ChannelZ

It's a new wishbone fitted in January, so less than 1000 miles ago. Replaced both as the bottom joints were knackered. Do you think the new one is stuffed?

I posted another thread a little while ago, about my Mondeo and it's odd handling. Well, it was eating the inside of the tyres on the front as well, so a new set of wishbones later, wear stopped. But, steering was a bit strange, the wheel not wanting to centre as well as before. Went to the local tyre place and got a 4 wheel alignment done. I've only had half a mile of a test drive back to work, and I didn't really notice much difference. I wonder could Tony comment on the settings?

Just checked, Pirelli's web site press releases only go back to 2000, and even in Jan 2000 they were talking about the P6000 Powergy, which is the "updated" version of the P6000.

It's not opinions that differ with the P6000. It's the P6000 that differ. There's umpteen different versions for various OE fitments, and what you get may or may not work on the particular car you're driving. It's been about since the mid-90s, so some people could be buying P6000 as new yet they could be over 10 years old, so dozy or dried out. I had P6000 factory fit on a Corsa, and they were literally lethal. Sudden loss of grip at low speed in the wet. Yet I've driven a Zafira with nearly bald P6000 in heavy rain and they were excellent. The 6000 was OE fit on the X-Type Jag and it's pretty much unbeatable on that car, yet I've also driven a Mondeo with P6000 fitted and they didn't work so well there, considering the Mondeo is almost identical in weight and suspension settings as the X-Type. The P6000 is too much of a lottery IMHO, its an ancient design with so many OE specs you've no idea what you're getting.

Agreed. I'm very please with the P7 I just got, though. Drove a few hundred miles on them now, and no problems, even in a hail shower on the motorway no problems at all. Easily as good in the wet as the Uniroyal RainExerts I also have on the car. Far quieter and better in the dry compared to the RE and the Bridgestones I just took off.

I've not had them on long, but so far the Pirelli P7 I just got sounds like it could fit your bill. Very pleased with them. Far better than the ancient junk that is the P6000. Had those before and they were bad.

Hmm...Fullrun. NICE! I think I'd get them off to f**k ASAP. The sooner the EU ban Chinese junk like that the better, the roads will be safer for us all.

I think I posted earlier in this thread. I have RainExperts fitted to my Mondeo, and also got a pair of worn Bridgestones. The Bridgestones were fitted to the back, the RainExperts on the front (obviosuly). I decided to rotate the tyres last week, and had a puncture writing off a Bridgestone - a good friend had a spare on his Focus which had an identical wheel and a similarly treaded Bridgestone, so a swap was done. I'm now back to two Bridgestone Turanza ER300 on the front, the RainExperts on the back. I thought the RainExperts were pretty good, but in reality, I'd just forgotten how damned good the ER300 is. WAY more grip in the dry. I mean, like night and day. Better handling. Nice crisp, precise steering again. The RainExperts on the back are giving some interesting handling characteristics, I think the technical term is "set up loose at the back". The ER300s only have 3.5mm tread on them, so I'll be running them down to probably 2.5mm and then changing them for the new Turanza T001, putting the RainExpert on the front again and burning them off before next winter, and hopefully get T001s all round. I'm a Bridgestone man from now on. They're so, so much better, and my local tyre place does the T001 for £5 more each than the Uniroyals, I think the extra tenner is worth it.

If you've ESP, bad things will happen. Otherwise, should be OK, there's not a huge difference.

I've the Uniroyal RainExpert on the front of the Mondeo. They're a good gripping tyre, but handling isn't great due to the soft sidewalls. You get mushy steering, and should wear, even with 2PSI over book pressures. I'm not sure I'd get them again - I think I'd spend the extra tenner a tyre and get Bridgestones again. As for Falken, had the ZE512 and 912 on Dad's Mazda, and while they were OK they wore like fury. They were gone within 6k on the front, and that's with a 65 year old man and 62 year old woman driving. They've had Hankooks on it recently and they're lasting about 4 times longer than the Falkens, and didn't cost any more, and have similar grip. Falken are barely a step up from Wanli and all that other Chinese pish IMHO.

A little while ago I got a puncture at speed, ruining a tyre. The car had a perfect, unused Hankook Ventus Prime in the boot, I can only assume it was the factory spare as the wheel didn't look as if it'd been on. So, I got a new Hankook Ventus Prime fitted to replace the dead Bridgestone, and put the other Bridgestone in the boot as the spare. Wonderful, two Hankooks with full tread. Fast forward to today, while washing the car noticed a crack in the tread on one of the Hankooks. Checked the date, made sometime in the middle of 2004 (which figures as the car is Jan 2005). Took the wheel off, and the old tyre is cracking up like mad! Every bit of tread has a crack round it, and some you can even see the metal cords if the sun is shining in to the crack. So, it's now in the boot as spare again, and the orphaned Bridgestone is back on (now has similar tread depth to the new Hankook I bought last year). Moral of the story - check when your tyres were made, and be very careful if they're more than 5 years old. 7 is asking for trouble! Pics:

Something very similar on my Uniroyal RainExperts. Though with the knackered bottom balljoint I didn't need a fancy indicator to tell me something was up, the total lack of tread on the inside gave it away! Seems the RainSport2 has them as well. http://www.uniroyal-tyres.co.uk/generator/...rainexpert.html There are three indicators on both the inner and outer shoulder. Incorrect track alignment and/or camber settings are identified if the indicator grooves on both shoulders are unevenly worn. Poor wheel alignment can be identified and rectified early, thus achieving a higher mileage through avoiding uneven wear.

Aye, typical. Should have stuck to what I knew. Ah well, haven't needed them this year as it's not gone much below 0C here at all this winter. Only can think of 3 mornings there's been ice on the car. Anyone want to buy some quality Dunlops?

Well, seems the Graspic DS3 is totally pants in the wet. http://www.tirerack.com/survey/SurveyComme...tirePageLocQty= General consensus is, brilliant in ice and snow, a bit pants in the wet. Gutted. £400 of pointless tyres. Wish I'd gone for the LM25 Blizzaks when I was ordering. I had the Vredestein Wintrac Xtremes before, they were fantastic.

Probably only do 1000-2000 miles a year on them at most, and both previous winters were snowy, so I guess there wasn't much wear involved. My annual mileage is only 8k. On a previous car (diesel Mitsubishi Lancer) I ran Vredestein Wintrac Xtremes which were far and away better than these Dunlops, even considering they were 225-45/18 and the Dunlops are 205-55/16. I'd have expected the Dunlops to be better as they're narrower and on a marginally lighter car.

Sipes are still there - it's the MOULD LINES that have just worn - they've still got more than 8mm tread still. I've done little miles on the tyres, and only just put them on again this winter. Perhaps they need scrubbed in? I did 200 miles yesterday and they do seem a LITTLE better. IF the silica "has gone off" does that mean they're daffy-ducked? Seems a bit crap when they've over 8mm tread left, and they left the Dunlop factory less than 3 years ago...

OK, I think I might get the bushes looked at.

They're 2009 made, this is my 3rd winter with them, they were fine before. They're stored on the rims in my parent's unheated garage, out of sunlight. I'm at a loss...

I have a set of Dunlop Graspic DS3 tyres, which are Studless Ice & Snow jobbies. They were fine the past few years, but this year they're woeful No grip at all. I was just out this evening, roads are a little greasy and heading towards ice. Total lack of grip, I was able to light up the fronts driving at 40mph in 3rd by just gently accelerating. Standing starts are comical, driving off easy they're spinning. So, what gives? Pressure is fine, same as last year. Tread is fine, having just worn off the mould marks despite two years of use. It seems as if the rubber is really damned hard. No grip in the wet, barely much more in the dry. Confused. Should I just give up on these tyres? Has the rubber gone off? I can't understand why my summer tyre give significantly better grip in both wet and dry when it's below 0C. Doesn't make sense.

Well, mixing tyres IS helping. It's keeping me on the road. Yes, I accept mixing is a bad idea and not something I would normally entertain, but on all 4 winters handling is really very bad, and the uncertainty from the rear is unacceptable. It's an unideal situation replacing a bad one. I think I'll just go Motorcraft or perhaps Sachs, and see how things go.

Thanks Tony. I did think dampers was the issue. Any recommendations on replacements for these junk Monroes? Bilstein? Sachs? I'm looking OE spec again. I did have a printout, but it escaped from the car one windy day.

Bridestone Turanza ER300 are like driving on rock wheels in winter. Hankook Ventus Prime are fine, as are Uniroyal RainExpert. The RainExpert are the best of the lot for grip, but a little wierd on the handling side of things.

Hi folks. I've a Mk3 Mondeo (1.8 petrol LX, so standard suspension). When I got it, the ride and handling was...well, to be kind, poor. So, bought a set of Eibach springs (30mm lower) and a set of Monroe Reflex dampers. Things were fine, but ride was a bit bumpy and crashy. I got the original springs put back in recently, still using the now rusting furiously Monroes, and also at the time new ARB links all round, and front wishbones and front top mounts. Now the car is still quite bumpy, not really improved compared to when it was running on the Eibachs, and handling is drastically worse, particularly at the rear. The rear seems to wander quite a bit compared to before, and I've had two occasions of extreme oversteer, both at really quite low speeds. VERY unexpected, not pushing at all. One corner I've driven round a million times, sometimes well over 60mph. I got a real tank-slapper that I only JUST saved, and was doing a little over 40mph. Tyres are the same ones I've had on for ages. On the summers (Hankook Ventus Primes) the handling is manageable. However, my winters (Dunlop Graspic DS3) the handling is beyond dodgy. I'm talking towards undriveable. At the moment I have summers on the back and winters on the front to make the car feel something like drivable. Tracking had been checked. Rear subframe is fine. Wishbones are new, and all other joints are new. So, what's with the funky handling? Dampers? Ideally I'd like to go back to the Eibachs, with better ride, so I'm thinking different dampers. Can anyone recommend some decent dampers that'll give Ford-style comfort with decent handling? The Eibachs are Ford-supplied, for the car.