Best tyres for an XM

Midgemagnet · Post by **Midgemagnet** » 08 Dec 2005, 14:03

I feel like trying a new flavour of tyre for my old XM Exclusive Turbo. What I look for most in a tyre is good grip, good handling, and low rolling resistance. Treadwear isn't too important to me. I started off on a full set of Uniroyal Rallyes, which gave awesome grip, but made the handling a little squishy and had quite a high rolling resistance. I then switched to Pirelli P6000s, which were an improvement on the handling and rolling resistance fronts, at the expense of a slight loss of grip compared to the Uniroyals.

I'm thinking that maybe a certain type of Michelins might go well, given that these were undoubtably the tyres that Citroen did their suspension development on. Any thoughts?

While I'm here, a question for anyone who knows their tyres, if I may: How crucial is tyre tread depth towards providing grip, particularly sideways grip when cornering? The treads are there for water displacement on a wet road, of course, but I've found that even in the dry a part-worn tyre will have much less grip than a brand new one (once the mould release compound has worn off, anyway) even in the dry, though the effect is much more noticable in damp and wet. I'm thinking it's a scrubbing effect due to a combination of the square edges of the tread and the flexibility of the tread block (which will be related to compound and tread depth). I've asked this question before, but no-one can agree on an answer. Some have said that a worn tyre will also have somewhat degraded rubber due to chemical changes caused by heat cycling, and I'm sure that may play a part in some way, but I'm not sure that accounts for all of the loss of grip.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 08 Dec 2005, 14:59

I've tried all flavours on my Xm's from the 2.0i to the 24v V6 and have found particular favorites to recommend:

Continental Contacts
Vredesteins
& Uniroyal

Had some 205 55 15 Goodyear Eagles on a NON CAT 2.0i with some very nice 'purposeful offset aftermarket alloys which seemed superb but only stayed on the car long enough for me to briefly try them before the car self combusted due to a failed fuel line [I think...!]

A fellow Xm'er friend also highly rates the Uniroyals.

Tread depth is all about effective water dispersal - the deeper the tread the better the dispersal therefore the better the grip in the wet...

Andrew

Post by **Peter.N.** » 08 Dec 2005, 15:05

Very difficult to say as even different Michelins have different characteristics. I have been persuing the same line of enquiry only for different reasons as my requirements are the opposite to yours, I buy tyres for comfort and long life as I dont usually drive in a way that needs good adhesion, I would still be using cross plies if they were available!

If you type your requirements into Google, or whatever search engine you use, you can get quite a lot of information on tyre types and properties. The Michelins that I found gave good wear and a comfortable ride but not very good grip! If you subscribe to 'Which?' magazine, there are some quite good reviews to be found.

Post by **DHallworth** » 08 Dec 2005, 16:42

Michelin Pilot Primacys are very good on the 24v XM, my father also uses them on his V6 406 Coupe, and doesn't have any compaints either.

They aren't cheap tyres tho.

David.