Tyres and brakes

[marge602]

Yay! My Beat now has an MOT. Thanks to all who provided headlight bulb info. I'm now gonna turn my attention to the advisories, namely one nearly slick rear tyre and low rear brake pads. I'll presume the pads can be ordered from my local stealer, but can anyone recommend some decent sticky rear tyres. It has the standard pepperpot rims so they're 185/55/14 H. I tend to favour Bridgestones, but if there's a spot-on standout tyre on the market, it doesn't bother me which make. Any recommendations?

Marge

[Wh1teLeopard]

I have Yokohama tyres, A Drives i believe they're called.

Excellent grip from them, however the boyfriend's Hyundai went through Yokohama's like they were hot dinners.

I don't really use my Beat much anymore, infact it's SORN over the winter to keep it clean. So I cannot tell you what the wear is like from my own experience, but as far as I know that is the only down side to them.

[Jennifer]

from what ive been hearing kumho are supposed to be good and nankang are ont he up aswell.

If you can afford it MIchelins or Goodyears or A048s

[Midship]

Just got Toyo proxies for my civic- they are unbelivable! quite expensive but defo worth a look if they come in the size you want :cool:

[Bruce]

That is not the standard pepperpot wheel size. The standard size is 155/65/R13 front and 165/60/R14 rears.

If you do have 185s, I recommend the Goodyear F1 GS-D2's. They are not that expensive - mine were £50 each for my Civic.

If anyone is silly enough to have 195s all round, go for the new Goodyear F1 GS-D3's or Bridgestone S03's. Or if you are a true loony, Yokohama 048's.

Me, I like my little standard wheels. The best bet for these tyres are Continental EcoContact E3's, though I hear they now have a new small tyre, not sure about size compatibility.

That sums up all my research on tyres, which I think are extremely important.

Bruce

[marge602]

Are you telling me my rear tyres are too wide? They do look wider than the rims. That might explain the surplus of rear grip over front. That said, it's not necessarily a bad thing, given the mid engine/rear drive configuration. Thanks for the info Bruce. I regard tyres as highly important too. Esp. at this time of year. I'll let you know what i buy, and what i think of them.

Marge

[ozsamurai]

The word on the street:
Kumho, Nanking and Continentals are of course Chinese manufactured tyres, thus the considerable price difference over some of the 'branded tyres'. The garage has fitted Continental before to a few cars and with a usual Japanese wear and tear they say they will get a year perhaps two out of them, they will not fit any of the other two brands, poor connicity, noisy and hard on wear.

I ran 195/35/15 Continentals on the front with the lowered sus on 'the Bond Beat' they were exceptionally good.

With the new ride viewing a longer driving distance here in Oz (20km to the corner shop) I have upgraded to Michelins, but still run 15" all round. I think 165 on the front is about as wide as you can go, but the back I have blown out a bit to 195/50/15, and no handling probs there. There is a tyre gude on my site called the low down battle, you can see the variations all on there.

Cheers

Oz

[Bruce]

Yes, your tyres are too wide at the rear, if they are the pepperpot alloys and 185s. Any wider on those wheels and I believe it would be somewhat dangerous.

I regard Continental as a fairly strong brand, particulaly as an all-rounder, rather than the sport-oriented brands. I thought they were German in origin, or is that just marketing?

Sorry Oz, I don't think it is possible to get 195/35/R15s at all - you must mean 195/45/R15s. Would have been great if you could...

I think the combination of 165 front and 195 rear is rather rear-centric, unless you have considerably greater power from modding work. The Beat's weight distibution is 43:57. I find with my standard tyres it typically understeers in the dry, unless you hit the high revs. In the wet, it is neutrally balanced. Can't wait to try it out in the snow!!!

Oh, and Oz, where can I find your site's tyre review?

Bruce

[wallace]

Kumho tyres are very good value for money and offer more grip then some brand tyres

i would say

165 front
175 rear

[Bruce]

Well 165 and 175 are all well and good, but only if you have fitted wheels that are also wider than the standard pepperpot ones. Buying tyres that are slightly too wide for the wheel is possible, but really not advisable. It will probably make for sloppy handling for a start.

Bruce