Which tyres -low use large car

sergiup

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I've made a decision for now, however this question will definitely come up again...

I had to replace two tyres on my C5 because one was a Michelin Primacy HP and the other was a very cheap Chinese directional thing that was making abnormal sounds despite still having plenty of tread left. I ended up putting two Kumho Ecsta KU31 on the front, and shifting the two fronts onto the rear - some other low/mid range tyre that turned out to be somewhat uneven in terms of balance, looks like it's the tyres and not the alloys thankfully, since they're both a bit out of whack and it'd be quite a coincidence to have two similarly damaged alloys with no visible damage.

I was initially going to go for Michelin Pilot Primacy HP for about £150 each, but given that I usually end up changing the tyres due to age rather than wear I figured I may as well try the KU31s given all the positive feedback on t'Interweb and that they're around £110 each; I was right, so far I've found them quiet, comfortable yet still quite grippy. The car is mostly used for town driving or long-stretch motorway driving - no commuting or throwing around country roads really.

I'm now thinking I might change the remaining two tyres soon as well, but I thought I'd see if anyone else with similarly large cars (and possibly usage patterns) had any other recommendations? Thank you!
 
We've got an insignia which had the 19" upgrade, originally had Michelin as standard which lasted 10k miles, now have el-cheapie Dunlop sports on which have so far done 16k miles, still 4mm tread and seem to be as grippy. I'm not doing fast speeds or on the edge cornering but they seem ok for me.

The Michelins were £197 per tyre, the Dunlops were £105 per tyre.
 
Thanks Bubblin - they're around £130-£150 in my size from what I can see, which would be acceptable yet close to Michelin territory.
 
Have you seen the fulda sport control? They're a German brand and very highly used in Germany, relatively unknown in this country, they were rated the 3rd best tyre of last year, hiq stock them, I've just bought 4 17 inch for the a3 and they were £105 each
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Fulda/SportControl.htm
 
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You should be able to pick up some Goodyear Eagle F2 for a good price.

Try Camskill.
 
Falken 452's are cheap and cheerful, perform well in all conditions also.
 
They're also end of life, you'll be lucky to find stock :(
 
FK453 or ZE912 then :thumbsup:
 
Have you seen the fulda sport control? They're a German brand and very highly used in Germany, relatively unknown in this country, they were rated the 3rd best tyre of last year, hiq stock them, I've just bought 4 17 inch for the a3 and they were £105 each
Fulda SportControl | the Fulda SportControl reviewed and rated | the online tyre guide

Thanks - I'll look at those too.

You should be able to pick up some Goodyear Eagle F2 for a good price.

Try Camskill.

Thanks, will go on my list as well. I need to check whether they're available in 225/55/R17 first though.

FK453 or ZE912 then :thumbsup:

I can find the ZE914 in my size, neither of those two though. Still, looks reasonable.

Thanks folks, plenty to look at before the next swap! I'll come back after a while when I would've run them in for a bit. :thumbsup:
 
How low use is your low use?

I've seen quite a lot of Dunlops where the rubber perishes long before the tread wears out on really low use cars. Several tyre places I use have commented on the same before now.
 
How low use is your low use?

I've seen quite a lot of Dunlops where the rubber perishes long before the tread wears out on really low use cars. Several tyre places I use have commented on the same before now.

About 5-7000 miles per year of pretty gentle use (people often can't help but fall asleep while I'm driving :rotfl: ), so the tyres would probably be 2-3 years old before being worn enough to be swapped; I might steer clear of Dunlop if that's the case.
 
2-3 years should not be a problem for Dunlops.

I'm talking 4-5+ years really.
 
FK453 or ZE912 then :thumbsup:

ZE912 is now ZE914 :D

I have four of them on the diesel Focus and they're more than adequate. FK453 were superb though - would've had them again if the price wasn't so high.


OP - what is your tyre size?
 
ZE912 is now ZE914 :D

I have four of them on the diesel Focus and they're more than adequate. FK453 were superb though - would've had them again if the price wasn't so high.


OP - what is your tyre size?

Seems to be a somewhat unusual one, there are quite a few tyres that aren't available in it: 225/55/R17
I can't seem to find any FK453 in it, however the ZE914 are available at about £106 each fitted, so just slightly less than the Kumho KU31.

I'm also considering the Uniroyal Rainsport 2, around £120 each fitted.
 
Seems to be a somewhat unusual one, there are quite a few tyres that aren't available in it: 225/55/R17
I can't seem to find any FK453 in it, however the ZE914 are available at about £106 each fitted, so just slightly less than the Kumho KU31.

I'm also considering the Uniroyal Rainsport 2, around £120 each fitted.

Ouch. I have 225/40/18 (factory standard alloys) and my ZE914 were £90 each fully fitted last year.

The FK453 are better performers, but if you're not going to drive with "gusto" all that often, then I've not found a single issue with my ZE914.

Falken are my preferred brand on the Focus for sure. Uniroyal Rainsport 2 are also very good (I had these as well), but have gone up in price quite a lot in the 5 years I've owned it.
 
About 5-7000 miles per year of pretty gentle use (people often can't help but fall asleep while I'm driving :rotfl: ), so the tyres would probably be 2-3 years old before being worn enough to be swapped; I might steer clear of Dunlop if that's the case.

Ive had this happen on Dunlop Sport Maxx on rear tyres of a front wheel drive car
 

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