What Tyres are people running?

[AYGOSTU]

(My Verso is the 2016 1.6d BMW)

 

Hello, 

I have had a lot of cars, driven a lot of miles, but never seen a set of tyres wear as fast as on the verso.. 

The ones on the car fitted from new where Michelin Premacy's,   we have just clocked over 12k miles and they are nearly on the legal limit.

Just wondering what other people get out of theirs? and what tyres are you running?  

I am thinking of a few options next..

-  Pirelli Cinturato P7 , as they have runflat & seal inside technology.. 

- Or maybe I go for an all weather tyre this time, like the Michelin cross-climate 

- Or i go for Continental eco contact 5's .. these are the same tyres as my Aygo, and I have always had lots of miles out of them.

 

Happy to hear any thoughts...

 

 

[Fisherofmen]

I'm still running on the original Michelins at 25,500 miles - same model Verso as yours. Still 4mm depth on fronts and 5mm on rears, so wearing much less than yours. Do you need alignment checking?

[AYGOSTU]

2 minutes ago, Fisherofmen said:

I'm still running on the original Michelins at 25,500 miles - same model Verso as yours. Still 4mm depth on fronts and 5mm on rears, so wearing much less than yours. Do you need alignment checking?

Alignment is all good, and tyre wear is even. I asked for this to be checked at the recent winter health check as I was surprised at the tyre wear.

I wonder if we are hammering it too much..    or maybe i should double check the PSI's..

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Back a few years, we had a petrol Mazda Premacy from new, and that gave a similar tyre life to yours. OE tyres were Toyos - a fitment designed for the Premacy. All four tyres wore evenly, no problems with alignment. A query to Honest John gave the reply that it was the type of vehicle - more body roll, etc.

[Mr Wolf]

I am not far from the point when I shall need to replace all 4 tyres on my Avensis (currently 27,000 miles old).

One can take the recommendation of other car owners but I've found that, perhaps not surprisingly, most owners seem to recommend the make of tyres on their own car!

I have been looking at the 3 Category EU Tyre Label System which provides tyre ratings based on

     1) fuel efficiency (rolling resistance),

     2) wet grip performance (stopping distance) and,

     3) noise level (in decibels).

The much vaunted Michelin Cross Climate tyres get a C rating for fuel efficiency,  B rating for wet grip performance and 69 decibels for noise level. This seems good but not as good as the Goodyear Efficiency Grip tyres that get B, A and 69 respectively suggesting these are better than the Michelins on fuel efficiency and wet grip performance and equal on noise level. If one is not needing tyres for snow like conditions, then given the EU ratings, the Goodyear tyre seems best; and each tyre costs £42 less (for my car) than the Michelin Cross Climates!

[FROSTYBALLS]

The Goodyear equivalent to the Cross Climates is the Vector 4 seasons/Vector 4 seasons - gen2, rather than the Efficient Grip.

As regards the Tyre Labelling system ratings for noise - these are measured externally, so don't relate to noise heard inside the vehicle.

[Catlover]

I have had Evergreens fitted to most of my cars in the last 7 years. Evergreen are Chinese and some will discount them because of that. However, China build a Hugh amount of vehicles each year, all requiring At least 4 tyres each, an probably majority fitted in the early years would be foreign tyres to the Chinese market, but China being Chinsa, they soon manufactured there own tyres and now export to other countries, in UK.      I have them fitted to Peugeot 307, BMW 320d, Fiat Scudo van, Yaris diesel, Auris hybrid and never once felt they were not to be trusted, even in heavy rain, snow, or (as we live on the of country roads) muddy roads. They giving good tyre wear nor don’t seem excessively noisy.  They not as cheap as some imports, but certainly not as dear as the major tyre players ie Mich, Goodyear, Bridgestone etc etc.  I can only give my viewpoint an that is I definitely will be fitting them next time I need new tyres.

[Cyker]

First Yaris came with Firestone Multihawks - They sucked.

Replaced them with Continental Premium Contact 2E's - Found them to be very good tyres; Long lasting, pretty good grip in the wet and dry.

When they eventually wore out, changed to Premium Contact 5's - They had very good grip in went and dry but were apparently made of blutack - I wore out the fronts in something ridiculous (IIRC in 7000 miles but I'm not sure if I'm remembering that right now...)

Next were Cooper CS2's - Started off okay but the lateral grip was awful; The Yaris, being a naturally understeery car, was not fun to go round  even a roundabout with those on, esp. if there was any moisture! They were annoyingly hard-wearing (Given I was actively trying to scrub them so I had a good excuse to replace them, they did very well in that department!)

After the CS2's I was looking for a tread pattern that had more rubber and less grooves, which led to the Dunlop Street Response 2's (And later the identical Goodyear Efficient Grip Compacts when I inevitably got a puncture) - These were really nice; Cheaper than the Contis but just as good for the most part in terms of grip, wear, fuel economy etc.. They only have one downside - They are really -'king noisy!! It is because of these tyres I learned that the Noise rating is not what YOU hear, but what everyone else hears, so I'm sure everyone was impressed at how quiet my Yaris was as I wafted past them while inside I was going deaf from road noise!

Sadly they don't make those in the wheel size for New Yaris, but I stuck with the Dunlop theme and went with their Sport BluResponse. Currently finding them quite bad - Better than the CS2 but worse than the Contis and Street Response. However, I'm not sure how much of that is the tyre and how much is New Yaris (I'm starting to think the big heavy diesel lump in the front of my old Yaris was actually very beneficial for grip with things like accelerating, turning and braking compared to the feather-weight engine in New Yaris!!).

 

[AYGOSTU]

Interesting responses from everyone. Its seems there has been a lot of trial and error for others too. 

I guess its swings and roundabouts with how many miles i get out of the next set. will see how it goes i guess.. but thank you all for the food for thought regarding different options :) 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Michelin also own the B F Goodrich and Kleber tyre brands which may be worth looking at.

[Heidfirst]

4 hours ago, AYGOSTU said:

Interesting responses from everyone. Its seems there has been a lot of trial and error for others too.  

& it's a movable target as manufacturers continue to play around with the spec. during a tyre design's production life. So what started out as an average tyre can occasionally becomes a class leader if they hit upon a golden formula. & then you have the variants that are tweaked for a specific manufacturer (e.g. MB, BMW, Jaguar).

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk & their links to tyre tests around Europe can be interesting reading.

[fan168]

I have stuck with the factory fit Bridgestone Turanza ER300's all round but I read somewhere that these were being discontinued

[Johan Damitha De Silva]

Hi AygoStu,

I too have Yaris and Verso but I am with Mr Wolf here regarding Goodyear Efficiency Grip for the Verso. Comfort, low noise, hard walls but more importantly the grip is there in cold weather all the way down to end of life not tested in the magazine reviews.

I do not run these on the Yaris T-Sport as this spoil the fun... but now I am getting older maybe I will in order to save me buying a Micra

[AYGOSTU]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

quick question.. my tyre size is 215/55/17, looking online the Michilen crossclimates only come in 225/55/17,  is it ok to put a thicker tyre on the car? I was pretty much sold on the Goodyear’s but now have plans for some Europe trips so am going to go for all weather approved.

thanks again.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Blackcircles have the Cross Climate+ in 215/55/R17W  - https://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/michelin/crossclimate-plus/215/55/R17/W/98/f?tyre=35790891

[AYGOSTU]

Cheers Frosty ! My poor searching .. at least I know they exist in 215 then :) 

 

[AYGOSTU]

So, I asked my local Toyota dealer for a price on some Michelin Crossclimate + tyres, after chasing for a price, and having no call backs as promised they finally quoted £230 each ! After getting prices from other local tyre fitters I realised they where vastly over priced at Toyota. I asked if that was their best price and they informed me it was, and it included 10% discount as we have a service plan.. I advised that it says ‘price match guarantee on the main Toyota website but they said ‘nope we can’t price match’

I have since ordered the tyres way cheaper from Kwick fit and had them fitted on my drive.. so far they are great. I am really disappointed from the poor service I received from my Toyota dealer and the false advertising they have regarding price matching. 

[fordulike]

2 hours ago, AYGOSTU said:

So, I asked my local Toyota dealer for a price on some Michelin Crossclimate + tyres, after chasing for a price, and having no call backs as promised they finally quoted £230 each !

Sacre bleu

I had 4 x Goodyear Vector 4seasons G2, fitted for little more than the price of one Toyota tyre. Ok, so the mk1 tyres are a little smaller, but £920 for 4, really lol.

[Willss]

I asked my local Toyota dealership to price match 2 local tyre fitters for some new Michelins I wanted - they had my car booked in for other work anyway.  They said they price matched when it was 'viable' to do so.  Seeing the cost price on their screen whilst they were looking them up I can confirm they refused to price match if they would make less than about £18 per tyre. 

A bit pointless saying they will do a price match really! 

Not a problem as my local tyre place is fine so I'm just going there but would have just been quicker/easier to go to one place. 

For info 205 55 r16 (so smaller) cross climates were quoted by my local place at £88 each (I suspect Black Circles are even cheaper but I prefer to keep things local). 

I went with Primacy 3 as I've been OK with them in the past.  2 places I spoke to said that the cross climates were prone to scrubbing/uneven wear but I suspect it depends how/where you drive.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Whichever retailer I use and for whatever product, whether that is a toaster or tyres, I don't bother with any price match as usually the terms and conditions have too many limitations. For example Toyota's price match terms and conditions are:
"Full Terms and Conditions of  The Toyota Price Match offer

Toyota Centres will match any like-for-like written or emailed price quotation from an official VAT registered tyre seller within a 10 mile radius of the participating Toyota Service Centre. Tyres must be identical specification – size, brand, pattern, load, speed rating and manufacturer marking. The competing quote must be provided to your participating Toyota Service Centre at the point of purchase on the tyre seller’s headed paper or from their official email address within 30 days of the quotation date and before any work is undertaken. The quote must be for a fully fitted tyre service including VAT, valves, wheel balancing and disposal charges. Tyre Price Match excludes special campaigns and cannot be used in conjunction with any other tyre offer or discount. Toyota reserves the right to amend, modify, extend or withdraw this offer at its discretion. This offer is available to retail customers only and cannot be used for business purposes. Tyre Price Match does not apply to tyres fitted by way of a mobile service and internet order prices are excluded. Tyre Price Match is available from participating Toyota Service Centres only. This offer is valid until 31st August 2018."

As regards keeping things local, BlackCircles are an internet based service, but fitting is done at a local tyre fitting centre of your choice. For example, the last time I bought some tyres, I ordered from Blackcircles and had them fitted by B J Bannings in Birmingham.

Incidentally both Blackcircles and ATS Euromaster are owned by Michelin.

[carlios]

My 2006 Corolla Verso T3 has been running on Dunlop Fast/BluResponse tyres from new. Had been thinking about changing to a different type for few years but which ones? After having front pair of tyres replaced by Toyota during a service on a 'price match' I wondered why/how Toyota Service were keen to flog me some tyres. 14 months/15k miles later both tyres wore out ! Never again ! Now changed to Firestone tyres, lot quieter, better grip. Had considered Cross Climate tyres but more expensive.

[FROSTYBALLS]

What make were the tyres the dealer fitted?

[carlios]

The 2 front tyres were Dunlop BluResponse, checked manufacture date, one was made 13 months previous, the other just under 12 months, one made in Poland, the other I think was Germany? I had the misfortune to suffer a n/s drive shaft breakage which resulted in a tow to Toyota garage by the AA. This was about 1.5 miles including four roundabouts which were all left turn. I was very surprised that one tyres showed the cords on the outside edge and the other had been scrubbed on outside edge also.

[Nasty]

215-50-17

front: Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2

rear: Dunlop Sport BluResponse

Perfect tires with <69dB (silent), A-label wet performance and still a good fuel effencieny. I was blown away that an mpv like the verso still had a pretty good handling. Even better then my Honda Accords! So i’d like to keep/improve that with good tires 🙂

[carlios]

Always had Dunlop tyres until the driveshaft broke. Had previously considered changing to another make of tyres. I had to change the tyres earlier than planned due to the tow to a Toyota Garage which scrubbed the remaining tread from the outside of both front tyres!

Now have 4 x Firestone Efficient, so far so good.