reducing the pressure for better grip on the Centaurs. Sadly, I think the only real answer is new tyres, particularly given the performance of the car. I had Kumho tyres on a 5-cyl Audi coupe when bought and they were marvellous in the dry but frighteningly poor in the wet. I switched to BF Goodrich Comp T/As which were excellent in the wet and very good dry, with allegedly long life up to 30-40K although I sold the car before I could check that.

My current all-season tyre on a BX 4x4 are Michelin MXTs which have to be ordered but do an excellent job. All Michelins were on special offers at ATS when I got mine in February. I am not sure who imports the Comp T/A now (was Southam Tyres) although the range was limited to 15in and above rims when I last checked.

HTH

David
Tyres in the wet - Highland Idler
There is one sure-fire to improve safety, cornering and braking in the wet: Drive less quickly, even consider treating the "speed limit" as a limit not a target;-)

Yours aye

(Pause for avalanche from aggreived "motorists". If you doubt my motives, go watch at an A&E department one wet weekend evening: Yes, of course I'm a bad driver like most people, have exceeded the speed limits and done other daft things. It's they wot assert they are "Good or expert" drivers you need to worry about & give a wide berth to)
Tyres in the wet - Glaikit Wee Scunner {P}
When driving at sensible speeds wet or dry I expect my tyres to grip effectively. I have also had cheap own brand tyres and there was indeed an unacceptable and sudden deterioration in the wet.
My last Golf on standard Michelin Energys, would merely develop a bit of gentle understeer in the wet, warning me to slow down.
What you don't want is to suddenly feel you are on a greasy skid pan on entering an off camber bend.
Avoid far eastern tyres unless you never use your car in the rain- especially Corrados - far too nice to bend.