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Ok, tyre stores are absolutely useless, I'm up for 245/40/18's, what have people had, and how have you found them? I've just got 80,000 k's from a set of Nexen N5000's, terrible in the wet but quiet, good in the dry, wear incredibly evenly @ 40psi.
While my needs are specific, (im not looking for performance tyres just quality longevity) i am interested in creating a bit of a bible or reference of tyre choice, so feel free to share needs and experiences at all price and performance points.
Dunlops have always been good for me (on the xr's) I normally get 50,000k's from hard driving and was happy with the grip in the wet and dry. The missus is due soon and again 50,000k's out of her original set.
I put falkins on the SR and I got 30,000's. Nothing special after 5000k's and couldn't wait to get rid of them.
I put some Maxxis on currently and I think they'll wear to about the 50,000k mark. The grip is pretty good and the car was better when I had the diff bushes fixed.
Now these are all 17" and run at about 37psi. But then again tyre life is dependent on how hard you drive the car.
Hi Norm ... I am a big fan of whatever big brand name tyre I can get on special. When I can't I usually fall back on Toyos or Falkens. But I never get anything like the kms you report. The tyres I buy are bought for performance first, performance second, and performance third. Currently I have Michelin Pilot Sports (Porsche Cup control tyres) on the TL (275/35-18) which cost $288 ea (normal retail over $600). I have some Continental Conti Sports on the wagon (235/45-17s) that cost just over $800 (all 4) delivered (retail over $500 each!) as used on AMG Mercs etc. I have Falken FK 452s on the TE (245/275x40-18) and have used them regularly with good results for the money but they are now up about and above $300 a tyre. I have Dunlop SP Sport Maxx TT (245/40-18) on the TS - very good tyres that suit the Ford well but always over $400 a tyre.
Yep had good runs from Dunlops in the past too, similar experiences with Falkens, 40-45k's from 2 sets and 45-50k's from factory Dunlops.Quote:
Originally Posted by VZTRT
@ $190 per corner the Nexan's are cheap, im not looking for performance tyres, and the wet grip issue is something ive learnt to drive around, but i warn anyone who drives it in the wet, even a N/A FG can get messy quickly.
The thing that pisses me off is that most tyre guys i seem to encounter really know nothing about the products they sell.
As an example i asked a manager at a big tyre place near work what tyres gave similar tread life to the N5000's, he said Federal's were roughly the same, the Nexen N5000's have a treadwear index of 420, the highest i can find, and usage would support it very closely, the federal tread felt rather soft to touch comparred to the N5000's, and guess what, on inspection they had a treadwear index of 240...!! id imagine for identical usage about 50'k's... almost half the N5000's...
Frustrating.
I have only used the Dunlop's and at the momment have the 3000a's that have so far done 36 thou and probably at just past half way in their life, so I would assume I will see over 50 thou out of them, but they are adequete enough for me in the wet and dry, I can't fault them.
Even though I have never used the car for track work or pushed the tyre to it's limit's like some people therefore I wouldn't know how they compare in the perfromance stake, all I know is that I think for what I do they are good.
I got 27 thou out of the original Dunlop SP 9000, and would have seen more if I had of checked the alignment earlier then I did, as the inner edge's were scuffed beyond, so I was happy with the millage out of them considering.
Both of my Falcons have Michelin Pilot Sport 3s on them. Awesome tyres. The only downside, was that the 16s on the EF cost more than the 17s on the BF.
Stick like shit to a blanket in wet or dry. On the EF, they've done about 1,000 Kms, and about 5,000 on the BF.
I avoid like the plague, anything with Goodyear, Dunlop, Wanlii, Zetum, Maxxis, Bridgestone or Yokohama. I've got ADVANSTs on the rear of the X5, and they're noisy as buggery. I wore the fronts out in about eighteen months, but the Michelin Dimaris that it has on the front are fine.
i have falken ziex 912 on my FG. have done about 40000km on them and they are about 75% worn. as for feedback, i drive like grandma 90% of the time and never push around corners so can't really comment on their road holding capability. they are reasonably quiet but do get noisier as they wear. i also run tyres at 40 and the wear is nice and even across the face.
i bought these tyres on price basically. i just looked for the best 'brand name' tyre under $300ea and here in adelaide, that is quite a difficult task. my next set will be bought from interstate thats for sure.
i had the factory sport maxx on the G6ET rims when i bought them (they were brand new) and wore them out in about 20000km on a egas bf2 wagon. there seems to be quite a variation in the quality of that tyre as i have heard similar stories of poor tyre life, but have also heard stories of long tyre life. they are also very noisy.
Damn 80000clicks from a set good on you Norm I can't recall I ever got so many k's from shoes.
Well everyone has their opinions here don't we.
Nexens never had them as I avoided like the plague being the typical tyre used in the thousands of $2k bracket wheel packages offered by the leb owned tyre/wheel companies we have seen for a long time.
My feelings on Dunlop once half worn, too noisy and shyte grip in the wet so when the time comes IF I'm in a new Falcon/fpv soon enough they'd be off.
For general use Falken's 452 and above have been fair performers, Yoko's top end great feel wet/dry, Michys for long wearing yes but Conti's much better imo.
It always comes down to use and budget and or contacts as we all know.
I reckon i could get close to 90k's from them too!! LOL All city driving as well and they have worn exceptionally evenly but i do rotate front to rear every 10'k'sQuote:
Originally Posted by FTe217
They're hard as concrete, fine in the dry, not great in the wet under acceleration but interestingly seem to be ok for braking?
They're better than stock 205's that std falcons have though, but i just drive accordingly in the wet, for me there's no benefit to spending $400 per corner V $190 and getting half the service life for twice the cost, i average 39kph as i'm 90% stop start city driving so the economics speak for themselves. The best bit is ill now only have to replace the tyres once for the entire life of ownership of this car and come trade/sell time the car will have fully roadworthy tyres on it, which is money in my pocket.
Trust me, if it was a GT or F6 id invest in better tyres but for a N/A XR6 that's an A to B car they've been pretty good.
Every Tyre identical to this, average tread depth still 3.8mm... LOL
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