Alternative tyre choice

johnatg · June 27, 2016

Another follow up from the safety recall topic - my visual safety inspection report recommended that my tyres needed replacing. They were by no means illegal, but pretty well worn and I was planning early replacement anyway. I considered various choices and came up with one I haven't seen mentioned here.

There seem to be a category of tyres just now characterised by a superficially simple tread pattern, rather wide circumferential grooves and excellent 'tyre label' ratings (not that I set much store by them) of C for fuel economy, A for wet grip and generally less than 70dB for external noise. Typical tyres like this are Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance and Dunlop Sport BluResponse. But there's also the Avon ZV7 - only introduced this year and some sizes are still not available.

They are way cheaper than the Dunlops and Goodyears - I bought 4 (2 x 225/45, 2 x 245/45, 17" rims) from cartyres.com for less than £300 - they seem to be Halfords, or at least all their fitting centres are Halfords Autocentres - never thought I'd buy tyres from them, but none of the local regular tyre fitters could match their prices. (BTW - Lexus quoted £540 (not for Avons))

I've not personally had much experience of Avon Tyres - my daughter had ZV5 on her Mazda3 and they seemed fine. Avon have a good reputation - tyres made in UK and they are suppliers to Rolls Royce and Aston Martin. So - we shall see how they perform and wear! Not really been any long journeys yet, but they seem quiet and comfortable.

madasahatter · June 27, 2016

My mate at work runs the ZV5 on his octavia Vrs, seems well pleased with them. I have never used so can not comment.

I just bought the new goodyear Eagle f1 asymmetric 3 225 & 245 18s to go with some team dynamics pro 1.2 i just bought today. Hope they live upto their claim.

Never had Good years in ages, i like the falkens for wear and good in the rain.

Shahpor · June 29, 2016

I have just had a Dunlop SP sport 245 x 17 rear tyre fitted to mine from the main dealer. It cost me £118 all in, which is actually cheaper than most other places.

It is really annoying because it was a perfectly good tyre, but during the service they found a large slash in the tread. Seems a stone did it! Scary really when you consider it could have blown out at any time. Even more annoyingly, this is the second time in 6 month that I have had to change a good tyre because of a cut,

I was going to ask for a photo, but before I could, I got the video from Lexus showing me the problem.

On the plus side, one of my rear calipers was seized, which my extended warranty covered. Even more impressively, the warranty company came back with an answer within an hour, and since both the tyre and caliper were in stock, got it all done at the same time.

Only trouble was, I had to give back the IS 200t they had lent me.

Linas.P · July 1, 2016

Dunlop BlueReponses are not even available on 17 inch set-up. There are fronts, but they don't have 245 at all, I believe they have 235/55 or 60 which was about same rolling radius, but were like twice expensive than standard tires (~180 per tire).

I don't know for Avon, but I was pretty happy with my choice of Dunlop Sportmaxx RT which are something A/B/67 front and A/C/68 rear (don't quote me on that but at least on the paper they are one of the best). So far they wearing excellently - 6mm after 8k miles on front and about 6.5mm (Lexus marked them something 7/7/6mm) on rear after ~4k. If that would continue wearing this way ~35-40k miles (which I know unlikely to be the case due to rear wearing more inside even after alignment).

Paid £81 for fronts and £108 for rears.

swfcdan · July 2, 2016

Has anyone tried the Michelin Crossclimates on the Lexus? Have them on my current car (non Lexus) and they've been excellent.

Decent summer and winter performance. Pricey but a good all rounder.

Linas.P · July 2, 2016

I generally take view - what works for everything doesn't work for anything well in particular. That is especially true about "universal tires", they don't have grip, fuel efficiency or good wear in summer, nor they have good enough grip on slipper, icy roads in winter. Furthermore, I see no need for universal tires in England... maybe Scotland.. Though I came from country where average winter temperature is -22C and we sometimes have 2 metres of snow... so mild British winters are laugh for me even on summer tires.

That doesn't mean Michelin Crossclimates are bad, but I just don't believe in them having any advantage (especially in the price range).

gdh300 · July 3, 2016

I put Avon ZV7s on my IS300 about 4,000 miles ago. Couldn't find very much information about them, being so new but was tempted by the price as I needed to replace all four. Previously I'd had Dunlop Sport Maxx RTs which never really impressed me in the wet; even with a light throttle I found them too ready to spin at wet junctions. So a tyre aimed more for wet conditions (i.e., this summer!) seemed ideal. They came with 8.0mm tread (the Dunlops only 6.0mm) and so far have gone down to about 7.0mm on the front, 6.5mm on the rear. Most of my mileage is motorway, so perhaps I do well out of tyres but the C for fuel and A for wet grip and reasonable db are all positives for my usual commute. Absolute cornering in the dry is not a concern for me. I have though been impressed with the cornering traction and good water clearing at speed (no flickering traction light) and they are much better on slippery lanes and verges than the Dunlops (more stipes). They also feel - even though they are XL - far more compliant and cosseting than the Dunlops. I won't run them through winter though, I'll be back on my Avon Ice Tourings then.