Tyres - the choices

[ketvrin]

I need some new boots for my new wheels and am tempted to buy Continental Premium Contact 2 (as fitted to my old wheels) as they were spot on. However they are around £14.00 per corner more than the Toyo T1-R Proxes I see people extolling the virtues of on here. Then theres the Bridgestone ER300's etc etc...

I consider my driving to be "tourist" (rising to "progressive" when out with the TVRCC lot )so am not sure I have ever pushed the Conti's to their limit and if I would notice a difference if I moved to Toyo's...

Has anyone got experience of both or can anyone remind me why Toyo's are so well thought of (or if there are any horror stories

K

[Gerald-TVR]

Have you seen this thread from FAQs. Table might need updating now.

[ketvrin]

Hi Norman, yes I saw the table and I think it would be a good idea to expand/update the table based on S owners ratings (for standard fit wheels) and to include the Conti and Toyo that I am particularly interested in.

maybe one of thos "Vote" threads ? rate or pick you favourite based on:
Handling Wet, Handling Dry, Wear-Rate, Price, "other" ?

It could be an even better reference FAQ

K

[Mr Plow]

Continental Premium Contact 2 for me, recently replaced the back ones for the same again.

Good in all conditions including snow in the alps!!

Edited to say - have you tried these guys for prices?

http://www.blackcircles.com

I've used them a couple of times recently, getting the tyres fitted at my local dealer. Really great service.

Edited by Mr Plow on Monday 6th December 11:45

[aero340]

Continental Premium Contact 2 for me an excellent allround tyre but must confess have never fitted the toyos .
kev

[Dave_M]

I used Bridgestone, if you're interested, PM me and I'll tell you price (it'll just remind me when I'm home).

ATS wanted a lot of money for them (I use ATS for normal cars). I went to Kwik Fit on-line and saved a great deal of money. This is cheaper than going to Kwik Fit in person, but is bizarre in that I ordered them on-line, went to erm, Kwik Fit the next day and had them fitted. Can't rememeber what I saved but it was about £40 cheaper (2 tyres) than walking into their place yet it was the same result.

[tubbystu]

I'm currently using Dunlop SP 9000's all round.

Great tyre, excellent wear rate, good in most conditions I have tested them in.

[ketvrin]

OK Lets have a bit of fun...

see the Poll here :

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... make of 205 55 15 V tyre do you Prefer on your TVR S ?

K

[Barkychoc]

Kev personally Continentals are some of the best tyres I've come across on various cars over the years - I went for Toyo's on the V8S but it was purely a financial decision - there's no question I would have the Continentals over them.

Having said that I also had a couple of Toyo's on the front of the daily bus at the same time - and they were great. 20k later I've just replaced them.

Some of the Chim/Griff crowd say the Toyo sidewalls can be prone to flexing quite a bit with 'spirited' driving

[PYNEY]

yep ! the sidewalls do flex on the toyo i had them on a lotus and you could feel it go when braking hard coming in to a bend
you get what you pay for sometimes , other than that the toyo is a good tyre

i want to put new tyres on my s in the spring so this will be a interesting post to see what "newer/better" options there are on tyres ?

i'm sure the conti's have been out for sometime now ! is there a newer updated version of this tyre ?

anyone tried the dunlop sport ?

cheers keith

[tubbystu]

PYNEY said:

anyone tried the dunlop sport ?

SP 9000's.

Love 'em. Excellent wear rate too.

[hvdweerden]

I can only judge the Bridgestone ER300 which I have fitted.
Good grip in most conditions and very quiet.

I used to have Continental Premium Contact 2 on my daily car but they are known for "cupping".
They made a lot of noise, similar to a worn bearing.

[PompeyTim]

Another vote for the Bridgestone ER300's. If memory serves me correctly I think I paid something like £60 a corner.

[Rower]

E 300's fitted last year , very pleased with them . I also went to a 60 profile rather than 55 and have stopped bottoming out but with the stiff sidewalls do not get any 'swaying' when hard cornering . I paid about £65 a corner.

[pie2k1]

I had 15" Toyo T1R's on my MX-5 the other year (small, light, 2 seats, FR layout so similar) and loved them. Excellent grip, reasonably quiet (do we really need to consider that here?) and quite progressive in the wet so no unintentional brown trouser moments. Wear rate was good although not as good as some others - depends how much of a pasting you give them. Also had them on my Octavia vRS after being pleased with them on the MX-5 and they coped very well with putting power down being FWD. Actually swapped a set of Conti Sport Contacts off the vRS in favour of the Toyos.

[bills1]

I also had Bridgestones and again went for 60s instead of 55s to give better clearance. I think the original TVR spec was for 205/60V15.

[jimed]

I put Bridgestone ER300s on the S and was very pleased with them - that incl a moment in Scotland with SWMBO in passenger side, boot full and pouring rain when I had to anchor on whilst being a little sporty going round a corner - you can imagine heart in mouth - no problem whatsoever though so much relief and I was impressed to say the least! (it must have been OK as no comment about silly driving from you know who ... )
Jim
PS as they say on the BBC - other tyres are available!!

[Gerald-TVR]

bills1 said:

I think the original TVR spec was for 205/60V15.

Yep

[ketvrin]

And the 60 profiles are cheaper than the 55's too...;)

thanks for all of the input guys, on balance I have decided I will stick with Conti's but with a 60 profile.

K

[PYNEY]

just about ready to buy new tyres
i'm going to go with the bridgestone's

can someone confirm which turanza they have as the original turanza er 300 you cant get anymore
the choice seems to be the "ecopia" er 300 is this the one to get ?

cheers keith