Michelin or Pirelli
Discussion
My wife’s old car (used as a run around and being kept for our daughter) a 2012 Alfa Mito that we have owned since 3 years old needs new front tyres (195 55’s).
When we bought it from Alfa it had new Pirelli’s and I’ve always replaced the tyres in pairs with Pirelli’s. However I thought I might change and go for Michelin’s. They would both be a summer tyre.
Any thoughts on which might be better.
When we bought it from Alfa it had new Pirelli’s and I’ve always replaced the tyres in pairs with Pirelli’s. However I thought I might change and go for Michelin’s. They would both be a summer tyre.
Any thoughts on which might be better.
You can't judge a tyre by the brand alone. Michelin and Perelli both make some very good tyres and some decidedly mediocre ones.
Whatever you buy, I'd personally move the current rears to the front and fit the new tyres on the rear. That'll both give better stability on standing water and will mean you actually wear down the potentially ancient rears.
Whatever you buy, I'd personally move the current rears to the front and fit the new tyres on the rear. That'll both give better stability on standing water and will mean you actually wear down the potentially ancient rears.
Edited by kambites on Saturday 23 October 08:51
kambites said:
You can't judge a tyre by the brand alone. Michelin and Perelli both make some very good tyres and some decidedly mediocre ones.
Whatever you buy, I'd personally move the current rears to the front and fit the new tyres on the rear. That'll both give better stability on standing water and will mean you actually wear down the potentially ancient rears.
Agreed on the first point but I’d always personally run the better tyres on the front - I’d rather lose the back end than the front especially on a FWD Whatever you buy, I'd personally move the current rears to the front and fit the new tyres on the rear. That'll both give better stability on standing water and will mean you actually wear down the potentially ancient rears.
Edited by kambites on Saturday 23 October 08:51
CS Garth said:
Agreed on the first point but I’d always personally run the better tyres on the front - I’d rather lose the back end than the front especially on a FWD
Really? Screw that, losing the back end of any car on standing water is asking for a one-way trip into the scenery backwards. I think every tyre manufacturer tells you to put the new tyres on the back if possible, too. Many tyre fitters these days will refuse to fit them to the front. Of course the best approach is to rotate them to keep equal tread depth and then replace them all at once, but few people seem to bother to do that.
Edited by kambites on Saturday 23 October 09:03
journeymanpro said:
Buy cross climate and be done with it
We run Cross Climates on our Octavia. They're certainly a good year-round tyre for the UK climate if you don't intend to drive particularly enthusiastically. They seem a bit slippery in warm wet conditions compared to the Eagle F1s we had on the car before them but not by a huge margin.However, I personally wouldn't run all seasons on one axle and summers on the other.
journeymanpro said:
Buy cross climate and be done with it
If the car is on the 16" rims then there's not a lot of choice. Pirelli Cintuato Verde, Yokohama Advan Sport and, as above, the Michelin Cross Climate. FWIW I use the Cross Climate on my everyday Alfa although that's a Giulietta.kambites said:
Really? Screw that, losing the back end of any car on standing water is asking for a one-way trip into the scenery backwards.
I think every tyre manufacturer tells you to put the new tyres on the back if possible, too. Many tyre fitters these days will refuse to fit them to the front.
Can’t believe any fitters would refuse to fit tyres on the front I think every tyre manufacturer tells you to put the new tyres on the back if possible, too. Many tyre fitters these days will refuse to fit them to the front.
lb3nson said:
Can’t believe any fitters would refuse to fit tyres on the front
You're surprised that tyre fitters aren't willing to ignore the tyre manufacturers fitting advice? I'm not, in today's culture of trying to assign blame to everything bad which happens! People who think they know better than the tyre manufacturers can always swap them over themselves if they want to. kambites said:
lb3nson said:
Can’t believe any fitters would refuse to fit tyres on the front ...
You're surprised that tyre fitters aren't willing to ignore the tyre manufacturers fitting advice? I'm not, in today's culture of trying to assign blame to everything bad which happens!kambites said:
Really? Screw that, losing the back end of any car on standing water is asking for a one-way trip into the scenery backwards.
I think every tyre manufacturer tells you to put the new tyres on the back if possible, too. Many tyre fitters these days will refuse to fit them to the front. Of course the best approach is to rotate them to keep equal tread depth and then replace them all at once, but few people seem to bother to do that.
I’ve always worked on the basis that if you lose the back end you’ve got a chance of controlling it. If you lose the front you’ve lost steering and grip/drive so you’re completely out of control and the back is pushing you further out of shape. I think every tyre manufacturer tells you to put the new tyres on the back if possible, too. Many tyre fitters these days will refuse to fit them to the front. Of course the best approach is to rotate them to keep equal tread depth and then replace them all at once, but few people seem to bother to do that.
Edited by kambites on Saturday 23 October 09:03
CS Garth said:
I’ve always worked on the basis that if you lose the back end you’ve got a chance of controlling it. If you lose the front you’ve lost steering and grip/drive so you’re completely out of control and the back is pushing you further out of shape.
The argument is, I believe, that aquaplaning isn't like other forms of loss of control; grip goes away almost completely on the axle concerned and comes back just as suddenly. If the back has let go you will be sideways by the time you clear the water and grip comes back which means you need to take corrective action to get the car straight again; if it's the front which has slipped, the car will still be traveling forwards meaning that as soon as you clear the standing water it will return to its old cornering attitude with no corrective action from the driver. In neither case can you do anything about it until the wheels are back in contact with the road. The other argument is that if you don't get grip back before you leave the road, you're going to hit something forwards which means all the crumple zones and air bags can do their job properly.
Of course putting them on the rear also avoids the problem of ending up with absolutely ancient tyres on the rear because FWD cars generally don't wear their rears significantly.
kambites said:
lb3nson said:
Can’t believe any fitters would refuse to fit tyres on the front
You're surprised that tyre fitters aren't willing to ignore the tyre manufacturers fitting advice? I'm not, in today's culture of trying to assign blame to everything bad which happens! People who think they know better than the tyre manufacturers can always swap them over themselves if they want to. kambites said:
CS Garth said:
Agreed on the first point but I’d always personally run the better tyres on the front - I’d rather lose the back end than the front especially on a FWD
Really? Screw that, losing the back end of any car on standing water is asking for a one-way trip into the scenery backwards. I think every tyre manufacturer tells you to put the new tyres on the back if possible, too. Many tyre fitters these days will refuse to fit them to the front. Of course the best approach is to rotate them to keep equal tread depth and then replace them all at once, but few people seem to bother to do that.
Edited by kambites on Saturday 23 October 09:03
CS Garth said:
I’ve always worked on the basis that if you lose the back end you’ve got a chance of controlling it. If you lose the front you’ve lost steering and grip/drive so you’re completely out of control and the back is pushing you further out of shape.
When most people lose the back end, they let off and crash.When most people lose the front end and let off, it can come back into line and possibly avoid a crash
And many also vastly overestimate their abilities in an emergency scenario.
Hence understeer is generally safer.
CS Garth said:
Agreed on the first point but I’d always personally run the better tyres on the front - I’d rather lose the back end than the front especially on a FWD
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ……Oh dearie, dearie, me.
Best tyres on the front, whether FWD, RWD, or AWD.
Edited by Pica-Pica on Saturday 23 October 10:14
PH User said:
kambites said:
lb3nson said:
Can’t believe any fitters would refuse to fit tyres on the front
You're surprised that tyre fitters aren't willing to ignore the tyre manufacturers fitting advice? I'm not, in today's culture of trying to assign blame to everything bad which happens! People who think they know better than the tyre manufacturers can always swap them over themselves if they want to. Gassing Station | Suspension, Brakes & Tyres | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff