Best Tyres?

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by Forg

I struggle to find any in the right size & fitted to the same sort of car (minor size differences and vehicle weight will change the results), and tyres vary between markets so I can't use a test performed in the UK or US. Buying tyres for me feels like rolling the dice.

I have to admit the amount of stuff on the web from the US, with them being 10 times the population of the UK, can be irritating when looking for relevant advice, and I hadn't thought that you being in Australia with an even smaller population must find it even worse. When it comes to things like tyres do you get lumped in with Asia or are you your own niche market?

[concrete]

I ran my XC70 on Michelin cross climates for the it’s last 6 or so years. I couldn’t fault them, especially in the wet.

[Forg]

Originally Posted by DaveNP

I have to admit the amount of stuff on the web from the US, with them being 10 times the population of the UK, can be irritating when looking for relevant advice, and I hadn't thought that you being in Australia with an even smaller population must find it even worse. When it comes to things like tyres do you get lumped in with Asia or are you your own niche market?

I honestly don't know, road conditions on average here are I guess fairly different to the average in Asia (dryer here & with more expenditure on road maintenance) and I guess most of Asia has less money to spend on tyres. If a manufacturer has a factory in Asia then it sorta makes sense we get the tyres from there, from a transport/logistics POV.

I'm starting to suspect there's more generalisation over the globe though. I don't know this, but I think a Michelin Pilot Sport 4S here may have the same tread & compound as one sold there; but the model-name is no guarantee. For example a Pirelli P-Zero in 1985 was probably the same due to them being so expensive & really only on expensive/rare cars, but these days something called P-Zero is likely a different compound here (tread-patterns seem to be pretty consistent).

But even if the tyres are the same, the road surfaces are different in different countries. Actually that's a reason you can't take too much away from a comparison between tyres that have similar-ish performance on a pure race-track; race track surfaces are quite different to road surfaces (well they are here).

[Pointer7]

I have Uniroyal Rainsport 5's on my S60, really pleased with them, had Davanti DX640's before which were also ok but the Uni's are much better...

[baggy798]

I went for some rubber ones, seem to be ok.😉

Not a fan of the Bridgestone Turanza T005 on the front, feels like they're rolling over when cornering hard - soft sidewalls. Only less than a year old but going to change them for an XL all season from any of the big manufacturers this year.

[Forg]

Originally Posted by baggy798

I went for some rubber ones, seem to be ok.😉

Good decision!

Meanwhile, Cooper tyres are made out of rocks ... that way they don't wear out!!!