Xantia spheres

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falling-out-with-my-car
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

The ride in my TD sx estate has always been a little on the hard side even on brand new spheres, until I bought a decent sized socket set and kept it in the boot adding some weight it also helps to source soft tyres as well which improves the xantias ride a lot. currently running Primewell tyres 185/65/15's £30 each mail order, very soft walls.
Citroen Xantia S2 1.9 TD estate 189K soon to be broken for parts Jan 2017 headlamps & radiator fan assembly already spoken for & A 1987 Citroen 2CV6 special just for fun.
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by KP »

Soft walls aren't an option on an activa :(

And weight in the rear... Want to keep the car as light as possible really but softer rear spheres would help keep the tyres in contact with the road instead of bouncing over it lol
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falling-out-with-my-car
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

I think the roads have deteriorated somewhat since our older cars were built hence the ever increasing amount of 4 x 4's on our roads these days. the French roads are much better than ours. I seem to remember asking at an independent garage about a harsh ride on the front of my xantia diesel and I was told that some BX spheres might improve the hard ride but there was a risk of the suspension going down to the bump stops if you hit a big pot hole. I stopped using part worn tyres as they now cost nearly as much as new ones if ordered online. for the first time in 20 years I have new tyres all round the car and I can definitely say it has improved the ride dramatically.
why can't you put soft walled tyres on an activa? I guess that rules out Michelins then?
Citroen Xantia S2 1.9 TD estate 189K soon to be broken for parts Jan 2017 headlamps & radiator fan assembly already spoken for & A 1987 Citroen 2CV6 special just for fun.
New addition Citroen C5 2.0 HDi Exclusive Hatch purchased 09/12/2016 with 83K on the clock.
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by CitroJim »

Yes, roads aren’t what they were Nigel :evil:
falling-out-with-my-car wrote: why can't you put soft walled tyres on an activa? I guess that rules out Michelins then?
Because the car can generate very high cornering forces on the tyres due to the active roll correction Nigel.

Somewhere there's a picture of an Activa being driven hard showing how a tyre can deform under such conditions. Almost off the rim...

Michelin Energys are fine on there though...
Jim

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falling-out-with-my-car
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

ooo errrr Thanks Jim, I'll remember that one consciously stowed upstairs for future reference.
Citroen Xantia S2 1.9 TD estate 189K soon to be broken for parts Jan 2017 headlamps & radiator fan assembly already spoken for & A 1987 Citroen 2CV6 special just for fun.
New addition Citroen C5 2.0 HDi Exclusive Hatch purchased 09/12/2016 with 83K on the clock.
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by KP »

You say standard mich energies are ok on them Jim and not too soft?
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by CitroJim »

KP wrote:You say standard mich energies are ok on them Jim and not too soft?
They seem fine Will. David Hallworth is also running them on his V6 Activa..
Jim

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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by KP »

Will keep my eye out on fleabay incase my semi slicks plan doesn't pan out :)

But for spheres at the rear(heading back on topic!)
I need to look at hydractive estate rear corner spheres?
And standard for the rest?
Are 2.0 na petrol hydractive fronts worth a punt or is the aim to have a higher gas to lhm ratio in them so higher pressure ones would be better?
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by DHallworth »

The Michelin Energy's aren't quite as good as the original Michelin MXV3's were that Citroen sold the Activa with when new.

They do however grip very well in the dry, they're still decent in the wet, and the road noise is better on them then it is on anything else I've had on it.

If you want your Activa to work as an Activa then I would only put pukka Activa spheres on it. You're talking about spending money on brakes, semi slick tyres etc. but sticking non Activa spheres on it? Citroen must of thought it necessary to go to the cost of testing/manufacturing spheres at specific rates for the Activa so I wouldn't go changing them for something it wasn't designed to have.

Last year I put 10 new spheres on mine, did a full LHM flush and a major service on it and had change from £300 including having the parts delivered to the door from AEP Direct.

You can however now buy spheres direct from IFHS on their website so that you get fresh ones rather then spheres that have been sitting on a shelf at a retailer for god knows how long.

David.
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by KP »

Maybe its just mine being dead in the rear then but i was thinking if the car was a little softer then the tyres would stay in contact with the road more :)

IFHS do you have a link for them at all?
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falling-out-with-my-car
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Re: Xantia spheres

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

it is in French of course as IFHS is in Belgium
http://www.pourchier.com/sphere-citroen.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
regards,
Nigel.
Citroen Xantia S2 1.9 TD estate 189K soon to be broken for parts Jan 2017 headlamps & radiator fan assembly already spoken for & A 1987 Citroen 2CV6 special just for fun.
New addition Citroen C5 2.0 HDi Exclusive Hatch purchased 09/12/2016 with 83K on the clock.
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