Tyres?

[AAH!]

I've been running F1 GS D3's 225-45x17 (from mytyres.co.uk) without any problems and have been very happy with them, now on my second set. But then again I don't really push them to the limit on a regular basis. Previously I had endless sidewall problems with Perelli P-Zero's but then they were 245-40x17, so what can you expect.

Angus

[scillyisles]

I've been running F1 GS D3's 225-45x17 (from mytyres.co.uk) without any problems and have been very happy with them, now on my second set. But then again I don't really push them to the limit on a regular basis. Previously I had endless sidewall problems with Perelli P-Zero's but then they were 245-40x17, so what can you expect.

Angus

The F1 GSD3s that you are running are a 91Y tyre and therefore should not suffer from sidewall problems. The problems with the F1 on heavier cars were the central band section of the tyre coming apart from the rest of the tyre and occurred under very heavy load conditions (mostly on the track) so provided you don't track them or engage in continuous very high speed running they should be fine.

[afhgus]

I appreciate your advice with all the above. I don't think I'll be doing any more track days anyway and I'll have to keep a eye out for problems. And will watch this space too.

[PHIL_SELF_2]

I've been down to Micheldever Tyres today after reading all of your comments on tyre options & decided to go for the SO3 's. While I was there the fitters mentioned that another RS2 had been in yesterday but couldn't remember what they had re booted it with or any details of the car - just wondered if it was one of you guys?

Cheers

Phil Self

[GlynRS2]

It wasn't me, but I do need to change my tyres.
How much did they charge for the SO3's? - presuming they were 225/45 R17

[ChrisG]

[With regard to Pirelli Neros being "old hat" - I run then on another car and I'm very impressed with their performance - they produce a smooth quiet ride - let go progressively and seem to last. They're also a fairly recent design similar to the PS2 i.e asymmetrical.
In my particular case the RE040 failure I suspect was partly caused by running the tyre at too low a pressure for a period - the experience has made me more wary of tyres and I now check them fairly frequently. The Bridgestones were very good at resisting aquaplaning but don't seem to last too long and produced a very hard ride in the RS2 with quite a lot of tyre noise.

Her A4 quattro T Sport came with RE040s and they lasted about 20k, felt rock hard and let go far too early in the wet. Replaced with SO3s better wet grip ( nowhere near as good as the previous SO2s we had used) tramlined , bit noisy, just replaced with Proxes T1R 94Y rated . Tramlining has virtually disappeared , wet grip seens ok, quiet, and frankly I'll always trade wet grip for 5k miles life

My S Line quattro A4 has Rossos, there're ok but wet grip is only acceptable, they do let go progressively in the wet, noise ??? well noisier than her Toyos but ok on the motorway.

[afhgus]

Just for the record my Goodyear tyres are the F1 GYR GSD3, £154 plus vat for 2. And the recent Autocar tyre test I believe put the Bridgestone So3 a fraction ahead of them. The Nero was consigned to the tyre heap so to speak. No offfence Sicily Isle but do you actually live on the Silly Isles? Next time round I'd go for the Bridgstones.

[scillyisles]

Just for the record my Goodyear tyres are the F1 GYR GSD3, £154 plus vat for 2. And the recent Autocar tyre test I believe put the Bridgestone So3 a fraction ahead of them. The Nero was consigned to the tyre heap so to speak. No offfence Sicily Isle but do you actually live on the Silly Isles? Next time round I'd go for the Bridgstones.

No offence taken - the problem with tyre tests particularly in magazines is that normally they are done by motoring journalists who perhaps tend to place slightly different emphasis on tyre qualities than your average driver. You also find that sometimes tyre tests are run in partnership with a specific tyre manufacturer on their tyre proving ground.

Tyre choice and preference is therefore subjective and difficult to measure in absolute terms - I tend to prefer a tyre that gives you good wet weather grip, does'nt easily aquaplane, quite ride, firm but not jarring. I prefer these qualities above outright dry grip which is often the bias that motoring journalists choose.

I've run and am running different performance tyres on my cars - current tyres I'm running are :
- Michelin Pilot Sport 1
- Pirelli Nero
- Dunlop SP8000, Dunlop SP9000 and Bridgestone RE040 tyres on my RS2 - replaced yesterday with Pirelli Neros. Michelin PS2 spare.
- Michelin Pilot HX.
I've also run Continental Sport Contact - I'd consign these to the dustbin as wet weather grip and traction was appalling and yet they seemed to do very well in tyre tests.
Of all these tyres I consider the Pirelli Neros to be the pick of the bunch and that's why I've just changed my RS2 to run on them.

I'm glad that you are happy with your Goodyear tyres - the general consensus of opinion is that they give very good wet weather grip - I don't have personal experience of them so can't confirm this. My only comment was to indicate that there had been problems with tyre separation under extreme load conditions on heavy cars.