Tyre Time

[DRESTER]

The time has come to replace my tyres. Would anyone like to recommend a competitive tyre company in London?

Do you have to go back to the Dealers for the best 4 wheel alignment? Or is there a good specialist I could go to?

I am looking for 225/45/17 ZR speed rating.

Cheers.

 

[S3K]

Yeah I would be interested too on local 4 wheel alignment centers that are good...mine needs doing already damn sleeping policemen /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I used to go to Elite in Romford as they specialise in wheels and tyres and alignment etc...it aint far off the A13.

I live SE London so it wasnt bad for me to get to..

Of course that was with my other motors...not quite sure if the S3 needs to go anywhere special.....

 

[AndyMac]

You need to go to one that specialises in 4 wheel drive vehicles, I made the mistake of going to a high street place and then had to pay again to get it done properly.

 

[acf8181]

dunno about competetive company's in london, but what tyres are you gonna go with. goodyear eagle f1's are the supposed to be the best, followed by toyo proxes. i also rate uniroyals (both rainsport and rallye540) highly myself.

 

[comdw]

Merityre are a chain that do four wheel alignment with before/after printouts. Don't know how good they are, but check the link out:

http://www.merityre.co.uk/wheel_alignment.htm

 

[DRESTER]

I am not sure but I was looking at Goodyear F1's or the Toyo Proxes.

I have been told whilst the Toyos offer superb grip in both wet/dry conditions, the wear rate is very high.

 

[acf8181]

think you can't go wrong with either really...both top tyres. think if i had the extra money i'd go for the f1's, they are supposed to be awesome...especially in wet.

 

[Spence]

[ QUOTE ]
AndyMac said:
You need to go to one that specialises in 4 wheel drive vehicles, I made the mistake of going to a high street place and then had to pay again to get it done properly.

[/ QUOTE ]

**DITTO** - Go straight to Audi first off and stomach the £100 quid or so they charge /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burningmad.gif

Toyo's are excellent but don't last too long (mine have done about 15k miles, whereas the factory Potenza's managed 18k miles - a lot of which is motorway stuff).

My next choice will be a set of F1's from Bracknell Tyre and Battery, 01344 411323. They can do 17" F1's for £89.30 inc VAT & fitting.

 

[DavidR]

I am being different and trying the new Michelin Pilot Sport 2. They have aysmetric tread and rubber compound, with a more adhesive compound on the outer half of the tyre to increase grip during cornering.

Its really hard to tell much about a tyre on a quattro audi due to lack of feeback, but they ride well, grip nicely and seem to have a progressive breakaway....

 

[SimonP]

I'm up for new tyres too shortly.

I'm currently nearly through the stock RE040's on my new S3, and I'm looking forward to getting rid of them as they're awful in the wet. Have got through the outside shoulders on the RE040's in only 9.5k miles - the swiss mountain passes on holiday have a lot to answer for

I went through two sets of Bridgestone S03's on my old S3 and at the time I thought the S03's the dogs, but have the F1's stolen their glory? Also be interested in any feedback on the Michelins if they give more miles for the same grip (wet grip being of particular interest for the next few months).

 

[jesters3]

Got to say I thought Toyos were good but the F1s are very very impressive, I have GSD2 on the rear and GSD3 on the front and the traction is raillike.

I cannot comment on the wear as they have been on for 3K or so but seem to be bearable from monthly checks on tyre treads and so forth. On the Toyos they wore very quickly and seem to have a weaker sidewall resulting in 3 tyres needing replacing, however there were excellent.

Pricing seems to be good for the tyre when compared to Toyos and other marques and it also fits the alloys very well.

My only gripe is that the tyre does provide a lot of feel to the car, definaltly not a bad thing however with all the undulations I get down my country roads it is a bit of a bugbear. Then again maybe I should sort out the ride height at some point. However on the move it is very useable and assists in making judgements, they do have to warm up a bit as I found out on a skitish manouvere the other day.

Have a look at http://www.blackcircles.com, they offer places around the country plus do online quotes.

 

[acf8181]

[ QUOTE ]
David R said:
I am being different and trying the new Michelin Pilot Sport 2.


[/ QUOTE ]

got them on at the mo...not as good as my previous uniroyal rallye540's. same cornering grip levels, but the uniroyals were better traction and braking.