Silvafox

iTrader: (1)

Mines due some new front tyres as they're worn big style and the rears still have some miles left in them yet. Its got the standard issue Bridgstones on and I am planning to put Toyos on the front this time. I'll put Toyos on the back when they're worn too. Surely this is OK to have two different brands on as long as I replace them in pairs etc...

Only reason I ask is because I just glanced another thread on about not mixing tyre brands.

MJW

I usually swap the fronts for the rears when the fronts are looking a bit worn, then swap all four at once when I've finally paggered them all ! I'm not sure of the wisdom of mixing different tread patterns and prefer to keep the same brand/tread pattern on all four corners, seems the most sensible option.

Silvafox

iTrader: (1)

Yeh I would like to keep all four the same but its costly and the rears have a few thousand left in them yet. The fronts are far too worn to swap now too so gotta replace on its service next week. Toyos seem a good deal as I've had them before on other cars and they're only £130 as opposed to the original Bridgstones at £190 each. I would swap all four if I wasn't having it serviced and buying a new house!!

ozzy

The problem with mixing tyres on any high-performance car is you are altering it's handling charactaristics. The same principle can be applied to any car, but with Impreza's you tend to push the car hard and you'll no doubt be travelling pretty fast when the grip does let go.

Tyres generally offer different levels of grip under different conditions and some will let go progressively (and controllably) whereas others may lose grip abruptly.

If you have grippier front tyres than those on the rear then the car may have a tendancy to oversteer as the rears will lose grip sooner than the fronts. Having grippier tyres on the rear would give you a more understeering car, which is generally safer to control as it responds slightly better to a panic-induced lift off moment.

Ideally you want to keep the car as neutral as possible and the best way of achieving this is have all 4 tyres from the same size, brand, range, compound and tread depth.

It all depends on how you drive the car, but I'd still recommend replacing all four. You should swap the tyres around to keep the wear as even as possible. I've done this since new (5 years) and all 4 have always worn out at the same time.

Subaru recommend that you replace at least 2 tyres on the same axle to avoid increased stress of the differentials. Just remember the advice about mixing tyres is all to do with handling and nothing to do with increased mechanical wear.

Stefan

SlowBoy

iTrader: (1)

£130! what are you running? 19"s?

Although I've never tried it I hear that mixing can lead to very unsettling handling. Even with the same tyres on the front you may find it feels a bit weird due to the huge difference in tread depth.

ozzy

Oh, look at MyTyres for cheaper tyre prices.

Stefan

Silvafox

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the replies. Does explain a lot of what I've read/heard. Cheers forthe website too found the same tyres - PROXES T1-S 225/45 ZR17 94W RF Rim-protection for £85.20! Thats MUCH cheaper!! How much would a garage charge 'roughly' to fit them and balance etc?

SlowBoy

iTrader: (1)

£8 per corner. Valves, balancing, tyre disposal.

SlowBoy

iTrader: (1)

Lots of people on here rave about the Goodyear F1 which is only a fiver more. I'd recommend the Avon ZZ3's at £80. (I've also done T1-s and 2 sets of F1)

Blairc

Yeah I was told to swap my tyres from front to back but the other day I was going to do this I noticed that my alloys had what could only be described as "balancing weights" on them. They have either the number 5 or 10 (presumably grams?). If I want to swap the back to front will I need to get them rebalanced??

cheers,

Chris.

SlowBoy

iTrader: (1)

No.

ozzy

NO, moving tyres between axles will not alter the balance.

You wouldn't feel any unbalance from the rears, so if you move them to the front and you get some wobble in the steering wheel, then it could be that they've been out of balance for a while and you've never noticed.

Stefan

Silvafox

iTrader: (1)

Right, excellent, thanks all. Its between 3 then -

PROXES T1-S 225/45 ZR17 94W RF Rim-protection - £85.20
EAGLE F1 GS-D3 225/45 R17 91Y - £90.50
AVON ZZ3 225/45 R17 91Y - £79.10

All are under £90'ish. What do you lot reckon. Gonna order some this afternoon. Was gonna go with Toyo's but open to suggesions now.

Cheers.

SlowBoy

iTrader: (1)

Have you checked availability? The company might not have all of the above in stock.

A search on here will reveal F1's as the most popular, closely followed by Toyo. However, I don't know how many people have tried anything else apart from OE. The cost of a new set of rubber usually means people don't experiment but go with recommendation.

I'm impressed by the Avons which appear to have a more positive feel on turn in compared to the F1s. Grip is very close, though I probably need to do a few more miles on the Avons before giving an accurate opinion on this. I changed my last set of F1s with 5mm tread remaining, so they were still in excellent condition when I changed to the Avons, and initial comparison was therefore fairly accurate.

ozzy

How do the Avon's compare to the Eagles in the wet?

I found there was little to choose in the bone dry between Pirelli P-Zero, GY Eagles and Toyo Proxes. It's when the roads are damp/wet that the Eagles proved themselves.

Stefan

SlowBoy

iTrader: (1)

Had a nice little drive on Tuesday, along A/B roads for 3 hours (sunshine and showers, some heavy, all the way) between London and Northampton. Couldn't fault the Avons. Then drove along the A14 across to Cambridge in rain and whilst mostly straight dual carriageway, I did get the speed up on the sweeping bends and again, no probs.

When they did break away it was what I would describe as progressive and very easy to handle.

I'm no expert driver, and never even done a track day. But I have found what I believe to be the limit of grip with every set of tyres I've tried, in both wet and dry conditions. Compared to the other tyres I've had experience with, these are definitely on par. If there is a difference then it's not obvious with my style of driving.

Will be in a better position to advise after a few more miles.

willy

Go for Toyos... good tyres and loads of ppl on here use em...

*****

Silvafox

iTrader: (1)

Yeh I think I will try Toyos, see how i go with them. Had them on my Fiat 20VT and Saxo VTS and they seemed to work very well for the price. Cheers for everyones comments/help.

Simon

STI MAN

I'm running ZZ3's (17") on my STi and the other half has got ZZ3's(18") on her STi.


They're nothing like the older ZZ1 tyres, which were awful!

Done quite a lot of very wet driving in them and to be honest there's nothing in it compared to the F1's which were used previously.

The F1's and Toyo's have a tendancy to lose the outer edge fairly quickly.

Silvafox

iTrader: (1)

Put the Toyos on at weeekend and they seem excellent to me, look good on too. The way I drive I certainly can't see any difference in handling etc with the Bridgstones on the rear and Toyos up front. Will be putting Toyos on the rear as soon as they've worn down though.