Some tyre advice please

[brad]

my experience of Pirelli:
Good at first but noisy once they lose 30% of tread.
Variable build quality.
Prone to vibration.
The price is tempting though... (NB: in Sydney they appear to be around $520/set)

Primacy 3 will be around $700/set? Have you tried Costco? PS4 about the same price...

[gadget007a]

Original Potenza's only got 38k from them put on Dragon sports about half the price of the potenza, much quieter but they dont have the same grip as the potenza (easy to get them to squeal on takeoff), now at 78K these tyres are due for replacement (<2mm tread left before wear bar)

[Jondalar]

Yeah I drive 90 km a day to work and back, half of it is highway the other half inner city but mainly straight main roads. My wife's drive is similar but shorter only about 80km a day.

[Gerrycan]

$700 for Primacy is about right for Adelaide as well. I am not a Costco member and the conservative way I drive PS4's would be a bit like putting lipstick on a pig (me being the pig).

Gadget, Dragon Sports being quiet and long lasting and cheap is good but if traction is an issue that might also relate to braking performance (?)

[brad]

$700 for Primacy is about right for Adelaide as well. I am not a Costco member and the conservative way I drive PS4's would be a bit like putting lipstick on a pig (me being the pig).

It's more tyre than you need but as you can get it in the right size and they still get great mileage.... It's an option.

[Skodite]

Hi Gerrycan,

Re Primacy ST
Mostly positive experiences after fitting to my wife’s gen 8 Honda Accord V6 which I drive once or twice a week on country, highway and city roads.
Comfortable, quiet, easily balanced, great dry grip, good wet grip, good mileage 60k front, 80k rear.
The only area I have concern with is standing water/puddles at highway speeds, they tend to noticeably aquaplane..
The latter I think is due to the small block with narrow channel tread design.

[Antiplastix]

Tyre choice is like oil choice. Everyone has an opinion, which is not always right........or wrong.

[Gerrycan]

Most people's opinions are better informed than mine on this topic especially if it is based on personal experience

[GTR27]

I'm a huge fan of michelin PS3's. Now the PS4 has come out, PS3's in those sizes are quite competitively priced, and offer a great balance of performance and quiet, along with a decent lifespan.

I will put PS4's on our octavia when the time comes, (have a set on our alfa and they are wonderful) and have used ps3's on a range of cars to great effect.

Ignore the "sport" monkier - they are just a great tyre and IMO it's not worth trying to get an extra 20k out of a set that have crap grip in the wet, or get terrible as they age. In my experience the ps3's feel the same right down to the wear bars.

[brad]

I got 68,000km out of the Primacy ST I had on the Octy and they were 2nd hand (7-8mm) when fitted and I sold with 2.5-3mm left on them.

PS3 would be maybe 10k less in similar use. Agree with GTR27 - worth every penny.

[Gerrycan]

Reduction in distance being travelled, lack of funds and procrastination meant that I put off the new tyre purchase.
In the ensuing period things had changed a bit as the PS4's in my size were increasingly rare and had gone up in price. I could not bring myself to buy the Pirelli option so when a Michelin deal came up I had sort of painted myself into a corner with the Primacy as the best option.
So I drove off from the tyre fitter with four of Michelin's best and instantly thought I had made a mistake as the steering was incredibly light and remote, and ride was harsh and uncomfortable.
A check of the tyres showed they were at 41 psi (why do they all do that) and a few more kilometres to rough up the tyre surface and things are pretty well back to expectations.
I'd remarked before how well the previous Dunlop SportMaxx had performed over their life in all aspects (contrary to most others experiences) so how do they compare.
Ride and handling are comparable within my non-sporting envelope so I am pleased, although I am still experimenting a bit with pressures. and the Michelins seem a bit quieter generally on all surfaces.
One aspect of my SportsMaxx that had always impressed me was their low rolling resistance and while I don't have any definitive proof I get the impression that the Primacy are not quite as good.
The Michelin offer better kerbing protection though than the Dunlop but that is a bit late for my battle-scarred alloys.

I could have bought Dunlop again but the tyres were relatively expensive and it seems I was lucky with my set based on others reviews.
My 16 inch space saver Nexen generates a lot of noise inside the car at all speeds and on all surfaces, so I was aware that tyre choice was critical for the Octavia and could make or break ownership pleasure.
I'm happy with my choice as overall they are no worse than the previous fitment but I think I had built up my expectations for the Michelins a bit too much.
Quite likely to be the last tyres I buy for this car anyway.