Tyres

[conrod 1]

call me a snob, but I don't think I would ever fit a set of tyres to my car with the name "Nankang" as well as others such as "Wan Lee" etc - I would not be confident driving on anything with this on the sidewall, and tyre fashion sense doesn't count for much when your car is parked in a ditch because it ran out of grip on that tricky right hander.............. I will gladly fork out the extra for a brand that has a bit of a pedigree, remember, its not what they cost you, it is what they could save you, and generally speaking the higher the milage you get from a set of tyres, the less grip they will produce.

Edited December 6, 2005 by conrod

[m325i 709]

They are made by Yokohama.

Check any reviews on them, they seem good. Random convo about them

Also i am currently on Nankang NS1. which are meant to be sh*t.

Not much worse than the Falkens i previously had.

Edited December 6, 2005 by m325i

[conrod 1]

They are made by Yokohama.

Check any reviews on them, they seem good.

I didn't know that, Yokohama certainly make some very good tyres. Are Nankang a Chinese company( I assume they are made in China or Korea maybe) that Yoko bought, or are they a "budget" brand they created? Have you checked out the "Tire rack" (www.tirerack.com) for prices and reviews, it seems to be a very comprehensive and unbiased (if that is possible!) source of info, as they APPEAR to stock all brands of "tires"

[m325i 709]

apparently they were bought by Yoko a while back, same compounds, inferior patterns.

As i said, i have NS1s now, which are average. Everyone says NS2s are infinately better. Just hope they smoke up good.

[cainchapman 0]

As had been said before, you get what you pay for. I'm with Conrod & 3Pedals on this. It is like buying a $200 helmet (or worse, a 2nd hand one) and being surprised when you die.

"Cheap & Nasty", that saying is not a coincidence. There is a massive difference between it and "Value for Money"

Fit some Crossply's if you want tyres to last forever. I can buy reasonable tyres (not for track work) for about $250 each for the 540iS. I'm sure if you look hard enough you will be able to buy a quality tyre for a good price.

[m325i 709]

Thanks for all your input, I may goo with P-Zeros now.

[petone 0]

I saw some P zeros after being on a VW toerag for 10000km, they were f**ked. Only cost $1000 each.

After saying that you'll hear good and bad things about every brand so it is hard to

decide what to go with.

[Ghost 0]

mmmmm, tread....

Goodyear Eagles..

Ash

[hybrid 1043]

Falken azenis are nice. FK451's are their top of the range - im gonna get some once these contis die. Continentals are hard as, and squeal easily.

I run FK451's ..

Had them just under a year and the still look brand new, Mind you im running rather large ones so tire wear is slowed by the fact that there is a lot more rubber to wear out. However for a high performance tire, I love em! they dont do anything strange under hard cornering like some brands, very predictable tire to drive.

tread pattern = teh sex

oh and they have a very good center channel to get rid of water fast in the wet / puddles which is hell important with wider tire sizes to stop aqua plaining.

Edited December 6, 2005 by hybrid

[Jazzbass 1]

I checked my tyres last night (Bridgestone Turanza) and they were made in 2000. I have no idea when they were put on the car, but it seems that they last quite well.

In general, I hope for 2 years out of a new set of tyres.

[m325i 709]

Those ratings on the side of tyres. "Temperature A, Traction AA ect"

Are they a reliable method of comparison? Or is it like stereo output quotes. "1450w"

[Jazzbass 1]

Personally I have never found the Temperature and Traction ratings to be of any use to me. Neither have I found a significant difference between tyres with different Wear ratings.

I have found every directional tyre I've had to be more noisy than non-directional tyres, but OTOH, they have stuck better to the road...

[bmwsparkle 3]

what do you guys think of hankooks? race and street tyres?

[Guest Andrew]

3pedals: good post - very informative.

[Jazzbass 1]

I failed a wof yesterday on one tyre.

I only buy sets, so I bought a set of Dunlop SP Sports 3000A. (price, noise, treadwear & looks all appealed to me)

I'd read good reviews on them for my style of car and driving. Probably would not have chosen them for my old 325, but the 528 is a different animal.

Had a wheel alignment done at the same time of course - silly not to with a new set of tyres.

Way too soon to gain anything more than a quick feel, but so far, they feel a lot different to the Bridgestones Turanzas I had on before. Quieter (I thought the Bridgestones were quiet, but these seem even moreso) and the steering is quite different - more precise somehow, although that could just be the case with a new set of tyres anyway. I can't find anything in my handbook about load rating, but they're rated at 690kg per tyre. The weight of my car with one occupant and a full tank of petrol (normal operating conditions for me - I always keep my car with more than half full on the gauge - gives me a safety buffer) is 1545kg, so the 2760kg rating of the tyres should be fine.

Time will tell, but I'm not at all hard on tyres - traction control always turned on - never squeal under acceleration, ABS so no skid under hard braking etc.

I haven't used Dunlops since 1969.

[m325i 709]

$90 a tyre. Hankook. V rated, 660kg load. Hard to beat that.

[Jazzbass 1]

I have a friend who used to own a tyre shop. He sold me Hankook tyres for my Radisich Telstar. Lasted less than a year - so did the ones I put on my wife's TX5.

As he said - you can have good or cheap, but not both in the same tyre. At that time, I was going for cheap....

[Brad1138 0]

Pirelli P-zero's is what i have on the 328i e46 and you cant get them to slip no matter how hard you push them

[kiwi535 538]

On the Grid 3 , these are an old tyre past their use by date, suitable for drays and $1,000 hacks.

Bridgestone GIII

Are you serious!!???

Are they really that bad?

Or are newer tyres THAT much better

I want a good performance tyre in that as you say your tires are the only thing stopping your flying of into the boonies,but i dont track my car i use it daily,and i dont want to buy new tyres every 15000 k...or am i deluding myself.Do i NEED $1000 pirellis or by buying in the 250 300 each am i an accident going somewhere to happen?

I am a momentum conserving type driver so sometimes my mid corner speeds mght be higher than a "normal" driver,but i dont race up to corners and slam on the brakes,either.

[kiwi535 538]

ok i have learned something...I run 235 45 17 all round on 8 in rims,what are your specific recomendations for the e34....bearing in mind my comments above.Its not about cheap,i could have got cheaper,but i honestly thought the bridgestones were a cut above average

[LNPSBMER 0]

for the best all round tyre I think is the goodyear eagle F1 GS-D3 not that much more than the direzza dz101 $20 give or take and will always stay round which is a good thing if you want it too last! I am about to get new nineteens and I wi;; be putting these on my rms and I've driven on just about everthing from retreads to conti's.....Go the Gs-D3

[Neal 544]

Depending on the tyre size on your car you are only likely to go from a $250 Grid 3 which is a mid range tyre of mediocre performance and not suited to the car to a $400 tyre of superb performance that is suited.

P Zero Neros on an E 36 328 driven rapidly did 25,000 km at $1600 for a set that is 6.5 cents per kilometre.

Sure you buy all the tyre in one hit but why are the majority so fixated with getting cheap tyres, do you all have cheap lives?

Is 4 cents per kilometre so much better than 6.5? A whole 2.5 cents - the average driver could blow that buying one extra coffee per day!

Tend to disagree on the difference between Zero's and GIII, the difference in grip is minor only. I'd doubt if there'd be a few centimetres difference stopping from 100 kmh wet or dry.

$800 per set at 55,000 kms works out at 0.68 per KM which is 1/9th of the cost of the zero's for the mileage. That's $2700 difference for 55,000 kms, forget the coffee, I'll take the wife to the gold coast for a holiday. Are the Zero's that much better?

Driving wise the GIII are fine, they have more than enough grip, the car never slides out when pushed. (225/50/16’s on M suspension)

Here's another way of thinking about it. On a wet day a Zero that’s done 12,500 KM's will have 2.5 mill of tread depth, the same GIII will have 5 mill. Which will pump more water from under the tyre before aquaplaning?

For the E30's the best price / performance tyre I had was the Yoko 539's. You can expect about 40,000 kms before the inside edge on the fronts go. Worst was a Comp T/A. No grip and poor wet weather ,ok wear. Worst wearing with ok performance was a Pirelli P600. 22,000 kms only. (190/65/14's)

[Carl 3]

ok i have learned something...I run 235 45 17 all round on 8 in rims,what are your specific recomendations for the e34....bearing in mind my comments above.Its not about cheap,i could have got cheaper,but i honestly thought the bridgestones were a cut above average

Just have a chat with Jimmy, Paul, sure he might be Dunlop orientated but at the end of the day he'll get you a good deal on a good set of rubber that's already got Tane and myself satisfied in terms of performance - I use mine on the track and you've seen me out on them.

[kiwi535 538]

when the time comes i will...tho the 5 is a different animal than the 3,is at least 1500 kg prolly closer to 1600kg.I want a quiet tyre,a tyre which will last a reasonable time have good grip wet and dry.I dont think i drive faster harder than joe bloggs mostly commute but it is also the car we take away at holiday time,and of course the "club" car too.Enough for a tyre to cope with you think.....

[martyyn 2]

when the time comes i will...tho the 5 is a different animal than the 3,is at least 1500 kg prolly closer to 1600kg.I want a quiet tyre,a tyre which will last a reasonable time have good grip wet and dry.I dont think i drive faster harder than joe bloggs mostly commute but it is also the car we take away at holiday time,and of course the "club" car too.Enough for a tyre to cope with you think.....

Jim sorted me out aswell Paul, so get hold of him....come to think of it I need him aswell.....come on Jim where are you I need to tyres for the Scooby my friend.

Ive got a set of Dunlop Sport 01's or something, VERY quiet, excellent ride quality on the longer runs, pretty good grip-wise but not as grippy as the 275/40 Falken FK451's I had previously on the rear, but Im now back to BMW sizing for 18's being 255 on the rear so the extra 2cm would make the some difference.

A good price and half decent service, although he could do with offering his better customers a coffee....although to be fair he handed the lollipops about