Tyres Advice - Which ones to change

AdrianHi

4 tyre discount a good idea if you can get it.
I had continetal premium contact 2's, very good performance especially in the wet but they wore unevenly at the front and were dead in 20K miles which is not as long as I'm used to my tyres lasting. I always get 4 wheel laser alignment and tracking done for under £20 using top notch equipment at Micheldever tyres, near Basingstoke, Hampshire. You can pay £80-200+ for the same service elsewhere, volume of business allows them to do it this cheap.
Bridgestones I always find don't like the cold and wet giving poor traction.
On mine and my wifes car we now have Michelin Pilot Primacy HP's. Michelin claim 25% longer life, they grip very well in all weathers (even in slush /snow for a "summer" tyre).
Michelin Energy tyres now standard on some Peugeots trim a tiny bit off fuel consumption and perform as good as the best of the rest according to independant tests.

Ystrad_Lad

I'd change all 4 tyres together and leave the spare alone.

Contrary to what has been said before, if you only intend to buy 2 new ones, I'd put them on the front. It's a front wheel drive car. The front tyres do all the work, steering and transmitting power from the engine so it's important that they have maximum tread. Get the advice of the tyre fitter, they will tell you the same. Tell him about the car pulling to one side, they will check it out for you, there could be several causes.

On a final note, tyre grip and stopping distances diminish dramatically below 2.5mm of tread so don't wait until you get to the legal limit.

BillScarab

Ystrad_Lad wrote: »

I'd change all 4 tyres together and leave the spare alone.

Contrary to what has been said before, if you only intend to buy 2 new ones, I'd put them on the front. It's a front wheel drive car. The front tyres do all the work, steering and transmitting power from the engine so it's important that they have maximum tread. Get the advice of the tyre fitter, they will tell you the same. Tell him about the car pulling to one side, they will check it out for you, there could be several causes.

On a final note, tyre grip and stopping distances diminish dramatically below 2.5mm of tread so don't wait until you get to the legal limit.

Michelin don't agree with you, they recommend putting the least worn tyres on the rear, even on a FWD car.

http://www.michelin.co.uk/michelinuk/en/car-4x4-van/less-worn-tyres-rear/20070314172074.html

ailuro2

http://www.mcconechys.co.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=37

is one example...


buy 3 get the 4th free on Michelins, go for energysaver tyres, they'll save a decent percentage on your fuel costs (approx 5%? ) so work out a pretty good deal when one is free.

http://www.michelin.co.uk/michelinuk/en/car-4x4-van/advantages/20070312100246.html says 1 tyre in 4 is free due to reduced fuel consumption

so you end up with 4 very good tyres for the price of 2

(And another consideration...Michelin has factories here in the UK, so you're supporting British jobs;) )

nomoneytoday

Ystrad_Lad wrote: »

I'd change all 4 tyres together and leave the spare alone.

Same here. They will need doing soon enough.
Alternatively, how about 3 new ones, and keep one of the 3mm tyres as the spare?

mikey72

How many of you actually have thrown away tyres with 3.5mm of tread on?
If you change at 2mm rather than 1, they still have a quarter of the tread left if they had 8mm to start with.
If you let them go to 1mm then have over a third left.
And the spare needs swopping over and using, or it will just perish in a few more years.

beaker141

mikey72 wrote: »

How many of you actually have thrown away tyres with 3.5mm of tread on?
If you change at 2mm rather than 1, they still have a quarter of the tread left if they had 8mm to start with.
If you let them go to 1mm then have over a third left.
And the spare needs swopping over and using, or it will just perish in a few more years.

1mm ? 1.6mm is the legal bare minimum, going less is definately false economy given a potential fine of £1000 !

Surely you have to look at it that a new tyre has 6mm of usual tread, so at 4mm you have a third left to go ?

mikey72

More exact calculation,
new tyre has about 8mm, so 6.4mm useable tread, at 3.5mm there is 1.9mm left to use, so 0.2969 of the tread is left.
So we both make it about a third of the tyre left.

CrispyUK

Thanks guys, lots of advice and comments all much appreciated - and thanks dished out

Yeah the current set have quite possibly been on the car since new, not something I paid much attention to when I bought the car (too much excitement )

The spare is on a steel rather than an alloy - and a few of the local places I've spoken to haven't been able to get hold of the Dunlop SP Sport 300's for months so might limit my choice if I wanted to match it with a new one.

Have been getting alignment quotes of £20-25 if adjustment is needed, been told only the front can be adjusted on the 307.

I've just had some money come in so can afford to replace all 4 tyres together, and would've replaced the low fronts much sooner if I could've afforded to - especially after seeing the results of the 3mm vs 1.6mm tests they did on the Mira test circuit.

Looking at the Michelin Energy Savers as a few of you have recommended these now (and they're standard fit on Pug 308) - been quoted £66/corner by a local tyre place but waiting to see if they can discount on 4 tyres.

If anyone can recommend a tyre place in Plymouth please let me know, it's my Uni town so not very familiar with the local places like I am at home!

Hintza

CrispyUK wrote: »

If anyone can recommend a tyre place in Plymouth please let me know, it's my Uni town so not very familiar with the local places like I am at home!

Get some prices then approach a main dealer and ask if they can do better, you might be surprised!