Tyres for a 24v Series 1 XM

Unread post by **DHallworth** » 06 Feb 2007, 18:56

OK, after fixing the sports suspension on my XM today, i have decided to get somebody to do the repairs that she needs.

She's going into somebody called Graham Harper on Thursday to have bits n bobs done.

But she could also do with 4 new tyres.

The hand book says 205/60/15 90Z.

Kwik Fit have offered me 4 Michelins in the right size with a Z rating for £83 a tyre.

What do you guys think?

David.

Mandrake · Unread post by **Mandrake** » 06 Feb 2007, 19:05

What type of michelins ?

Unread post by **DHallworth** » 06 Feb 2007, 19:12

not sure, forgot to ask that!

Oops

David.

np · Unread post by np » 06 Feb 2007, 20:12

£83 dont sound bad.My local cheapy tyre place wanted £86 for Michelins in 205/55/16 V.
Z rated sounds a bit ott though

.They have to be rated at over 160 + mph??.Maybe a bit cheaper seeing how much H rated(130 mph) or V rated (149 mph) tyres are.

Unread post by **philhoward** » 06 Feb 2007, 20:22

It's all about economies of scale - if a manufacturer makes 10 times more Z rated tyres than V rated, then the Zeds become cheaper, even if they are more "premium". A V6 XM isn't exactly slow, and the added benefit of a Z rated tyre is its (normally) stronger; HA Citroens can exert some serious cornering forces, plus the XM isnt exactly a lightweight..

I'm surprised at the price for those 205/55's..it's now the most common size on new cars of the Astra/Focus size

Unread post by **DHallworth** » 06 Feb 2007, 20:27

i have a membership card for the local costco warehouse, and they do seriously cheap michelin tyres, so to save me a trip across the city i started haggling with Kwik Fit.

In the end they pretty much price matched Costco.

David.

np · Unread post by np » 06 Feb 2007, 20:28

philhoward wrote:
I'm surprised at the price for those 205/55's..it's now the most common size on new cars of the Astra/Focus size

Seen them on Saabs,Bmw`s,Toyota`s too.A bit like a fair few tears ago where most cars had 155/165 13`s

Unread post by **Peter.N.** » 06 Feb 2007, 21:42

Hello Again!

I think you will find that 195/65s will give a better ride. Thats what I have on mine.

NiSk · Unread post by **NiSk** » 06 Feb 2007, 22:04

205/60/215 are/were standard on the V6 and 2.5 TD.

My old TD12 (2.1) had 195/65/15 as standard.

I currently run 215/55/16 on the 2.5TD summer time, gives a very good road feel and retains nearly all the comfort. But I assure you, you wouldn't want to have them on in the winter over here! thats why it is now on 185/65/15 studded Nokians.

//NiSk

deian · Unread post by **deian** » 06 Feb 2007, 22:56

David,

Try http://www.mytyres.co.uk, they are probably about the cheapest you can get, but you then gotta find a friendly place to change your tyres, i found Michelin Primacy for £76.30 each, same size but a rating of W (up to 168mph), have a toy around there,hope it helps. You are pushing the boat out on the XM now, good to see it being looked after. Oh what could have been!!

I guess the Kwik Fit ones are priced welll, with them you have the guarantee of service should something happen.

Good luck.

Unread post by **DHallworth** » 07 Feb 2007, 21:23

ordered the Z profile today, one hour later Kwik Fit rang back, Michelin no longer make a Z rating, so rang Costco, they offered me V rated for £66 a tyre.

Costco can get W rated ones in, but i need them for sunday and they take 10 days to get them into stock.

so going to get V rated michelins on Friday morning.

You guys reckon they'll be good enough?

David.

Unread post by **RichardW** » 07 Feb 2007, 21:43

Dunno about the tyres, but Graham Harper is v good. If you can find him! Knows his stuff, and trades on word of mouth mostly. Last time I was in there (taking the front hubs off my mate's 306 for new wheel bearings) he had some big American job with all the innards out of its V8 engine - very interesting!