S.2 rear tyre choice.....?

[wolfie308]

Currently running Conti Sport 225/50/ZR16's which were fitted 4 years ago and are now down to the limit after only 18k miles......would this be considered to be about right for a road use only car? Price doesn't seem to have changed in that time - I paid £220/pair all inc then and you can get them from BlackBoots now for £213/pair

I was thinking of trying Toyo Proxes TR-1's this time at £208/pair and wondered if anybody had made this swap or could comment from experience on the Toyo's, or would there be a better choice?

 

[zcacogp]

The Falken FK452's seem to get a very good write-up on here, regularly. They aren't the top-notch best tyres there are, but they are genuinely very good, and very very good value. I have them on both the front and back of my S2, and they're the second set on the back (I think the first set did about 30k-ish miles).

The only comparison I can do is with the Conti Sport Contacts the car had when I bought it. The Conti's gripped slightly better, but let go much more suddenly. The Falkens don't have quite as much grip before they start letting go but they do let go beautifully progressively, and keep you informed as to what is happening at all times.

I like them a lot. To the extent that I bought them again. Having said that, I understand that Kuhmo do a similar tyre which is a smidge cheaper.

Oh and Event Mobile Tyres were the cheapest place for me to buy them. Excellent service.


Oli.

 

[Chrishazle]

So far (in 61K miles) my 968 has had 2 sets of Yokahamas (came from the factory on these, first owner replaced them with identical, rears at 18500 MoT fail, fronts 5 months later). Rears replaced with Contis at 31300, fronts with Bridgestones at 41300, rears with Bridgestones at 45600. Current mileage 61K and all 4 tyres still have 5+mm of tread. All tyres have been Porsche N rating - so my experience says Bridgestone for tyre life.

 

[chrisg]

Just to throw a few thoughts in, my 951 came with Goodyear F1's which are now illegal but used well for track days.

I have a set of yoko's s603's on the car, and have noticed that the rears have worn signifcantly more than the fronts - rear wheel drive car that get's provoked a lot.....

I've been looking for a new set of 225/45's for the rear - kumho or toyo seem like a good bet

 

[david924s]

I fitted Toyo T1Rs all round to my S2 and they have behaved very well indeed, good in the wet and fantastic in the dry, I have done around 6K miles on them and they are wearing well but I know I will not get high mileage out of them as this is the trade off for grip. If you feel 18K miles is too low for the tyres you currently have then I would not recommend the Toyos as they will probably not last anywhere near that long. However if you want good quality sticky tyres for a reasonable price then get the Toyos mine were £320 for four just over two years ago 255/40/17 rear and 225/45/17 fronts.

 

[MRGT]

I am a big fan of both the Toyo T1' R's and Falken 452's. Toyo's tend to be grippier but wear a bit quicker, Falkens are a little quieter but are cheaper.

tyretraders.com currently do the toyo for £76 plus p+p (£88 fitted) or the Falkens for £64 plus p+p ( £76 fitted) For fitting they use local independent fitiing companies, so when you order you give a date and time and they make sure the tyres are there ready for you.

I have used them a fair number of times and have yet to see a better deal from anyone else (including mytyres/camskill/black circles etc).

Howard

 

[ukmastiff]

I think everyone had their favourites and toyo or falken are bandied about at the moment because they are good quality 'and' not expensive. I have Goodyear Eagle NCT all round at the mo and they have transformed the grip of my car. I never buy cheepo brand tyres but some came with my car and they offered no traction whatsoever.
I will defo try Falken or Toyo soon though when I need some tyres.

The learner for me has been put good tyres on your car not cheepo ones thats for sure.

Did anyone see the top gear on Dave yesterday ( and 21 times a week) where they tested the same car from 70 MPH breaking on budget tyres and then on conti's.

The little car stopped in a set distance on the conti's and then at the same point on the budget tyres was still travelling at 31 MPH . It only started at 70
Food for thought without a doubt .

Regards Mas

 

[wolfie308]

Thanks for all the feedback chaps, seems it's down to either the TR-1's or the Falken 452's as I'm not after a budget option. Or maybe stick with the Conti although the ZR Sport-Contacts which I currently have, come out at £107 each?

Tyretraders.com do indeed seem to be very competetive, cheers Howard, hadn't come across them before.

 

[mik_ok]

I've used T1R on our S2 and on our RX8. Excellent grip and progressive breakaway.

Only downside is that the sidewalls are slightly softer than others (such as the Falkens). This leads to slightly softer responses, but on the flipside, they completely eliminated very bad tramlining I suffered on the S2, and a slight tendancy for the RX8 to do the same.

 

[Chrishazle]

Should have added, I've just fitted Falken FK452's 205/55R16V all round on the c270 shopping trolley - it's Elegance trim so has fairly soft suspension. Already noted that car is noticably quieter and more comfortable. Don't know haw relevant this is to a 944, but they've certainly improved my Merc estate.
I bought from Camskills, had them fitted by ATS for £9 per corner (valve, balance, fit, dispose of old tyre), all tols just under £60 per corner.
Looks like fronts on my 968 are same size but different speed rating, so will defo look at Falkens when I need boots for the 968.

 

[Neil Haughey]

All I will add is it doesn't hurt IMHE to go up in size. 245x45-16 works fine on the 8" rear rims, the ideal would be to get another set of 8" rims for the front and run either 245 or 225 up front as well. You can run 225s on the front rims OK but they do roll on the rim a little, on an 8" rim a 225 wide tyre tends to sit nice and tight. 225s on 7" rims actually improve the ride quality a little as well but make the steering a little heavier.

 

[wolfie308]

Okay, decision made and job done. Went with the Falken 452's partly on Oli's comments re the Contis and also because of great price of £75 all inc fitted by www.blackboots.co.uk who are only a mile down the road from me.

They also sorted a slow in my offside front, which turned out to be a leak round the rim AND a tack in the centre of the tread for an additional £16.50 - total bill £169.38

A few weeks ago, they also found and fixed a slow on my nearside front due to crude on the inner edge of the rim and they asked for a beer token - a tenner was fine.[]

Car is totally transformed running 36 psi all round, so we'll see how it goes when they've settled in and I've properly tested them in wet and dry.

Same place as Wheels in Motion that Oli used and was well happy with IIRC. If you're anywhere near Chesham, Bucks, they're well worth a call.

 

[zcacogp]

Ummm, I can't remember the name of the centre that Wheels in Motion used (when I went there WiM didn't have their own workshop and rented time in someone else's.) However I do recall that I asked them to do a wheel balance for me while I was there and it was miles, miles out. The guy who did it balanced the wheel up, took it off the machine and rolled it over to the car, and the newly-applied weight fell off! He was politely asked to rebalance the wheel, which he did with good grace, but it was a long way out.

A double pain as the place was a long way from home, and I had only travelled there to go to see WiM. I made a detour to return there a couple of weeks later and they re-did it, but only fractionally better than the first time. I gave up at that point, and went to a local under-the-arches place which is run by a bloke who balances wheels better than anyone else I have ever known.

So, to re-cap, Wheels in Motion were good. The place where they rented space was awful. But I believe they have moved on now.


Oli.

 

[wolfie308]

Apologies Oli if I misreported your impression....don't know if things have changed a bit since your visit, but now they share the same website, and the invoice is headed 'Blackboots.co.uk & Wheels-inmotion(WIM)' and they also have the same VAT number.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll understand how much better the car feels having 2 front tyres at the correct constant, rather than continually dropping pressures, and new rubber on the back to replace what would have failed MOT []

 

[zcacogp]

Wolfie,

Don't apologise - nothing to apologise for. I just didn't have a terribly good experience with the WiM 'Host' and didn't want people to think that they were superb.

I knew that Tony Bones (chap who runs WiM) was looking to move 'Hosts' so it sounds like he's with Blackboots now. Or possibly has set up blackboots ... glad to hear that they are genuinely good.

New rubber and consistent tyre pressures are always a joy. And if you had it aligned at the same time then it's be a gem to drive ...


Oli.