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andy110m

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Guys,

I'm going to be in need of some new boots for my S4 in a month or so and wanted to see what brands get recommended. The cars running Goodyear F1's at the moment but I'm not massively impressed with them, mainly because of the high wear rate and the car never really feeling glued to the road.

I've have fast Vauxhalls and Renaults before and liked Yokohama and conti's on those. I was going to try the yoko A539 but they don't make it in 225 45 17.

The only other want, apart from good performance, they have got to look good and in that department the F1's do get a top mark, nice and square and attractive sporty pattern.

I'm sure with the amount of users on here we've probably tried every tyre know to man. What do you recommend?

Thanks.
 
Hi,

I'd love to try the parada spec 2 but they don't produce it in 225 45 17 so thats the end of that. The S306 is alot cheaper but looks it too. I've never thought of the Falken's. I did once run some Avons that worked well.

I see your in Aberdeen, I'm coming up to Union Square in two weeks, There's a touring car race meeting on at Union Square Shopping Centre. Should be good.
 
Ah, that's a crapper. I had Parada Spec 2s on my Civic and rate them highly! I've just ordered a set of 225/40/18 Falken 452s after reading a lot of really good reviews from them, both from retailers and users :)

Oh really? That's interesting! Might be worth a lil look that :)
 
A539 is a totally crap tyre, dry weather performance is at best acceptable and damp/wet performance is iffy as Hell.

Personally I would go with the Toyo Proxes T1R or Continental Sport Contact 2's, I'm surprised at your comments over the Eagle F1's as these are a highly rated tyre? Parada Spec 2 is a good dry tyre but wet is a no no, Use them on my track car but that's not seen a rainy day in years
 
IME T1R's are also pretty poor in the wet.

I'd be looking at either Uniroyal Rainsport 2's, or Kumho KU31's.

Rainsports are pretty awesome in the wet, extremely progressive tyre with loads of feel, dry grip is slightly worse than the Goodyears, probably on par with the Kumho's.

I had a set of contis on an old car and found them god awful, even had the back end step out with no warning whatsoever. Craig had Sport Contact 2's on the front of the S4 when he baught it, and it was understeer central, no progression at all, they'd just let go and you'd plough streight on. He swapped to eagles and it transformed the car.
 
I'm very surprised at your feelings on the T1R in the wet I have on occasions done 3 figure speeds and hit standing water and the car has always felt completely planted and stable. The only thing I can attribute the opinion of the Conti's would be the extra nose weight of the S4 over the 1.8T as again my Conti's took an absolute kicking off me.
 
I was gonna say that it's strange what you said about the Parada Spec 2s in the wet, 'cause I found them to be excellent. Then I thought, it all depends on the application of course - car, engine, size, camber, etc
 
i've got michelling ps3's after having the ps2's previously. excellent wear rate and brilliant in the dry. In the wet the ps2's were ok but the ps3's are meant to be better then the goodyears. Thats what i read in the audi driver mag who did specific testing with goodyears and michellins with audis dry and wet. I got mine 225 45 17 from blackcircles.
 
The goodyears are a bit dodgy in the wet.

They grip wet/damp tarmac just fine, but they dont seem very good at shifting water. The result means they give you the apparent confidence to push on that little bit faster thru the corners, then try to kill you if you hit the tiniest of puddles mid bend.

Oranoco: maybe it was T1S then, craig had a pair on his old E30, and they were pretty poor compared to the rainsports and the eagle f1's

My take on it is that the dry grip limits of most tyres are pretty decent, even some plastic spec ditchfinders will do alright in the dry and usually allow you to drive far quicker than you really should on public roads. Its wet weather performance where the tyres start to show their worth, and the Rainsports are extremely good. KU31's appeal because while they're not quite as good, they're significantly cheaper, and as such i'll most likely be fitting KU31's all round on the new wheels.
 
i got 4 perfect 225/45/17s

there attached to the below wheels for sale :) :sign_plug:
 
I think I agree with the comments about the Eagle tyre. In the dry its good, and on a damp road its also acceptable. The big but its when its raining heavily. They don't seem able to move water.

Kev, I love that, Ditchfinders! haha. I'm glad you mentioned the Kumho because I'd have never considered them. The other brand recomended to me is Nankang? I'm told they are Yokohama's under a different name. This allows them to make one tyre and have a volume market and a premium brand. I was told this by a friend who works at a tyre distributor. And yes I did aks if he can get them cheap but sadly he's only allowed one set a year.

Who makes the rainsports?
 
I wouldnt touch nankangs personally. Kumho's were also a bit of a grey area for me, but all i can find is glowing reports, so given the price they're worth a go.

Uniroyal make the Rainsports, usually around the same price as the eagles.
 
yokos are made in japan nankangs are made in taiwan so quality isnt going to be the same, got them on my tdi which is just a spoilt dog transporter and there fine on that but not on a performance car
fitted khumos on my tqs and cant fault them
 
I have had the rainsports (1 and 2's) in the past on a liner and supra. I can vouch for them being EXCELLENT wet weather (i.e. britain 99.9% of the time) tyres. Howver at the moment my avant is wearing some Dunlop sport maxx gt's. I can honestly say they are the best tyres I have ever had on a car. I got all four corners done for £400. When it is time to replace them I think I will give the Continental sport contact 3's a chance/try. I have heard some very good things about them. Bit on the pricey side, but as far as I'm concerned tyres make or break a car so spending the extra is worth it.......
 
I think I've made the decision to buy the new Eagles. I can get a set for £360 delivered, which is £100 more than the Kumhos. My Dad convinced me in one sentence. You didn't buy an S4 to take a cheap option!

My question now is regarding the load rating. The tyres I have are 91Y. The chap I spoke to about the tyres was trying to sell me 94Y. He said they are reinforced and do a better job of holding the road because of that. Do we think this is true?

Also any thoughts on 91W, they are rated at 168mph which is above the 155mph top speed of the car and I'm told that also contains a safety factor. If went for those I can save 30 quid. I'm thinking its not likely to get it near those sort of speeds.
 
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94Y has a higher load index, which probably means a slightly stiffer tyre wall. You need to look up the axle weights for the car (on the vin plate) and compare with the load index to decide which you need.

It will be interesting to see how the F1 Assymetric fares in the wet compared with the GSD3.

I've just ordered a pair of KU31's for ours, £125 delivered for 2 in 225/45r17.
 
ive had both paradas and a539s. i wouldnt put them on the s4. theyre not nice in the wet

if you dont like eagles, id try either a high end Vredestein or a set of Kumho Ku31s
 
Well I've just parted with my hard earned for a set of the Kumho KU31's. I have to see if these tyres are as good as I'm being told because they fit in nicely with one of my character flaws, I'm tight!!

I'll get them, do some running in and report back on my thoughts.

Thanks for all the advice guys.
 
i was going to fit them to my s4 but was offered some eagles at an impossible to miss price
 
what are rainsport 2's like? i've been offered some at a reasonable price.
 
what is your budget?

I would go
Michelin PS2
Pirelli Pzero
Goodyear Assym

in that order.
but at £170 a corner for PS2's I swerved and got GSD3's at £105 on mytyres!!
 
I certainly wouldnt knock the Rainsports, the only reason i didnt get them this time round was that they were quite a bit more than the kumhos
 
I run Falken 452's at the moment, and they're quite good tyres. Mind you, ANYTHING would be 'quite good' after running a set of 215/35 Sunny's that I had on the Fat5's before! YUK!
 
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