New tires, recommendations?


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Hello,

I dont know if Neowin is the place for this but here goes nothing....

My front tires on my Vectra 2003 125 DTI basically are getting near the end of their life so I have to change them ASAP.

My tires are 215/55 R16 93 V. Im willing to change to 225 50 R16 93 V but nothing else because I just bought chains and I dont want my money to go to waste.

The current ones I have are BRIDGESTONE TURANZA ER300 215/55 R16 93 V but at 129 euros a piece PLUS they have European marks of (A being best, F/G being worst) F/B/71 (Fuel economy, performance on wet and noise) they seem like horrible tires and only are that expensive because of the name.

My daily monday thru friday is basically ~90km at 160-180kmph on a highway. I dont do mountains or really rough roads.

Ive been looking at two tires: First off the COOPER ZEON CS6 215/55 R16 93 V with C/C/71 at 98 euros. Looks like a really good deal but a BIT worst on wet. Next is the UNIROYAL RAINSPORT 3 215/55 R16 93 V with C/A/71 at 108 euros.

We do tend to see here very rainy weather so that might help. The problem is being a A must be worst to drive when dry/hot right?

Anyways, I was just hoping to see opinions on these two brands. If anyone has any they recommend in the 215/55 R16 93 V or 225 50 R16 93 V, just say so and Ill look at their prices!

Thanks

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Nankang are actually very good for their price, mine were just under ?300 balanced and fitted for my Omega, and could handle top speed of a modified ex police car.

Pirelli and Continental are exceptional but then they are a premium,

Bridgestone sport tyres aren't bad neither, so you have choice as it's a fairly common wheel size in europe

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Hello,

Nankang are actually very good for their price, mine were just under ?300 balanced and fitted for my Omega, and could handle top speed of a modified ex police car.

Pirelli and Continental are exceptional but then they are a premium,

Bridgestone sport tyres aren't bad neither, so you have choice as it's a fairly common wheel size in europe

Just to be sure, those 300 are for what? 4? 2? One?
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Hello,

oops

All 4, balanced and fitted, sorry

No problem, I were just trying to help and even though you didnt (Goodyear/Bridgestone/etc sell 100s of models all different), trying is important too....

So basically each tire costs 90 euros....

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Here's Zhivago's rating of tyre manufacturers:

 

1. Continental;

2. Pirelli and Michelin;

3. all the others, but I rate Kumho and Hankook for their high quality to price ratio above all the rest;

 

215/55 R16 or 225/50 R16

 

When these two sizes are compared, putting on 225/50 R16 will result in 6 mm lower road clearance - it's just something to keep in mind. I'd choose 215/55 R16 for the winter (given this size is approved by your car manufacturer). A narrower tyre is better for the winter time (nvm you're in Spain :)) because the force is applied onto a smaller square resulting into a better grip.

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Hello,

Here's Zhivago's rating of tyre manufacturers:

 

1. Continental;

2. Pirelli and Michelin;

3. all the others, but I rate Kumho and Hankook for their high quality to price ratio above all the rest;

 

When these two sizes are compared, putting on 225/50 R16 will result in 6 mm lower road clearance - it's just something to keep in mind. I'd choose 215/55 R16 for the winter (given this size is approved by your car manufacturer). A narrower tyre is better for the winter time (nvm you're in Spain :)) because the force is applied onto a smaller square resulting into a better grip.

1: Cheapest Continental for my car: CONTINENTAL CONTIPREMIUMCONTACT 5 215/55 R16 93 V is at 129 ? It is C/A/71

2: Pirellis are a bit better: PIRELLI CINTURATO P7 215/55 R16 93 W is at 119 ? and C/B/70 Michelin: MICHELIN PILOT PRIMACY HP 215/55 R16 93 V S1 at 136 ? with C/B/70

3: Cant find Kumho or Hankook here :(

Its too bad noone knows Coopers. From what Ive read, they are a good brand used in the US.

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Here's Zhivago's rating of tyre manufacturers:

 

1. Continental;

2. Pirelli and Michelin;

3. all the others, but I rate Kumho and Hankook for their high quality to price ratio above all the rest;

 

 

When these two sizes are compared, putting on 225/50 R16 will result in 6 mm lower road clearance - it's just something to keep in mind. I'd choose 215/55 R16 for the winter (given this size is approved by your car manufacturer). A narrower tyre is better for the winter time (nvm you're in Spain :)) because the force is applied onto a smaller square resulting into a better grip.

Blech to Continental. For performance cars and all-season tires, they are terrible - loud, bad grip, bad performance in any weather other than dry conditions. . I have had excellent luck with Michelin Pilot Sport. Great all-season tire that has great grip on the track. 

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I just got some all-season Cooper Zeon RS3-a's to replace the stock Goodyear Eagle LS's that came with my 2011 Kia Forte 5. So far I'm incredibly impressed with the Coopers. We're just starting to get snow accumulation (Ontario, Canada), and they have far, far more grip than the stock tires. Road noise is about the same. These tires on my current car have noticeably more grip than any set of tires that I've had on any car that I've owned previously although on my current car I've only had experienced with two sets.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Good choice on the Rainsports.

 

I had the Continental SportContact 5s and they offered exceptional performance but wore out within 8000 miles. It uses a very soft compound which gets rave reviews in the media, but in reality, if you drive a lot, it isn't an economical choice.

 

After the Continentals I went with a set of Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas. A relatively left-field choice and until recently quite difficult to get hold of. They are cheaper than the ultra premium brands, but in my experience, offer better performance than the Continentals I had, and so far the evidence suggests they should last longer as well. Owners club forums rave about them too. I can't see me using anything else unless I absolutely have to. The tread pattern is pretty cool too :p

 

If you're on a budget then Kumho is a good option but they still don't compare to the premium brands.

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Blech to Continental. For performance cars and all-season tires, they are terrible - loud, bad grip, bad performance in any weather other than dry conditions. . I have had excellent luck with Michelin Pilot Sport. Great all-season tire that has great grip on the track. 

continental dws work great for me and get really good reviews.  They are an all season tire, perhaps you should have tried those.  BTW they are pretty quiet.  For track duty either bfg or nitto.

 

will be buying the dws again, great all season winter tire.

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continental dws work great for me and get really good reviews.  They are an all season tire, perhaps you should have tried those.  BTW they are pretty quiet.  For track duty either bfg or nitto.

 

will be buying the dws again, great all season winter tire.

 

Yeah, the DWS are good tires. The rest are pretty meh.

 

I would never rate tires by brand, they vary so widely from model to model and year to year.

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My DWS Continentals just plowed through 9 inches of snow with little issue. For an 255/18 tire, they're also smooth and relativity quiet. Grip just fine. My car would also be classed as a performance car. The only thing I don't like about them is the price, but when it comes to price and tires... you DO get what you pay for.

 

Blech to Continental. For performance cars and all-season tires, they are terrible - loud, bad grip, bad performance in any weather other than dry conditions. . I have had excellent luck with Michelin Pilot Sport. Great all-season tire that has great grip on the track. 

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continental dws work great for me and get really good reviews.  They are an all season tire, perhaps you should have tried those.  BTW they are pretty quiet.  For track duty either bfg or nitto.

 

will be buying the dws again, great all season winter tire.

 

My DWS Continentals just plowed through 9 inches of snow with little issue. For an 255/18 tire, they're also smooth and relativity quiet. Grip just fine. My car would also be classed as a performance car. The only thing I don't like about them is the price, but when it comes to price and tires... you DO get what you pay for.

Yes, I know they are all seasons, these are the tires that came with my (old) car. I had 295/30/19 on the rear, and 255/35/19 on front - they were absolutely horrible. Horrible traction issues on slight snow/rain and if it was a major snow storm, I would just give up driving my car. Can't say anything good about these tires - the Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 was better in every aspect, although quite a bit more expensive than the Conti's ($175 more per tire). On the track though, the Michelin had way more grip and performed much better in every weather condition. 

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With snow you were plowing with the rear tires with the continental. Did you maintain the same size or did you go back to stock sizes? You really shouldn't be running that much of a width difference in snow. 275 is the maximum I would go with a 255 front. I would try to keep it at 255 all around or thinner, at the same size. More weight per square cm on a thinner tire, weight is good in the winter.

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With snow you were plowing with the rear tires with the continental. Did you maintain the same size or did you go back to stock sizes? You really shouldn't be running that much of a width difference in snow. 275 is the maximum I would go with a 255 front. I would try to keep it at 255 all around or thinner, at the same size. More weight per square cm on a thinner tire, weight is good in the winter.

These are pretty much the stock tire size recommended by MB for CLS 63...Honestly should've gone with winter tires :\ I will say it was a pain in the ass to drive in winter, but at the same time very fun in parking lots ;) 

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