New Tyres

[TonyHSD]

These look very good indeed and they aren’t low profile. You show not have any potholes or kerbs problems. 

[Nick72]

51 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

These look very good indeed and they aren’t low profile. You show not have any potholes or kerbs problems. 

Generally agree but earlier this year I went down one that must have been 8 or 9 inches deep and a foot wide at about 45mph. Didn't see it until late and no option to swerve. Huge bang. Pretty sure it would have taken the wheel off many a car.

Steering is a lot heavier and the wheel fights to return to a straight course so we'll see how much wrist ache I get on longer country road trips 🤣.

But going around corners is immense as I just discovered. Absolutely gripping the road like the car is on rails. Seems a great coupling with the stiffer GRS suspension as it softens the bumps but improves cornering significantly.

[J2024IE]

happy with the stock Dunlop tyres on the Rav4.

[ToyotaFanDriver]

Sorry to hijack the thread...those of you using non toyota dealers for tyres...what happens if the fitter breaks the tpms? I had this issue on my last car. They broke tpms, then used some dodgy one as a replacement and couldnt get it to code back onto the car. The Corolla at the time kept lighting up the tpms light on the dash and I had to get Toyota to fix it. I now only use the dealer for tyres...

[Nick72]

11 minutes ago, ToyotaFanDriver said:

Sorry to hijack the thread...those of you using non toyota dealers for tyres...what happens if the fitter breaks the tpms? I had this issue on my last car. They broke tpms, then used some dodgy one as a replacement and couldnt get it to code back onto the car. The Corolla at the time kept lighting up the tpms light on the dash and I had to get Toyota to fix it. I now only use the dealer for tyres...

That was my biggest worry. Toyota would have been my first choice but...

1. My dealer has been a few sandwiches short of a picnic on almost everything else, so the odds of breakages were similar.

2. They don't open at the weekends and I'm too busy during the week with business until December.

3. They wanted 300 quid more than the 590 I paid, which is significantly more than a single TPMS sensor.

As logic would therefore dictate I went for the cheapest within a short commute range.

But I'll be honest I was still worried about it. Largely because I've had a lifetime of so called professionals fkng things up and I'm the one that fixes it. Plumbers, pro decorators, electricians, builders, car mechanics, aircraft engineering, spaceships and you name it. I'm not exaggerating.

[philip42h]

37 minutes ago, ToyotaFanDriver said:

what happens if the fitter breaks the tpms?

The replacement TPMS valve won't be replaced / programmed under warranty.

But these days, most cars have TPMS valves and most fitters know not to break them. Gone are the days that a fitter would automatically rip out the old rubber valve to replace it with a new one! So, it's not something that I worry about ...

[Flatcoat]

45 minutes ago, ToyotaFanDriver said:

Sorry to hijack the thread...those of you using non toyota dealers for tyres...what happens if the fitter breaks the tpms? I had this issue on my last car. They broke tpms, then used some dodgy one as a replacement and couldnt get it to code back onto the car. The Corolla at the time kept lighting up the tpms light on the dash and I had to get Toyota to fix it. I now only use the dealer for tyres...

Find a reputable tyre fitter. I would never trust my dealer with tyre fitting and certainly never found their tyre prices remotely competitive. 

[APS]

17 hours ago, Cyker said:

They'd be useless here as they'd melt from overheating 

Not as bad as you might think. I've pulled the studs out of winter tyres and taken them on track. Setting lap records, oh yeah! - nope.

[ernieb]

My last car, Subaru XV, the Costco fitter broke the TPMS on one wheel. They could not replace it but asked me to source a replacement and would pay the cost. They paid and refitted OK. From memory the sensor was over £100 - they didn’t blink an eye just refunded the money immediately onto my credit card.

[ToyotaFanDriver]

38 minutes ago, ernieb said:

My last car, Subaru XV, the Costco fitter broke the TPMS on one wheel. They could not replace it but asked me to source a replacement and would pay the cost. They paid and refitted OK. From memory the sensor was over £100 - they didn’t blink an eye just refunded the money immediately onto my credit card.

Great of them to do that, if it needing coding to the system and they couldnt do it, I wonder what happens in that scenario...

[Cyker]

2 hours ago, APS said:

Not as bad as you might think. I've pulled the studs out of winter tyres and taken them on track. Setting lap records, oh yeah! - nope.

Bah you weren't trying hard enough!   

That said, when we've had very hot summers and I've been on a hoon, I've noticed the edges displaying a bit of melty action even on my summer tyres!  

 

2 hours ago, ernieb said:

My last car, Subaru XV, the Costco fitter broke the TPMS on one wheel. They could not replace it but asked me to source a replacement and would pay the cost. They paid and refitted OK. From memory the sensor was over £100 - they didn’t blink an eye just refunded the money immediately onto my credit card.

Yeah, I don't really understand TPMS sensors - I originally assumed they all worked to some sort of standard, but it seems they are manufacturer or even car specific; The ones for the Mk4 Yaris are over £70 each according to my dealers (Although I found you can buy a set of 4 from Mazda for £130 for the Mazda 2 Hybrid... which is the same car...  )

 

  

5 hours ago, Nick72 said:

That was my biggest worry. Toyota would have been my first choice but...

1. My dealer has been a few sandwiches short of a picnic on almost everything else, so the odds of breakages were similar.

2. They don't open at the weekends and I'm too busy during the week with business until December.

3. They wanted 300 quid more than the 590 I paid, which is significantly more than a single TPMS sensor.

As logic would therefore dictate I went for the cheapest within a short commute range.

But I'll be honest I was still worried about it. Largely because I've had a lifetime of so called professionals fkng things up and I'm the one that fixes it. Plumbers, pro decorators, electricians, builders, car mechanics, aircraft engineering, spaceships and you name it. I'm not exaggerating.

Yeah it's sad as you assume the dealer would be the foremost expert on the car, but the more I've given them stuff the more they've shown they are either really inexperienced or just don't car/know what they're doing.

The only exception has been servicing, which they've been at least consistently competent at, but that's not exactly challenging.

The high staff-turnover probably doesn't help, but I blame the management more than the staff as they clearly don't treat them very well.

[Nick72]

6 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Bah you weren't trying hard enough!   

That said, when we've had very hot summers and I've been on a hoon, I've noticed the edges displaying a bit of melty action even on my summer tyres!  

 

Yeah, I don't really understand TPMS sensors - I originally assumed they all worked to some sort of standard, but it seems they are manufacturer or even car specific; The ones for the Mk4 Yaris are over £70 each according to my dealers (Although I found you can buy a set of 4 from Mazda for £130 for the Mazda 2 Hybrid... which is the same car...  )

 

Yeh that's so weird. 

[Flatcoat]

I have run all season tyres for some years across a range of cars and tyre brands. I did start with having separate winters on steel wheels but it was simply too much hassle. Brands have varied from Apollo (Vrederstien) through Kleber, to Goodyear and Continental. Apollo were cheap, grippy and wore very quickly. Kleber were good especially for the price, good wear rate, Slightly squirmy in hot weather but very good in the rain. Goodyear were also good but maybe a bit too summer biased. Continentals on the RAV seem a good all rounder, low rolling resistance, really excellent wear rates, good in the rain. Ok in hot weather (+30), limited snow experience so difficult to judge fully. 

[Nick72]

51 minutes ago, Flatcoat said:

I have run all season tyres for some years across a range of cars and tyre brands. I did start with having separate winters on steel wheels but it was simply too much hassle. Brands have varied from Apollo (Vrederstien) through Kleber, to Goodyear and Continental. Apollo were cheap, grippy and wore very quickly. Kleber were good especially for the price, good wear rate, Slightly squirmy in hot weather but very good in the rain. Goodyear were also good but maybe a bit too summer biased. Continentals on the RAV seem a good all rounder, low rolling resistance, really excellent wear rates, good in the rain. Ok in hot weather (+30), limited snow experience so difficult to judge fully. 

Good sumnmary.

I looked at the environmental conditions in which I drive. Lancs and Cumbria with business trips all over the country several times a month.

It feels like...

Hot and dry only about 20 days of the year in the North West 😂. Dry only probably another 50 days. 220 days it's wet or really wet. 65 days of snow or ice, heavy in Cumbria. 10 days I'm doing light off road in 4 seasons in a day stuff. 

So summer tyres were in a minority position. Tyres that can cope well with wet, snow, ice and light off road was what swayed me to go for the CC2s. I nearly stuck with the stock Bridgestone Alenza 001s as they seem to get good ratings in the wet for safety. But was just swayed over the line by the CC2s.

I did some driving around the bendy wet roads and I was very impressed by the grip. Normally at the end of our road there's a steep part with negative camber. On the Bridgestones and Yokohamas the car would wheel spin a little on pulling out. I've not experienced that on the CC2s. 

Still not driven the car hard (where safe and appropriate) until I get at least c. 600 miles on it. 

 

 

[Nick72]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

Bah you weren't trying hard enough!   

That said, when we've had very hot summers and I've been on a hoon, I've noticed the edges displaying a bit of melty action even on my summer tyres!  

 

Yeah, I don't really understand TPMS sensors - I originally assumed they all worked to some sort of standard, but it seems they are manufacturer or even car specific; The ones for the Mk4 Yaris are over £70 each according to my dealers (Although I found you can buy a set of 4 from Mazda for £130 for the Mazda 2 Hybrid... which is the same car...  )

 

  

Yeah it's sad as you assume the dealer would be the foremost expert on the car, but the more I've given them stuff the more they've shown they are either really inexperienced or just don't car/know what they're doing.

The only exception has been servicing, which they've been at least consistently competent at, but that's not exactly challenging.

The high staff-turnover probably doesn't help, but I blame the management more than the staff as they clearly don't treat them very well.

I discovered the reason behind a weird thing the other day.

My dealer is very poor in my experience over the last 3 years.

Yet for 6 or 7 years whilst the wife had an Aygo they were brilliant. Fixed stuff that they didn't charge for, no quibbles on warrantee, and shed even just turn up to ask them to pump her tyres up (usually after I've said I'll get around to it at the weekend or the weekend after). They always did. 

She swapped from the Aygo to a nearly new Mini. Needed something small, less tinny, more power for the motorway after we moved house. I was with her to look at new cars in the mini dealership and spoke to the salesman. They're really good there. Transpires that during the time things were very good at the Toyota dealership it was under the manager that's now at Mini. Sometimes it's just down to leadership. But I'm guessing Mini paid him more.

Car she was looking at was a cooper with a pan roof. Lovely black and minty pearl green. All the kit. 

I asked the salesman. Think he said, 2.0 litre turbo, 210hp. I said I bet that's thirsty. 37mpg he said but it's the price you pay for the power. I said, that one out there (points to the GRS) gets me 58mpg (real) on a good day and 52mpg on a bad day, and that's 306hp DIN and a 2 tonne SUV. And well over 52 miles per charge this time of year. 😂 Smug moment. But a lovely car, huge circular high resolution display (which now finally supports AA), HUD, and a pan moon roof that opens more than 8 inches. 😂

Anyways, I've tried talking her into getting a Toyota (Yaris or CHR) but she is dead set on another Mini. Could go for electric but the asking price is stupendously high. It'll never pay off the delta to petrol version as she only does 6k miles a year and never much more than a 20 mile round trip. Second hand electric may be goer but then there's no AA!

[Station]

On 9/21/2024 at 3:23 PM, ernieb said:

A lot of tyres do not perform well in ice I’ve always had the CC’s preform very well in the wet. For me it’s one of the main reasons to make the change. Driving motorways in heavy rain when there are lorry’s around can be disconcerting to say the least. Experience of the CC’s in these conditions gives me confidence that the car is still making contact with the road - evidenced by the trail of clean road tracks behind me.

I had CC2’s on my last car (JCW Countryman) and totally agree about wet motorway driving. The sheer amount of water being kicked up as seen through rear view mirror was evidence too.

[Flatcoat]

20 minutes ago, Station said:

I had CC2’s on my last car (JCW Countryman) and totally agree about wet motorway driving. The sheer amount of water being kicked up as seen through rear view mirror was evidence too.

I have same with Continental all season too. The CC’s are clearly good but there are others which in my experience and from reading of reviews, are equally worthy. 

[Station]

On 9/21/2024 at 5:29 PM, Nick72 said:

I had these fitted 3 weeks back and I’m very surprised even after reading / watching several positive reviews. Steering is good, sound is no worse imo, but yes, I do lose about 5% on EV range and MPG, which I can live with as I am fortunate enough to get free charging at work which covers my commute, plus a little towards the weekend 😃

A bit more extreme I know, but I drive up a lot of dirt tracks (gravel and mud) at this time of year through to March and last year my CC2’s did struggle on my then car (JCW Countryman).

They are all season, all terrain, with 3 peaks rating for snow so I’m hoping they will perform well as I plan to just leave them on till worn out.

I would then decide to replace them with the same or go with CC2’s again 👍

[Nick72]

4 hours ago, Station said:

I had these fitted 3 weeks back and I’m very surprised even after reading / watching several positive reviews. Steering is good, sound is no worse imo, but yes, I do lose about 5% on EV range and MPG, which I can live with as I am fortunate enough to get free charging at work which covers my commute, plus a little towards the weekend 😃

A bit more extreme I know, but I drive up a lot of dirt tracks (gravel and mud) at this time of year through to March and last year my CC2’s did struggle on my then car (JCW Countryman).

They are all season, all terrain, with 3 peaks rating for snow so I’m hoping they will perform well as I plan to just leave them on till worn out.

I would then decide to replace them with the same or go with CC2’s again 👍

You'll definitely not have any muddy tracks and field problems with those. They look pretty chunky and robust. No problem there in the snow.

What I've picked up is that we all weight our needs differently. Types of conditions we tend to need to drive in, types of surfaces, what we value most in terms of economy, cost, get me outta trouble, etc.

Was the JCW AWD or FWD?

[Station]

2 hours ago, Nick72 said:

You'll definitely not have any muddy tracks and field problems with those. They look pretty chunky and robust. No problem there in the snow.

What I've picked up is that we all weight our needs differently. Types of conditions we tend to need to drive in, types of surfaces, what we value most in terms of economy, cost, get me outta trouble, etc.

Was the JCW AWD or FWD?

Hoping they do the job for me.

Like you say, we all have different needs 👍

Where we live is rural and the lanes never get gritted so since moving from having Company cars I’ve gone AWD including the Countryman. The JCW was very good, but at best, on a good run I’d get 43mpg and normally just 32mpg (even 28 at times) !

The GRS has been an amazing eye opener as to what a very capable, pretty big SUV can return mileage wise.

ATB 👍

 

[Nick72]

27 minutes ago, Station said:

Hoping they do the job for me.

Like you say, we all have different needs 👍

Where we live is rural and the lanes never get gritted so since moving from having Company cars I’ve gone AWD including the Countryman. The JCW was very good, but at best, on a good run I’d get 43mpg and normally just 32mpg (even 28 at times) !

The GRS has been an amazing eye opener as to what a very capable, pretty big SUV can return mileage wise.

ATB 👍

 

I was in the Mini dealership recently with wife. She wants a new or nearly new mini to replace her existing mini. Salesman seemed impressed the 2.0l turbo 210hp cooper they were selling did 37mpg. I said that one outside (pointing to GRS PHEV) does 52mpg to 58mpg without factoring the 52+ miles per charge this time of year and that's 306hp (DIN). 🤣

Lovely car though. 

Wonder if I can steer her into AWD Mini then we can get up over the North Lakes mountains to our second home which is literally in the middle of nowhere. Rather than always going in my R4 PHEV. 🤣 

[Station]

21 hours ago, Nick72 said:

I was in the Mini dealership recently with wife. She wants a new or nearly new mini to replace her existing mini. Salesman seemed impressed the 2.0l turbo 210hp cooper they were selling did 37mpg. I said that one outside (pointing to GRS PHEV) does 52mpg to 58mpg without factoring the 52+ miles per charge this time of year and that's 306hp (DIN). 🤣

Lovely car though. 

Wonder if I can steer her into AWD Mini then we can get up over the North Lakes mountains to our second home which is literally in the middle of nowhere. Rather than always going in my R4 PHEV. 🤣 

My wife has stuck with Mini JCW’s (hatch) for her last 3 cars and they are very nice and lots of fun.

Shame they never managed to do an AWD in the hatch - we were told on many occasions that one was coming !

Countryman and Clubman were the only AWD options with 307bhp engines, so I suppose it depends what she likes?

I nearly talked my wife into getting a Yaris GR Circuit - now they are a weapon !

[Nick72]

1 minute ago, Station said:

My wife has stuck with Mini JCW’s (hatch) for her last 3 cars and they are very nice and lots of fun.

Shame they never managed to do an AWD in the hatch - we were told on many occasions that one was coming !

Countryman and Clubman were the only AWD options with 307bhp engines, so I suppose it depends what she likes?

I nearly talked my wife into getting a Yaris GR Circuit - now they are a weapon !

It's frightening to think of 307hp Mini. Suspect that would be in a particularly high tax bracket, insurance bracket, and a fuel guzzler. We need to save money for retirement. 😂

[Station]

1 hour ago, Nick72 said:

It's frightening to think of 307hp Mini. Suspect that would be in a particularly high tax bracket, insurance bracket, and a fuel guzzler. We need to save money for retirement. 😂

Yes, unfortunately all of the above 😂

They did a 307bhp Front Wheel Drive only hatchback, called a GP3 - now that’s a handful in the wet 😬

[Nick72]

These CC2 tyres are amazing. I can go around roundabouts significantly faster in the wet than in the dry in the last PHEV on stock tyres. Stiffer suspension helps of course. 

Also noticed on the wet motorway that it was totally planted. You can swerve and you're glued to the road. Next to zero chance of acqua planing. The water kick out was like Firefox flying low level over the sea.

https://youtu.be/hldbhg0avXA?si=sykIiEqFIwT9-hLj