Activa Tyres - Which Ones?

[DHallworth]

My Activa is going to need another set of tyres before the summer seasons comes upon us again.

The car is currently shod in Michelin Energy 205/60/15 V tyres. Unfortunately the Michelin Pilot's that Citroen specified for the Activa are no longer available. Citroen also state that the Activa should be wearing W rated tyres as well, not V rated ones.

When looking on mytyres.co.uk, there are only 2 tyres available in a W rating which are available:

1. UniRoyal RainExpert
2. Continental PremiumContact 2

If you go back to V rating there are a load more tyres available including Bridgestones, Dunlops, Continentals, Pirellis, etc. I'm not going to deny that I'm a bit of a tyre snob so will only be buying a big brand as I firmly believe you get what you pay for and with them being the only thing between the car and the road and knowing what the Activa can do I only want good ones.

What does everyone else run? What's the consensus on tyres?

David.

[Stickyfinger]

Being in the lucky position of having Pilots on mine now after knackering one of a set of Conti Premium Contacts after the Activa tried to mate with a pallet, I can confirm the Michelin's are better for me by some margin. I lament their lack of availability greatly.

I found the Conti's "jiggled" in fast corners, I put this down to softer tyre walls. I found them both uncomfortable and a little "concerning" at speed (cough).
The transformation with the Pilots is noticeable with a steady and constant grip which was both comfortable as well as readable (road surface). Road noise was up a little.

I do not worry to much about W vrs V rate as I cannot see myself pushing the Max speed of the V rated tyre past its 150mph rating.
As such my thinking will be to choose the Michelin Alpin5, its wet grip rate is very attractive. I may however save the 3 Continentals (and add one) to use if I take the car on a track or in a hot climate for any time.

[hattershaun]

My car is on Michelin Energy tyres, I'm perfectly happy with them.
Mine are V- rated, as required by the sticker in the door shut showing tyre size and pressures.
Citroen changed the spec from W to V at some point, possibly for the 1999 model year.
I believe the W rated tyres were specified for their stiffer side wall, rather than top speed characteristics.
Just be thoughtful towards insurance if your car requires W rated and you fit V rated, wouldn't want to give the insurers a reason to refuse a claim, hopefully you'll,never make one mind.

[Stickyfinger]

Scored two brand new Pilots today ....got to love ebay

That puts me on 4x Pilot Hx's now....

So a pair of Pilot SX for sale....see the 4Sale thread

[DHallworth]

I've still not actually made a decision on this. I was all set to go for Continental Premium Contact 5's and then I saw Alasdair's comments above about them not being to great. BlackCircles have got Michelin's for £65 a tyre which isn't much so I might just get a set of them.

Mine have cracked round the edges quite badly but still have 6mm of tread left on them so I think I'll start using my spare Exclusive wheels as winter wheels.

David.

[Stickyfinger]

Ask yourself, will you do 140mph+ ?.....if not I would say the Michelin but as you know I have not used the modern ones.
The boys with larger wheels (17inch) on the continent do seem to like the Continental on them however.

Having pushed the car hard a few times now, I am still happy I switched to the Pilots, your decision will be my bench mark at the end of the rubber I have on "stock" (sourced from "unused" BMW spare tyres via flea-bay)

[CitroJim]

My car is on Michelin Energy tyres, I'm perfectly happy with them.

As is mine and I've been delighted with them...

[superloopy]

Surely this comes down the 'I'nsurance question.

In the current climate where business is seeking to avoid liability at every juncture why would you fit non-standard tyres and allow that wriggle room to any insurer?

What i dont understand is why my Activae (150bhp) are both specced at 'W' rated tyres yet the V6 (198bhp) is rated at 'V' rated tyres, obviously not down to speed potentially but as has been mentioned it's possibly the Activa's cornering necessity to have a stiffer walled tyres that makes the difference.

[Stickyfinger]

Correct

[DHallworth]

Problem is there's only two tyres you can get in a W rating these days.

However, Shaun says above that the later Activa's from 99 onwards were marked for V rated tyres on the stickers on the A pillar.

My car is going to be getting a set of Michelin Energy tyres on a V rating as you cannot get a W rated Michelin any longer unfortunately. My dad had a set of Michelin Pilot's in a W rating on his Activa back in 1999 and he kept fitting them for as long as they made them, apparently they were a great tyre.

David.

[Stickyfinger]

When me finally meet up with our cars, we should test each others to see what the difference is. All the "other" parameters are pretty much equal bar the front struts.

Why not write to Michelin about it and ask them about the tire wall stiffness of the two types ect ....I wonder what their technical department would say ?

[DHallworth]

Well it's a done deal.

Black Circles were £273 for 4 brand new Michelin Energy Saver + tyres in a V rating. Estimated delivery date is 7th April.

I've got a tub of Millers Oils Trident 5w30 and a genuine Citroen V6 oil filter in the garage for it already so it can have an evening on the ramp on Thursday before she gets MOT'd on Saturday.

Hopefully it'll be a fun filled summer

David.

[Hell Razor5543]

Hopefully it'll be a fun filled summer

If it isn't it won't be down to the V6 Activa! She will be properly up for the roads.

[white exec]

You should not go below OE spec on the tyres' speed rating, even if you think you will never reach rated speeds.
Insurance issues certainly.
Here, correctly rated tyres are part of each ITV (MoT) inspection.

[DHallworth]

The problem is I wanted Michelin tyres, they don't have a W rated tyre.

Activa's up to 1999 were spec'd with W rated tyres, after 1999 they were spec'd with V rated tyres on the exact same car. The standard V6 Xantia was also V rated throughout it's entire production so I'm happy with what I've got

David.