The most important factor when buying tyres

m4rkw · December 23, 2022

Seasons greetings all!

On holiday in Scotland and suffered a puncture, nail in the tyre so no chance of a repair. I've been a fan of Goodyear tyres for a long time but they suffer from one critical issue - tyre places don't tend to keep them in stock. Luckily I was able to find a local garage that had them in the right size for fitting the next day - I got very lucky. All the big tyre places didn't have them.

While getting it fitted the guy mentioned that my fronts were a bit low on tread, so I've arranged to get new fronts as well before driving home. Going with Michelins this time as they seem to be more readily available should something like this happen again. I think this will now be the primary factor I use when choosing tyres. Also these CrossClimate 2's were rated best all-season tyres of 2022 so probably pretty decent as well.

All the best,
Mark

m4rkw · December 23, 2022

Ehhh spoke too soon. The Michelins apparently do much worse in the wet than the Goodyears, their only real advantage is snow grip which is a tiny fraction of their overall usage. So I guess I'll stick with the Goodyears even though they're £25 a corner more.

Bluemarlin · December 23, 2022

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "much worse" in the wet. In looking at a recent test CC2s scored 97.1% wet braking and 96.6% wet handling, vs Goodyear's 97.4% wet braking and 98% wet handling.

Depending on how you drive in the wet, I'm not sure the difference would sway me much either way, as both seem to be pretty decent tyres.

m4rkw · December 23, 2022

You're right it's not a huge difference

-5.9% in wet braking
-3.7% in wet handling (average speed)
-0.8% in wet circle
-0.9% in straight aquaplaning
-17.4% in curve aquaplaning

The Michelins are better in the dry but again not by a lot. They do wear 20% faster though apparently. I got about 45k miles out of my 4season gen2's and they're still on 3mm of tread.

Source: https://toptirereview.com/goodyear-vector-4seasons-gen-3-vs-michelin-cross-climate-2/

John Walker · December 24, 2022

On 12/23/2022 at 1:26 PM, m4rkw said:

Seasons greetings all!

On holiday in Scotland and suffered a puncture, nail in the tyre so no chance of a repair. I've been a fan of Goodyear tyres for a long time but they suffer from one critical issue - tyre places don't tend to keep them in stock. Luckily I was able to find a local garage that had them in the right size for fitting the next day - I got very lucky. All the big tyre places didn't have them.

While getting it fitted the guy mentioned that my fronts were a bit low on tread, so I've arranged to get new fronts as well before driving home. Going with Michelins this time as they seem to be more readily available should something like this happen again. I think this will now be the primary factor I use when choosing tyres. Also these CrossClimate 2's were rated best all-season tyres of 2022 so probably pretty decent as well.

All the best,
Mark

Michelin all the way. From my experience they last much longer. Now i m using Good Year Eagle F1 Asymmetric SUV. If you have 235 55 20 like i do, any tyre will be difficult to find except from Yokohama, Bridgestone and Dunlop.

m4rkw · December 24, 2022

2 hours ago, John Walker said:

Michelin all the way. From my experience they last much longer. Now i m using Good Year Eagle F1 Asymmetric SUV. If you have 235 55 20 like i do, any tyre will be difficult to find except from Yokohama, Bridgestone and Dunlop.

Eagle F1s are awesome rubber, I had those on a BMW years ago. They grip like crazy. Don't think they're all-seasons though and I seem to remember them wearing quite quickly.

ahmed-abrar · December 24, 2022

Hankook KINERGY 4S is a very good option price wise and performance wise for a reliable all season tyre

Barry14UK · December 25, 2022

Results can differ depending on who does the testing and some models may work better on some cars than others. My used car came with the type of Dunlops option fitted as standard. Although there was quite a bit of tread on these, they made a horrible noise rather like a worn wheel bearing but was assured by the Lexus dealership that was well known with this sort of type. I asked what they recommended and was told that the CC Michelins were very popular. They also did well in some tests I researched so got some fitted. These were a revelation after the Dunlops improving ride, feel, handling and comfort and losing that worn wheel bearing like sound. I can't say they are the best because I haven't tried the others but I am very happy with them and they have been used in different weather conditions now with the recent snow.

You have to remember that when you buy all season tyres slight compromises have to be made over a specifically designed summer tyre set plus a winter set which is what really hard drivers might prefer but I find the CC Michelins meet my expectations and driving style which is probably about average nowadays. (Long past my sports car days). In any case you can't drive an RX like a sports car regardless of tyres fitted.

John Walker · December 25, 2022

15 hours ago, m4rkw said:

Eagle F1s are awesome rubber, I had those on a BMW years ago. They grip like crazy. Don't think they're all-seasons though and I seem to remember them wearing quite quickly.

That s what I mostly don t like, they wear very fast. I had them on a Z4 3.0i and indeed very grippy.

John Walker · December 25, 2022

11 hours ago, Barry14UK said:

Results can differ depending on who does the testing and some models may work better on some cars than others. My used car came with the type of Dunlops option fitted as standard. Although there was quite a bit of tread on these, they made a horrible noise rather like a worn wheel bearing but was assured by the Lexus dealership that was well known with this sort of type. I asked what they recommended and was told that the CC Michelins were very popular. They also did well in some tests I researched so got some fitted. These were a revelation after the Dunlops improving ride, feel, handling and comfort and losing that worn wheel bearing like sound. I can't say they are the best because I haven't tried the others but I am very happy with them and they have been used in different weather conditions now with the recent snow.

You have to remember that when you buy all season tyres slight compromises have to be made over a specifically designed summer tyre set plus a winter set which is what really hard drivers might prefer but I find the CC Michelins meet my expectations and driving style which is probably about average nowadays. (Long past my sports car days). In any case you can't drive an RX like a sports car regardless of tyres fitted.

Ideally would be to have Cross Climates for winter as we don t have much snow in UK but the rubber is excellent for temperatures below 7 C degrees and have the Pilot Sports for the summer.

Las Palmas · December 25, 2022

On 12/23/2022 at 4:34 PM, m4rkw said:

You're right it's not a huge difference

-5.9% in wet braking

-3.7% in wet handling (average speed)

-0.8% in wet circle

-0.9% in straight aquaplaning

-17.4% in curve aquaplaning

The Michelins are better in the dry but again not by a lot. They do wear 20% faster though apparently. I got about 45k miles out of my 4season gen2's and they're still on 3mm of tread.

Source: https://toptirereview.com/goodyear-vector-4seasons-gen-3-vs-michelin-cross-climate-2/

No sure I find it a "not huge" difference. 17.4% in a curve is quite a big difference between safe and disaster.

m4rkw · December 25, 2022

9 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

No sure I find it a "not huge" difference. 17.4% in a curve is quite a big difference between safe and disaster.

Fair, I went with the goodyears anyway. The advantage of the Michelins in snow is something that would be very rarely used in the uk but any improvement at all in wet grip seems far more useful, plus the 20% extra lifespan

Sybaris · December 25, 2022

Bridgestone's are pretty good and available.

Each test is subjective and each individual's driving habits and needs are different to the tests.

What does a different in a % really mean in real world driving? probably not much.

I think any of the premium brands will do for regular suburban driving and motorway driving. Would you really see much of a difference between a Michelin and a Yokohama? Personally I don't thinks so.

GSLV6 · December 26, 2022

Tyre life and road noise/comfort is what I notice differs most between the main brands. The worst I ever had on mine were the OE Dunlops...truly awful. Harsh riding, poor in the wet, noisy and poor overall grip and handling. I switched to Avon ZX7's and they were a revelation. Way better handling, great wet weather braking performance, much quieter and a far more comfortable ride. I stuck with them until now as Avon have now been bought out and are no longer UK made (I wanted to support them whilst they were made here) but their chief drawback for me has been tyre life. Average, irrespective of how I drive, has been sub 10K miles. They are cheap (relatively) at £148/corner but I'll switch to Latitudes now which by all accounts are almost as quiet, have better winter grip and last longer.

John Walker · December 29, 2022

Update on the Good Year Egle F1 Asymmetric 3 SUV :

Just been to Scotland where it happened to snow quite a bit. The tyres performed very well for a summer tyre on snow and even ice as long as you don t have high expectations. Kept the pressure at 2.2 bars. On the other hand I wouldn’t recommend to anyone driving in snow with ANY summer tyres as I saw a lot of cars stuck or even worse, lost control and hit a fence or ended up in a ditch.