Tyres

[GTI124]

Bridgestone S02s, Pirelli PZero Rosso and Pzero Assymetrico, Continential Sport Contact 2s and some Yokohamas are certified for Porshe 911, according to the Porsche Magazine I was reading the other day. So just because something is OEM ona Porsche, or any car, for that matter, doesn't make it automatically the best. Alot of top performance cars are tuned to a particular tyre, so it can sometimes pay to keep to the same type. Eg, Honda S2000 runs on special S02s, Focus RS runs on special Michelin Pilot Sports.

Chris, Bridgestone is Japanese and owns Firestone, which is a strong brand in the US and produce a lot of tyres there. Their top tyres are made in Japan, the lower ones are made all over, with some local. Firestone has/had a strong relationship with Ford, until the rollover court cases. Ford basically created the Firestone empire.

Michelin is French, and own Roadstone and BF Goodrich. Roadstone is their cheap brand, and BF Goodrich is being marketed towards enthusiasts, drag racing, etc, and is a strong brand in the US. All of their top tyres tend be made in France and the US, with a lot of their lower and middle range tyres made in Thailand. They're currently the #1 tyre company, measured in sales.

Yokohama is Japanese and own Nankang, a very cheap brand. Advan is their "Potenza" competitor, it's a branding to represent their performance tyres. I don't know where their lower tyres are made, but their top tyres, are made in Japan.

Dunlop are Japanese and own Sumitomo (I'm pretty sure, have had my doubts of late, but there is a Sumitomo Dunlop website, which shows a close relationship). Their top tyres are made in Japan and Europe. Their lower tyres are made locally.

Goodyear are American and are the 2nd largest company. They produce tyres in Europe, US and Australia. Their top tyre, the Eagle F1 GS-D3 is made in Europe.

re: Bob Jane All Rounders,I would imagine they are outsourced to Dunlop or Goodyear locally to their own specs.

- Lincoln

 

[east_bay_punk]

the new firestones are apparently very very good, they are basically indy car wet weather tyres, not to sure on what sizes are availible.

 

[GTI124]

From what I've read on their performance tyres that are middle range tyres. Bridgestone's performance tyres would be above Firestone in their family tree.

 

[neil]

Justin B:

Kristian:
Anyone tried Continentals or shy Federal tyres?

I was quote $150 and $100 respsctively

I had federal tyres on my cordia turbo once... All I can say is CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!! STEER CLEAR....

Understeer, constant loss of traction in the wet... I once loaded the car up in 5th gear at 100 km/h up a small hill in the country, and the tyres broke traction...

I was always happy with G-Grid tyres on my Cordia...

I'm sorry but I currently have a set of G-Grids on my car and they are Sh#t. They will last long but don't expect much in the way of grip.

Neil

 

[Alan S]

.....which gets us back to "Horses for Courses."
What works well on one car doesn't always work on another. I used to run Bridgestones on my work van; asolutely fantastic, but put a set on a CX and what a disaster. Hankooks same story. Yet I've seen guys here swear by them, it all gets back to driving style, drivibg conditions & car.
The original posting was asking about tyres for a car that's been running Nankangs in a regional Town and looking for something cheap & reasonable. I think that may have got lost somewhere in the translation as we've almost ended up setting him up with something to tackle Bathurst with....then again, Bathurst I suppose could almost be called "regional" couldn't it? deal whistle whistle

Alan S dance

 

[GTI124]

I don't believe I've changed my mind on what tyre I am recommending to Nathan there. I've driven around Griffith on Michelin Pilot SXs on my Golf GTI and they were nice and quiet witha great wear rate, but not available in that size. I still stick by the LM702 recommendation. They are a cheap tyre in that size. You can't get much that is cheaper than them that will last the distance, except perhaps the REVSPECS. Any other cheaper tyre is a performance tyre that will probably wear more. Any tyre that would wear less is more expensive, eg, MXV3As.

I think it's obvious that we have tangented, but I certainly haven't recommended that Nathan take a "bathurst" worthy tyre on his car. The way us Froggers willfully tangent is a great characteristic of this forum.

As for broad sweeping statements like "I ran Bridgestone on x car and on y car and on one they were good and the other they were crap"...well that's not very specific enough, I'm afraid. Are you running the same tyre/model/type on both cars? What are the size differences? That's an awfully big company with lots of different models.

<small>[ 02 September 2003, 06:24 PM: Message edited by: GTI124 ]</small>

 

[rc968]

Kristian:
Anyone tried Continentals or shy Federal tyres?

I am currently running on Conti EcoContact, and are happy with it. Ride is comfortable, and wear rate is good. Performance wise, never really pushed it hard enough that it loses grip,(or start screeching) but I do drive fast sometimes. It also "Reduces CO2" as stamped on the tyre...

BTW my Conti EcoCotacts are made in France.

I also had Federal before, same pattern as the Bridgestone G'Grid, and was quite happy with that too, reasonably good performance for that budget price.

Also recently driven on cars with Conti PremiumContacts, I agree wiht GTi666, very nice all round performance, quite, comfortable, absorbs bumps nicely, and yet handles well under pressure. On the pricy side though.

Also I always felt that some tyre patterns, especially those directional ones, works better when it is wider (say 225 or more). Doesn't do well when it's 195 or narrower. What do you guys think?

Ps. Best tyre I had was the Dunlup D60M2, no longer in production, but runs well and grips like glue!

 

[GTI124]

rc968
[QBAlso I always felt that some tyre patterns, especially those directional ones, works better when it is wider (say 225 or more). Doesn't do well when it's 195 or narrower. What do you guys think?[/QB]

I think tread pattern has little to do with much, except to get rid of some water (which you can do with circumferencial (sp?) grooves) and reduce noise (larger blocks makemore noise). The compound has a greater impact on feel and grip. I haven't driven much wider than 195, the Golf was 205, and so is the Subaru, and everything else has been thinner, so can't comment on the difference in tread patterns.