Original Michelins for an early CX

Don't do it. When I had my CX2400 some years ago, I initially fitted the correct MXV tyres and they squealed even at the sight of a corner. The inexpensive Pirelli tyres subsequently fitted were significantly better.
 
I always thought a quality 215/65 14" on the front and 185/195 normal profile and the back worked very well myself :)
 
215? I think the car has manual steering :tongue:.
 
I was looking at the originals because the car has manual steering. Shane, do you know how wide the originals were - I may be able to find something a hell of a lot cheaper.
Ta
 
MXV-P's were on the Prestige when I bought it. Terrible, squeal, and in the wet shocking. MXV3A 195/70 were probably the best I have ever used on it but 195/70 XM2 are very nearly as good. They squeal a bit now that they are half worn but they are quiet and soft riding. 195/70 will fit on steel 5.5" steel rims, better if you have alloys that are 6". I did try 205/70 MXV3A's once but the steering is not as good as with 195 wide tyres.
 
I thought the early CXs were shod with XVS tyres (185 X 14 ?). A later BX with MXVs was when I decided to part with Michelin as I thought they had forgotten how to make tyres.

I would go for the tyres in Shane's link. Mainly for the free Roadside Assist which may prove to be more valuable than the tyres themselves.

John
 
Much cheaper and close enough. Not sure what size are on it at the moment (Car is still in tassie). I just want to get closer to original to take the strain of the steering
 
I had a set of Michelin 'Green' 185/65 R14 on my CX2000 Safari which were great in the beginning however they were very soft and wore out fast on the front. Eventually they all developed weak walls and started bulging and causing vibration. One blew out on the Pacific highway north of Sydney on the arduous southbound concrete section. They were made in Germany so I would've expected better quality but in the end I considered that buying Michelin's for a Citroen looks authentic but I just considered it vanity in the end.

I decided to try cheap chinese 'Sunfull' tyres at the same size. They were about $70 each and are good in dry, wet, gravel....and are not wearing out so fast. I feel the reduced aspect (65) looks good and doesn't flex as much around fast corners, so no squeeling that I often found with higher walled tyres. There is a slightly more harsher feel over patched roadwork probably more to do with the high pressure I have in (38 PSI front, 35 PSI rear), but nobody could ever say this CX Safari rides less than hovercraft-like over most surfaces.

Can anyone comment on the best pressures for these sort of tyres on a Safari/ Familiale? Normally I would have 36 PSI in the front but it seems to sag and much more than the Michelins.
 
Continental Comfort tyres are great. Much softer ride and very quite. I had them on a C5 and, if they were available with a higher aspect, I would run them on the CX. If I ever get all of the niggles fixed on the XM, I will definitely get a set.
 
WRB said:
Much cheaper and close enough. Not sure what size are on it at the moment (Car is still in tassie). I just want to get closer to original to take the strain of the steering
Click to expand...

A Renault Feugo with much bigger wider tires with low profile made the steering massively lighter. ie: standard crappy TRX's -> 215/45/ 16" made the steering much, much, much lighter. Even though you probably had twice the width of rubber on the road. I think it must be to do with sidewall flex in the tire.

seeya,
shane L.
 
WRB said:
If I ever get all of the niggles fixed on the XM, I will definitely get a set.
Click to expand...

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

So your saying your never going to put new tires on the XM ... That cars going to be driven on some serioulsy bald tires in the future :tongue: :banana: :joker:
 
You would think so Shane but, considering how often it doesn't want to go, I think the entire car will have been replaced around the tyres before they show any wear:mallet:
 
Stick the XM on a trailer every now and then so it can get an idea of what the world looks like. Might cure the stage fright.


John

Oops! I hope I haven't derailed this thread to talk about trailer tyres.
 
No,
I just push it along every time I need to go somewhere. Went to Bendigo for a day around a month ago - only just got back (nice push (drive) though.
 
WRB said:
I was looking at the originals because the car has manual steering. Shane, do you know how wide the originals were - I may be able to find something a hell of a lot cheaper.
Ta
Click to expand...

JW (above post) was the acquaintance mentioned in the below from another thread.

"An acquaintance has a CX originally fitted with 185/80-14 fronts & 175/80-14 rears. Currently, he has 195/70-14 fronts & 175/70-14 rears. Wheels are 5.5" wide. Knowing of my enthusiasm for Continental's PremiumContact2 he observed that the only relevant size in that type for him was 175/70-14. This led to me wondering what would be available for the car (excepting 185/80-14 XVS). The results of that thought (an unedited copy of my email to him) are below in case they are of any interest to anyone else. The 'best' in the first sentence was, in conversational context, also best for handling balance. The steering weight remark at one point was me forgetting that the CX has power steering.

"mmm! quite complex. Some principles first:

Best would be a 20 mm width difference f/r with profile variation (lower profile at the front) to maintain the same diameter f & r & with the rear size (the smaller width) able to be used for the spare as well. That way, if a front has a flat, then the spare is the same diameter as it (although a different tyre size) & one does not have the differential coping with continuous action to accommodate different wheel rotation speeds. It'd also be nice to have the fronts with the same gearing as the original for speedo-gearing purposes, although I find the mental adjustment on my Djet & Moke to be automatic & trivial. Best, also, for legal & insurance reasons, would be to have no tyre of lower load range than the original size. Finally, it'd be nice to not just have an at least semi-decent lateral load wet tyre but one that's semi-tautly responsive in structure. And if one is not to risk front/rear tautness difference handling oddities (of a sort which might be difficult to tyre pressure fine tune out), then having the same tyre type front & rear is the best bet. If not, then, with the CX, one would want the tauter structure at the front.

This is a large list of criteria & 14" is a size which has a paucity of tyre sizes & types still available.

So, your 195/70 & 175/70 combination gives you what I'm judging to be a good front/rear width difference but is rather different in diameter (175 is 4.5% less in circumference) so the 175 being used as a spare on the front is, I think, not going to be a good thing for the differential. Even if your spare is an old 185/80 (you don't specify) as, I assume, the original one was, that would be 3.7% longer than the 195/70. I'm not sure how much variation in straight continuous running a diff is happy with & for how long but if size difference can be minimised, then that'd be optimal.

There are various sizes available in various disparate tyre types but only one tyre range satisfies each criterion. This is Hankook's K715. My appraisal of it would be that it is a sound second rank tyre but then so, at best, is every other option available except one (the Conti PC2 which is available in 175/70 only). And the K715 is available in the CX-friendliest range of sizes (185/75, 175/70, 205/70 XL, 195/75, 185/80).

The tyre types I looked at were, apart from the aforementioned, Hankook's Ex (175/70) & K415 (195/65, 195/70,175/65), Kumho's KH17 (195/70, 195/65, 175/70,185/65), Toyo's NanoEnergy3 (175/70, 185/70 & 195/70) & Yokohama's BluEarth AE01 (175/70, 185/65, 185/70, 195/70,195/65). If you simply wished to reproduce the tyre sizes you had now then the KH17 would do that in one type (& it has its advocates - including the secretary of the Citroen Car Club of Tasmania, who has largish ones on a set of bigger alloy wheels on his CX). So, would the AE01 or NE3. Or, a type mix with the best types available & with the structure tautness roughly in balance would be KH 415 fronts & PC2 rears. Were I to be keeping the current sizes then I think that I'd choose that mix. But then, faced with the same choice, I wouldn't choose your current size mix at all.

Assuming that your original fronts were 185/80, I'd fit 205/70 (only 1.5% shorter circumference). This serves three functions: it gives you more tyre to battle nose plough (without, I'd predict, being much heavier in steering than the current 195/70); it gives you a front size which it is easy to match to a rear size of similar circumference (& that rear size would fit in the nose as a spare); & it satisfies the original load rating (as would a matching circumference rear - something impossible to decently manage with a 195/70 front as 175/80 is no longer available in anything decent). The K715 205/70 is also an XL (extra load) tyre which usually means two sidewall plies not one. Although installed for increased load rating, these plies have the benefit here of being crisper in response than their single plied counterparts of the same tyre type. They also ride less well but that is not going to much matter in a CX.

So, what rears? Happily for circumference-matching, load rating & 20 mm width difference reasons, according to Hankook's web site anyway, the K715 comes in a 185/80. It also comes in a 185/75 (1.4% shorter in circumference than a 205/70 as offered to the 185/80's 1.5% longer). Each would do apart from a mild load rating query for the 185/75 but it'd be the same as the 175/80 rears which were probably fitted when the car was new.

So, I'd fit 205/70 fronts & either 185/80 or 185/75 (the latter would be my choice) rears in Hanhook's K715. The rear size would fit as a spare or, if you didn't want to buy 5 (& rotate the three 185s through the rear to avoid "unused spare" idiocy), then you could just get two 185s & put whatever you like as a spare & if you have a front flat, then put a correct circumference rear on the front & the spare on the rear. More potential fussing come flat time but less outlay & less rotational fussing. It's what I'd do.

So, in summary, I'd get Hanhook's K715 in 205/70 XL & 185/75 (2 of).

Two useful web links:

For tyre size comparisons:
Tire Size Comparison

For magazine tyre test summaries on tyres which you have on a medium list:
Tyres by Brand - TyreReviews

The Tyre Reviews link takes you to a page listing tyre brands & models. Navigate to the tyre you want & the relevant link for, say, the K715, & it'll list links connecting you to available magazine tyre tests on that tyre. It also lists owner reviews but these are to be read with caution (I take most notice of those written by those who self categorise their driving style as "spirited").

Phew! I hope that that is of some use to you."

cheers! Peter
 
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Thanks Peter,

I am going to need some time to digest. I had decided to go with the Conti 185/70...
 
WRB said:
Thanks Peter,

I am going to need some time to digest. I had decided to go with the Conti 185/70...
Click to expand...

The rolling diameter is wrong .... It's going to be low geared and your speedo will under read. you need 185/80 ... 195/75, 205/65. My preference is anything round under the back and 215/65 under the nose :)

seeya,
Shane L.
 
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