recommend some all round tyres

catoutthebag

Please recommend some good tyres for my 1.8 sporty 56 astra.

They currently have some cheap chinese tyres on there which have zero grip especially in rain going round a bend and should frankly be banned

Want something to handle rain, snow, ice and fine dry weather where you want to put your foot down *responsibly and within the limits of course

In my previous car I had some rain sport or rain expert (can't remember the brand). They were decent.

Thanks

AdrianC

What size...?

catoutthebag

Argh now you got me will need to check

force_ten

I find the all round tyres are much better it makes for a much smoother ride

to meet your criteria perfectly you would be looking at two sets of tyres, one set of winters that would go on at the end of next month and stay on the car until next march, this is to better cope with the cold weather ice and snow

and come march change to summer tyres, many do this buy having a second set of alloys fitted with winter tyres and swap them as and when required, if this is not practical or is cost prohibitive you could look at a four seasons tyre which is a compromise between summers and winters and they work but not as well as full winters

other option is to buy a good set of summer rubber of a premium brand and when it is snowy and icey leave the car at home and take the bus

gilbert_and_sullivan

Uniroyal rain expert or rainsport, which you've had before are one of the best wet grip tyres you can buy and if you search the usual sites are very cheap to buy, often cheaper than ditchfinders, you could do far worse and few will be better.

Rain Experts are good in winter too, almost all season standard.

Whether you get experts or sports if you choose Uniroyal will depend on the size you are on, Experts are higher profile, by the time you reach 50 aspect or lower you'll be looking at Rainsports.

edit, Camskill and Tyreleader are the cheapest for Uniroyals normally, Camskill currently delivering in two days, Tyreleader usually 4.

edit, i have the latest Rainsport 3's fitted, they take a few hundred miles to bed in/scrub off, so don't judge them straight off if you decide to try them out, Ex[erts seem to bed in much quicker.

catoutthebag

force_ten wrote: »

I find the all round tyres are much better it makes for a much smoother ride

to meet your criteria perfectly you would be looking at two sets of tyres, one set of winters that would go on at the end of next month and stay on the car until next march, this is to better cope with the cold weather ice and snow

and come march change to summer tyres, many do this buy having a second set of alloys fitted with winter tyres and swap them as and when required, if this is not practical or is cost prohibitive you could look at a four seasons tyre which is a compromise between summers and winters and they work but not as well as full winters

other option is to buy a good set of summer rubber of a premium brand and when it is snowy and icey leave the car at home and take the bus

Can't afford several hundreds on the luxury of 2 sets don't know anyone who does ..

catoutthebag

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Uniroyal rain expert or rainsport, which you've had before are one of the best wet grip tyres you can buy and if you search the usual sites are very cheap to buy, often cheaper than ditchfinders, you could do far worse and few will be better.

Rain Experts are good in winter too, almost all season standard.

Whether you get experts or sports if you choose Uniroyal will depend on the size you are on, Experts are higher profile, by the time you reach 50 aspect or lower you'll be looking at Rainsports.

edit, Camskill and Tyreleader are the cheapest for Uniroyals normally, Camskill currently delivering in two days, Tyreleader usually 4.

Will ordering online mean me fitting them too?

Please explain 'higher profile' bit?

And when I asked about uni royal for my old car I was told that rains port had changed or been discontinued to rain expert (or vice versa) - not sure if that was true though.

gilbert_and_sullivan

catoutthebag wrote: »

Will ordering online mean me fitting them too?

Please explain 'higher profile' bit?

And when I asked about uni royal for my old car I was told that rains port had changed or been discontinued to rain expert (or vice versa) - not sure if that was true though.

Tyreleader have a fully fitted option where you can choose local fitting, Camskill don't, i usually pay between £5 and £10 at the two fitting shops i use per tyre.

Profile, or aspect ratio, refers to the sidewall between rim and tread compared to tread width.
A 65 aspect is a high sidewall on a comparatively small wheel eg 15", a 45 is much lower eg on a 17" wheel.
This means you can have two tyres, one a 15" and the other a 17" with almost identical rolling radius.

Rainsport 2 has now been susperceeded 3, completely different tread pattern, 2's still in stock at various wholesalers and will be for some time, but 3's are cheaper at the moment, so if you're going for 3's get a move on as i suspect they'll increase.
Experts as i said are usually available in smaller wheel sizes with higher aspect ratio.

Hence if you have 195/65 x 15 tyres they will be Experts, if you have 225/45 x 17 tyres they will be Rainsports, both within mm of the same rolling radius.

AdrianC

catoutthebag wrote: »

Can't afford several hundreds on the luxury of 2 sets don't know anyone who does ..

<waves>
Modern tyres are rubbish in snow and ice. Ironically, the better the tyre, the worse the winter performance - this is down to modern rubber compounds (selected for best grip and lowest rolling resistance) performing badly in cold temperatures.

The initial outlay is higher, sure, but overall the cost per mile is the same - because you don't wear the summer tyres in winter, and vice versa.

Buy the winters now, buy the summers in spring.

catoutthebag

AdrianC wrote: »

<waves>
Modern tyres are rubbish in snow and ice. Ironically, the better the tyre, the worse the winter performance - this is down to modern rubber compounds (selected for best grip and lowest rolling resistance) performing badly in cold temperatures.

The initial outlay is higher, sure, but overall the cost per mile is the same - because you don't wear the summer tyres in winter, and vice versa.

Buy the winters now, buy the summers in spring.

Found the Uniroyal mentioned above as good in Any condition

gilbert_and_sullivan

catoutthebag wrote: »

Found the Uniroyal mentioned above as good in Any condition

That indeed is true for the Rain Experts, which are about the softest summer compound i've found, Rainsports are completely different and i don't know if they'd have the cold wet or ice grip that the Experts do indeed have despite not being marketed or labelled as all season.

I won't be finding out on my own car because i too run a spare set of wheels for both my cars fitted with winter rubber, but then i keep my cars for years so there is little or no cost implication over time.