It is fascinating to listed how people justify purchase of cheap tyres. There is no doubt that you get what you pay for. IMHO, driving style should have nothing to do with the tyre choice. A premium tyre will stop you quicker, give better feedback, better grip in any given situation. Even if it means saving you an inch of your breaking distance when you're cruising like a granny...

£120+ per corner plus fitting is an extortionate amount to pay for premium tyres and the performance over and above something of £40 per corner just isnt worth it for a <150 BHP mid '90s car.

just look at the euro numbers and price difference between, for example, Pirelli PZero and Yoko AD08R. they both have the same fuel and wet grip figures but the yokos are 3dB louder (yes, thats a doubling in volume but its measure outside the car at a set distance and speed so its of no real interest). the price difference between them is neigh on £50 PER CORNER... thats £200.

if somebody tried to sell you the same thing but at a 20% mark up would you not opt for the cheaper option?

driving style and expected conditions has nearly everything to do with tyre selection... if we solely take your logic of '...A premium tyre will stop you quicker, give better feedback, better grip in any given situation...' a set of premium large block, off road tyres for will be better choice for you than a set of budget slicks on a race track. (extreme and silly choice but it gets my point across)

i personally drive up and down motorways round roundabouts and on a-roads for 99% of the time. i drive well within the limits of myself and the tyres i have fitted. im actually more worried about the factory fitted suspension tying itself in knots or the factory brakes not being upto it, way before my budget tyres decide to let go. for me and many others on here £500 on a set of tyres just isnt worth the expenditure for such a relatively small risk of saving a couple of inches on stopping distance or giving better feed back (even if i did want better feedback id have to ditch these, soft as pillow, 50section tyres and opt for a smaller, stiffer sidewall)

this argument could go on all day but whats good for the goose isn't necessarily whats good for the gander. For you deannn, it may very well be worth you extra money on grippier premium rubber because of your set up and thats fine, but please dont belittle us guys who run 'out of the crate' cars because we simply dont want or require the same level of performance kit as you.

I remember having a bit of a moment years ago in an Escort. I was basically forced out of the lane I was in and wound up hurtling towards a queue of cars doing a fair bit more than they were. The ABS didn't help one bit and it came down to me just turning to save hitting the car in front. I was perhaps half a car length past the car. The tyres just locked up and wouldn't provide any stopping before the ABS took the brakes off. I would have had no such problem in the coop on the Falken FK452s it was running back then.

Turned out the Escort was fitted with the nastiest cheapest tyres the owner could find.

It had better tyres fitted soon after.

I think there are truly terrible tyres out there in the lower ranges but then there are fairly decent tyres in the mid range. It does depend on what you're using the car for and what type of car it is. I spend as much as I can (I think as much as anyone could actually) on my tyres because I'm asking the fronts to manage 208bhp each WHILE dealing with the steering.

If I had 150bhp, I wouldn't spend anything like what I do on AD08Rs in 235/40/17.

Fair enough, but it's not 208bhp at each wheel is it?

Apologies if I offended anyone. I didn't mean to do so and I also acknowledge that not everyone can afford premium tyres.
Anyway, I used budget, mid range and premium tyres on my cars ranging from 100 - 350bhp and all I was trying to say, from my own experience, is that budget tyres are night and day when compared to premium tyres in any situation, definitely in an extreme situation like Trappy's. And I will hold onto that.
Also, I know that there are good mid range tyres, so for my own and others safety I wouldn't touch budget tyres with a barge pole. If money was issue I would go with a mid range tyre instead.

I never expected people to get so passionate about this thread, and I have to say there is some great feedback from people. I have not yet bought a set, though I am currently swaying towards the top end of the market.

However, next month I'm having a full suspension refresh, full service, and most likely new discs and pads. Wanted to get the new tyres by then too. Now where's that credit card, again...

Never really cost effective owning a Coop, in saying that for what it is, it's still a bargain compared to other cars in it's class, but we all know that. As I said when I purchased my Coop, it had cheap well worn tyres & I changed them as soon as I could. My driving style was really going to be limited until then I thought, but as I said was surprised.

The Coop deserves the best tyres you can afford, even if you're a steady driver, it's the kind of car that takes you by surprise shall we say when a spirited run is in order...

Of course our great British weather lends itself to choosing a tyre that performs well in all situations, especially in the wet. We all know this.
Having been on this forum for a few years, & getting to know the Coop & what people say about these cars, even those who have moved on & still visit here, I'm not surprised people get passionate.

Keep up the good work...

Taking into account posts from my last post, I am not alone in using a mid range tyre, but I have 2 day to day cars to run and another modern classic, hence maybe not having the deep pockets for premium rubber on a car that does a fraction of my normal use SUV, which requires premium rubber all season tyres.

On a sub note, despite my Coupe fitted with Nexen & Falken tyres, its quite surprising when you look at other performance cars in Tesco, Sainsbury car parks that are 3+ years old, what rubber is fitted, most I see are not even " mid range " all I see is Chinese brands !!! M3's and VW GTis seem to be the most common with Chinese Ling Long tyres, common on most warm or hot hatches as well. Even the likes of Kwik Fit, National, ATS do not sell a mid range tyre as budget tyre anymore, they peddle the really cheap budget Chinese tyres....

I'm disappointed at the lack of decent tyres available for the standard 16" wheels.

I found the AutoExpress 2015 giant test winning Continental ContiSportContact 5 for £70 on mytyres.co.uk, but no chance for 225x45x16. Not even at 205x50x16.

I loved the Falken FK451's I used to put on my 16VT, but that was 2000's tyre technology (still just as pricey, if not more, mind you).

Are the Continental SportContact2 a decent substitute for the 5?

Midrange tyres for me too.

Currently have Kumho Ecsta HS51 (205/50) and before that HiFly HF805. Maybe I'm getting old but I just don't drive on the public road in such a way to notice the difference between those "midrange" tyres and a Goodyear or Pirelli (which incidentally is now Chinese owned!). I don't drive the coupe in the wet though, where the biggest difference would be found.

It shouldn't be about how you drive or whether you like to chuck the car about which warrents which tyres you buy, it's stopping distances. Then you have to compare your brakes and tyres compared to the car in front. Which is going to have in the vast majority of cases more modern brakes with ESP and other technology which is going to stop a lot quick than a Coupe. Stick budgets on and in an emergency you'll notice the difference

where can i find such information?
do they conduct tests in dry, wet, and varying temperature scenarios?
do they have different test results for ESP, ABS, non ABS/ESP vehicles?
do they define the weight of the vehicle they are testing?

There's a test with braking distances here:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2012-Autobild-50-Tyre-Braking-Test.htm

not much difference (~5%) between mid-range and premium tyres wet or dry, but a very large difference (~40%) between the mid/premium tyres and the cheapest tyres in the wet.

IME the premium brands tend to last longer than the mid-range stuff, it's that and the slight performance difference that you're paying for, as well as the name of course.

thanks graham

Graham

Thanks for the post, see my mid range Nexen N8000 tyres did ok.

I can't say what's best or worst, but I am known for being tyre-fussy!I have Bridgestone Potenza RE002's on my 20vt in 205/50/16. I think they are fantastic. They are reasonably quiet, crazy good in the wet and very good in the dry. The sidewalls feel nice and firm, sharpened the steering up lovely. 7 million times better than the Goodyear's on it before (disclaimer; the Goodies were OLD). €440 for 4x in Ireland.

H_R

Any feedback on the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 yet?

I could get a set of 4 fitted for about £305 through 'Asda Tyres'.

just pm'd you as saw the PM before this
Not much to report but no negatives bearing in mind they are on 17" rims and 40 profile

It is hard to compare, unless you have a back to back test. I would imagine the compound for the 5 is more advanced, but Continental probably have similar engineering over a few models. I put 5s on the Coupe, but I have 17 inch rims (215/45s, which are too big according to the specs, but when I test my speed via GPS, they are spot on - so you might find some sizes work better than you think). My more sedate pace these days doesn't give my a good idea of the limits, so I rely on those comparison tests in the mags to choose!

I think the main issue is the 16" rims; nobody has such unfashionably small wheels these days!

I certainly won't be testing any limits for cornering, but if called upon, I'd like to know the braking performance is up to scratch!

Right, that's it, I've finally made a decision and booked the car in for 4 fitting tomorrow.

I've gone for Uniroyal Rainsport 3s, £279 all in.

I've read all the reviews, so I know they're a bit soft and their longevity isn't as good as others, but every review says the wet grip is outstanding which for me is really important. To be honest, a lot of the reviews appear to be better than the more expensive stuff. And I expect they will be amazing compared to the P6000s I've had to endure for 18 months.

The only issue is I've had to go for V rated meaning I'll have to keep it under 150mph!

Nice one, i'll be interested to see how you get on with these

Just wondered if there might be any issues regarding validity of insurance if you have chosen a speed rating less than the original spec from Fiat.

Continental SportContact2's are still excellant Jim

No issue with insurance. Already phoned Adrian Flux and 'as long as they are legal' they have no problems at all.

my coupe always wore Yokos A510's I think or Toyo T1R Proxes. Are these old hat now and no good anymore?

Cheers Nello, I think I will go for these when the time comes...

As for speed ratings, don't they have implications for the MOT? I know the incorrect rating could lead to a fail on the Controle Technique in France...

Having googled the issue, I can't seem to find anything relating to the MOT and speed ratings being an issue.

I think you're right and this (rather interesting - to me, anyway!) article seems to confirm your findings.

http://www.tyrespeedrating.co.uk/

There may, however, be an issue with insurance...

Interesting one Jim

I too googled this before buying my tyres luckily for me there was no problem with ratings as mine are on 17" rims

The insurance question though

Snow tyres, winter tyres and space saver tyres are all reduced speed ratings and manufacturers certainly tend to supply space savers!

So provided you drive to the spec of the tyre i cannot see how it would make any difference!

Unless of course there are rules regarding it being clearly marked! but that cannot be an issue as it wont be clearly marked late at night in the dark!