| 22.01.2007 from Vincent Steadman | Note 2.73 |
| (12,000 km driven) | |
- Grip in dry conditions
- Braking in dry conditions
- Grip in wet conditions
- Braking in wet conditions
- Grip in snow
- Driving comfort
- Internal noise level
- Tyre wear
- Fuel consumption
N/A
Tyre size and vehicle make
205 / 50 R16 V
Vauxhall / Opel Astra-G (2003)
Result: Would you buy again? Probably not
Comment:
Tyre wear and general impression: After 8000 miles of city and fast road driving these are wearing reasonably well - the tyre rubber does seem the be a bit harder than others so this is no surprise and I will probably get maybe another 8000 miles out of them. I expect someone who drives sensibly/normally would probably get 20000+ miles from these tyres. The sidewall seems to have more 'give' in them compared to some other tyres, offering a more comfortable ride however this does not help the tyre performance. To balance the wear at the sides and middle of the tyre I need to run them around 1.5 - 2 psi higher than Vauxhall/Opel's recommendation. Although this does stiffen them a little it does improve the handling of the tyres. One bad characteristic of these tyres is minor/slight but noticable cracking at the base of the shoulder/side treadblocks. The tyres are less than 2 years old and have covered 8000 miles so this is not a good thing, but this seems to be mainly cosmetic. Dry Weather: The best feature of this tyre is grip in the dry. For the price they are actually quite good and hold the road quite well. Unfortunately (probably due to the longer life / harder rubber) as the weather gets colder the grip does drop. Whilst still not bad the loss is noticable. Breaking is good but suffers the most with a drop in temperature. Wet Weather: This is where the low cost of the tyre shows. Wet weather grip is actually not too bad and is quite average. Once they start sliding or skidding though you really have to back off before they grip. Their best performance in the wet is when it is very wet and it has rained for some time - if it is dry and starts to rain in these intermediate conditions these tyres are the worst I have experienced at gripping the damp and still dirty/greasy roads and there is no confidence. Other tyres are not as bad as these but once the road has been 'washed clean' they improve. Noise: Average, but could be better. The noise changes with road surface and is more sensitive then other tyres. Again the low cost shows. That being said, these are not the worst tyres for noise I have experienced. Snow: Haven't had any yet in the UK with these. I expect them to be very 'average' as they are in most other areas. They are marked M/S but not with the correct symbol so do not expect anything amazing. Would I buy these again? Probably not, although these are probably not the worst cheap tyres out there. I only have them as they came with the wheel rims.
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