Tyre Question - Advice Please

[Leetaylor]

Hi all

Its that time unfortunately, knew my tyres were getting low, however, looked at them today and they resemble a bald eagle!!!

They are the original conti sports which have been spot on for grip etc in the dry and wet, however, I believe they are a tad bit expensive to replace.

Anyone replaced with similar tyres, and what were they, also does anyone have any good contacts/recomendations as to where to buy??

Thought about buying on the net they getting a tyre garage to fit/balance etc, not sure if this is the best way to go??

Any help or advice much appreciated

Cheers

Lee

 

[Leetaylor]

Found some Goodyear Eagle F1's, 4 for £370, is this good, and are the tryes on par with the conti's??

Presume fitting will be about £10ish per corner?

Anyone?

 

[DIABLO636]

thats about the same price ive found them for....
they gsd's seem to be one of the more popular choices on here...not just for the A3 but for many cars, very difficult to fault them at all.
there was also quite an in depth review of about 10 different tyres from an american company who carries out loads of tests..the gsd's came first.
Fitting can cost between £10 - £22 ish.....
The price you have found is about as good as its going to get i think.....and yu wont be dissapointed im sure......

If you use the search function you might be able to find the thread with the review attached

Im going for them myself as soon as ive got some spare cash.
(just had to fork out £230 for new bike tyres --- expensive business this motoring)

 

[emzino]

Yea i'm also looking to get F1's but trying to find somewhere that'll gimme F1's with RS6's rims fitted in and around London.

Yet to find the place...

 

[Dandle]

F1 GSD3s are fantastic. Not quite as good as PS2s but they are 2/3rds of the price. I have them on both our cars at the moment and the grip is fanatstic in both the wet and dry. The review talked about can be found here.
Would be worth bearing in mind though that the F1 GSD3 has just been superseeded by the Eagle F1 Asymmetric which according to Goodyear has better dry grip and lower noise than the GSD3. Although I have yet to see any review of them.

On a side note I have bought tyres from mytyres.com and had them fitted at a local place saving quite a few quid. The last time I bought tyres though I got them from michel dever down the M3 and they were the same price fitted as mytyres wanted for just for the tyres(they are also very careful with your wheels, new rubbers on the tyre machines etc).

Forgot to add that my car came with Rossos fitted and the F1s grip better in the wet then the Rossos ever did in the dry.

 

[bor]

F1's or toyos bro

 

[bor]

How are the basic conti tyres that some with the car (I'm getting the 225/45/17)?Any good?

 

[Amchlolor]

I'm an F1 fan too,but I recently chose Dunlop Sportmaxxes (yes,two 'x's) for my car,because they were a good bit cheaper than the F1's.
I'd rate them as a better road tyre than the F1.
Grip is similar to F1's in most respects,with some attractive bonuses like a more comfortable and quieter ride.
More flex in the sidewalls I reckon.
This would also explain why,when they do spin,they don't 'bounce' like F1's do.
They just spin smoothly,which I prefer to the wheels bouncing and bang bang bang noises !
I've no doubt the stiffer F1's would win on a track,but I'm not interested in taking a diesel on a track ! ;-)

 

[Dandle]

GSD3s have now been replaced as the top tyre by the F1 Asymmetric which according to goodyear has better dry grip and a quieter ride than the GSD3.
They are only £8 dearer than the sportmaxx you have as well.

Could the fact that you find them better in the dry than the F1s you had be to do with the fact you were driving with old worn out F1s and then they were replaced by brand new Dunlops? I'm just wondering as the review i linked to is pretty good and they tested all tyres on the same car with the same drivers and same tests, their conclusion of the dunlop was "So it's a slightly better wet tire but isn't stellar anywhere".

 

[arthurfuxake]

tyretest.com rates the pirellis higher than the f1's, so different testers can have differing results.

I've just slapped a set of rosso's onto mine, and they're good. They are standard issue on the RS4, so they can't be that bad.

 

[Dandle]

tyretest.com rates the pirellis higher than the f1's, so different testers can have differing results.

I've just slapped a set of rosso's onto mine, and they're good. They are standard issue on the RS4, so they can't be that bad.

I took the Rossos of ours at 4k they were that bad(also helped the mrs kurbed one of the wheels). My T4 with F1 205/50/16 tyres would stick to the road better than the A3 did with Rossos and thats not known for having a good suspension setup.

 

[Amchlolor]

GSD3s have now been replaced as the top tyre by the F1 Asymmetric which according to goodyear has better dry grip and a quieter ride than the GSD3.
They are only £8 dearer than the sportmaxx you have as well.

Could the fact that you find them better in the dry than the F1s you had be to do with the fact you were driving with old worn out F1s and then they were replaced by brand new Dunlops? I'm just wondering as the review i linked to is pretty good and they tested all tyres on the same car with the same drivers and same tests, their conclusion of the dunlop was "So it's a slightly better wet tire but isn't stellar anywhere".

I was quoted £106+VAT for F1's,but only £88+VAT for Sportmaxxes.
Fair old saving,considering I needed four !
I don't think I said the Dunlops were better in the dry,but they're not far away.
I've haven't had any moments with the Dunlops and I chuck the car around the same as I did on the F1's.
I don't think it was because the F1's were worn,because (apart from stability issues over lines) they stayed pretty consistent through their life.
I'd only had them on for about 12000 miles too,so I still had a fair idea of what the F1's were like when they were 'fresh'.
I definitely prefer the flexier sidewals of the Dunlops though.
The roads I drive over have terrible broken surfaces which the F1's struggled to damp out.
I often had to back off,or grit my teeth and go 'ooof' a lot.
I can keep the Dunlops pinned over the same surfaces,coz they just soak them up.
I also get much.much better traction acceleration.
If you go back to the thread when I got my F1's,you'll see that I complained of a lack of standing-start acceleration grip (dry or wet) from new.
If you tried to accelerate smartly,they spun easily.
They did that right through their life,which was weird because it was the only grip issue I had with them.
No such problem with the Dunlops,which makes accelerating away from junctions a much easier prospect.

I definitely rate the Dunlops as better than the godawful (IMO) Continentals that came with the car and very,very close to the F1's.
Maybe not as outright-sporty,but I don't have an outright-sporty car,even if I do like to thrash it's like a ginger-headed stepchild.

 

[d3fy]

just go for the new F1s I will be soon

 

[Leetaylor]

Cheers for the input guys, seems the F1's are the way forward.

I'll get em ordered up this weekend.

Lee