205 55 16 - what tyre doesn't suck?

[Dr Who]

Are they really that good?

Yup

 

[Dr Who]

Definitely gt,which I'm sure are good ones- I checked as I looked up how expensive the things were when changing. As I said I didn't find it a bad tyre but it was absolutely not as good as a sport contact or eagle f1 in the dry or wet for outright grip despite costing the same kind of money - in 255 35 18 anyway.

I've actually still got them in the shed as they had a good 5mm left. Need to decide what to do with them

Edit - it was gt, changed above

Yeah those aren't in the same league tbh

 

[rodenal]

Edit - never mind got it.

 

[Tom_ed1987]

The RT's are rated highly in the grouptests where they appear aswell:

3rd:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2013-Auto-Express-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm

1st:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2013-Sport-Auto-Max-Performance-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm

And they are only £66 each in 205/55/16.

And it seems quite a few of us agree they are a decent tyre in a similar size to that you are looking for, which is a big deal. A tyre that feels and performs brilliantly in 255/35/19 could feel awful in 195/50/16.

 

[-Mike-]

Well gents : I'm blown away by the level of help offered in this thread! The suggestions are great but now I have about 5 choices (not including kumho or falken as I don't believe either to be that great) but my big question now is this :

As stated, I have a screw in one of the rears, my concern is that I don't have a spare (I believe this practice should be illegal and all cars should come with one but hey ho), and so I'm thinking at 5 years old I should just replace the tyres anyway. Can someone tell me or support my thought with actual fact regarding tyre age?

Those dunlops do seem cheap, just whether they are the best available in that size! My only other choice is to replace the alloys with the 17" ones from the Type S!

 

[mattyfez]

If the tyre with the screw is repairable I'd do that for and keep it as a spare.

Tyres for 17s are quit a bit more expensive for anything decent I wouldn't bother unless you really want them.

I'm glad I'm on 16s as 80 per corner buys you pretty much what ever you wan, wwhere as 17s your probably looking at a hundred each.

 

[-Mike-]

If the tyre with the screw is repairable I'd do that for and keep it as a spare.

Tyres for 17s are quit a bit more expensive for anything decent I wouldn't bother unless you really want them.

I'm glad I'm on 16s as 80 per corner buys you pretty much what ever you wan, wwhere as 17s your probably looking at a hundred each.

I don't have anywhere to keep a random tyre nor do I have an alloy or steel wheel to attach it to! Honda as with most other lovely manufacturers these days decided not to include a spare and charge you for the privilege!

 

[p0ss3s3d]

Bridgestone RE002? Got them on my daily runabout in a different size mind. Lot's more feedback through the wheel compared to the kumhos i had fitted before hand.

Or maybe Pirelli P7?

 

[-Mike-]

Well I want to thank you all for your replies! The opinion here seems very divided so I'm going to go all scientific and drop a pen and see which one it lands on!

I've no clue which one to buy still, and the gent selling the alloy wheels in 17" with tyres still hasn't got back to me! I've a real urge to change these tyres as soon as possible as the weather isn't exactly going to get better now!

 

[mattyfez]

Here, pick something from the top 10 depending on price/availability:

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2013-54-Tyre-Braking-Test.htm

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2012-European-Summer-Tyre-Test-205-55-R16.htm

you wont go too far wrong.
That said they do seem to test strange ranges of tyres, as in they tested the Uniroyal rain expert as opposed to the rain sport 2, which seems to be the flagship wet weather tyre, maybe it's down to a higher wear rate.

But I guess you can't test every tyre on the planet, in my experience the RS2 is a little better in the wet than the conti premium 5, most notably on corners. but the PC5 is slightly superior in all other aspects. At least on my car.
You need to balance wet performance, dry performance, wear rate and price.

Anyway, I don't mean to confuse the issue, so just pick a high scorer.

 

[-Mike-]

I'm going to go with the premium contact 5. £160 for two is pretty reasonable!

Thanks again

 

[hurfdurf]

I have this size, I got Yokohama AD08's for just under £100 a corner from Black circles

I see they are a little more expensive at £107 now but totally worth it still.

http://www.blackcircles.com/catalog...ufacturer=yokohama&displayall=6&tyre=22231779

edit, ah that is fully fitted, £94 each by themselves

AD08 supremacy crew

 

[Dr Who]

Those dunlops do seem cheap, just whether they are the best available in that size!

I have them in that size and can say that they are very good for that price, way better than Falkens without a doubt.

 

[uchuff]

I have a similar problem, although at 50 profile the choice is lower and the cost per tyre is higher. I used to buy Eagle F1 GSD3 until I couldn't get those anymore, then moved to Falken FK452 (they seemed ok to me!) however I can't get those anymore. At my size I can still get PC2, SC2, PS3 or those new Dunlops so would probably go for one of those I think.

Would moving to 45 or 55 be feasible? Would end up getting 4 SC2's for the price of 3 at my current size if it were.

ETyres calculates -3.27% change, they suggest 2.5% either way maximum.