Summer tyres

[LenT]

12 minutes ago, First_Lexus said:

^^ I’ve decided to try the GT Radial Savero SUV at £80 each from Asda Tyres. Not a brand I’ve ever used before.

Reviews are fine, they are usually summarised as a perfectly acceptable mid-market tyre, representing good value. We will see! 

If the reviews are good, then at £80 a corner that's pretty good value.  All you have to hope for now is that there's not another Covid-19 lockdown and you can get some serious mileage in and really make the most of being back on the road!

All the best with them.🙂

[First_Lexus]

On 3/16/2021 at 10:11 AM, LenT said:

If the reviews are good, then at £80 a corner that's pretty good value.  All you have to hope for now is that there's not another Covid-19 lockdown and you can get some serious mileage in and really make the most of being back on the road!

All the best with them.🙂

^^ After agonising long and hard, I ended up ordering Avon ZX7 from Blackcircles. They were only £95 per tyre, and seem to be well reviewed. Even though these will be proper Summer use only, I’d have hated to buy something totally unknown and regretted it.

I did strongly consider Toyo Proxes, the GT Radials and a Japanese brand called Sumitomo, all of which were cheaper than the Avon. However, the Avon seem to provide a good combination of wet grip (A rated) and price along with good reviews. The others all had a seemingly bigger compromise somewhere.

Tyres to be fitted on 12th April, and I’ll report back once they’re on and I’ve used them for a bit.

[paulrnx]

Everyone is different and that’s fine but the one area I try not to compromise in is tyres. At the end of the day they are the one thing that keeps a car out of a ditch or prevents a collision by being able to stop in time when you really need them. An extra say £40 per corner for a premium tyre seems a small price to pay for a better performing tyre. I’d rather cut down on other things than make a compromise on tyres. Just my opinion and not fact, it’s just what I prefer to do based on owning some 40 cars and driving over a million miles and plenty of near misses and heart in the mouth moments averted by good tyres and at times caused by not so good tyres. I’m not trying to say there is a right or wrong here because clearly it’s an individual choice and rightly so.

[First_Lexus]

17 minutes ago, paulrnx said:

Everyone is different and that’s fine but the one area I try not to compromise in is tyres.

^^ Indeed, and as I said in an earlier post, having had a long discussion with somebody who worked for a ‘premium’ tyre brand I’m fairly confident that the so-called ‘mid-market’ brands aren’t much (if any) of a compromise. Lots of reviews I’ve watched indicate similar - there are good and bad across all sorts of brands, and personal experience of Michelin tyres was terrible.

That’s why in the end I went for a well reviewed mid-market offering. You are right though, it’s all about personal choice and experience. I’ve never really been a believer that a ‘premium’ brand was any real indication of superior quality. Sometimes - not always - it’s more a case of a bigger and slicker marketing budget. Time will tell of course, I’ll feed back on how I find the Avon Tyres over a longer period. 

[paulrnx]

Just now, First_Lexus said:

^^ Indeed, and as I said in an earlier post, having had a long discussion with somebody who worked for a ‘premium’ tyre brand I’m fairly confident that the so-called ‘mid-market’ brands aren’t much (if any) of a compromise. Lots of reviews I’ve watched indicate similar - there are good and bad across all sorts of brands, and personal e pertinence of Michelin was terrible.

That’s why in the end I went for a well reviewed mid-market offering.

👍 Yeah agreed. My son bought a brand new Mini Cooper with JCW body kit with 17” wheels in 2018. The first time he needed new front tyres he went for the same OE tyres to keep them the same all round. The second time all four tyres needed replacement and he did a lot of research with a little help from me and he settled on Falken tyres all round. They’ve been a revelation. Almost as good as the OE tyres but at about 75% of the cost which was really important to him.

[LenT]

3 hours ago, First_Lexus said:

After agonising long and hard, I ended up ordering Avon ZX7 from Blackcircles.

Didn't see that coming! ☺️

But I'm sure you'll be delighted with them.

[First_Lexus]

12 minutes ago, paulrnx said:

👍 Yeah agreed. My son bought a brand new Mini Cooper with JCW body kit with 17” wheels in 2018. The first time he needed new front tyres he went for the same OE tyres to keep them the same all round. The second time all four tyres needed replacement and he did a lot of research with a little help from me and he settled on Falken tyres all round. They’ve been a revelation. Almost as good as the OE tyres but at about 75% of the cost which was really important to him.

Falken are fantastic in my experience, but they’re now priced above even some of the ‘established’ premium brands. I originally switched to them based on recommendation and they repaid that faith. I’m hoping Avon will be similar, after all, they are very highly reviewed and have an ‘A’ rating for wet grip. We’ll see. I like trying new things, sometimes successfully (Lexus) and sometimes not (NEFF appliances!).

[paulrnx]

46 minutes ago, First_Lexus said:

Falken are fantastic in my experience, but they’re now priced above even some of the ‘established’ premium brands. I originally switched to them based on recommendation and they repaid that faith. I’m hoping Avon will be similar, after all, they are very highly reviewed and have an ‘A’ rating for wet grip. We’ll see. I like trying new things, sometimes successfully (Lexus) and sometimes not (NEFF appliances!).

Look forward to hearing how you get on with them 👍

[LenT]

1 hour ago, First_Lexus said:

 they are very highly reviewed and have an ‘A’ rating for wet grip. 

I’m with you there.  Having once had the unnerving experience of a downhill slide on an only mildly damp road, wet performance has always been my first consideration - fairly quickly followed by dry road, comfort and noise level.

[paulrnx]

20 hours ago, LenT said:

I’m with you there.  Having once had the unnerving experience of a downhill slide on an only mildly damp road, wet performance has always been my first consideration - fairly quickly followed by dry road, comfort and noise level.

Yes agreed. Wet weather performance is always high on my priority list too. These are the type of conditions when you really want your tyres to be the best they possibly can be.

[Phil Catterall]

On 3/11/2021 at 10:54 PM, Martin J said:

NX as soon as the Yokohamas wear down a bit more. I was thinking Michelin Cross Climates but I feel they’ll be too much of a compromise for 90% of my driving.

Yes, my 6200 mile NX Premium Sport has the original Yokoham Blue Earth E51 225/60/R18 tyres. I guess I will stay with them for the next two years until they need replacement. The ride seemed quite hard on my 200 mile drive north from Cambridge on Thursday - sure enough I checked them today and the pressure was set at 2.7 bars. I never drive at anything over 80 mph so I just reduced pressure to 2.25 bars.  I guess I won't achieve 40 mpg now from the NX....

Happy Easter one and all, 

Phil 

[First_Lexus]

Having now done a few miles on the Avon Tyres, I can report no noticeable change to the ride. Grip hasn’t been tested, and is unlikely to be tested by me (hopefully!) but the ‘A’ rating for wet grip inspires confidence.

However, and as the reviews note, the big change is how quiet they are. I’m astonished. The Winter Bridgestone Blizzak tyres were far quieter than the original Yokohama, but these are quieter still, so much so it’s remarkable. I’ll be interested to see how they wear, as the reviews also note they’re good tyres but not especially long lasting.

[paulrnx]

On 4/15/2021 at 11:46 AM, First_Lexus said:

Having now done a few miles on the Avon tyres, I can report no noticeable change to the ride. Grip hasn’t been tested, and is unlikely to be tested by me (hopefully!) but the ‘A’ rating for wet grip inspires confidence.

However, and as the reviews note, the big change is how quiet they are. I’m astonished. The Winter Bridgestone Blizzak tyres were far quieter than the original Yokohama, but these are quieter still, so much so it’s remarkable. I’ll be interested to see how they wear, as the reviews also note they’re good tyres but not especially long lasting.

Mirrors my experience when replacing tyres on a previous NX. It wasn’t just that new tyre feel, it lasted as long as I had  the car for. 👍

[First_Lexus]

I’ve now had these tyres on for a few weeks and quite a few miles. Happy to report they seem excellent, very much in line with the positive reviews. On muddy and damp country lanes they’ve performed well, including one rapid stop when I came around a corner to find a crop sprayer in the middle of the road! No slip, just pulled up in the damp mud with no fuss at all.

The biggest difference with them is the road noise - or rather the lack of it. Very impressive indeed.

[as13]

Very Interesting Ed, I did look into the Avon's a couple of years back but couldn't source any at the time and went for the Xclimates?

Which I was very pleased with, I had a visaul health check done today. And I going to require very two rears and very close to two fronts soon.

Any more feed back on your Avon's over the next week's would greatly appreicated, to help me make my mind up which to go for?

[DanD]

2 hours ago, as13 said:

Very Interesting Ed, I did look into the Avon's a couple of years back but couldn't source any at the time and went for the Xclimates?

Which I was very pleased with, I had a visaul health check done today. And I going to require very two rears and very close to two fronts soon.

Any more feed back on your Avon's over the next week's would greatly appreicated, to help me make my mind up which to go for?

May I ask how many miles you have covered with the xClimates?

I had them on my previous RX and then NX, but each time I changed car before the tyres needed changing again. I loved their quiet and sure footed performance, but I have heard people complain that they don't last as long as the competition. I'm guessing that while the softer compound makes for better comfort and less noise, it loses in longevity.

[First_Lexus]

5 hours ago, as13 said:

Very Interesting Ed, I did look into the Avon's a couple of years back but couldn't source any at the time and went for the Xclimates?

Which I was very pleased with, I had a visaul health check done today. And I going to require very two rears and very close to two fronts soon.

Any more feed back on your Avon's over the next week's would greatly appreicated, to help me make my mind up which to go for?

I doubt my opinions will change much tbh. They’ve been on for six weeks and seem very good. Wet grip is rated ‘A’ anyway, so that should be fine, and they really are VERY quiet. However, what I would say is they’re a different type of tyre to the Cross Climate, as the Avon is a pure ‘Summer’ tyre whereas the Michelin is an ‘all season’ tyre. If you’re happy with that then I’d give them a try based on the positive reviews, price and my (albeit limited) experience with them.

[First_Lexus]

2 hours ago, DanD said:

May I ask how many miles you have covered with the xClimates?

I had them on my previous RX and then NX, but each time I changed car before the tyres needed changing again. I loved their quiet and sure footed performance, but I have heard people complain that they don't last as long as the competition. I'm guessing that while the softer compound makes for better comfort and less noise, it loses in longevity.

^^ My previous experience with two sets of Michelin tyres was that they wore out very fast. Generally the reviews claim they’re long lasting, but that wasn’t my personal experience and I’ve seen others say similar. However, the reviews also note the Avon aren’t the longest lasting either…