Tyres (again!)

[myglaren]

For may years I used Gislaved tyres on my cars. They were a good medium range tyre and had a wonderful guarantee against damage whereby if you damaged a tyre beyond simple puncture repair they would replace it with another one and you only paid for the tread that you had used - the same as the old Esso tyres in fact.

They became impossible to obtain in the UK as the brand was targeted by its owner Continental as a winter tyre producer and I switched to its stablemate Viking. Sadly they also became difficult to get and for the last five years or so I've flitted with Dunlop, Firestone and, believe it not, Michelin.

I managed to avoid the period when there were some very poor tyres around and now I believe that the mid to low range of tyres may include names you've heard of but at least grip the road. So I'm not sure what tyres will next grace the new cars. If I can get them at a reasonable price I'll probably tend towards Michelin but for a set of proposed winter tyres for the X7 I'm really not sure.

I used to drive through Gislaved almost daily but never bought any of their tyres - I think they were owned by Firestone at the time (1970s)

[van ordinaire]

If we thought the Japanese had vivid imaginations/ limited English when it came to naming their cars (& even more so their home market small vans) they've got nothing on Chinese tire manufacturers.

[Old-Guy]

For what it's worth.
I have two sets of tyres for the Green Lady (Xantia 1.9sx estate): Set of Goodyear Ultragrip (M+S) on the original steel rims. The winter tyres are amazing: quiet, comfortable, grip like glue, and the steering is very precise.
For the summer, I put on a set of VSX alloys with a pair of Nexens (205/60R15) on the front wheels and some cheap Chinese horrors on the back. I've yet to frighten myself with the summer set-up, the Nexens are very good if a bit vague (the tracking ought to be adjusted for each swap), fortunately as I never throw the old lady around with a real load up, the rear tyres last for ever.
Talking of Chinese horrors: I test drove a C4 Grand Picasso on Monday with a pair of almost new Delinte DH2 on the front - dear grief, the road noise at 30 on a rough road surface!! 74dB (about as noisy as tyres get) compared with the relative hush of 68dB for the Goodyears. The tyres (£500+ for a decent set of rubber) were one factor that put me off the car.
BTW, my understanding is that a 10dB increase (not 2) equates to a doubling of the perceived sound level intensity, thus 74dB is approximately 60% noisier than 68dB.

[Old-Guy]

If we thought the Japanese had vivid imaginations/ limited English when it came to naming their cars (& even more so their home market small vans) they've got nothing on Chinese tire manufacturers.

Just come across another inappropriate brand name (from Indonesia): Achilles

[CitroJim]

If we thought the Japanese had vivid imaginations/ limited English when it came to naming their cars (& even more so their home market small vans) they've got nothing on Chinese tire manufacturers.

Just come across another inappropriate brand name (from Indonesia): Achilles

Love it!!!

[hirsty]

Has anyone any feedback on the Michelin Cross Climate. My Goodyear Efficient Grip have done 14K and are getting close to the wear bars.

hirsty

[GiveMeABreak]

Has anyone any feedback on the Michelin Cross Climate. My Goodyear Efficient Grip have done 14K and are getting close to the wear bars.hirsty

Yes in my post a page ago:
https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... 15#p512510

Had them for a year and will be getting a set on the rears too. One of the best tyres I have ever had and I've had just about every popular make and then some. Very quiet, excellent braking / wet grip and fuel efficient. The video shows the grip characteristics and they are summer tyres with winter certification.

[chinkostu]

I've got 4 Roadstone tyres on mine - not the cheapest at about £47ish a tyre and not a fantastic tyre but i'm actually struggling to fault them so far. They are far from a performance tyre but i've stuck it into bends (on a wobbly Xant no less!) and not had them let go. CC and 74db so fairly average (although they're not actually hugely loud!)

The old tyres were a mix of Nexens and other stuff and were far past best so it could just be the fact I have tread on them!

[GiveMeABreak]

I originally got the CorssClimates as I'm not one to change from summer to winter tyres - but as these were almost as good or equal to winter tyres I thought I'd give them a go and haven't been disappointed. 74db is quite loud Stu - these CC's are rated at 69db - and those in the know have said there is a significant difference in a few dbs!

[chinkostu]

I originally got the CorssClimates as I'm not one to change from summer to winter tyres - but as these were almost as good or equal to winter tyres I thought I'd give them a go and haven't been disappointed. 74db is quite loud Stu - these CC's are rated at 69db - and those in the know have said there is a significant difference in a few dbs!

Aye 74 is supposed to be really loud but i'm buggered if I can tell. The wifes are even louder!

[daviemck2006]

Roadstones are last season's nexens AFAIK

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[RichardW]

I've got Cross Climates on the back of my 307 - very good they are too. Was trying to get a pair for the front, but they were on back order at the factory - must be popular!! I got a pair of Hankook Kinergy's instead (their new all seasons) - they seem good so far. They were replacing a pair of Hankook Optimo 4S, which have done >30k, and even when worn right down gave reasonable performance; so if they match that I'll be pleased!

[chinkostu]

Roadstones are last season's nexens AFAIK

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They are very similar. Some places point to Roadstone being a sub brand of Nexen.

Regardless, they're better than 10 year old perished tyres!

[daviemck2006]

Even new Chinese ditch finders are better than 10 year old perished premium tyres! I'm into uniroyal just now. They are reasonably priced and have phenomenal wet grip.

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[GiveMeABreak]

I've used the uniroyal Rainsport 2 and 3 on the C5s. Grip I was good, wear was poor. The 2s wore better than the 3s, but at speed (70-80) they don't work well and vibrated. They never managed to solve it despite re balancing several times. Had this happen every time and the service manager put it down to the make saying the C5s don't ride well with Uniroyals, saying they've had other people with similar problems on these tyres.

I changed to other brands and haven't had any of the vibration issues since. I don't know if this could be down to the tread pattern and compound, but tracking and balanacing is done reqularly so I stopped using them as the vibes were getting annoying.