justy75

Hi,

Having bid quite a bit more than I wanted to spend on a second set of alloys, I now have a reduced budget for tyres. They are for all year round general road use, doing probably no more than 5000 miles a year.

I am an experienced driver and have always purchased good reputable tyres, but as I drive more like an old man rather than a boy racer, I am now in a dilemma as to what tyres to buy. Having owned Pzeros, Pilot Sports, SP Sports, all of which I have not been impressed with, the only top brand stuff that I have thought were worth the money were the Sport Contacts and the Nokian ZG2.
I am well aware of all the popular tyres and brands, but what I am asking is does anybody have any feedback, good or bad on these:

GT Radial Champiro HPY
Nexen N8000
Syron Race 1

Alternatives? I have heard relatively good things about Matador as they are owned by Continental and share similar technologies.

Key things im looking for:
Price, Grip, Low road noise.

Thanks in advance.

RetroMk1

iTrader: (1)

Cant say i've used any of them, but i can say i was very impressed with falken fk452 which i have used on a evo and scooby, even a little track use.

four 18" 225 40 for £300 fitted.

Or for £400 Toyo T1R's

cheaper if your running 17's

wilbo

iTrader: (1)

Falken ZE912s are supposed to be similar to the 452 and a bit cheaper still.

justy75

Thanks for the feedback on the Falkens.

I forgot to mention size wise im looking for at a minimum 235 40 18s, or possibly 245 40 18s. The very cheapest ive found 452s for is 4 for £450 fitted, in 235. These were my original choice but still as the budget went on the wheels, need to find something suitable, but cheaper.

jura11

iTrader: (7)

I can't comment on your choice of tyres,but in Czech and Slovakia i've used like Matador or Barum on my cars and i've done there few Hill climbs and Track days,i was been very impressed with these there.Now have fitted Falken 452,but for winter i'm considering to buy Matador or Barum tyres...

Here is tyre review Matador MP 46 Hectorra 2 and in size 235/40 R18 cost just £85

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Ma...Hectorra-2.htm


Jura

justy75

Yes, it seems that there are some decent "economy" brands owned and sharing its technologies with its premier brand syblings. I may certainly look in to the Matador MP 46 Hectorra 2s.

In terms of the GT Radials I have some info and although they came near the bottom of this Premium brand tyre test, they held their own in some very high company, and actually finished above the Kumho Ecsta KU39 in the final standings, and performed better in the dry than Proxes, PZeros, Sport Maxx, Ultrac Centro and the Ecstas.

Summary here:

http://www.stranieriinitalia.org/?s=...ereviews.co.uk

Also I came across some good results on the Apollo Aspire 4 tyre, a company that is part of Vredestein. It doesnt seem like they are very easy to come across in the UK though. Anybody have any experience of these as personally I have had favourable experiences with Vredestein.

joshtimber

Falken ZE912s, How much it costs?

justy75

OK, after weeks of looking at reviews, looking at tyre tests I decided to go for the Matadors...... but couldnt find anybody who actually had them in stock.

Back looking again and found a deal on the GT Radials Champiro HPY, that was SOOOO good I went for it, and actually I am REALLY pleased with the results.

To recap what I was actually looking for:

Grip, price, low noise, softer ride.

As I was upsizing from a 17" to an 18", and the existing Dunlops SP Sport 01s were probably the noisiest tyre going in just a 17", I wanted the new tyres to be noticeably quieter. Also the Dunlops made the ride extremely harsh coupled with the stock STi suspension so I wanted a softer compound to try and improve the harshness of the ride a little.

I have only done around 100 miles on the new tyres, of which 90m has been in the dry. First experiences are as follows:

Grip levels seem to be very good, and although I havent given them any sort of hammering, through twisty country lanes they seem pretty direct and change direction very easily with no tram-lining at all. Braking seems fine and although I am sure they may not be on par with top premium brands on braking distance under emergency stop conditions, under normal driving they feel really good. Even when the vehicle in front slammed on his brakes due to an animal running out in front of him, forcing me to brake pretty hard, the car slowed well and in a straight line with no abs lights flashing or any drama.

The ride quality has improved ten-fold, with the car being much more pleasant to drive as a daily driver. The ride "seems" to be a bit softer and more compliant, and the road noise I would say has halved (at least).

In the wet I didnt notice any real difference to how it handled in the dry, however I will say that I drove conservatively under the conditions.

I would say that the sidewalls seem a bit softer than the Dunlops, so under hard cornering I reckon there would be a bit more roll. They are GT Radials flagship tyre, and on their launch day they were fitted to Mercs and BMs and taken round a track, consequently I think that it is slightly more a "sports cruiser" category tyre, and with the more refined ride that description would be spot on.

To summarise:

They grip well, have low road noise, dont tram line, have a more compliant ride and are VERY competitively priced if you search around the internet (anywhere between £70 - £120 a tyre in a 235 40 18 Y). If you use your car as a daily driver then I highly recommend these tyres.

If you are a hardcore driver and plan to take them to track events where squeezing every bit out for the best lap time is required, or prefer a stiffer ride, then these are not for you.

I hope that this feedback helps anyone looking for a great value performance tyre.