Best tires for original alloys ??

[Jon Weywadt]

quote author=Oetker link=topic=1688.msg13986#msg13986 date=1269859266]
It was a miss, but I think all 4 would have been a miss, so I want try the others, and go straight for a brand tire.
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[/quote]

I moved this answer from the parts weigh list as it was turnning into a best tire thread like this one.

Bridgestone makes an all season tire, the Potenza G 009. It is rated as a performance tire, that has excellent wet road performance, but I don't know its overall performance. Anyone familiar with this tire?

Bridgestone is a Firestone brand, I found out by searching for the tire sizes on firestone.com. The only results they show in both the two original sizes is the Potenza G 009 and the Potenza RE960A/S Pole Position.

The RE960A/S has a 60000 Km warranty, while the G 009 has a 80000 Km warranty. I assume it means that the compound is softer on the RE960A/S and perhaps it performs better on dry road because of that.

So my online search has so far found these tires that I would possibly trust:
Goodyear F1 GS D2 (obsolete however)
GoodYear HydraGrip (all season, going obsolete as far as I know)
UniRoyal RainExpert
Bridgestone Potenza G009
Bridgestone Potenza RE960A/S Pole Position

Bridgestone Turanza ER300 (not getting a good wet-road rating in Danish motor organisation, FDM, tests)
The Toyo's that Graham use look COOL but have that aquaplaning warning.

[Oetker]

Quote
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Bridgestone Turanza ER300 (not getting a good wet-road rating in Danish motor organisation, FDM, tests)
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That's strange, because every test I saw claimed that they performed well in the wet.
The Bridgestone Turanza ER300 Ecopia however, performs less good.
Maybe a mixed up test?

Edit.
====
Yep mixed up test.
The test is about the the Ecopia, wich is a different tire.

http://www.fdm.dk/test-teknik/daektest/daek/bridgestone-turanza-er300-eco-pia
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[lewisman]

No idea what they would be like on a murena but I am very happy with Vredestein Ultracs on my 2.4 jtd Alfa.  I had Toyo Proxis on when I bought the wheels but they were noisier and did not last very long.  Grip was okay though. Toyos might be okay on the front of a murena as there is not so much weight loading.....

[Jon Weywadt]

Quote
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Bridgestone Turanza ER300 (not getting a good wet-road rating in Danish motor organisation, FDM, tests)
============================================================================

That's strange, because every test I saw claimed that they performed well in the wet.
The Bridgestone Turanza ER300 Ecopia however, performs less good.
Maybe a mixed up test?

Edit.
====
Yep mixed up test.
The test is about the the Ecopia, wich is a different tire.

http://www.fdm.dk/test-teknik/daektest/daek/bridgestone-turanza-er300-eco-pia
=============================================================

Strange that there is two Turanza ER300 models and the ecopia is only average on wet roads.

I currently drive with Firestone Firehawk 690 on front and rear. I washed the car today and measured the remaining thread pattern and I have 7mm on the front, so they will last a while. But on the rear there is only about 3-4 mm left.
It turns out that Firestone has a Firehawk GT tire in 195/60R14 that is rated as a performance tire. I wonder how it would handle with the Firehawk 690 on the front. But that may be the way to go, as next time all 4 will have to be replaced.

If good 14" tires are becoming so difficult to find, I may just have to buy a set now to keep in stock until I need  all 4 replaced. How long can you store a set of tires without the rubber going bad, i.e. drying out? And do they have to be stored upright or laying down?

[Oetker]

Storing tires is not the way to go I think.
You can take precaution for dry out by rubbing it in with vaselin and seal it vacume, but storing laying down or standing up wil give misform after some time.
Maybe once in a while flip it over like a good wine could help.
Don't know what the outcome will be.

[roy4matra]

I am looking for new tires for my Murena, and I have a hard time finding tires that fit my original 14" alloys. It seems that no serious driver only has 14" rims these days. All the good performance tires I find do not come in less than 15".  
...

I am wondering what you Matranauts out there have found to be the best choise for the original 14" alloys ?  

Hello Jon,

I have only just noticed this thread, as I don't get time to look in very often.  The first thing is that if you stick with the original alloys (which I do) you should change to 185/55 x 14 front tyres.  The improvement is better than the 5% reduction in sidewall would suggest.  Many others who have followed my example here agree the car is better with these. The radius difference is so slight that the speedo reading is still fine.  Second, since these rims are only 6" wide you should not really put a wider tyre than the 195 on them for optimum fit.

I like tyres that are good in the wet, and directional ones if possible.  So I recommend Uniroyal 550 which you can get in 185/55 x 14 for the front and 195/60 x 14 for the rear.  In these sizes they both have two central drainage grooves around the tyres.  (The 185/60 X 14 only has one)  They were also rated as fairly quiet and since tyre noise can be high in the Murena, this is a good point.

Roy

[Jon Weywadt]

Hello Jon,

I have only just noticed this thread, as I don't get time to look in very often.  The first thing is that if you stick with the original alloys (which I do) you should change to 185/55 x 14 front tyres.  The improvement is better than the 5% reduction in sidewall would suggest.  Many others who have followed my example here agree the car is better with these. The radius difference is so slight that the speedo reading is still fine.  Second, since these rims are only 6" wide you should not really put a wider tyre than the 195 on them for optimum fit.

I like tyres that are good in the wet, and directional ones if possible.  So I recommend Uniroyal 550 which you can get in 185/55 x 14 for the front and 195/60 x 14 for the rear.  In these sizes they both have two central drainage grooves around the tyres.  (The 185/60 X 14 only has one)  They were also rated as fairly quiet and since tyre noise can be high in the Murena, this is a good point.

Roy

Hi Roy.

Thanks for this suggestioon. I just looked at the Uniroyal (Rallye) 550's, and though I see them on conti-online.com, I cannot find them in online shops in the 195/60R14. I will ask the local dealer. That the spedo shows 3+% than the actual speed, may be an advantage with my heavy speeder foot.

Uniroyal makes a "RainExpert" tire that is uni-directional and a very agressive wet road tire. It comes in the original sizes. I wonder how it compares to the 550??

I have found that many of the manufacturers are dropping the 14", apparently because the trend is going to lower profiles on larger diameter rims. For instance, the Goodyear F1 GSD2 and HydraGrip. The Firestone Firehawk 690 (that I currently have) are no longer available in both sizes for the Murena.

[Oetker]

For Danmark here

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?details=Ordern&cart_id=74423084.123.7647&typ=R-104303&ranzahl=4&Breite=195&Herst=Uniroyal&Quer=60&Felge=14&Speed=H&weiter=0&kategorie=6&Ang_pro_Seite=15&Transport=P&dsco=123&sowigan=So

[roy4matra]

Hi Roy.

Thanks for this suggestioon. I just looked at the Uniroyal (Rallye) 550's, and though I see them on conti-online.com, I cannot find them in online shops in the 195/60R14. I will ask the local dealer. That the spedo shows 3+% than the actual speed, may be an advantage with my heavy speeder foot.

Uniroyal makes a "RainExpert" tire that is uni-directional and a very agressive wet road tire. It comes in the original sizes. I wonder how it compares to the 550??

I have found that many of the manufacturers are dropping the 14", apparently because the trend is going to lower profiles on larger diameter rims. For instance, the Goodyear F1 GSD2 and HydraGrip. The Firestone Firehawk 690 (that I currently have) are no longer available in both sizes for the Murena.

Yes Jon,

It looks like the 550 is now discontinued, and the RainExpert has replaced it.  However 550's in both 185/55x14 and 195/60x14 sizes are still listed on www.mytyres.co.uk   Both these sizes are also listed sizes (as are the 185/60x14) for the RainExpert according to the Uniroyal website.

This trend to larger wheels has been a problem for some time and will get worse unfortunately.  A local new tyre machine can only handle wheels from 14" to 24" diameter!!  So what about all those 10" Mini wheels, the 12" wheels and particularly all the 13" wheels that were the most common size for many years and fitted to virtually all cars, many of which are still around?  Shows just what these people think of customers!  If the trend continues, not only will you have to get your tyres from the classic specialists, but they will be the only places that can handle the wheel sizes too.

For owners of the 1.6 Murena on original 13" steel wheels the 195/70x13 rear tyre is already unavailable generally just like the 185x13 rear tyre for the Bagheera!  Specialists only now for good brands...

Roy

[suffolkpete]

For owners of the 1.6 Murena on original 13" steel wheels the 195/70x13 rear tyre is already unavailable

That's only me isn't it    Probably a slight exaggeration, but at Romorantin last year I only saw two other ones with steel wheels.  My car is already running on 185/70 tyres on the back because the previous owner couldn't find the right size.  This trend for big wheels and low profile tyres is getting out of hand.  My daughter has a new diesel Clio with 15 inch 50% alloys.  They may look nice, but the ride is really harsh and they are quite unnecessary in a car of that type.

[JL]

Hi All
I think that Michelin are still making a 185x13 in their classic XAS pattern which my Murena has as a spare.

http://www.michelin-passion.com/passion/front/templates/document.DocumentRepositoryServlet?codeDocument=745&codeRepository=PASSION&codeRubrique=PASSION

Regards
John

[suffolkpete]

I think that Michelin are still making a 185x13 in their classic XAS pattern which my Murena has as a spare.

That's the wrong size for a spare.  It should be 175/70 x 13 to be the same diameter as your standard alloy fitment on the front.  My car has a 175/70 x 13 as a spare.  Will the larger one fit on the front without fouling the bodywork?

[JL]

Slight misunderstanding here, my spare wheel tread pattern is XAS but the tyre is not 185x13 it is the correct size - sorry for that; I was just saying that Michelin are now making a 185x13 in that tread pattern.

Regards
John

[hoffmann]

SEMPERIT SPEEDCOMFORT is great!

[Jon Weywadt]

Today I went to my tire store because he said he had a set of Bridgestone Turanza ER300 tires. Unfortunatey, when I got there it turned out that only the front set  were the  "good" ER300's.
The rear seet were the "Ecopia" kind that receive only average rating on wet road.
They tell me that that is the only kind they can get now. Some EU thing about energy efficiency or some cra% like that.