Anyone tried Continental Premium Contact 6?
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Oh I forget to add that the Michelin had the added rim protection. I have just had my wheels refurbished so wanted to get a tyre that would give my rims a bit of a, chance at not being scratched when I’m parking close to a kerb. I scraped the kerb earlier this week and I’m pleased to say I have did not catch the rim, bless Michelin. 
Also I think the Eagle f1 has this so that is my next option depending how I get on with the new ps4’s. 200 miles and still fab:+1:
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They do, have them on my Volvo. 
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Michelin tyres are best I reckon. Ultimately get what you pay for with them. I’ve had a set of Kumhos before. Never again. Two of the four developed egg sized bulges on the sidewall within a few months and neither had been given any particularly harsh treatment. Took them to get replaced and was hearing from a mechanic that I trust that they are a little prone to bad batches like weak sidewalls (seemed to be the problem with ours) and odd shapes - like has been mentioned on here. I’ve had some Falkens. They were decent. Still not as good as Michelin though.
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Uniroyal rain sport are awesome in wet conditions, I did think they were feeling a bit like jelly on some very very hot days though
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Have a look at the Autoexpress tyre test from 6/9/21. The Hankook came first - ahead of Michelin. (Although they were testing 225/45/17 tyres)
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I honestly didn’t really know about that website/channel.
Although that video they used a 225/40/R18 Its a wider tyre but the tyre wall is 90mm (as opposed to 86mm with my 205/45/R17)
In that video in the 225/40/R18 size the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 as well as the Michelin PS4 were the top tyres. the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 is a good all rounder being extremely good in the wet. Followed by the Pirelly P Zero PZ4 and the Continental premium contact 6
I will look a bit more their reviews and decide. kind of warm on the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 tbh
Although I have previously used Kumho and have no issues using them in the family car and my van I’m not really after a budget tyre for my NC.
I fitted Michelin Cross Climate to my MX5 last year and found them to have perfect grip in all conditions.
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Hi All.
I fitted toyo proxys 215x40x17. Some said they would be a bit soft and wear quickly. As I don’t do a lot of miles ( daily run is a triumph explorer). I still got them 2 years in and not found them to slip in wet even powering out of roundabouts ( to my surprise). It all comes back to how you want to drive the car. Hard and fast or calm and sensibly will save you lots of cash in the end. I did have the handbooks on but found them to be a hard ride and un predictable on slippy wet days. Hope that helped.
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I wouldn’t recommend handbooks, they’d shred too easily.
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Put a set on mine, spot on
I have just put Khumo (sp?) on my MK3.5 Sport Tech 2L. Garage inflated them to 33psi but I’ve put them all at 29psi. Any reasons / recommendations why I should depart from Mazda’s recommendation for the std 205/17 ? Cheers.
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Oops meant to say new tyres are 215/17.
+1 from me for Rainsports, mine are upped from 205s to 215s. Paul Roddison recommended these, and set my four wheel tracking at the same time. Mine had Potenzas on before, the grip was applling in the wet and they seemed very noisy too; in fairness they were also very old. The car is (imo) now superb in the wet, and I don’t see a problem with Rainsports under any conditions really. The size increase also made the speedo more accurate (when compared to Garmin satnav) and gives a bit of wheel rim parking protection too.
Roddisons was also the best price I could find at the time too!
Brian.
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The more I look into tyres the more I think its subjective what tyre you will buy on a few factors: a) how much you want to spend on car tyres and b) why you chose that tyre.
Having said that I’m not an expert on car tyres (no on track experience) but I do have a bit of a track experience from sports bikes. Also tyres for road use are made completely different to tyres for track use. And I’m going to talk about my personal (and somewhat limited) experience so take my view with a pinch of salt.
First off my suggestion is to spend ten minutes to read this. Its very well written and a good eye opener.
I said in the opening post that I wasn’t happy with my 205/45/R17 Vredestein Quatrac 5 in the wet and I was looking at changing these tyres. What my silly brain didn’t do at the time was to check the tyre pressures before structure an opinion. This is because the tyre pressures were way off. A few weeks ago I had a puncture and the punctured (now fixed) rear tyre was at 38 psi, the front tyres were at 36, and the other rear was at 32. suffuce to say I put them all at 29 and hold and behold the car is not slippery anymore in the wet with the Vredestein Quatrac 5.
Where am I going with all this. We base your decision on “what tyre to buy” from buddy’s recommendations, online forums, online tyre reviews which can be derived from some random bloke wannabe journalist to a “race” driver thrashing a GOLF GTi at the Michelin track in controlled conditions. However one needs to ask themselves… what am I going to do with the car and what sort of driving am I going to do with it. Am I using it on a daily basis or just on dry summer weekends? Am I going to do a lot of track days with it or I’m not going to go anywhere near the tyre limits. Do I think that an expensive tyre must be the best or because I buy a budget tyre this means I buy ■■■■…
In my perspective the true answer is within each individual and where they are biased to the above. Personally I don’t think many drivers can put their hand on heart and say they always can drive on the limit (and personally I don’t think you should drive on the limit on public roads anyway). So what is the answer to the question "What is the best tyre? "
My personal opinion to “What is the best tyre” is that… there isn’t one, its purely up to each individual’s perspective and the tyre choice should be reflected on what driving you will be doing. If you ask 100 people you will likely get 30 different answers and 150 conflicting opinions.
I honestly don’t think many drivers will reach or can feel the difference on tyre limits if driven sensibly on public roads. So if you will be doing track days with the car, buy track focused tyres. If you will be doing weekend sunny day driving, buy road tyres that are aimed for summer/dry driving. If you will be driving all year round, buy all weather tyres. If you will be driving in the slow buy snow tyres.
Concluding and always speaking from personal experience I will stick with my 205/45/R17 Vredestein Quatrac 5 until either get too old or the tread is used up and I will need to change them. As to what I will change them for? I don’t know right now but If I was buying something today I would either buy the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 K127 or the Kumho PS71 or the HS51.
As for tyre size, maybe I will buy another set of 205/45/R17 or I will go for the 215/45/R17 - probably will look at the cost of I’m honest. Either size will be fine and there are a few merits going with the slightly taller and wider tyre. Your car will have a slightly wider contact patch however it will have slightly worse fuel consumption, car will sit marginally higher slight and marginal reduction on acceleration. However if you go with a different tyre size you will need to make sure all four tyres are the same size (and always preferably the same brand)
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Worse fuel consumption. Interesting…
There I was thinking that the slightly raised gearing might improve it, on a motorway at least.
Presumably you reckon the increased drag from greater frontal area and contact patch will outweigh any gearing advantage.
My thinking is a little bit wider contact patch x4. It also be a few mm taller tyre so that may play some role to negate somewhat that effect
I also didn’t like the original Bridgestones. I’m now on the Michelin PS4s. If I had to buy another set tomorrow I’d be very tempted by the Goodyear F1 5s. The Michelin is a great tyre but as the tyrereviews.com guy complains the sidewalls are soft so lack steering feedback. The Goodyear’s apparently have an entirely different feel with stiffer sidewalls.
We also have a heavy 4x4 which used to wear through tyres fast. We fitted Michelin PS4, the SUV version. So much better than anything else for that vehicle, Better to drive, better wear.
I’m fed-up of my Falken FK510s, since Christmas I’ve had wheel spinning in third(!) on the straight more than once, and with the recent greasy roads the front axle has started understeering too. I can’t work out if it’s the cool damp conditions or just wear (still over 1mm above the wear bars) but either way they are making me drive very cautiously which is hardly the point of an MX-5! Never had this experience with Michelin or Goodyear summer rubber.
If I get summers again they’ll be Eagle F1 Assy5 at £82 but I am considering UHP all-seasons, does anyone have experience or thoughts on the below:
- Vredestein Quatrac Pro (high rolling resistance, poor snow, wear fast) £91
- Hankook Kinergy 4S2 H750 (high rolling resistance, bit soft & understeery, average snow, wear v.fast) £83
- Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 (apparently the most summer like) £119
- Michelin Cross Climate 2 (M+S 3PMSF) £114
The all seasons are quite a bit more than the summers and the 5 is the only car I’ve got access to…
I found that if my Vredestein are cold - like I just started driving - they are not working as well as they are working when I have been driving for like 10 minutes. I’m experiencing wheels spinning just by accelerating forward and all sorts, after 10 minutes are fine. Roads early in the morning and after dusk are icy… it doesn’t help either.
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