Car Tyres Info

Omega_1

I have a rather heavy Vauxhall Signum 3 litre turbo diesel car with 225/45 R 18 tyres and a quite hard suspension/ride.

Despite careful driving these do tend to wear rather quickly (17 K miles on front and 19K on rear) and are not cheap to replace.

Based on personal experience can anyone suggest a 'longer-life' brand of tyre and if a softer ride then would be a bonus. Have always worked on the higher the price of a tyre the longer life you get...........

Present tyre Bridgestone Potenza RE 040 (91W on front and 95Y on rear)

Tyre selling outlets tend to confuse by each having their favourite brands (or maybe the best bottom line for them ?)

Thanks

Chippy_Minton_2

I thought the letter was the speed rating. Does one end of the car travel faster than the other?

17k for tyres isn't that bad, what sort og driving do you do?

Premier_2

Be careful of any tyres recommended that are claimed to last longer. This is usally achieved by the tyre having less friction, or adhesion, to the road surface.

I doubt you'll see any difference in ride by a different tyre. It can be achieved by a variation in tyre pressure. However, GM Engineering would have optimised tyre pressure recomendation to give optimum ride & handling (in conjuction with tyre wear), so best not to meddle.
If they are not the original wheel/tyre sizes, go back to the originals.

Omega_1

Thanks - these are original GM tyres and sizes - the 95Y are from new and the 91W were replacements put on the front. The confusion lies with likes of Michelin claiming better mileage, Continental and the other big boys on a similar vein and was wondering if anyone did have access to any data that could point to a particular brand that appeared to be a 'Best Buy' overall

Premier_2

Tyres are optimised by the vehicle manufacturer in conjunction with their tyre suppliers. This results in unique compounds for that type of vehicle & manufacturer (at least for the big car manufacturers).

Unfortunately, what you get in the after market is pot luck, so any comparison is quite meaningless as it usually doesn't specify the compound ... and even if it does, you wouldn't be able to specify it to buy.

LandyAndy

Premier wrote: »

Be careful of any tyres recommended that are claimed to last longer. This is usally achieved by the tyre having less friction, or adhesion, to the road surface.

That has always been my understanding as well.

Chippy_Minton_2

Premier wrote: »

Be careful of any tyres recommended that are claimed to last longer. This is usally achieved by the tyre having less friction, or adhesion, to the road surface.

LandyAndy wrote: »

That has always been my understanding as well.

Sometimes due to them being a slightly harder and therefore noisier compound.

DaveMacD

As mentioned above, to make the tyres last longer, they make them harder. This makes them less 'sticky' on the road. It's a tradeoff of traction against longevity, but I'd say that you're doing not too badly getting 17-19k out of them. Changing tyre probably won't affect the harshness of ride, since it's a combination of the suspension, and the fact you're using 45's which have stiffer sidewalls than something in a 55 or a 60 (and you can't just change them, since you'd end up with clearance issues in the wheel arch. Coming into this time of year, I'd be tempted to look for something with an aggressive tread pattern to clear water, and a high traction rating for the best grip possible. My old Pug 406 did quite well with Pirelli P6000's, although I also found a tyre by Nexen which was similar to the Eagle F1 in pattern, and were pretty good for a mid-budget tyre.

Omega_1

Thanks for all the feed-back and appreciate the info on the subject - I guess will shop around for replacement of manufacturers supplied tyre although interestingly, my previous car was same make and model but a few years older and that was from 'nearly new' and was shod with Goodyear 215/50 17" tyres as originals !

Chippy_Minton_2

Smaller wheels on you old car though.

Omega_1

Thanks - am reluctant to put anything 'agressive' as far as tread is concerned as even with the originals there has been (to my ears anyway) a distinct 'road noise' particularly in the 30 -50 mph regions.