adamhorner

Hi folks,

I had a bad weekend that started on Friday with a nail through one of my Goodyear Eagle F1s Long story short, I needed a tyre replacement in a hurry and bought a pair of Ling Long tyres, fifty quid each and fitted them to the front wheels.

Oh. My. God.

Never buy these tyres, they are squishy, slidey, unresponsive and terrible in the wet. They are Chinese rip-offs and don't they feel like it! About the only neutral thing about them is that they don't thump over potholes quite so badly as the F1s. This morning on the way in to work in all the rain I had to be reeeaally caaaareful.

So the question is, after I have ragged these tyres on an airfield training day in December (Essex), what should I get? I am going to replace all four. I commute every day although it is relatively short (30-40 minutes each way, mostly dual carriageway), and I want them to last a year. On the flip side, I love the F1s and would only change for something better. Should I stick to what I know or should I consider something that has more grip like the Vredestein ultrac sessantas that every one is raving about? Do they even come in the size I need?

I really want good wet performance assuming that most tyres will perform well in the dry, the ling-longs excepted of course. I don't (currently) plan to do more track days or the like, and I would rate my driving as amateur but keen, I've had the scooby less than six months and nothing to compare to before that. I have original prodrive 17" speedline alloys in silver on my MY2000 WRX, I am fairly sure the correct spec is 215/40/17 but I would love confirmation that this is a good setup from of the more expert people here please. (ps I have read all the other tyre related posts that I could find in the Wheels, Tyres & Brakes forum, but do point out if you think I have missed something I should read).

Also if anyone has a recommendation for a good place to buy and/or fit in West London or Middlesex - I work in Uxbridge - it would be gladly received. I would also consider a mobile fitter for after the airfield day if someone has a good Essex suggestion.

cheers,
Adam.

Bealescooby

iTrader: (36)

Vredestein ultrac sessantas , highly recommend em m8

Ade70

Bought my first WRX last Thursday and too have a nail in my rear Goodyear Eagle F1 ;-(

So, I would also be interested in thoughts on tyres. Is this already covered in another thread anywhere that I may be missing?

Cheers

Ade

urban

iTrader: (1)

Ah - good old LingLongs
Myself and other on here had a debate about F1 costs once, and thats what we decided.
LingLongs on the front and Nankangs on the back

Best thing is buy the best you can afford.
My next set will be Vredestein sessantas

adamhorner

Ade70,

You asked about the other threads, here are the ones I have read:
https://www.scoobynet.com/wheels-tyr...eded-ones.html
https://www.scoobynet.com/wheels-tyr...-wrx-rims.html
https://www.scoobynet.com/wheels-tyr...tyre-size.html. There is also another one I couldn't find the second time around.

I am currently looking at a choice between the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3, the Toyo Proxes CF1 and the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta.

Just based on the scooby driver comments on these, I think I will go with the Sessantas if I can afford them, but they are about 15 quid a tyre more expensive than the other two, based on prices from Aztec Bob's site.

Cheers,
Adam.

Ade70

Thanks Adam
I read your links!
I have the Eagle Tyres on and they are good in the wet so far in my experience since it hasn't stopped raining since i bought the car last week. I'm not a novice in quick cars, but am new to Subaru!
I read that the Sessantas are better than good, but also that the Falken 912 is an all-rounder, and a very reasonably priced tyre!
I put 2 of them on the back of my car today and will wait and look at 2 on the front after Christmas. Very good feel for me so far, very impressed, and I seem to have lost some tram-lining which I would not expect from a rear tyre change (more so from a front tyre change), but there you go!
Cheers
Ade

daijones

If going for Toyos I wouldn't go for the CF1, the T1-R is the high performance wet weather tyre in the Toyo range, the CF1 is more comfort oriented. I had the Toyo T1-Rs recommended to me by the boys at Powerstation, and haven't been disappointed. The dry weather performance is good enough for spirited driving on the road, though others are better; but the T1-Rs are great in the wet. Indeed, Powerstation recommended them as a wet weather track tyre My last set lasted 12000 miles, rotating them once front to back. Just bought a set on blackcircles.com, cost £320 for four with fitting, new valve and old carcass disposal, fitted at a place half a mile away in 40 minutes. Top stuff.

a16pse

RE 070 awsome for track and road, never had a problem with them.

MrNoisy

iTrader: (28)

Just for anyone else finding this - recommend Sessantas - way better than GSD3's - plus GSD3's in my opinion have very poor wet weather grip in comparison and need to be run at high pressure due to their soft sidewalls.