Alan McCaskie

P-Zeros are now dangerously worn so looking to try something different probably on a 215/40/17 size. Toyos around at £100 a corner and Goodyear F1's a little more - however I have just spoken to Eddie at NTS in Edinburgh who has supplied alot of tyres to club members. He is quoting over £200 a tyre for the preferred SO2 PP - that's the new price and he says that dealers are restricted from discounting their own profit margin locally. My own Subaru dealer quoted £158 (full 2000 list price) and at the time there were only 6 tyres left in the country - this was further verified by another tyre dealer. Even at £158 that's well over £600. Now I know it's a performance car and you don't want to f@nny around in inferior tyres but how do Toyo and Goodyear stack up?

Local tyre dealer admits Bstones the best and says probably Toyo then Goodyear. Being in the West of Scotland means that wet weather performance is paramount with all those twisty turny B roads.

Experience of members changing out of the Pirelli's?

Sorry I am not in the tyres section but keen to get some feedback. Would use the search facility to look at, no doubt countless posts on this topic but still unable to do so.

Cheers

Alan

Stuart Knight

iTrader: (2)

I think the general concensus is that that the Toyos give nearly as much wet grip as the S02's but let go in a more friendly/forgiving manner. Combine that with the cost and they are a good alternative.

Kevin Groat

Alan,

I fitted the 16 inch Toyo's to my STi3 and find them much better than the Bridgestone Potenza's that came with the car. I've only ever had the back end step out once and that was in the damp with the bridgestones. The Toyo's seem a softer compound than the Bridgestones. They're even not that bad in the snow !!.

Kevin.

Neil F

Kevin.

The Bridgstone Potenzas that you describe sound like the original equipment RE010s.
Make no mistake these are a completely different animal the the Bridgestone Potenza SO2 Pole Position.

If I am wrong then I apologise but still can't understand your description of the "SO2s" as I find them astonishingly good.
The compound on SO2s incidentally are also a lot softer than RE010s.

Neil.

R19KET

After 3 sets of S02's, I decided to try the Toyo's...... BIG MISTAKE !!!!

They're not too bad in the dry, but in the wet, they were appauling.....compared to the S02's. The Toyo compound is harder, and lasts longer (unfortunately).

I completely trashed them at Brands, and had a new set of S02's fitted before I left. Ahhhhhhhhhh.......felt like a new car.

Phone around for prices, I had to pay N'hampton a little more than they normally charge, due to the shortages, but still only paid about £115+ (normally £108 'ish).

Mark.

HunterB

Alan,

I had a full set of 215/45ZR17 S-02 PPs fitted in Penicuik (just South of Edinburgh) two weeks ago for £524. Don't know if the price is different for the 215/40s but could be worth giving Mike Johnston a call on 01968 672947 - mention me if you wish: Brian Hunter, Legacy RS.

Cheers,
Brian

andymac

I need 2 (possibly 4) new tyres on tomorrow. As the dealer can't get hold of my preferred Eagle F1's I'm going to investigate Dunlop P9000's. Is this a bad idea ? I NEED new tyres now because the front left got a puncture last weekend and I'm currently running with a non-directional P-zero (on 205/45) with about 3mm tread on the left and a directional Eagle F1 (on 215/40) with about 3mm on the right ! But better than using that space saver (although I am thinking of getting 3 more so I've got a set of "skinny snow tyres"). The only other 215/40's that they had in were Fulda Extreme and I'm a bit wary of "saisho like" tyre brands. It'd be like buying a Daewoo "impreza" turbo...

cheers
Andy

Davvers

Try Jonny at

andymac

So I needed 4 new tyres and tracking. Not much change out of £600... Had to get them done today so had to go somewhere that had them in stock, but I'll be buggered if I go to North Eastern Tyres in York again, after they tried to charge me... £235 for tracking ! Just because every wheel was pointing in all the wrong directions.

So who can recommned somewhere that does tyres and tracking in the North East that aren't going to try and take the **** ?

cheers
Andy

^Gazzer^

There is a high performance tyre specialist in Warrington which quoted me £460 for 4 Bridgestone S02 PP, 16 inch.

regards,

Gary.

tel 01925 261193

strong

Mark, many thanks for the post, I think you just saved me a lot of money. I'm at the end of my 4th set of S-02s and due to a lot of late night cross-country journeys over the last few months plus a lot of fun round a lot of roundabouts I was about to ditch S-02s for something harder because my current set are now down to 3mm on all tyres after only 4,000 miles!

I was going to go for the much harder Toyos (I assume we're talking about the T1-S here) with their 280 treadwear rating versus 180 for the S-02s but that idea has been quickly dropped.

I think I might give Goodyear F1s a go -- cheaper and slightly harder (200 treadwear) and about as good in the wet as the S-02s according to last year's Autocar tyre test.

Anyone else tried F1s after using S-02s?

Thanks again Mark. Glad to hear you didn't have to suffer with them for long!

Alan McCaskie

Thanks for everyone's posts. Brian - I spoke to the place in Penicuick (Mike wasn't around) and they have quoted £550 for 4 SO2 215/40's. Getting better, but not quite as keen as some of the boys south of the border at £125 a corner. The guy told me that Toyos would not last as long as the Bstones as they were a softer compound - think he must have that wrong. The compromise seems to be with the Goodyears - I have had one quote locally for these at £110 per tyre.

On the subject of changing tyres I know it is recommended that you renew all four at the same time - is there any problem in swapping your fronts with the rears so as to maximise the wear of all 4 tyres. I have done it anyway with the P-Zeros and doesn't seem to have affected handling.

alan

DRMOTORSPORT

Alan,
I can get 215/40x17" SO2's from our supplier for £120, that includes VAT; but NOT fitting/valve/balancing etc.
If anyone else is interested, let me know, we don't normally keep them in stock, but can normally get them the same day.
David