Replacement tyre options

[rc_vRS]

At the track the motorsport instructors (people who have in years gone by have raced at Bathurst) had nothing good to say about Conti's - from a high performance point of view

One instructor drove Tigger's car with Conti CSC5's - on exit of the hair pin the inside front could not hang on and spun badly
My car has 60kw more and did not do that - thanks to the semi slicks

The Conti's took a real beating on the outside edge of the tyre at the track day - more than expected

I agree Conti's have pretty good grip and last well - not much else to write home about in my view (good price)

Maybe on the track they get too much heat in? For me it was too far in between to get a meaningful comparison b/w the Michelins to Conti's, I had the Pzero's for about a year before the michelins went on.

I had no really bad recollections of the conti's, I remember them gripping straight off from cold though. There is a slight up-hill takeoff out into traffic at the end of my street and I noticed straight away with the Pzero's and less so the michelins that I would get some slippage when taking off there each morning, didn't happen with the conti's. Perhaps the compound reacts better when cold but can't take sustained higher temps.

The octy loses grip on takeoff more easily than the xr5 did with the same conti cs2's, also in the wet 2nd/3rd gear acceleration is a bit more tricky. I think this is more the throttle calibration than the tyres being any different.

[Martin]

Maybe on the track they get too much heat in?

The CCS 2 & 3 had low overall grip ratings on the review links - I do agree they work from cold
The CCS 5 appears to have higher levels of grip - a step forward

Obviously I will see how many km I get out of the Michellin PS3
I really like them, good all round tyre
But I will certainly look at all the alternatives when they're worn out

[gldgti]

Conti's are not for track days.... they really are for the road. I'm not surprised the track day instructors dont like them - they are just not designed for that. Plus, when was the last time you saw a continental tyre on any high performance car that wasn't a BMW or Mercedes? I reckon conti's would go well at a track day run in the pouring rain though

[kamold]

Re: Replacement tyre options

I had PS2s on my A3 they were still in good shape when I sold the car with 60k on the clock. Never tracked though. Couldn't fault them in any respect as they were already on the car so didn't buy them separately.

CS2s on my Octy are at 35k now. Just swapped the fronts to rear as they didn't do it at service and rears are noticeably less warn. Hoping to get another 10k out of them. Not the same car so most comparisons are not apples to apples but I think ill likely go CS5s.

Really liked the Bridgestone adrenaline 001s I had on my mazda6. for half the price of the Potenza RE050 OEM they were 90% as good.

[Martin]

I had Bridgestone RE050 on my Mazda 3 SP23 - got 45k out of them - very good tyre indeed, but again...the price

[woofy]

Funny how many Mazda and Subie owners in here. I had a Mazda 6, but the classic so didn't have the 17" but rather the 16" OEM Bridgestones which I replaced with PS3s which were sold a year later with the car. Massively better than OEM. The Pilot Exalto 2s I have on my RS (they stopped putting them on in 2008 and went to the arguably crappier Goodyears) were $450 each before they stopped making them, but I'm at 60k still with heaps of tread left as is a friend of mine who lives in the twisty hills...so would gladly get those again. $320 seems reasonable for the PS3s if they are similar. My workmate had those Bridgestones on her Mazda 6 lux sports, and I told her to put Michelin PS3s on which were only around $200 for it, the tyre dealer convinced her to put P zeros on at the last minute, and she got what seems no life out of them whatsoever and needs new tyres again.

[Martin]

The PZero's do wear out quick (and everybody hates the NERO version)

[OilBurna]

Whats wrong the Nero version?

[Martin]

Bad reviews and feedback - the tread pattern is entirely different, PZero is performance, Nero is an average Joe tyre

[andymarc]

There was a previous thread for replacement tyres but I can't find it.

Previously my RS wagon had Conti tyres from new, and they would be completely stuffed by 30,000km. Most of the 'premium' tyres for the Octavia RS' start well into the $300 each. I know the last set of Contis were on 'special' at $475.

I have found a new tyre option which are much cheaper, handle as well (if not better) and cost much less than the Conti's. They are GT Radials Champiro HPY tyres and cost about $210 each. I had all my tyres replaced in early February and I have since driven to Bathurst as well as up and down the concrete Pacific Motorway in Queensland's recent cyclonic weather. The tyres are showing no signs of wear (The 2,400Km Bathurst trip would mark-up the Conti's for certain), are really quiet and grip like nothing in the wet.

Unless you are a premium tyre snob, these tyres are good and should last longer than 18 months.

Hey swampy,
Did you get that deal locally? and was that fitted?
Ive been trying to get some tyres supplied and fitted on the GC but been struggling to find anything good quality for under 300.
I could go the path of tempe tyres etc but after my last ku27's on the car i dont think i want to!