tyres (again)

[lambs]

Looking at new tyres for the sillywet. Basically comes down to:

215/60/15

Pirelli P5000 Drago - $510
Yoko A539 - $560 (may be able to do slightly better)
Bridgestone G-Grids - $480
Michelin Vivacy - $520
Falken (can't remember) - $600

Price is not really a concern, but I'm leaning towards the Pirelli's because of my motorcycle experience with them, plus I've heard/read good things, but have also heard similar about the Yoko's. Anyway, be interested in others opinions. Basically after good wet/dry performance and reasonable longevity (aren't we all......)

TIA

[coyote]

I had a set of 205/55/15 P5000 Dragos on a WRX.

They were quite OK in the wet but absolute rubbish in the dry.

I got rid of them after less than 1000km. They were that bad.

If price is not really a concern, pay more and actually get good tyres!

[lambs]

Originally posted by coyote
If price is not really a concern, pay more and actually get good tyres!

OK.....what ??????

[coyote]

Well, in the brands that you've mentioned..

Pirelli: Forget it. The only decent tyre are P-Zeros and the price is outrageous!
Yokohama: Don't know except for A032-R which I don't think would suit your application. What do they have in the Advan range these days?
Bridgestone: S-02 will probably be run out soon as the S-03 becomes available, could score a bargain. Quite a few of the Potenza range are very good.
Michelin: The MXF Sport is sort of OK but if you can stretch to the Pilot range you'll get a good tyre that will wear quite well.
Falken: I'm a cheap ass, so I have Azenis RS on my car. They are cheap but pretty good.

Price is always a concern (that's why I have Falkens).

[Matty]

You can't compare a random bike tyre to a random car tyre - compounds, construction, noise, life, grip are all completely different...

If you can find (bridgestone) RE711's or (dunlop) FM 901's in the right size they have a lot of fans...

but if price (and presumably treadwear) aren't a concern, go nuts on a road-legal racing tyre like an Advan-032R or something.

[lambs]

Yes, well, thanks but I'm being realistic here and a lot of the tyres mentioned aren't available in the size I'm after (and I ain't changin' my rims :-) ). Anyway, if I wanted something really sticky I wouldn't be bothered with A032R's but get some really decent like RX/GB's or D01's....but I want these to last more than a few km's.....

[slip]

lambs - unless you have some negative camber on the front of the silh, youll destroy the 539's outer tread blocks in spirited driving. I have. They wear if they are punished. Good in the wet and dry. Friend has P5000 on his R32 with adj bilstiens and they are lasting ridiculously well. The car handles well so i don't actually know if they are average in the dry, but I have spoken to tyre people that concur with coyote, and coyote is someone im not inclined to disagree with. God they are lasting well though. G grids didnt feel as grippy as the 539's in another car.

If you got some negative camber happening at the front, and didnt light up the rears all the time - 539's. As a tyre they have performed very well. Ive spun them a lot during hard corner exits and 2 skidpand sessions (water/diesel on the track though) and they are still ok, its been a fair while.

[tandy ass]

I can vouch for the FM901's on the R31 cars.

Dry performance is very good but the real bonus from these tyres is wet weather performance, I have never driven on any tyre with better wet weather performance.

Been through the usual Yokohama 509's, 510's, Bridgestone G grid (very bad after 6 months, they seem to harden dramatically) Falken GRb, Michelin MXF and a few others I cant remember.

Then a friend got two secondhand Dunlop W1 's a few years ago for a burnout competion. Needless to say he was not doing helicopters anywhere as well as he intended, the tyres just STUCK like shit to a blanket. My next set of tyres became four Dunlop W10's (the next model) and was VERY happy with them. With the open wheeler I was no longer able to get the car sideways under power, whereas I was very easily able to do it with the previous GRb's. When the W10's wore out I replaced them with two FM901's (they replace the W10) on the front and two Hankook pieces of junk on the back. I will be reverting back to the FM901's very soon on the back of the tyre since having tyres there that dont grip is very bad if you hit the brakes gently in a corner.....

The FM901's in an R31 start hopping over the road as they approach their limit in the wet. You can still turn the steering wheel further and get more cornering force, but they give you so much prior warning that they are approaching their limits. Other tyres I've driven on just let go and plummet straight ahead....

Cheers

[roastbeef]

I have been using the pirelli dragos in 195 15inch size for about 3 years.

They last for a long time and outright grip is not as bad as everyone says. My first set had absolutely no tyre squeal at all and had fantastic grip in both wet and dry. My second set from early last year are a lot more dissapointing, lots of tyre squeal unpredictable loss of grip etc etc...

I took them to wakefield once and they lasted for about 2-3 laps before becoming sloppy.

For the money, I would definitely go the re711's or fm901s. Ive driven on the fm901's at wakefield and they grip bettter than the pirellis, make less noise, and seem to withstand more abuse before overheating.