SiPie

OK So this is obviously my opinion only and based on running standard 16" wheels, but here goes....

Have run all 3 sets now on my classic MY99 and this is what I've found

Bridgestone SO3's
Not bad in dry but HUGE tramlining problems that do seem to lessen when they are nearer the end of their life and seems to be improved considerably when fronts are put up to around 36psi with rears around 32psi.
Relatively good wear
Did not trust them at all in the wet showish skittish behaviour near to the limit
Supposedly a stiffer sidewall construction than the previous SO2's but I could feel considerable flexing of the sidewalls under hard cornering.
Low road noise.
6/10

Toyo Proxes
Grippy and progressive tyre.
Ecxellent in the dry although a bit squeely and loud in the old 'road noise' department.
Tyre wear not as dramatic as expected.
Wet grip .... everyone raves about this but although they behave consistently and they start to break away with loads of warning.... but IMHO this point arrives far too soon
Never inspired alot of confidence when roads are on the damp side (opposed to flooded). In heavy rain or standing water though, the tread pattern really does do it's job and seems to displace a hell of a lot of water so any aqua-planing (sp) moments are few and far between
7/10

Goodyear F1's
Grip grip grip and more grip

Turn in greatly improved
Wet weather grip is outstanding. Almost able to match the pace of dry driving in the toyos to that of wet driving in the Goodyears
Not quite as progressive as the Toyos but 'out and out' wet grip is so much better. They just hang on and hang on
Dry grip easliy matches that (if not slightly better... bit too soon to say) of the toyos but due to the better turn in and general better feel they win this one
Wear update 16/7/03 - Fronts now illlegal after 8,000 miles - 4 months, mixed driving with no track days, tyre pressures 33psi and geometry OK. Inner & Outer edges now totally bald with good tread on rest of tyre but not sufficient to cover 3/4 of width to make it legal
Very quiet in the road noise department.
9/10

In summary, the Toyos beat the SO3's and win that dual easily due to the cost saving over the SO3's but if it's out and out grip you are after then the Goodyears win hands down and easily. Never have I felt a tyre give you so much out and out grip and it's transformed the car from what it was on the Proxes

Only my 2p's worth but I hope it helps if you are choosing for standard 16" rims.

Cheers
Si




[Edited by SiPie - 7/16/2003 1:08:29 PM]

vfg

Interesting & helpful post. Will have to think carefully about tyres for my 17"'s om my Sti but it looks like F1s.

Kempo

Sipie

I agree with your assessment of the Toyos in damp conditions - I actually find they have more grip in true wet conditions and are able to deal with standing water very well.

On the limit the behaviour is very progressive and can quite easily be exploited but the limit point does seem to come too soon.

I am going to try the F1s when the Toyos are through (seem to be lasting remarkably well) as have heard many good reports.

Great review!

Paul

Aaquil

Thanks just what I've been looking for! I have just ordered a set of Goodyear Eagle F1's today and I was pretty sure that they were a good set of tyres to get, now I'm very sure.

Cheers

Aaquil

Just another point what pressure would you have the tyres at if they are going on a Legacy Turbo Estate?

Thanks

matty01

Thanks for the post,i'm changing my so3's soon because of wear and will be glad to see the back of them the tramlining is that bad, F1's look the favourite at the moment though.(Oh my god ,even MORE grip!!! )

sooby

Let us know how many miles you get out of Goodyear tyres!

SiPie

Yup.... I admit to not expecting too long a 'lasting relationship' between me and these F1's

Think it will be a sweet fiery passion filled one.... but very short

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Nice comparison there

I was thinking of buying your Toyos but now I think I'll save for the Goodyears.

Justin

SiPie

Justin

Wise move mate.... as they really are that good

Cheers
Si

patGT

SiPie

Totally agree with you concerning the F1. My personal opinion is that they suit the car's handling perfectly. It feels like just one well-balanced unit, in the dry as well as in the wet.

Wear is quite reasonnable, all the more my Ring trips taken into account.
I will stick with the Goodyears when replacing is needed, that's for sure.

Patrick

SiPie

Pat

Yup...... couldn't have put it better mate

SiPie

Steve

Think you've probably hit the nail on the head with the 'actually having tread on the back'.... as they do feel a bit squidgy initially.

I'm running 33psi front and 30psi rear on 16"s and they feel spot on

Have you had the 'bumpsteer mod' done by any chance?

Otto-Mate

I'm just about to replace all four on my MY99 (standard 16" wheels).

Roughly what price are the F1s?

Thanks

ScoobyDuck

iTrader: (1)

SiPie,

not yet ! gota do car insurance now & cant afford anything for a while!

suspect your right with the tread... might try lowering the pressures a bit. am on 17's, & was running slightly softer pressures (32/28-30) in the proxes, so might be that.
proxes on the front (ex rears) had about 4mm left... rears were bald as ......

will have to wear them down a bit then !

Steve

SiPie

Otto-mate

I was quoted £100 plus VAT so obviously £117.50 each for 16"s
but haggled the guy cos I was buying all 4 and got them at £90 plus VAT

Not cheap mate but well worth it for the improvement in grip and overall stability

Cheers
Si

ScoobyDuck

iTrader: (1)

was also wondering if it might be the toe-in on the rear. havent had the geometry set for about a year (was trying to wait until I got a set of Eibachs on !)

anyway - BTTT for a good review!
Steve

SiPie

Cheers Scoobyduck

Was only mentioning the bumpsteer mod as it will give the car a bit more of a 'tail-happy' feel with the increased grip at the front

Take a wee bit of getting used to initially

Have fun

cheeseboy

A friend of mine had a set of F1´s last only 10,000km!! But to avoid this - and get a better run out of your tires, once you have bought a set leave them in a cellar for 6 months. This will cure the rubber making it a bit harder and longer wearing. Some of the famous properties will be a little less noticable (ie not so much grip as with a fresh set), but not noticable enough to worry. And your back pocket will thank you for it.

my 2c worth.

SiPie

Interesting bit of advice but personally I think I'll choose grip

dhayzen

SiPie

Very interesting comments you've made and I'm in full agreement.
I wish I'd seen this about 8months ago when I was choosing tyres.
I'd had Toyo on a previous vehicle and they were outstanding, but I have been very disappointed with the performance of Toyo on the Scoob. Squidgey is the word!

I'll be fitting F1's next, but these Toyo's just keep on going. I've done nearly 17k on them now and the fronts are starting to get down to the wear bars. The rears still have 5k left easily. Maybe this means I'm not driving hard enough or I'm just forgiving on my tyres, who knows!

Just out of interest, on the 16"'s what profile & width of tyre are you running on each tyre manufacturer ???

Oh, tyre pressure on Toyo's.. I'm running 16" 55 205, front 32, rear 28. The 28 really sorted out that rear end slow response feel. Now the fronts are near there end of life the tramlining has been progressively getting worse.

Dave

SiPie

Dave

I've got 205/50/16"s and keep the fronts at around 33/34psi and the rears at 30/31psi....

Anything lower than the above and you can expect to see the edges feathering and wearing pretty quick

I've played around with various pressure combinations and this seems to suit my style of driving best and gives the best compromise between grip levels and relative comfort when driving the old cobbled/pot-holed Edinburgh streets

Cheers
Si

PS Full marks for making your Toyos last that long
However there's nothing more annoying than when you are trying to wear out tyres and the damned things won't die
Had to do the same with the SO3's I had .... yuk

[Edited by SiPie - 3/13/2003 1:04:00 PM]

lardy

Any one brought f1s for 18in whheels, if so how much?
Cheers
Lardy

Otto-Mate

I was all set to buy a set of F1'S after reading this thread. However, after a chat with my Tyre guy I'm not sure. He says the wear very quickly, and previous customers that have bought them have NEVER taken a 2nd set from him because of the poor wear rate they give.

He's recommending S03s or PZeros.

BTW - he runs a Bug-eye STi himeself.

Thanks

SiPie

Otto-Mate

Sure the tyre guy has a very valid point and will undoubtedly be correct as the constant struggle for any tyre manufacturer is finding the balance between grip and wear as obviously the two do not go hand in hand....

However, my point is that if I'm getting on average 17mpg, £800 on insurance, £3,567.85 last repair bill (new engine and discs/pads), £1,600 for gearbox then what difference is there in a few extra quid on choosing the best tyre when Impreza running costs are relatively high anyway

It's the only bit of the car that is in contact with the road and if someone found me an even grippier tyre that only lasts 3000 miles then I'm damned sure I'd pay the extra for the added driving pleasure and safety factors

That was my initial comment and I I'll second it after putting another 1,000 miles on them..... brilliant

Cheers
Si

Otto-Mate

Understand totally SiPie

Unfortunately I need to consider running costs too

Thanks

SiPie

Otto-Mate

In which case I would save myself a fortune and buy some Toyos from www.mytyres.net which will be delivered to your door for £70.70 each for 205/50/16's.....

Best compromise of grip/wear and cost if you want to save a bit dosh mate IMHO Should still save you a considerable amount over the price he'll quote you for SO3's anyway

Any tyre fitter should fit and balance the 4 toyos for around £30

Cheers
Si

SiPie

Doofus

How's it goin mate??

The bumpsteer mod...... Well *deep breath*. The mod almost totally eliminated understeer from the car which can only be a good thing in my book

Prior to the mod the car's front wheels would splay outwards / \ under heavy braking which obviously only leaves the inner edges of the tyres in contact with the road which cannot be a good idea in anyone's book The mod eliminates this by keep the wheels [ ] like so. This also eliminates brake flex which gives you such increased stability under braking that it really does inspire confidence

Coupled with the above, the level of grip also increase considerably with the fronts digging it much better. This also improves turn-in due to the shortening of whatever the hell it is they shorten

The slight downside is that it gives a more 'tail-happy' feel to the car (almost like my old RWD cortina days) however this feels predictable and it still talks to you and is easily correctable. I can only presume this happens as the rears are now only giving away prior to the fronts due to the fronts having increased stability and grip over the rears.

Slight increase in tyre wear has been noted by some peeps following the mod but again a fair compromise IMHO.

The big plus of the mod is the car just feels solid when braking when higher speeds. I can honestly say that I actually noticed a huge improvement in Saxo Boys car following the mod but not so huge in mine. Think his geometry was well out prior to the mod and perhaps mine was spot on

Well worth it though and creates a better handling more stable feel.......................... IMHO

Cheers

PS New engine is just sweet thanks