Tyre choice - s2

[Guest]

I have read the recent autoexpress 2005 tyre test and was surprised to see names such as Vredestein, Maloya and Fulda as top performers

I have a 1991 944s2 with Dunlop sports P6000's on at the moment (I think)

I want something which is good in dry conditions mostly (BF Goodrich came first for these tests) as it rarely sees the wet. I only do about 4000 miles year as well so it doesn't have to be the hardest warring tyre

It is used mostly on country roads and not the best condition dual carriage ways "" these are not spotlessly clean motorway surfaces.

Any advice?

 

[Fen]

P6000 is a Pirelli tyre. It is also my pet hate in the world of black circles as they are utter, utter, unmitigated crap, so if that is what you have i would recommend you change them. People on here have different views and you'll hear Toyo (T1R), Conti (sportContact?), Bridgestone (SO2 or SO3) and Goodyear (GSD F1) recommended to name a few. Alternatively as you say you hardly drive in the wet, don't mind about wear and want good dry performance how about something like the Dunlop Supersport Race road-legal trackday tyres I have on my car just now? They are far from lethal in the wet and look like road tyres as opposed to cut slicks. Best bit is that they are being pushed hard by Dunlop as they are new so they are relatively cheap. What sort of testing did AutoExpress do? Did it use a rwd car? was it done from a performance viewpoint or a general ownership one like Mondeo Man would be interested in? I'm not saying the test was not good (I haven't seen it for one) but I would suspect it probably wasn't looking for the same things as the owner of a second car rwd 80's coupe with reasonable power.

 

[skendrick]

I've never heard of those names before but then I'm not up with the latest tyre technology.

When my tyres are up for renewal I'm going with Toyo's as the last test I read (was a couple of years ago now) they beat all but the Eagle F1's in an independant test in all conditions, was also one of the cheaper types. I have also had these in the past and had no problems with them at all.

Everyone will will say something different so I guess it will be down to personel prefrence.

Steve

 

[cuffn]

Fen

I also have Pirelli P6000's. You obviously don't like them - what has brought you to this conclusion?

Nathan

 

[Fen]

Mainly that they are made of Bacolite, and Bacolite has no place on the wheel of a performance car. They were OE on my wife's Ibiza 1.4 with a heady 60-odd bhp. They are all about longevity and nothing about grip. 'Nuff said? There was a thread on 968uk.com where they were pretty much universally slated so it isn't just me.

 

[Guest]

If you've got dunlop tyres they are probably SP2000 or SP9000s (the latter being the better, more modern tyre). I just changed my rear SP2000s for some Eagle F1 GSD3s. They've been down to France and back, with plenty of action on lightly trafficked French roads, but I'm not enough of a handling expert to offer much of an opinion.

Tom

 

[Guest]

Actually, you must have dunlop SP6000 tyres. No idea how they compare to SP2000 and SP9000 though, but I think they have a softer tyre wall compared to the SP9000, so I suspect you get better ride but worse handling?

Tom

 

[chrisr]

I run Michelin Pilot Sports all round on my S2 and so far the grip has been superb compared to the Falkens that where on the car , excellant in the wet and wear so far has been what I would expect , however they are dam expensive and you are paying for the name IMO . I currently have faith in the tyre, but except there are other tyres half the price doing the same job

 

[hotblack944]

ORIGINAL: Fen
P6000 is a Pirelli tyre. It is also my pet hate in the world of black circles as they are utter, utter, unmitigated crap, so if that is what you have i would recommend you change them.

P6000 N1 were Porsche OE and I've always found them more than enough tyre for my Lux - they have a similar wear, traction and temperature rating (180 A A) compared to (16") Continental ContiSportContact (160 A A). Also, they're one of only a handful of makes that come in the 215x60R15 size I need [] But ssssh, I'm running something else on the front at the moment.

I've always run my S2 on Bridgestone Potenza S-02 N3 (except for a brief dalliance with the Pole Position version) and never felt the need to try anything else.

YMMV,

Jim.

 

[Alpine]

my car had Dunlops on the rear, fitted by the previous owner. I cannot recall the type of tyre, but I know that they are "economy" tyres that are meant to be hard wearing and produce better fuel economy [:'(].

do you think it is worth spending a couple of hundred pounds on proper sports tyres, or will I not really tell much of a difference in the way it drives?

 

[Fen]

Depends how you drive I guess. Do you find the rear loose or that you don't have confidence in what the back end will do? If so then yes, buy decent tyres. That was how I found the P6000's on my cab; unpredictable. Jim, YMMV indeed and maybe the N1 changes the compound and even construction such that they are OK. The non N-rated ones fail in a pretty fundamental way for me; they don't actually appear to be made of rubber! OK that's an exaggeration and I'm sure there are worse tyres out there (my wife once had a Golf with some Qwik Fit el-cheapos on the front and that was literally dangerous) but the compound looks slightly crystalline to me and as I said to Phil I was never happy that I could tell when they were going to let go.

 

[Mikie_gb]

I run Michelin Pilot Sports

So do I. Very very good in wet and dry but deafening on concrete motorways. But at over £800 a set they may not be the best option. I think I bought four for the price of three from Kwikfit (they allowed me to observe after I suggested that damaging the rims was not going to give them a profitable months trading)

I used P6000 on my 535i and did spend a bit more time than I would have liked looking out the side windows of at the road ahead. Fun.... but not while pulling out of a garage forcourt in Saturday morning traffic in the rain.

 

[NeilW]

I can't add to the Pirelli debate, never had them on my 944, but can recommend Toyo albeit the T1-S not the later T1-R, which I haven't tried yet. I reckon they're a bit of a performance bargain, especially in the wet.

 

[Alpine]

ORIGINAL: Fen

Depends how you drive I guess. Do you find the rear loose or that you don't have confidence in what the back end will do? If so then yes, buy decent tyres. That was how I found the P6000's on my cab; unpredictable.
.

Thanks Fen

in response, I find it difficult to get the back end to step out at all. I am not sure if that is the fault of the tyres, or my driving !

 

[chrisr]

ORIGINAL: Mikie_gb

I run Michelin Pilot Sports

So do I. Very very good in wet and dry but deafening on concrete motorways. But at over £800 a set they may not be the best option. I think I bought four for the price of three from Kwikfit (they allowed me to observe after I suggested that damaging the rims was not going to give them a profitable months trading)

I used P6000 on my 535i and did spend a bit more time than I would have liked looking out the side windows of at the road ahead. Fun.... but not while pulling out of a garage forcourt in Saturday morning traffic in the rain.

Agree with you completely on the wet surfaces and the grip but its the ££££ that are the issue - Ive had 5 Pilot Sports in the last 12 months and again whilst I like the idea when they need replacing I will look at other brands. They do give you more confidence in the wet though

 

[zeb]

ORIGINAL: chrisr

ORIGINAL: Mikie_gb

I run Michelin Pilot Sports

So do I. Very very good in wet and dry but deafening on concrete motorways. But at over £800 a set they may not be the best option. I think I bought four for the price of three from Kwikfit (they allowed me to observe after I suggested that damaging the rims was not going to give them a profitable months trading)

I used P6000 on my 535i and did spend a bit more time than I would have liked looking out the side windows of at the road ahead. Fun.... but not while pulling out of a garage forcourt in Saturday morning traffic in the rain.

Agree with you completely on the wet surfaces and the grip but its the ££££ that are the issue - Ive had 5 Pilot Sports in the last 12 months and again whilst I like the idea when they need replacing I will look at other brands. They do give you more confidence in the wet though

strewth chris...5 !! in 12 months!![:-][:-] you been collecting stingers for a hobby??!![]

 

[mik_ok]

Toyo T1-S came a very close 3rd to the GSD-3 in the evo magazine tyre test (couple of years ago now).

ContiSport separated them, but the top 3 were very close in scores.

I have T1-S on the rear and would be putting them on the front when my Yoko AVS expire - but it will be the T1-R now (which are allegedly as good as the T1-S but with better wear characteristics and stiffer sidewalls.

A bargain indeed. [8D]

 

[carlmthompson]

Have just taken Vredestein's off the back of my BM - nothing wrong with them - they lasted 25k, 75% motorway and 25% play round the streets.

Have ContiSports on the Turbo - again, nothing wrong with them, although the fronts will probably need replacing soon, as a) they are getting lower, and b) they've been on the car 5 years and feel/have less grip than the rears.

Have just had my first puncture for a number of years also - typically just after I removed the worn out tyres on the rear with brand new Continentals []. At least I had 2 spares [] Or is that one now (unrepairable)[]

 

[TTM]

Had another set of S-02s fitted in July and after 30k happy miles with the previous ones I dread to think what I will get when they will be no longer available.

 

[iainfuller]

I've just had my S2 serviced by red line racing (of carrera cup fame) and asked them to source me some rear tyres - they came up with BF Goodrich ("profiler G", I think) which are supplied to croft circuit for their 944 turbo track car. At £65 + vat each that was proof enough for me. The tyres have been on for about 400 miles now and so far I'm impressed with wet and dry weather performance, together with quiter running - I'll certainly be fitting he same at the front.

Iain