Tyre Options

[Antiplastix]

Unfortunately you are up on the Central Coast & I have no idea who the low margin tyre dealers are up there.[/QUOTE]

"Low margin" ?? You ll find that the shops selling way under the prices of normal tyre shops are parallel importing their tyres by the container load and cutting out the local importer. Good luck if you have a warranty issue. The average shop buying from a recognised importer is lucky to make 20 % mark up. Not a lot when you consider wages, rent etc.

[brad]

"Low margin" ?? You ll find that the shops selling way under the prices of normal tyre shops are parallel importing their tyres by the container load and cutting out the local importer. Good luck if you have a warranty issue. The average shop buying from a recognised importer is lucky to make 20 % mark up. Not a lot when you consider wages, rent etc.

Not neccessarily, some are just good businessman & work on turnover & low margins.

I worked for one of the originators of the "wholesale tyres to the public" concept. You buy a bulk lot of legitimate imports off Dunlop AUS - say 400 tyres & you get a massive discount because the sales rep is chasing units to get his bonus that month. You then madly phone around the discount tyre stores which are regular customers down your way or up the coast or in the Western suburbs & try & flog off 300 of the tyres at a margin per tyre which still makes the tyres cheaper in that quantity than the Dunlop rep can sell them. Hopefully you sell them quick because your own storage area only has enough room left for 200-300 tyres & you've done 4 other deals for similar quantities with the other reps & they're earmarked for delivery over the next 10 days.

You then flog off the rest to your retail customers at a price that makes money & steals sales off the surrounding tyre places taht are trying to make triple the margin. You've got to have a busy store to do it & a reputation that keeps the forecourt busy & the phones ringing.

[nat225]

Average shops have 2-4 bays... Tempe has 12 bays and u still wait 30mnts or so to get tyres fitted. Havent seen any shop that busy in brisbane!

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[CandyWhite_RS]

Bought some new tyres today, I ended up getting some Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 H452 - 225/40R18 92W. They were $197 each will see how they go, got them from Jax Tyres

Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 H452 Tyres

[daft1014]

For those looking at budget options I got a set of Federal Formoza FD2 (225/40ZR18 92W) a few weeks ago. They were ~$160 each fitted in BNE.

They are a comfort tyre and in the few kms (~200km) we have done we have found them good for the light duty we place on tyres.

They are much quieter than the OEM Dunlops (not hard) and while supposedly not quite as sticky as the dunlops they have proved themselves good in the dry and wet.

The front will spin up under a heavy right foot especially when taking off promptly from the lights on a hill, but that used to happen with the Dunlops anyway. I tried some heavy cornering and it didn't feel any worse than the Dunlops - maybe a little less direct - just a maybe though...

Considering they cost at least ~30% less than the premium PS3's etc I can't imagine them performing 30% worse - especially if like my family you don't use the car to it's fullest capability.

We don't do many kms per year (around 7,000) so it will take sometime to sensibly comment on their performance over time.

[tlli]

Hi guys,
I'll need to replace my 2010 octy tyres very soon.
It's currently got Continental Sport Contact 2's and they are very noisy.

Choice magazine just did a review of 205/55 R16's and the Maxxis Victra Asymmet M35 came in as winner.
Car tyres 205-55R16 review - CHOICE

Thoughts...
Cheers

[donweather]

Unfortunately the choice test is a members only area. Any chance you can post a pic of the summary table/final results please?

Also, I have the Continental Sport Contact 2's on my RS and haven't found them to be any noticeably noiser? My mechanics (JMac) mentioned to me at my last service to look at Michelin's as my tyres were coming up to new ones (about 5-10k left). I'm currently at 32k on my conti's.

[readerr0r]

Tyre reviews, tests and ratings - TyreReviews is a great resource, it collates user reviews and magazine tests. It mostly covers premium & performance tyres, as most of the cheaper ones here aren't in Europe. You can get sport contact 5's now a days which are a big improvement over the 2's. Goodyear F1's are also quite popular too.

[dArK5HaD0w]

i had the factory fitted sportcontact2 on mine previously - had them replaced at 62,000 km, and they weren't very noisy. were still grippy too.
i did my 0-100 time trials with them before i changed the tyres as i didn't know how much wheel spin i was gonna get with stage 2+.

i replaced them with the sportcontact5.
and no i haven't tried a 0-100 time again to compare tyres!!

however i do notice ur talking about 16" tyres - so different tyre characteristics to be expected between the two.

[GTR27]

Michelin ps3, conti cs5 or goodyear eagle f1 (i think) generally are always top of tire tests. I like the ps3s and contis personally but contis are ridiculously exensive in oz. Look at tire rack in usa.

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[brad]

Hi guys,
I'll need to replace my 2010 octy tyres very soon.
It's currently got Continental Sport Contact 2's and they are very noisy.

Choice magazine just did a review of 205/55 R16's and the Maxxis Victra Asymmet M35 came in as winner.
Car tyres 205-55R16 review - CHOICE

Thoughts...
Cheers

I wouldn't buy maxxis for any other reason than the automotive tyres are distributed by a front company (Sprinter Tyres) that is owned by religious cult called The Exclusive Bretheren (the bicycle & motorcycle tyres are distributed by other companies).

If that doesn't put you off then you'll find they are a good all-rounder type tyre. I have no idea what the choice test says or how they have weighted their scores & what weighting they put on price.

The prices are RRPs as well, which have no resemblance to street prices. eg: ContiComfortContact $185 is $120 on-the-car at my local tyre shop. The Bridgestone RE002 $199 shown there has been superceded by the Bridgestone MY02 for $120. The Michelin XM2 is $145 rather than $209.

Also, that list doesn't represent the full rang of 205/55r16 tyres available in Australia.

I agree the CSC2 is noisy - especiall when near the end of it's life. If you want something with similar performance then The ContiPremiumContact2 is about $130.

Michelin XM2 will be a big step backwards; michelin Primacy 3 will be close & Pilot Sport 3 will be a bit better - they are all around the $145 mark give or take $5.
Yokohama - look at the DB Decibel ($155). It's more than the AE01 ($140) but worth the spend.

Personally I'd get the PS3 because it's a known quantity for me & I think $600 for a set of premium quality tyres is pretty cheap.

[NOO63N]

I've always used kumho ku31s on my cars, some people say they run down too quick but no complaints here!

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[brad]

I've had KU31 on the Octavia.
They are a good tyre for the first 50%-60%. Their wet weather grip declines rapidly once the tread depth is <4mm. They also get very noisy at the end of their life (about the same or fractionally worse than CSC2). I think I took mine (bought 2nd hand) from 4mm down to the TWIs (1.5mm) in 10,000km.

They are a good tyre if the price is right - like $100 each in 205/55r16.

[aslsw]

When the time came to replace my tyres, I just updated the Contact Sports that it came with. They had lasted me 46,000kms which I thought was pretty good, and I didn't want to have to replace them again before selling (ie. money was a consideration).

Personally, I think they were quite hard tyres which had the the added benefit of being able to get the traction control light going in dry conditions and scare the crap out of my wife. They did become noisier towards the end of their life, but I assume this will happen with all low profile tyres.

[tlli]

Hi guys,
Ok I'm leaning towards the Michelin Pilot Sport 3.
Jax has them at $151 a tyre.

@brad where did you see them for $600?