Simon's new Xantia V6 and Leaf blog

[RichardW]

Is that £66 for a set or just for one pad ? The £130 for Delphi was for a set of 4 I believe!

That's for a set - seems pretty reasonable for a set of OE pads from the dealer!

[Mandrake]

Is that £66 for a set or just for one pad ? The £130 for Delphi was for a set of 4 I believe!

That's for a set - seems pretty reasonable for a set of OE pads from the dealer!

Indeed! About half the price I was quoted for Delphi.

I guess they are trying to get rid of stock that will never sell... I really ought to snap up a set while they still have them...if only there weren't so many other things vying for my wallet at the moment!

[lexi]

if only there weren't so many other things vying for my wallet at the moment!

Pah! You IT guys are worth a few quid....................get into that bank book!

[Mandrake]

Well tonight could have gone better!

Driving home and suddenly noticed a massive vibration coming from the rear - I was only doing about 15 mph but every time I accelerated at all it started shuddering and vibrating. Pulled over and found the rear left tyre flat.

Of course the Ion like many modern cars (and all EV's to date) has no spare tyre, just a tyre goo inflation kit, which annoyingly is stored under the rear seat, which meant removing Joshua's baby seat (luckily I hadn't picked him up yet) to then remove the base of the rear seat to get at the kit.

I tried the goo but it didn't work as the puncture turned out to be quite bad, so I phoned the AA, not really knowing what to expect as I've never called on them before!

The guy arrived in under 30 minutes, first had a go at repairing the puncture with a proper puncture repair kit, but it was too severe, we then arranged to get the car back home rather than try to take it somewhere for an on the spot tyre replacement, so he put their universal spare on the car and followed me all the way home before collecting his spare. I was very impressed with the service and it certainly got us out of a bind! We were then able to transfer the baby seat to the Xantia and go pick up the little boy, albeit 2 hours late.

I now have a little bit of a dilemma, the two rear tyres and one front tyre were all down close to the legal limits, are a bit cracked and are only summer tyres, so I had already planned to replace all 4 with a set of all seasons before the winter as we can't afford to be without traction in the winter trying to get to work...

However I wasn't ready to replace them just yet. I don't want to put a single cheap summer tyre on to get it going again and then have to replace it again in about 3 months, nor do I want to put a single all season on the same axle as a worn summer tyre - that would be a recipe for disaster! Or at least a recipe for lots of wheel spin thanks to the torque of the electric motor. (I could already spin the left rear wheel when accelerating on a tight bend)

So I think what I need to do is fit two new all seasons to the rear now, (remembering it's rear wheel drive) and then fit two all seasons to the front in a couple of months before the winter comes around. I wouldn't normally mix summer and all season tyres, but I think it should be reasonably safe to have the new "better" all season tyres on the rear, temporarily ? It already has skinnier tyres on the front to induce safe on the limit understeer even though its rear wheel drive, so this would just make it a bit more understeery.

The next question is what to get... because I need to get a type of tyre that is available in both front and rear sizes as I'd ideally like a matched set later when I complete the set. The sizes are:

Front: 145/65R15 72S
Rear: 175/55R15 77V

I know some suggestions were made a while back in this thread I think but a quick search didn't turn them up.

Technically speaking they also should be low rolling resistance tyres on an EV, and the original factory Dunlops are low rolling resistance, but I'm not sure how much difference it really makes to the range!

I'm hoping to order them tomorrow or Friday and get them fitted on Saturday. While I appreciate having the Xantia as a backup car the petrol cost will see me broke on our daily commute unless I get the Ion back in action ASAP.

[Mandrake]

What do people think of these Vredestein Quatrac 5 ? Available in both sizes and reasonably priced ?

https://www.mytyres.co.uk

[Skull]

NANKANG do a summer 'set' never used them myself ....looks tricky for winter tyres though ....
https://www.asdatyres.co.uk/145-65-15?speed=s £47.92 (V rated)
https://www.asdatyres.co.uk/175-55-15?speed=v £50.26

[Skull]

Ah they look a better option Simon

[Mandrake]

NANKANG do a summer 'set' never used them myself ....looks tricky for winter tyres though ....
https://www.asdatyres.co.uk/145-65-15?speed=s £47.92 (V rated)
https://www.asdatyres.co.uk/175-55-15?speed=v £50.26

I'm definitely wanting All Seasons, not winter or summer tyres.

Unlike the Xantia V6 that has very high grip levels and benefits when pushed hard from having dedicated summer tyres in the summer instead of All Seasons, the Ion has only modest amounts of grip and is not driven hard around corners, so its much more sensible to use year round All Seasons... especially when its almost impossible to get a spare set of alloys for it in the very unusual sizes it use. (The front alloys have a non-standard offset and the hub has a locating spigot preventing fitting a normal 3rd party rim or fitting the rear rims to the front, as well as front and rear being different)

[Skull]

Reviews on the Vredestein 145 tyre sounds positive
01/11/2015
excellent tyre up to yet but have have not tried them in snow so far.

01/08/2015 from Gordon
Great in snow, and good for the rest of the year.
Don't have to worry about changing from summer to winter tyres.

18/07/2015 from DeeMee
All Season Tyre that is approved as winter tyre

10/07/2015 from Roger Denison
Superb in typical English winter weather. A bit sqealy in hot weather, but hangs on well for an all season tyre. Reduced road roar on course surfaces is a bonus.

[myglaren]

I had a set of Sailun Atrezzo all weather tyres fitted a year ago and have found them quite good and very cheap (£186 delivered for four 205 55 r15) they have never been balanced and never needed it, smoothest and quietest tyres I have had.
I do hammer tyres and was hoping, like you, to make these last until early winter but looking at them today, the fronts are nudging the limit and the MOT is on Monday. Rears are fine.
They were OK a couple of weeks ago but have done well over 1,000 miles since then.
Looking to find replacements before Monday

[RichardW]

We've had Quatracs on some of ours, Simon, no complaints (I think they were Quatrac 3s). I've got Hankook Kinergies on the front of mine, second set I've had, no complaints there either - the last set lasted 30k. No idea if they're available if your off the wall sizes!! Coopers are Vredestein agents; sure they will be able to match or better mytyres price. At least you don't have to battle with the centreless alloys!!

[Mandrake]

We've had Quatracs on some of ours, Simon, no complaints (I think they were Quatrac 3s). I've got Hankook Kinergies on the front of mine, second set I've had, no complaints there either - the last set lasted 30k. No idea if they're available if your off the wall sizes!! Coopers are Vredestein agents; sure they will be able to match or better mytyres price. At least you don't have to battle with the centreless alloys!!

Yes I noticed that Cooper brothers were listed for Vredestein. The worn tyres on the car now are also Hankook Kinergies, which I believe are a low rolling resistance variant, albeit they are only summer tyres. They do have a lot of cracking on them though, considering that this is at least the second set of tyres the car has had in 33k, as the original factory fit are Dunlop! So if they have cracked sidewalls in ~15k miles that's not brilliant.

Leaning towards the Vredestein at the moment but will keep researching to see what else is available.

[daviemck2006]

I have has vredestiens on a few cars, and for the closest to yput ion I have had vredestien quattric on two different 107s. They were 155/65x14 from memory. I did not do many miles on the first set before I sold the car, the second set I put onto the current 107 when shaun was running a different car. I did 15000 miles in 6 months on them, i think they were quattric 5. I found them quiet running and the only time i thought slightly lacking was under heavy braking in the wet. That was driving hard though. I would happily buy them again. We now use uniroyal rain expert on the 107, they have better all round grip in the wet, but no idea how they are in the snow. I wouldnt think you would be disappointed in the vredestiens.

[RichardW]

I doubt you'll do better than the Vreds - your sizes are not exactly widely made in AS tyres(!!), and of the alternatives listed on mytyres, the Vreds have best fuel efficiency label. Seems like a win win all round....

[Mandrake]

I doubt you'll do better than the Vreds - your sizes are not exactly widely made in AS tyres(!!), and of the alternatives listed on mytyres, the Vreds have best fuel efficiency label. Seems like a win win all round....

Funnily enough I just got off the phone with Cooper brothers! £66.50 each fitted so basically the same price listed on mytyres.co.uk, so they're getting a pair in for me for the rear wheels for Saturday.

You're quite right - I did a bit more searching and choices are very limited in those sizes, especially if you want one type of tyre that is available in both of the sizes! Michelin is a complete no-show in those sizes for all seasons...

Interesting that the Quatrac 5 gets a good fuel efficiency (rolling resistance ?) rating of C - the much more expensive Hancook Kinergies (the all season version of the tyres I have now) only get an E for fuel efficiency despite being £90 each. They're also listed as being 3 dB quieter than the Hancook.

So it does look like the Vredesteins are the best all around choice for this car in all seasons at a reasonable price.

Fun fact - apart from the Simex (?) tyres I fitted to my Daihatsu Charade nearly 20 years ago, these will be the first non-Michelin tyres I've ever bought new...