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No worries, a million things can be wrong. Unfortunately I'm going to need new tyres as I have a lot of mileage coming up. Annoyingly Kwikfit are giving me the best prices at the moment although I wouldn't trust them to do any tracking adjustments let alone anything else!!
I've not tried the dunlops but I would probably opt for them as I've had Toyos many years ago and they wore out very fast. Ratings for the current dunlops look very good. That is a full set fitted?
what size do you need?
Yes the dunlops look good. The proxes still get bad reviews on account of wear time. Also had a quote for Avon ZV5. Not had avons in ages but seem to remember a lack of grip in the wet. Still around the 270 mark. Tyres are 195/55/r15
Certainly older tyres can harden and become less grippy but also with low tread depth you won't get the same pliability over rough surfaces (the carcass has to deform rather than the tread) so it won't help in that way either. Took me a long time because my new job gives no opportunity for daytime internetsing!
Andyl - Tyres have certainly progressed but the basis physics of them hasn't changed, but assuming one pressure suits all tyres would be a mistake certainly. I would say 25% extra is mental, a few percent may be suitable. Its more likely that you got rounded shoulders from excessively hard cornering in a car not designed for it and have tried to counter the tyre and suspension flex by increasing tyre stiffness artificially but I don't drive your car so that's just my guess. At the end of the day it is horses for courses but putting out comments like modern tyres work better at higher pressures is the sort of thing that gets people in accidents when its wet and the car is lightly loaded because they have reduced total grip. If there had been a revelatory change in tyre that worked better at high pressure the manufacturers would have pointed this out to save people getting angry over early wear rates?
I had the Dunlops on my Civic when I had it- good tyres, and strong wet performance (which is important for me).
Only put 2k on them, but mums still using the car so we'll see how they last
On the advice of the guy at the tyre place I use, I went with Kumo's when I replaced the tyres on our Mondeo. Have to say, at £55 each they dont seem to be wearing any quicker than the £100 each mainstream brand (Michelin IIRC) that went on last time. They dont seem to grip any less.
Only dunlops I've had were shockingly bad but my experience with tyres suggests even between models of the same brand the difference can be huge. Also different sizes of the same model can be constructed differently internally so comparisons across different sizes isn't really valid but a reasonable indicator. Search for reliable review sites with large numbers of testers who state what size they got before making a final decision. I've never gone far wrong with uniroyal rainexperts or proxes 4s but I am more than willing to trade lifespan for grip. 12k miles from a tyre suits me fine.
FWIW : I run Michelin Pilot Exalto's PE2's in 195/50/15 on my MK2 Golf GTI 16v as a summer tyre, the only tyre i'll run on it.
I would say 25% extra is mental
where did I say 25%?
Sorry if this sounds harsh but I get sick of people reading what they want in order to try and make someone look stupid. I've never said I or anyone should go over the recommended, just maybe that the base minimum was never right for me on my cars. I play with mine by never more than a couple of PSI, except on the rear of my estate which has a max of 3 bar (maybe that is where you are getting confused???) and regularly has a decent to high load due to trips or work. If you check previous posts of mine about tyres I always advise people to stick with what the manufacturers say. Maybe Taff has a lot of stuff in the car and needs to check what pressure he is running?
I too have had a bad experience with dunlops many years ago. Horrible hard tyres but I believe the current ones are good. Currently using Vredestein Sportrac 3 in that size and definitely happy with them so far, I love my Nokian WR-G2 in horrible weather though.
NO worries coffeeking, you sorted my 306 issues for me several times hence wondering where you were.
To be honest I don't have that much in the car other than the mrs occasionally. The car is quite light on the rear end at the best of times.
where did I say 25%?Sorry if this sounds harsh but I get sick of people reading what they want in order to try and make someone look stupid.
Not trying to make you look stupid, wouldn't benefit me in any way - I'm quite happy with who I am and what I do to need to put folk down. I just point out when people put information up that could be mistaken for advice to do dangerous things - the number of clueless people on the internet spreading "advice" is scary, I don't know who you are or what you do so I questioned it. It's possible I'm over-sensitive to it and jump the gun a little 🙂
You said you were putting 42psi in 306 tyres unless I completely mis-read your post, in which case I apologise. Considering the recommended unladen pressure for 306 tyres (depending on exact tyre) is around 32-34 psi IIRC (not run outside to check) that's a 25% increase?
You said:
Not sure if that was due to me running 42psi on the rear or if they were on before the old beam was knackered but keeping an eye on my new tyres and have dropped them back down to 37psi
So you were running 25% extra... you then said:
I run quite high pressures on my 306 diesels as I find newer tyres have a lot more grip and work better with a few more psi in. I am still within the 'max load' pressures though.
Sure they won't go pop at 42psi, but from experience with the very same car it's rather unpleasant how much grip goes down on an unladen estate 306 as you approach 40psi, let alone pass it, especially wet weather grip. Only time I've had the rear end of the 306 HDi estate out was under heavy cornering when I forgot to drop the pressures after a long heavy trip moving house 🙂
Slightly crossed wires but I still don't advocate running pressures much above the recommended unladen pressure and I certainly don't agree you get more grip from upping pressure, even on a D estate 306. 🙂
Taff - not sure I can help much more to be honest, without having a play with it. I'd consider replacement shocks on whichever end feels worst if you're happy that the bushes are satisfactory, but I suspect new tyres will make a stack of difference anyway and you may find it puts it back into the acceptable bracket 🙂
Car has new tyres. Cornering seems better but general ride comfort hasn't changed much. Search goes on