New tyres needed?? For citroen Xantia running Energys.......

stevetheskaterboy · Post by **stevetheskaterboy** » 16 Oct 2009, 18:16

I have 4 nearly new Michelin Energy tyres on my car, wonderful sales tool lol (fitted 190 miles before I brought it.)

Took it up snowdonia this morning for work, and now I know why my mum hated them on her volvo V40, the grip was poor to be honest and they seem a lot more stiff than the energys of the past.....

Now im going to buy 4 new tyres, been on the hunt, going to need 8 tyres (4 x summer for the normal rims, 4 x winter tyres on spare steel rims for my trip to finland for 4 weeks)

any suggestions for both, Main priorities are grip and ride quality, price is something ill look into but lower the better lol

stevetheskaterboy · Post by **stevetheskaterboy** » 16 Oct 2009, 19:25

Ok ive looked on mytires.co.uk

Michelin alpin A3 - £70.40 per tyre

as i said do you think that will be a good plan? im thinking maybe get a all weather tyre but long time in finland with a uk spec tyre does worry me....

plus i still need normal tyres for everyday ahhh..........

addo · Post by **addo** » 16 Oct 2009, 20:24

Have you experimented at all with tyre pressures?

The other thing to try, is a bit of brutalising. If the tyres were a bit old when fitted, perhaps they're starting to harden already. Taking off the "skin" can improve things somewhat. Look for an empty, dry carpark or industrial backstreet (on a weekend) and start throwing the car around.

Cheers, Adam.

stevetheskaterboy · Post by **stevetheskaterboy** » 16 Oct 2009, 20:33

have done both, tyres were fitted 5 weeks ago by kwikfit.

I have heard that newer michelin energys are not half as grippy or smooth as the older ones, as i said mum had 4 on her car and after 2000 miles got rid and replaced them with something else!

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 16 Oct 2009, 20:46

See my post in this thread :-

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=28448

Marangoni's are REALLY good !!

stevetheskaterboy · Post by **stevetheskaterboy** » 16 Oct 2009, 20:58

Hmm im going to look into that, so mytires come reccomended then? never came accross them before to be honest....

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 16 Oct 2009, 21:04

I have used mytires on a few occasions in the past and the only thing to be aware of is that they don't hold stock , they have orders sent from supplier to customer , this can cause delays so if you in a hurry make sure they can deliver your choice fast before ordering.
My friends place is in Kidderminster so u can collect no problem

stevetheskaterboy · Post by **stevetheskaterboy** » 16 Oct 2009, 21:09

One tyre ive been looking at was Star Performer SPTS

I know they are a basic cheepie brand but a friend has them on his 3lr Audi and is impressed with them, he got them after someone chavved his alloys and had to go get wheels and tyres urgently lmao

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 16 Oct 2009, 21:29

I do like a good tyre thread!

From your pictures you seem to have the older energys fitted, E3As?? Those are actually better than the newer energy savers, which are rubbish. The E3As are not available now, or at least only whats left in stock.

I was driving down a country lane in the C5 this week, it had been raining and it was wanting to run wide on most bends. I wasnt going slow mind but the cornering grip is truely awful. I went down there in the Xm, which has Pirellis fitted, afterwards and had no problems at similar speeds. The C5 has the newer energy savers on the front, though they only have 2.5mm left, and the older energy E3As on the rear. The newer energy savers really scrub the shoulders off too, my nsf tyre edge is almost bald.

I find the E3As ok, much better than the newer michies, but they are after all an eco tyre, so you can not expect the best of grip. Ive had E3As on other cars and have always thought them to be ok. They last well but are not the last word in grip. Though i find Pirelli P6000 are better tyres, they are better for wet weather grip. Though some people hate them and others like them, i cant fault them and have had a few pairs now.

If your wanting a good all round tyre, but mainly for wet grip, i strongly suggest looking at Uniroyal tyres, you might think 'ive never heard of them'? But they are superb and are aparently 'the rain expert'!

Actually if i were you id be leaving the Michelin E3As on, dont forget tyres usually get better once run in a bit with a few miles under them, and get some more winter orientated tyres on winter wheels. Seems a shame to get rid of about £250 worth of tyres when actually they are not too bad and will last and last.

Pressures can make a huge difference, i wouldnt have thought you need any more than 32/33 front and 30/31 rear, at most? What do you use?

You tend to get a tyre which grips very well or a tyre which lasts very long, those two hardly ever go together. As for better grip a softer compund is needed, therefore it wears out quicker. For a tyre to be good in water it needs to contain silica, many cheap brands dont hence their poor performance.

I dont often get along well with cheaper brands, so i usually like to stick to the top brands where possible, though there are plenty of excellent mid range tyres too, which are well worth looking at.

I would strongly recommend:
[img]Uniroyal%20Rain%20Expert[/img] - excellent all rounder, especially wet weather, though am yet to try them myself: Mytyres list these for your size at £57 each, not a bad price and i bet you can get just as close to that with an indy tyre fitted for a fitted price, mytyres are often overpriced in my opinion. Pays to shop around local tyre fitters.
Vredestien sportrac3 - very good all rounder, quiet and grips well
Pirelli P6000, mixed reviews but i get along well with them, certainly better than michies, for grip and value
Conti Premium Contact - love the original version of these tyres, grip like glue in all weathers, though they squeal when pushed hard in the dry!

Having just looked on www.blackcircles.co.uk for your size tyres, they are only listing E3As as reinforced. Your are not reinforced are they? As that would effect grip.

Also worth nothing, this time of year is especially greasy which can account for a loss in grip too.

Chris.

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 16 Oct 2009, 21:34

One thing I have noticed is that Xantia's are heavy on front tyres and until I fitted the Marangoni's it wore tyres on both edges but particularly the inside whilst the rest of the tyre was good for a few thousand more miles. This was not due to geometry , I had it checked more than once and it was always fine. A Goodyear technician told me that one way budget tyres are lower priced is because they are less robust on the shoulders to save on materials. So on front drive cars they are less durable , the heavier the car the more quickly they wear at the shoulders.

stevetheskaterboy · Post by **stevetheskaterboy** » 16 Oct 2009, 21:39

Nope they are not renforced. but you are correct they are the older energy. well done chris

Of all the people ive asked who have had them (Mum, Dad, Sister, Uncle, Mate and Partner, only one recommends the energys, dont think they are suited to my kinda driving.
Dont get me wrong, i dont drive like ive escaped from HMP winston green but I like to have a good speedy drive and I love my A roads.

Im thinking of going back to the drawing board, maybe looking at the Star performers (mates got them plus partner had a set on her rover 800) or maybe go for continentals.

any ideas lol

stevetheskaterboy · Post by **stevetheskaterboy** » 16 Oct 2009, 21:43

Oh and I forgot the pressures are 31/30

I think my main issue is that I travel through wales and over into france a lot lately, I guess adjustment in driving styles is needed.

I think you may be right, get a set of Michelin Alpin's on the spare rims I got, (15in steels from a Xantia LX, in great knick from the scrappy for £20...not bad lol)

stevetheskaterboy · Post by **stevetheskaterboy** » 16 Oct 2009, 21:50

HDI? do you often drive through kiddy, could have swon i drove past a car like yours today lol

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 16 Oct 2009, 21:57

Ive driven on Marangoni tyres before, your correct they do have a very stiff sidewall. Infact even with correct tyre pressures the centres wore out slightly before the outer edges. A good thing if your a more enthusiastic driver. Ive got to say they are one of the better smaller brand tyres ive used.

Im impressed with your familys knowledge of tyres Steve

my family think tyres are fine so long as they are round, oh and they must also be a shade of black! Thats about all they look for in a tyre. My dad is mainly concerned with how long they last. My mum or sis wouldnt have any idea what brand of tyres their cars have if they were asked. They dont know how lucky they are having me to decide on what tyres they have

I usually choose on grip rather than a tyres life, though its nice if they last longer, obviously! Ive got Toyo T1-Rs on my Peugeot, really very soft compund and will probably be lucky to get 10K miles from them. But they really grip in the dry and rather fun in the wet too. I dont hang around by any means, so tyres are always something i really look at when i need a new set, to see whats the best available.

Star performers? Is that a tyre make? Ive not heard of those!!!

As above, try some Uniroyals. Have a look around for reviews, the rain experts are new so there might not be many reviews, but the 550 was the previous tyre, got excellent reviews: http://www.tyretest.com/pkw_sommerreife ... index.html

Uniroyals or Conti Premium contacts would be my choice, though as ive said, the conti is quite vocal on its limits

Chris.

Post by **CitroJim** » 16 Oct 2009, 22:02

Citroenmad wrote: Uniroyals or Conti Premium contacts would be my choice, though as ive said, the conti is quite vocal on its limits

I've got Contis on my Activa. Yes, I agree they're vocal but excellent grip in all sorts of weathers.

I've got B F Goodriches on the front of my V6. Well priced and to me they tick all the boxes but then again I'm not one who often explores the outer performance limits of tyres.... I've run B F Gs on the 2.1TD in the past and again with nil problems and they wear well. They were very impressive in the snow earlier in the year.