type-rob

Good morning all,

I have been searching for a thread on tyre choice this morning to no avail.

Anyway, I am running Yoko Parada Spec 2's (215/18/35) on my Rotas at the moment however am due a change.

I have enjoyed the above tyre as I feel they offer great grip in the dry and they wear well.

The only issue I have had with them is their performance in the wet, which in my opinion has been questionable! I am running a tad bit more power than standard and find they will light up in the wet on some roads, sometimes up to 4th! (okay only happened the once in 4th but I knew about it!)

Looking at spending £100 a corner (ish) which is Spec 2 territory however was wondering if people know of another tyre that will provide better grip in the wet (I know we are coming into summer (apparently|)) or even just has better all round performance?

Open to ideas and I am also thinking of opting for 225/18/40 this time round for a bit more comfort!

May the argument commence! Or even links to threads I have missed!

As usual, all helpful comments greatly appreciated!

Thanks Chaps/Chapesses

Rob

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

Falken 453 or vredestein sessantas sorted

type-rob

Straight in there Mags! Final questions, where is best for them and given a choice, which do you prefer?!

Thanks

Hawkeye D

One thing is for sure, I'm never buying Toyo Proxes T1R's for my 07 plate STi Spec D again.

Crap in the wet - inspire no confidence at all, noisy when making progress on the motorway - humming, oh and more body roll.

I'm probably going to go for Bridgestone Potenza RE070's next time, this is what I replaced with the Toyo's.

Less body roll, more grip and much much stiffer walls. Ok, it will bring back tramlining, but thats what driving an Impreza (for me) is all about. Makes me stay on my guard, grip the steering wheel firmer, and generally add to the driving experience.

Even though the Bridgestones are still a 45 ratio, they fill the arches slightly better - almost like they are a 45 then plus the tread if that makes sense.
The walls look a lot meaner aswell - almost rally style.

My wheels are standard STi in silver - 225 / 45 / 17.

stonejedi

iTrader: (51)

toyo rubber are good for classics but the sidewalls are not firm enough for the heavier newages,thats there only down fall,i have found them to be quite a good alround rubber for classics.I would also go for the vredestein sessantas or if your funds allow yoko AD08 which are my next purchase i drove my friends porche 911 with them on and they are superb.SJ.

wiggy1

iTrader: (7)

I'm running 225/40/18 Pirelli Pzero Rossos, all round I think there a pretty good tyre, excellent in the dry and thru do give good confidence in the wet I'm running 336/330 on bug wrx

gregwill

iTrader: (1)

Orite mate I have vredestein sessantas on mine and carnt fault them will be putting these back on once this set have had their day!! all the best greg.

winston69

iTrader: (30)

Goodyear eagle f1's or Vredestein Ultrac Vorti

sprigeteer

iTrader: (9)

When I replace my Dunlop Sport Maxx I'll be going for Goodyear Eagle F1's. Very strong all rounder and not too pricey, dependent upon spec of course.

RICHARD J

iTrader: (4)

You need to ask yourself what you expect of a tyre. The Yokohama Paradas are great in the dry but shocking in the wet. Sessantas are great in the wet & OK in the dry. Do you want an allrounder or something that is super sticky in the dry only. Remember one tyre can not be the best in all conditions. I personally use Hankook Ventus which are an allrounder, but I have a spare set of wheels with Toyos on for the odd dry trackday or for if we ever get a summer.

sivo

iTrader: (30)

Continental sport contact 3 are a good all rounder, I have them on my
Newage sti.
You will be hard pushed to find a better dry tyre than the yoko's IMO.
I also found them pretty predictable in the wet but I also had roll bars alk sorted suspension and geo set up on my previous newage.
I will go back to the yoko's next tho.
Not sure on your current setup but from experience my advise would be spend as much as you can on tyres and get the geometry sorted then see how it feels....

Siv

ronjeramy

iTrader: (1)

Hankook v12 evos

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

Federal rsr or ad08 both good in wet/dry

More road friendly eagle f1 *** 2

Moley

iTrader: (9)

I've been using Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta's for 4-5 years now, and find them fantastic in the wet and the dry, both on road and track.

I've heard very good things about the Federal RSR tyres aswell, so might give them a try at some point.

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

Becarefull buying the federal rsr, there are inferior ones going around, basically made for Europe market and have a slightly different compound and are slightly diffrent shade, very hard to tell from a new purchaser, they make about 2 secs diffrence out on track with both uk and Europe rsr.
Buy from trusted sellers, don't buy cheap ones as that's probably the inferior product.
Just a heads up.

Dave-W-

iTrader: (10)

used falken 452's for last 3 sets great tyre and very good in the wet
just got some Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta's ready to go on after reading reviews on here

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

100% agree tried then on my excellent handling 2006 type 20 but turned it into a tyre squealing under steering wreck

Absolutely correct

A great tyre 215/45/17 on a classic doesn't make it a great tyre on a new age 225/40/18 and vice versa.

Bridgestone SO2's were awesome on a classic

Tony

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Or any other car for that matter, I keep telling people this and they just look at me like I'm talking rubbish, I discovered this at the ripe old age of 19 with a set of dunlops which were great on my Cortina then tried to kill me in my Audi GT.

There is a lot more to tyre choice than meets the eye, it's a bloody mine field, they ARE size and car specific, once you buy your stuck with them for 15000 miles and £4/500 out of pocket, unless you have deep pockets.

Falken 452 18's on a newage WRX PPP, best of the budget tyres IMO @ circa £75 a corner, also work well on my classic STI type r in size 16, but they ARE budget and you should find their limits slowly, Also crap for the first 300 miles until well scrubbed in.

Uniroyal are a good tyre for the uk's wet roads but wear quickly when it's hot.

Wouldie

Got a 2001 Bugeye which l've had for around a month and new tyres will be something l'll be getting in the near future as there are 4 different makes on the car at the mo. There on 215/45/R17's. Would either of the Bridgestone SO2 or the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta be a suitable fit on this model ?

sprigeteer

iTrader: (9)

With AWD I'd get the same tyres all round quite quickly. It's been my understanding that the drivetrain might get strained.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/replacing-tires.htm

chopperman

Bridgestone F1's or Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta's are just as good but far cheaper.

Inviroman

iTrader: (2)

Got Toyo T1R sports on the front and Yokahama A306's on the rear, true the Toyo's do have a softer side wall but to be honest I like the feel.
They have been good in both wet and dry and very positive direction change.
The Yokahama's on the rear are very stiff and hard and most probably goin to replace them.

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

My input:

I had Continental Sport Contact 5's on when I bought the car, got a puncture at the front so swapped both fronts for Uniroyal Rainsports. Honestly wish I'd have paid a bit more and got matching sport contacts, as the rainsports feel a bit "floaty".

I'm considering swapping fronts for rears to see if I get any improvements, but rather than me just throwing in an arbitrary recommendation - I thought I should forward you my negative feedback on the rainsports

Sti Addict

Michelin Pilot Sport 3 for me, absolutely hated Toyo's, 452's were better but not by alot.

Will be trying the Super Sport next. (blob sti)

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

You might want to try sticking a bit more pressure in them first.

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

I've played with a few different pressures now without a positive impact.

I'm also getting inconsistency from my alignment at the moment due to a strut/spring change. I'm having ARBs and droplinks changed any time now and will get full alignment sorted at the same time. Hopefully that'll give me a consistent base to do some back to back tyre pressure testing, and failing that I'll just swap the fronts for rears to see how the car feels on turn in and at speed.

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

I have uniroyal rs2 on my mx5 and tbh they are similar to t1r as the sidewall is a bit soft but slightly better than the t1r and that's on a lighter car, tbf they are ok for the normal driver wet/dry but for me not good enough.
I'm looking at some silverstone ftz for road/track as they seem to have good reviews with a better budget than the 888s.
Notice that we all compare tyres to 888s someway or another.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

A lot of this is down to expectation, if I pay £75 per corner I don't expect too much, where as if I pay £130 a corner I expect more for my money, problem is as with most things the law of diminishing returns applies.

There is a very good reason for the existence of wet tyres and slicks, which is because one pattern acts to the detriment of the other, so how one would expect a tyre to perform equally well under both conditions is beyond me.

When I buy a road tyre I know it will be a compromise, most of my miles are pootling about at the speed limit in built up areas in all weathers, so the expense of a top quality tyre is pointless as I won't be exploring the extra levels of grip provided on the public highways, and quite frankly anyone that does IS an idiot.

I look for a tyre that is ok at everything and doesn't cost the earth, on those occasions I feel like pushing the boundaries I find a tyre that's not the best acts as a speed limiter and adds to the fun factor, if I'm feeling flush then it's track days I'd sooner spend my money on, in that scenario budget tyres = more sideways action for less cash out lay, which ultimately means more fun for less money, I'm never going to set the lap record at donington or cadwell so I may as well have fun.

thenewgalaxy

I had four Toyo Proxes T1 Sports on my Blob and loved them.

Didn't like RE070s they were too harsh and not great in the wet or cold.

Running Michelin PS3s at present which I am enjoying.

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

Agree ditchy, everyone's expectation is different, for how they use the car and how hard/sort the drive it, 1 mans choice will be no good for the other persons choice.