Hi

I have just got two new tyres fitted. Michelins 206/60/15 for £62 each, fitted inc VAT. This seemed like quite a decent price to me. No quoting a price then adding valves, balancing etc....like the big chains do. The garage is KP tyres Ewell, so if you are in this area and need some tyres you might give them a go. Plus they didn't whinge about balancing centre-less alloys or crush the sills.

The tyres that had to be replaced were not worn but had started to perish and had been a recent MOT notification. The fitter and I looked at the data and they were originals! June 2000 and part worn at 95K miles. Unbelievable.

Cheers

Tony

Hi Tony

Sounds like a reasonable price. I usually have cheapies, around £40 - 45, I dont drive fast but they last well, usually in excess of 30k. Mine don't get the chance to perish, I do nearly 20k per year!

Peter.N.

I had two new tyres put on the front of my XM last week, mine are 195/65/15 being the 2.0 hatch.

I got a pair of Vredestein Sportrac 3s for £110 fitteed, superb tyres, much improved over the old Fate budget tyres which had worn and perished. Although ive had the Xm six years and they were on when i bought it! So they have done well.

I wanted quiet tyres, which gives a good ride but grips well. These do all of them, Ive had no grip issues with these new ones, they are superb, its much quieter, the ride seems better and the steering feel is improved. They have a funky tread pattern too!



Id really recommend them, i know they are not Michelins, which i would have prefered but i couldnt find any at a decent price in the time i wanted them.

I dont get on well with budget tyres, i did have a pair on the Xm at one point, which caused all kinds of problems. Needless to say, after 2K miles, i changed them.

My Xm still had its original Michelin rear tyres right up to 75000 miles, quite outstanding really. (its now on 83k)

So ive learnt my lesson there, and always try to research my tyres before i buy now.

Hi Tony

What's your car model? What Michelins have you put, the "Energy" ones or the "Primacy"? Did you perceive any difference compared to the old ones?

In my case I got my front tyres to the legal limit this summer while the interiors were more worn (practically bald in the inner edges). This was with a 12v V6 XM on Kumhos KH11 (205/60) after 48,000kms=28,000miles.

I've put new tyres (exact same model) and the reduction in "crashiness" is quite distinguishable, didn't expect this effect. Seems it's true what they say that this suspension works better the smoother the tyre (more rubber in my case).

I've also done the tracking and found it was largely toed-out which must have been responsible for the excessive inner wear. Shame I hadn't looked at it 4 years ago.

The rears (same tyre, same date) are still well over the legal limit.

cheers
G

Hi George

The car is a '00 V6 24v (in Black). The tryes are Michelin 500Sport V rated (correct rating for this car 149mph!!). The garage only had the Michelin or a "never heard of them before" brand at £45 each. So it wasn't much of a choice.

The car seems a bit better - smoother - but I was never convinced that the previous tryes were that well balanced, plus I put the new tyres on the front and the part worn fronts on the rear.

Cheers

Tony

I see the name on the tire: Giugiaro. Giugiaro designed the car you see here in the pictures. I owned these, in succession, from 1975 to 1984 or so. Can anyone guess the make/type? Sorry for the OT thing

To honest, I don't know, but I would think well in excess of 70 mph which is about as fast as I go.

Peter.N.

I replaced the original front tyres at 44000 km with Michelin MXE Green 205/65 R15 94S and the rear ones at 47200 with Michelin XM1 205/65 R15 94H. The old sets still had quite a bit of tread left, but showed very fine cracks in the side walls. Not unusual after 7 years I suppose. The replacement tyres are used ones and I got them very cheap! After replacing the front tyres noise emanating from the front was greatly reduced. And again more noise reduction when the rear ones were replaced. It taught me not to stay on old rubber too long. Now that tyre noise is almost non-existant I hear other dissonants but nothing to worry about

Oh, forgot to say, motorway speeds here are limited to 80 and 100 kph. Not many drivers heed them and you are OK if you exceed them with 10 kph, so I often do that too, but usually that's as fast as I go - which at my age is fast enough

Fitting new tyres usually does have a dramatic effect on the ride, and steering. In the days of cross ply tyres, the whole carcass was relativly soft so the ammount of tread didn't make so much difference but radials are very stiff so the tread is the main insulation between you and the road.

Peter.N.

The tread wearing down to close to the minimum is not such a big problem, I think. It is the age of the rubber, the hardening of the compound that causes noise and reduced performance.

Hi all.

Very coincidental thread this, as I've just replaced the fronts on mine --- gone from the never heard of them ones it came with to MIchelin. What a difference. Smoother, feels like it's on rails and an immediate fuel improvement (OK, only average .3 mpg improvement, but all worth having.) Also noticeable was the old ones had half a pound of weights slung around the rim; the Michelin each took just two of the little stick on squares, so must be a better constructed piece of kit.

Mike.

Hi Mike

The fuel economy will just be the 12mm increase in wheel diameter. Most new premium tyres have 8mm of tread. In my experience many of the economy tyres save a mm or so of rubber by reducing the new tread depth as well as using cheaper compounds. The tyres contribution to ride performance comes from at least three variables one of which is tread depth so comparing new with worn is only really valid for the same type of tyre. I actually think that the tread blocks make a major contribution to noise control by conforming to road shape and when they are worn short they have lost most of this dynamic deformation capability and are inherently noiser.

Hi Tony

I though the tyre spec for your V6 was 205/65/15 as only the Mk1 V6's were fitted new with 60's.

John