Xantia 2.0 HDI 90bhp estate tyres

[bill hughes]

Hi All
can anyone please tell me what sort of mileage I should get out of my front tyres, they are Hankook which were on when I bought the car, they have so far done 11,330 and wont last much longer, I sold tyres for over 30 years and got used to at least 30,000 on Fords etc. Budget tyres used to be ok on mileage but not so hot on grip, would I be better off using a better brand of tyre eg. Michelin, any thoughts appreciated, many thanks.

[KennyW]

Bill,

I was going to return to michelin on my estate but it will be moving soon to my son. As you sold tyres for 30 years then you will know tyre wear depends several factors.

It is your choice and budget constraints.

Kenny

[bill hughes]

Thanks Kenny

I see what you say but it was over 20 years ago that I sold tyres and I wondered if maybe the budget tyre of today sacrificed mileage for grip,

thanks anyway Bill

[Hell Razor5543]

The Xantia is know to make its REAR tyres last until they die from old age (plenty of tread left but plenty of small sidewall cracks), but I could not speak for the front ones (longevity wise).

[BX]

Budget tyres is a very polite way of describing them. They are indeed ok for certain drivers. Some of them have a very short life. Others are known over here as "ditchfinders". Even amongst premium tyres there is a choice between life and grip but it is not as drastic as in what are called budget. There are several middle of the road tyres or what i would call true budget tyres. They are usually manufactured by a subsiduary of a premium company. They gave the benefit of the know-how from their parent but there needs to be a reason to go premium. Two reasons come to mind and you pay a little for each. One is brand recognition and prestige. The other is a superior quality product. The quality usually shows in grip, life, noise & fuel economy. In my opinion the long life premium usually has as much grip as the high wet grip budget tyre. Loads of people out there have different opinions and experiences and they are all equally valid. Its really a case of horses fir courses. No point in having an overall cost saving in using a particular premium product if you cannot afford it in the first place.
P.S.I have seen Hankook supplied as oe on a number of vehicles including Ford.

[Stickyfinger]

About 12 inch square of rubber in total stop you going into a ditch.....think like that and it is always a premium brand....Michelin's suit the car AND our weather.
(esp with an unloaded estate car). For me it is a simple question

[hirsty]

When looking at tyres for my HDI 110 C5 estate, the recommendation was for higher loading (97) on the budgets and 93 on the premiums. I went with Goodyear Efficient Grip because the wet grip, mpg and noise ratings were all good. After fitting, I noticed they were much quieter and more forgiving over potholes and speed ramps. How they fare on mileage remains to be seen as they have only done 1k miles.

hirsty

[Eddie Nuff]

I've had Maxxis on my Xantia HDi for about six years. The rears last forever and still have plenty of tread on them, the fronts lasted about four years (about 30k).

Grip and noise level very good and £60 a corner

[rory_perrett]

Hatchback not estate but about 20,000 miles from a pair of "budget" (Barum I think) front tyres, but depends how you drive and use your car.

[Stickyfinger]

Hatchback not estate but about 20,000 miles from a pair of "budget" (Barum I think) front tyres, but depends how you drive and use your car.

and when you really need them it depends on how others drive not you

[wurlycorner]

TBH, this is probably an area where you know a lot more than the rest of us

FWIW though, I put a pair of BF Goodrich G-grip on the front of my C5 when I bought it. They weren't my first choice from looking at the specs, but the tyre place recommended them in that price range and I must say I've been very impressed. Loads of grip (wet and dry) and 10k later they have little wear on them.

Tyres are very much suited to particular cars though, as you will know better than us...

Last time I put tyres on the Activa (replacing a pair of Michelin's 'cause I couldn't justify the exorbitant replacement cost) I put a pair of Toyo Proxes on. They were well recommended within the Jap car scene, so I thought I'd try them on the Xantia. They don't suit it. Bit too hard on the ride and not great in the wet.

Conversely I had a set of Michelin's (pilot something) on one of my Preludes and was gutted when they wore low (wasn't going to be able to afford the full set of 4 that it needed) because obviously I'd struggle to get anything else as good... right? Well as it turned out, no! My mate had a set of nearly new Goodyear Eagle F1's on his prelude that had just been written off, so I picked them up cheap, had them fitted and I have to say they're even better than the Michelin's were!

There's only one car(s) where i won't compromise on Michelins and that's TRX's for the CX's - the Avon alternatives are just shocking in comparison. Massively cheaper, but massively worse unfortunately. (Which leaves massive expense! )

Anyway, rambling over...

[Peter.N.]

I have always used budget tyres but I also have found they don't seem to last very long now, I was getting up to 30k from my XM front tyres but the 406 ones seem very poor. Last ones fitted, I broke the habit of a lifetime and bought Michelins, they were only a few pounds dearer than the budget ones and so far are wearing very well, they were given very 'very good' by Which? for wear and noise and have proved to be so, grip was not the best but as I don't drive very fast that doesn't bother me, I think they were called 'Michelin Economy'.

Peter

[BenC5HDi]

Premium tyres are a bit of a con in some respects. I've had "budget tyres" - Nankangs on an XM 10 years ago (when I was really poor) that were fantastic, I've had more expensive budgets (Accerela) on an old Focus because it needed MOTing before I sold it and they were utterly shocking. I put Avons on my Xantia TDs, I thought they were well suited to it, and we'll priced. They lasted ages too. I never got the fuss about Michelins, they never seemed any better or worse than anything else, just a lot more expensive. I was a great believer in premium tyres until about 10 years ago when divorce and skintness descended on me, and needed to keep my car with reasonable tyres and drive within their limits. A lot of the cheaper tyres are perfectly Ok.

I put expensive Pirelllis on one car years ago and wrote it off the first time I drove it in the wet, so poor was their wet grip. The tyres had a good 1500 dry miles on them so it wasn't sealing agents causing it!

Of my current 3 cars (now I'm no longer skint!) One has a mix of Continentals and Toyos, one has two Avons on the back and two "PACE" cheapies on the front - which are better than the Avons they replaced, and the other car which I've just acquired seems to have 2 Nexen on the front and two mystery things on the back.

I'd probably put Nexens or Toyos on a 90 HDi Xantia.

[wurlycorner]

I've had more expensive budgets (Accerela) on an old Focus because it needed MOTing before I sold it and they were utterly shocking.

Yep, my gf had a full set of Accelera's on her Volvo V40 when I met her. They were absolutely lethal in the wet, no grip at all. Worst tyre I'd driven on!
I got the front ones changed sharpish...

[daviemck2006]

I have always got on well with Nexens, but don't like them on the activa, certainly on the front. They look brand new, I would have to ask Chris how new they are, but they seem to suffer a serious lack of traction. I may swap them with the pirellis on the back, although generally I hate them too, due to the fact that I have twice suffered a blowout at speed in 34 years, and both times were pirellis. And the last pirellis I drove on were my ex wife's 206, and it had nil grip in the wet, she went off the road in it, they got changed for vredestien after that. Vredestien or Goodyear would be my tyre of choice just now.