Tyre buying....Readers beware! UPDATED

[stevetheskaterboy]

As some of you may know, I have a disabled mum so in the family we have a wheelchair converted Citroen C8 which is used very often and gets a biblical mileage added every few days lol.

The front tyres and the rears had worn down to the markers.

To be fair im quite pleased, they may be quiet and long lasting, but wet grip was more than lacking, in a heavy people carrier with a electric wheelchair and 4 people in that can be scary! (Michelin energy savers front 21k rear 45k) so went on the hunt for some new shoes for the chap.

Checked all over the shop and since the fronts of my C1 needed doing too I decided to see what I can find.

Last week I found a set of Avon CR332's for the C1 for a nice price of £78.99 fully fitted, so they went on saturday.

The C8 ended up with Pirelli P7's fitted for £401.98 with some haggling, and were fitted mid last week.

Well I have been driving the C8 for the last few days to ferry mum to hospital appointments and so forth so I decided to give them a good try out and see their skills.

IM NEVER DOING IT AGAIN!

The wet grip has been quite good until half way around a roundabout when the back starts to squirm and wheelspin is bad, the tire noise is above average and on wendsday 620 miles after fitting, In the rear offside tyre sidewall was a budge the size of a golfball!

Been to the fitters and was given a instant offer of replace or refund the extra, asked what other tyre they had in the size I needed, since I wanted the pirelli's off.

The only option was...... Wanli!
I know that these have had some poor reviews and normally I wouldn't go within a mile of them, but with a massive bulge in a tyre and the rest sounding like a Max Power rally, I accepted.

They have the same tread pattern of one of the old yokohama performance tyres and cost me £230 all in.

Having driven on them for a few days and all the way to glasgow and back, in cold and rain and the verdict.......7/10

Grip: Pretty good in dry, above average in the wet

Noise: about the same as the P7's that came off, but not bad considering the price and manufacturer

Once they are fully scrubbed in ill report more, but so far, I have to say im impressed with them for the money, cant ask more can you??

Im truly concered about the Pirelli P7's, and having asked the fitter (family friend) he states that quite a few people have complained about the grip and lifespan of these tyres.

Sometimes you dont get what you pay for!!!!


(I know some of you prefered the old Michelin energy to the new ones, If its any help, Kleber are owned by Michelin and Having talked to their head office in france with my quite decent french, I have been told directly by Kleber that the previous compound and tread design of the the energy saver will be used on the new Dynaxer thats being released on mid 2010, thought that may be useful for you all!)[/b]

[xantia_v6]

They don't call them sepirellis for nothing
Never tried them myself but they had a bad reputation for structural integrity when fitted to Jags.

[rmunns]

Perhaps a bit unfair to add that I had a Pirelli Cinturato separate on a front wheel of my mini in.............................must have been 1969. Never bought Pirelli since.

My September 2000 Xantia is still on original Mich. Energies @ 49000miles. They do have pretty ropey sidewalls but tread still ok, they hold pressure between monthly checks. But they will get replaced this summer, hopefully the new ones (Mich. Energies) will have more subtle sidewalls.

[boristhespie]

I have pirellis on knackered C5 II and they have done well. Having gone back and forth to the south of France for 2 years and the rest. Tread still looking nice. Been as good as Michelins which I usually get.

McConnechys' (theres one in glasgow) were doing Fulda on special offer with 2 years no question guarantee and with puncture guarantee also. Not bad for any issues. Don;t know about grip.

[Trainman]

DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT TYRES!!!!!

I need 2 for the front, and a mortage for them, 245/45 18

Oh, the joy of motoring.

[citroenesque]

Michelins are always high up on the list but for the BX I found the venerable P6000 was good.

I am about to pick up an XM from the snowy Alps, and it is shod in Nokian WG2 tyres: a brand I'd never heard of, but apparently quite good 'all-weather' tyres.

Proof shall indeed be in the pudding as I slog the car 650 miles back home.

[Deanxm]

or as you push it home as the case MAY be
Sorry Phil i couldnt resist

D

[Sid_the_Squid]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Steve, for 600 odd miles that is shocking. Could it be possible that a bad batch of tyres? As I've personally found Pirellis to be a good brand of tyre, very grippy, with good even tread wear, not like some of the cheaper brand where the sidewall wears down to rapidly, don't know if any of them have been P7's or not though, perhaps just the P7's are bad?

[boristhespie]

I had a pair of tyres wear out over a week and a half or so. Bald.

I had put the car in for tracking and balancing as there was really bad vibration on the rough country roads where 80 was the norm (Shetland).

Anyway my Michelins wore down and the garage replaced with some cheap junk they recommended but they did none of the balancing and tracking and I drove on them.

They were bald within a few hundred miles. Could not believe that tyres, cheapos or otherwise could wear out so ridiculously quickly.

They replaced them free of charge and sorted things out. The other tyres also the same lasted longer.

But scary.

[Deanxm]

On the subject at hand, i used to run P6000's and they were a good middle of the road tyre and i had no complaints, ive actualy just gone back to pirelli and have a pair of zero nero's on the xm and im very happy with them, very good in the dry not bad in the wet and even kept me moving in the snow no problems which i didnt expect.

D

[andycarter]

The only option was...... Wanli!
I know that these have had some poor reviews and normally I wouldn't go within a mile of them, but with a massive bulge in a tyre and the rest sounding like a Max Power rally, I accepted.

I've has Wanli tyres on my 7 seater for the last 8 months. It's hardly a sportscar but it is heavy, the Wanlis seem OK.

[MikeT]

I recall reading about tyres killing people (in the US) due to blowouts which were put down to the age of the tyre.

AFAIK, there is no law that says tyres must be within a certain age though I believe the manufacturers give 6 years.

My neighbour works in a tyre shop and he wasn't even aware they had date codes on the tyre.

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

[JamesQB]

I've got Riken Maystorm2's on my Escort. When I bought the car 8 weeks ago, the fronts had about 3mm tread, perhaps a tad over. Now they're just about on the tread markers with my tread gauge showing 2mm although they look more like 1.7mm if tread markers are at 1.6mm. I only use the car for my work commute of 20 miles round trip 5 days a week. The wear is even over the tyre. I don't know if they're just cr@p tyres or if the wear is linked with my dodgy steering I can't seem to fix.

[Citroenmad]

Nice report Steve, i like a good tyre topic

Thats shocking to have a buldge in the sidewall at 600 miles, obviously a fault with the manufacturing.

Ive had a few tyres deform - mainly firestones = garbage - but no buldges.

Ive heard very poor things about Pirellis recently. I usually get these fitted to the Xms, but as i rarely drive them in the rain and they do so little mileage i cant comment on how good they are. Seem reasonably in the dry. These are the P6000 versions. Ive heard once they get a bit worn they really perform badly in the wet. Dont think ill be buying Pirellis now.

Im not a huge fan of michelins, as ive said before, other brands do beat them. I have the older energy e3a one the front of one car and they are decent, dont grip as well as some tyres do in the wet but they are very safe and wear well. However even though they are only two years old they are starting to perish.

Ive started buying Goodyears now, i find they are excellent. They have a great range of tyres out now. The excellence is very good, and the Duragrip is also very good too - have these on one of the C5s. Im wanting to try the Goodyear OptiGrip next, some brilliant reviews about that tyre, which gets wider tread groves with more wear, and the rubber compound changes with wear to keep wet weather performance close to that of the new tyres. Excellent, i want those.

I also buy Toyos, the T1Rs i have on my C5, very good tyres, cheaper than other brands but perform excellently. Quite popular for performance cars and very popular in the VW group scene. Nice soft grippy rubber, but they do wear fast as a result.

Goodyears and Toyos are all that ill be buying for a while, ive been very happy with mine.

I dont tend to get along well with budget tyres, some are ok but some are truely awful. One C5 came fitted with a new pair of Heors, i swear if i had got the tyres removed and ran on the rims it would have had more grip. They lasted about two months before i changed them for some better brands - Federals actually, which were great.

Ive heard of Wanli, i think they are linked with Sunny, which might even be the same company. I had sunnys on one car when i bought it, they looked like P6000 pirellis, and did wear well, but the wet grip was a little lacking.

Did anyone get the Autoexpess magaizines during last year, they had a tyre campaign going. One was to increase the minimum tread depth limit of 1.6 to 3mm, another one was to put a used by date on the sidewalls to that old tyres would not be used, and another was about how important it is to look after your tyres. Which i totally agree with, i always change my tyres before they reach the wear marks, replace old tyres and always keep an eye on their condition and pressures.

Ah, tyres for a C6, i dont envy that, Michelins about £430 a pair, right? Saying that, and that i dont like michelins, just found Goodyear F1s in the C6 size for £330 fitted - better!

[Trainman]

Ah, tyres for a C6, i dont envy that, Michelins about £430 a pair, right? Saying that, and that i dont like michelins, just found Goodyear F1s in the C6 size for £330 fitted - better!

Cheer me up, why don't you