Reality check and tyre talk

[Als_Zetec]

Hi all

ended up with really crappy tyres on the rear end of my 05 Zetec. These things have terrible grip, as a result of which I spun out this afternoon on a right hand bend when the tail end just lost it. I ended up facing the opposite direction and got to within an inch of wiping out the left hand side of the car against a cliff face. Luckily, no cars were heading towards me. When I stopped my hands from shaking I took a very slow drive home.

To avoid any further unwanted surprises I'm changing tyres. I've been quoted about $100 each for Kumho KU25 or KU31 I don't recall which, or $120 for Ironman GT Radials. These will go onto my factory 15" alloys.

Any experience with either tyre? What would be the consensus on choice?

thanks all

[Ives]

Hey Ali,

That's pretty bad, man. Lucky everything is ok. How were the condition of those rear tyres you have? were they hanging by a thread (no pun intended). Where did this happen?

When it comes to tyres, I really feel that you get what you pay for. Sure big brand tyres are more expensive but you'd never know when you gonna need the quality that comes with them. I guess in my opinion it's worth it buying big brand tyres.

I've got Federal 595 on my car at the moment and I'm planning to get big brand tyres when it's time to change to new tyres. I don't have any complaints about these Federals, they're pretty good Taiwan-made tyres... good value for money. But I dunno how they handle extreme situations (and I really dont want to find out).

PS : how did u lose control? were u gunning the Fiesta? :P

[melbzetec]

All the mods in the world are a waste of time if your tyres aren't up to scratch.
4 small patches of rubber are all that are connecting you with the road.
I am old fashioned perhaps, but these are the only tyre brands I'd even bother looking at:

Dunlop, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Michelin, Yokohama, Continental, BFGoodrich, Sumitomo.

If it's not one of those, I'm sorry, IMHO forget it!

Cheaper tyres are cheaper for a reason!!!!! ( And beware of some of the cheaper versions of these brands)

[fordel]

Fulda, dont forget Fulda.

They are quite a nice tyre at a great price

http://cars.ign.com/articles/618/618826p1.html

Tyres developed specificly for this car and this is now what I have on my focus.

[Als_Zetec]

Originally Posted by Ives

Hey Ali,

That's pretty bad, man. Lucky everything is ok. How were the condition of those rear tyres you have? were they hanging by a thread (no pun intended). Where did this happen?

When it comes to tyres, I really feel that you get what you pay for. Sure big brand tyres are more expensive but you'd never know when you gonna need the quality that comes with them. I guess in my opinion it's worth it buying big brand tyres.

I've got Federal 595 on my car at the moment and I'm planning to get big brand tyres when it's time to change to new tyres. I don't have any complaints about these Federals, they're pretty good Taiwan-made tyres... good value for money. But I dunno how they handle extreme situations (and I really dont want to find out).

PS : how did u lose control? were u gunning the Fiesta? :P

Hey Ives

thanks buddy. Yeah everything ok. I was on Old Pac Hwy heading south from Brooklyn to Berowra. Its a drive that I've been doing for over 10 years on a regular basis and never lost it. I've done the drive in a worked RX2 with locked diff, a worked BMW 323i, Camry (echh), Camira (echh echh) blah blah blah... so plenty of experience over a long time in different cars. It was the big sweeping right hander that's posted at 45kmh which considering the damp conditions and tyres I was taking wide and easy at not too much over it

The tyres are almost brand new, and funnily enough the tail end started to kick out one night last week while driving home from work. I was taking the up hill left hander from Pennant Hills road on to Castle Hill road. Admittedly the road was a little wet and I was doing the bend at not too much over Straightening up the wheel was enough to hold the line on that one but did make me concerned at how easily these tyres gave up!

Thanks fordel for the tip on Fulda - where can I buy and what's the price range?

melbzetec, I agree with you. The tyres were put on as a very budget stop gap measure but even then I am shocked that they have performed so poorly. The tread is a very aggressive directional pattern, though the compound probably is where the problem is. It would be great to also buy top brand tread, but budget also plays a bug part in this as with anything.

Another option I have is Firestone TZ100s for $107 each. At the moment I'm tossing up between the Kumhos (which I've read a lot of good things about) and Firestones (which I've used before and liked).

Opinions?

thanks everyone

Ali.

[fordel]

Originally Posted by Als_Zetec

Thanks fordel for the tip on Fulda - where can I buy and what's the price range?

I got mine from Bob Jane, think from memory I paid about $200ish per tyre, but that was 17" ones on the focus.

Chris

[melbzetec]

Originally Posted by fordel

Fulda, dont forget Fulda.

They are quite a nice tyre at a great price

http://cars.ign.com/articles/618/618826p1.html

Tyres developed specificly for this car and this is now what I have on my focus.

Must admit, I wasn't familiar with Fulda. Interesting article

[mitch_lx]

Dont you DARE let anyone talk you into ''ironman'' tyres.

Im in new vehicle sales. We got a wheel/tyre package from bob jane for one of our demos.

I was disgusted to find out they put these cheap horrible looking ironman tyres on the wheels. I took it for a drive...... This was on a 2007 Suzuki Swift which usually come with Potenza Bridgestones. The car now felt slippery and insecure on dry roads and incredibly noisy, whurring noise which increased in rate and volume as speed increased.

Im a tyre snob. Buy a good brand, they will cost more but as you have already experienced those extra 20-30 dollars per tyre might end up saving you an insurance claim.

[Piotr]

I would recommend going to a bridgestone centre. I got Potenza GIII's for my 15's for 130 a tyre which is a bargain for them.

[fordel]

Originally Posted by melbzetec

Must admit, I wasn't familiar with Fulda. Interesting article

I dont think to many people are, another good German brand, not quite as good as my conti's were but good none the less, and awesome in the rain too.

Very nice car that too

[Jess85]

i've got 16" fulda's on my zetec..i paid $380 for 2 tyres and my other 2 tyres are the ones the car came with

[Als_Zetec]

Cool cool - thanks everyone for your feedback, much appreciated.
I accept that all tyres are not created equal and that price plays a big part in this area.

Mitch, I tossed the Ironman idea early on. Fulda is way out of the price range at the moment. It was a toss up between the Firestones and the Kumhos until I caught up with a long time friend of mine who is right into the official Qld drift scene. When Josh is not driving he pit crews for and tows a lot of the cars, some of which you'll see in the Aussie drift mags.

Admittedly Josh is accustomed to going around corners sideways but in his words the Kumhos stick like ****** to a blanket and considering the price, that's what I'm going with.

Tyres should be on by COB monday, so I'll post a follow up with my first impressions.

Cheers

Ali.

[bru20vt]

Al,

What brand of tyres are you replacing. I have 3 almost new Bridgestone ER30 tyres in a 195/50/15 that I could do you a deal on. They hang on really well compared to the 205/45/16 Conti CS2. Im local to you as well.

[bman]

Sounds like you were speeding LOL!!

Maragoni! The only rubber i will drive on!

[bman]

er....thats Marangoni

[Als_Zetec]

Originally Posted by bru20vt

Al,

What brand of tyres are you replacing. I have 3 almost new Bridgestone ER30 tyres in a 195/50/15 that I could do you a deal on. They hang on really well compared to the 205/45/16 Conti CS2. Im local to you as well.

brut

the tyres I had on there were Antyre which are basically the cheapies that the tyre shop had available at the time. Mistake on my part to take them, but at the time they seemed a reasonable option.

Thanks for the offer of the tyres, much appreciated. I bought the Kumho KU31s this afternoon, probably at about the same time as you posted your message

So far so good on the new tread. I bought a full set of 4 and the tyres are comfortable and quiet, and the steering seems steady and responsive all the way up to 90 along James Ruse Drive. I really haven't had a 'go' at them yet. Will post more when I've experienced a little more with these tyres.

ciao

Ali.

[Als_Zetec]

Originally Posted by bman

er....thats Marangoni

LOL... glasshouses and all that!

Admittedly I was not travelling at the posted speed, however it was also not anywhere near the pace that I have travelled that stretch before.

[bru20vt]

Go easy on the new tyres for the first 100k's or so as they will be slippery. As much as good tyres and the right pressure are important, the Fiesta suffers in that the rear is very light and in the wet prone to step out.

dom

[Scareybear]

Unfortunatly opinions on tyres are like *********, everyone has one....
I'm not trying to say that all of these opinions are not valid, but being in the tyre industry for the best(?) part of 20 years, I think I've heard them all.
IMHO you will generally get what you pay for.

[melbzetec]

Originally Posted by Scareybear

IMHO you will generally get what you pay for.

Here Here!

The moral of the story: Don't take $300 corners on $100 tyres

[Als_Zetec]

Originally Posted by melbzetec

Here Here!

The moral of the story: Don't take $300 corners on $100 tyres

HAHAHAHA! Love it!

[Als_Zetec]

Originally Posted by Scareybear

...but being in the tyre industry for the best(?) part of 20 years, I think I've heard them all...
IMHO you will generally get what you pay for.

Agreed... where were you two days ago when I needed your opinion? hehe - kidding.

Thanks Scarey and everyone else.

So far I'm really happy with the Kumhos. They give a very comfortable ride, although can be a little noisier than the OEM Bridgestones. Smooth on the freeway. Haven't gone beyond 100kmh yet, but I have a 2 day jaunt to Newcastle coming up at the end of this week.

No crazy corners or hard braking as yet, but the tyres do give me confidence in the way they have performed so far.

ciao for now

Ali.

[zetec]

Originally Posted by melbzetec

Here Here!

The moral of the story: Don't take $300 corners on $100 tyres

Take $300 corners on $300 tyres instead.

Continental Sport Contact on mine, UNBELIEVABLE. BREATHTAKING. Expensive - but worth EVERY cent.

[Als_Zetec]

Update on the Kumho tyres that I bought last week - trip to Newcastle was good. Tyres are smooth, and reasonably quiet given the variety of surfaces that I was traveling over (rough asphalt, concrete highway, asphalt highway, back roads, regular suburban asphalt roads).

Although I did no terribly 'exciting' driving, I found that the tyres performed well with enough grip, smoothness, turn in and comfort. At highway speeds, the Kumhos were responsive without being twitchy, were quiet and comfortable to drive on. Using these tyres I was confident enough in the way the car was handling and had a very relaxed ride as a result.

I haven't come across any rain or wet conditions so I can't comment on performance in such a situation at the moment.

Given that, for the price that I paid ($100 each), I would happily recommend these as a replacement for the OEM tread.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and advice. If I still have the car at the time of the next tyre change, it will most certainly involve a wheel upgrade and some real performance tread!

Cheers

Ali.