Not what you'd do, what would you do.


I would fit 4 replacement tyres.

 

I have four infinitys on mine which I got off eBay and feel nice and grippy! (don't get them on eBay as most tyre places charge £20 a tyre to fit them...)

I also bought some alloys because I found the steels were a bit thin for me and made it feel a bit sloppy and wind would push quite far on motorways...

Since I have swapped them I feel loads safer...

Nankangs are not too bad either but I haven't personally used them just gone off what my mate says...

I had 4 sunny's on my steels just before I replaced them because they were cheap... And they felt better than the michelins I had on before that (when I had a blowout on the motorway)

 

swap the westlakes to the rear and try the others on the front,, if no improvement,, then look what your options are,, also whats the tyre pressures like?

 

A point to note - the best tyres should always go on the rear.

 

Running 30 all round.Regarding running the best tyres on the rear,what would be classed as the best out of Westlake,Nankang or Infinity

 

They're all pretty bad really, hard to choose :lol:

 

You can have tyres in the following order:

Front + Rear all matching
(Example: One manufacturer)

Or

Front both matching and rear both matching
(Example: 2 toyo's at the front and 2 dunlops at the rear)

Never have an odd tyre on the car
(Example: you have 3 toyo's and a dunlop)

You must also make sure that you buy the same model of tyre as even if you have the same manufacturer you cant use odd / different tread patterns)

 

ditchfinders at £40 per corner could cost you control of the car and inflated insurance premiums if youre not careful.

your choice but i think its best to get the best tyres you can afford. cheap tyres = false economy for the most part but there are some good budget tyres out there

 

+1 to this. Also you can go to a lot of tyre places who will sell you good 'used' or 'part worn' tyres at great prices. Keep in mind that if you buy them you will have come back if they have any defects.

Places like 'quick-fit' and such will not want to sell you part worns but they do have them kicking about.

Places to avoid: Scrap yards , ebay , gum-tree or 'micks tyres' down the ol' road...

 

I must admit I've bought quite a few tyres off ebay.

 

Yeah I dont want to come off like i'm saying all sellers are bad. Just some let the others down and dont care that a lot of us drive around with kids in the car. Seen quite a few bad sellers on ebay selling useless part worns and it kind of gets to me.

I suppose it's just the way some people are.

 

actually if you have a good partworns place near you,, you should be able to get a full matched set and part ex your current ones in,, and for a few extra folding end up ok

there is a good place near me that offers and honours its promise of free exchange if any defects occur.. been using him for years and hes well known by the taxi trade,hes also a breakers yard
£25 a tyre fitted and balanced for branded with 5mm+ or £15 for less tread/legal or dimsum brands

if its hard to balance, damaged/puncture repaired or badly scuffed he wont fit it, as he says,, he cant be doing with the hassle of time wasted faffing about for £20

so there are some good places out there, just ask about, even phone your regular taxi firm

as an example, the last pair i got were michi's heavy load for my bus, new price £108 each.. he had em for £30 fitted each

 

as an example, the last pair i got were michi's heavy load for my bus, new price £108 each.. he had em for £30 fitted each

That is very good.

 

sorry,, should have said they were partworns with 6mm tread, but i was more than happy, lol

 

I used the falken ze912 on my derv zr and seem decent enough about £70 a corner on 16 inch wheels. Good reviews , and superb for the price.

 

The best of the budgets I've found on our Rover (all cars react different to different tyres) is Kumho KU31. The best of the Premiums, believe it or not, are the Pirelli P6000, sadly no longer available.

Ones I have not tried, but would like to at some point, are Toyo TR1.

The KU31s give good levels of grip, wet and dry, but give little feedback, so if you do overcook it, tend to go quite suddenly. Not used them in snow yet. If on a budget, I would use them again, and would say they are a grippier tyre than some of the premiums I've had on it, such as Avon ZV3 (I think it was ZV3) and GY NCTsomething.

Mine are the standard 15" 185 wheels, and by best, my priority is (as all tyres are a compromise) in this order:
Grip
Straight line stability
Cost v Durability
Noise


I believe that part worns are false economy. Firstly, cost. A 5mm tread part worn is well over 2/3rds of its life used, yet costs more than a 1/3rd of cost of new tyre. Additionally, a doubt must remain over why it was taken off original vehicle - there are genuine reasons, but also a lot of worrying reasons, and you will never know which.

I suspect, for many, esp in the run up to Christmas, and the subsequent credit card bills in January, where a short term measure to use part worns may be the only solution.


I personally have a hatred of modern Michelin tyres, standard and Pilot Sport. They seem to give good grip when new, but soon seem to get a sheen over them, which tends to be slippery. They have tried to kill me too many times.

 

Ones I have not tried, but would like to at some point, are Toyo TR1.

Ill be trying these next week, as my Yokohama Prada 2's have finally worn down, and they are damn scetchy in the wet
So I will be trying the Toyo TR1's to see what they are like in the dry/wet.

They are obviously going to be much better than the Prada's in the wet, but im curious to see just how much!

And at about £100 a tyre for the TR1's im pretty happy with the price, as the Prada's were like £150 each!

 

I have two Infinity Inf-05's on the back of my 200, and two Toyo Proxes T-1R's on the front. They're not great. The rear end steps out of line very easily in the wet, which tries to take the front with it. But when i had the Infinity pair on the front (and Stunner Scudo's on the rear) the front end was all over the palce even on a mildly moist road where as the back end was pretty well planted.

Infinity are also the standard tyres supplied by Halfords when you buy a set of chav-tastic alloys form them....

If i remember correctly, Nankang (or maybe Kumho) are also ditchfinders. The caused of death for many Metro's and Rover 100's.

 

Personally I'd change all 4 for something half decent. It's only those 4 bits of rubber keeping you on the road at the end of the day....

 

I've put about 10k of hard miles on my toyos and there are a few k left in them yet. I have no problems buying another set of em. I only paid 50 quid a corner as well last time.

I would consider getting new tires all round if your handling is dodg.

 

Do tell where you got them that cheap a corner?

 

205/40/17.
I got em off a trader on here called rarerims. They made a post saying they had done excess tires and needed rid. I bought some yoko a539's at the time, and rang up a year later and they sorted me put some toyos cheapy cheapy

 

Mental how much cheaper 40's are to 45's....

40's are £80 from Black Circles, but 45's are £100!!

 

Hi All,
I have got Toyos all round on my MGF and love them.At the moment i cannot afford a new set all round and recognise the best should be on the back but it is the front end handling that is worrying me.As the only matching pair I have are the westlakes that don't seem very good at the front,would toyos front and westlakes rear be the best option bearing in mind that I am probably ancient in comparison to you guys and drive accordingly.I just want a stable front end,otherwise love the car now the headgasket and clutch are sorted.
Regards neil

 

I would say Westlakes on the back as the extra weight would counter the grip slightly i would have though, so they will be better than they are on the front.

Then the Toyo's on the front to help with handling.

Not being the most knowledgeable of tyres though i could be completely wrong!
But to be honest, it doesn't take too long to swap the wheels around, so could just try it, and it its worse put it back! haha