Tony Posted April 26, 2006 Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 Their are three main patterns on the market All offer good tails to why you should buy any one of them.... so in true wim fashion here is the real story..... Symmetrical pattern Manerfacturers comments Superb harmony of comfort and stability Smooth drive reduces stress on long journeys Premium wet handling for more safety wim comments By today's standards this pattern is only suitable for the 'town car'.... the Vicars wife type of driving. The pattern is reliant on silica content in the rubber and compression for grip. It has high harmonics and due to the close action of the tread this type of tyre is prone to punctures.... Historically (UK) in the NSR. Asymmetrical pattern Manerfacturers comments A state of the art driving precision from Formula One technology Response and control beyond your dreams Superb wet grip provides ultimate safety wim comments Commonly found on German sports marques and certainly better than the symmetrical pattern but there are some evident flaws with this type of tyre. 1: The majority of the pattern is continuous radial banding, the principle is to allow the tread to steer the car longitudinally thus adding security at speed.... one very evident complaint is that the tyre 'tram-lines' very badly since it does not want to deviate from straight ahead and is conscious of the road condition. 2: The outer band (the widest) offers the highest resistance during 'turn in' so the sipes (cuts in the band) are very shallow, this belays movement in the band for the control.... this is all well and good but the down side is that the 'sipes' DO NOT go down to the legal limit. Consequently when the tyre is 75% worn the outer band would appear bald. 3: The tyre has wide gaps between the tread to capture water, initially this raises the aquaplane speed, evident loss of performance increases as the tyre wears. Unidirectional (US) Directional UK Manerfacturers comments High-level wet braking and cornering, with less risk of aquaplaning Great handling and steering response Aggressive tread pattern, stylish sidewall and with rim-guard redundent protection. wim comments Fundermentally all true. The pattern acts by compression and centrifugal dispersal, so it has a rapid footprint. Not sensitive to tram-lining because the pattern is lateral. and the tread has no 'sipes'. My only real criticism is that the pattern is 'pinch sensitive'. This is a condition that generates a pattern of wear called 'Heel and Toe'... a scallop wave effect mostly apparent on the rear tyres of a front wheel drive car. So what are your thoughts regarding the pattern you drive on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janey Posted April 26, 2006 Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 Interesting reading I'm still running in my new symetricals, excellent grip in the dry, crappy in the wet Although I'm not sure I agree with being described as a Vicars Wife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorps Posted April 26, 2006 Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 I always go for a nice pattern thats pleasing to the eye. Janey?....when was Barrie ordained he kept that quiet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discount tyres dan Posted April 26, 2006 Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 i have cheap brand rotational tyres, they're ok until you get in the car and drive it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted April 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 Interesting reading I'm still running in my new symetricals, excellent grip in the dry, crappy in the wet Although I'm not sure I agree with being described as a Vicars Wife oh dear........... get out of this one Tony?.... The Vicars wife on the symmetrical tyre would not normally need to experience the required demand predicted at the absolute top performance from this configuration................ phew that should do it? In truth the product mirrored your previous fitment.... reality would suggest that Bazzas 888s would have been better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted April 26, 2006 Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 keep your mits of my 888`s i have just changed from symetrical tyres to asymetrical on the zaffy also gone from 185x65x15 to 225x45x17 ive noticed road holding is far superior....but tramlining is more noticable but... it is so easy to wheelspin when pulling away, yet they offer far more grip in normal driving any explanations oh and the other day i noticed a nail head in the front right today i notice a screw head in front left are these tyres magnetic or what ! must remember to get them seen to if i can pick up a bit of wood in the rear , i will be able to put a shelf up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted April 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 keep your mits of my 888`s i have just changed from symetrical tyres to asymetrical on the zaffy also gone from 185x65x15 to 225x45x17 ive noticed road holding is far superior....but tramlining is more noticable but... it is so easy to wheelspin when pulling away, yet they offer far more grip in normal driving any explanations Yes the extra width and the harder sidewall.. The 225 will ride the troughs in the road much more than the 185.... in addition a 45% aspect ratio has a much harder sidewall so it's less resistant to absorbing the trough and tends to steer if the compression is only on one sidewall. On top of all that the continuous centre band is designed to retain directional control so this also steers. As for the nails in the front.... that's just very bad luck... 99% of punctures are at the rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discount tyres dan Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 and of that 99% have you noticed about 75% of them are in the n/s/r (passenger) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted April 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 and of that 99% have you noticed about 75% of them are in the n/s/r (passenger) Yes and do you know why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark H. Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 All the crap at the side of the road that doesn't get sweeped up by the council? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discount tyres dan Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 well yeah, probably flicked up by the front wheel up lands under the rear one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janey Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 Ok so in a perfect world, what tyres would be best for my little Roadster - allowing me enough grip but enough lee-way to play on the twisties but reasonably safe & grippy in the wet Or am I asking too much from some poor little rubber tree that never hurt anyone but have their juice farmed for our needs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted April 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 well yeah, probably flicked up by the front wheel up lands under the rear one. Correct... research (how i don't know) showed that the average tyre drives over 400 'potentially' penetrating objects per 10 miles. 61% of these objects were delivered to the NSF tyre from the debris gathered at the curb from the action of the road crown, about 9% of these objects are 'captured' and thrown longitudinally and then will involve the rear NSR tyre. Of this 9% 3% is metallic and .02% puncture the tyre. Increased to .05% in wet weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 Got Directional Bridgestone RE720's all round on my Euno and i'm very happy with them in road use, yet to use them on track. They do seem very good in the wet, on my other car Proton satria I have them on the front and they have made pulling out of junctions a less wheel spinning affair and braking is imporved, previously had some unknown (symmetrical) ditchfinders on it mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2006 Ok so in a perfect world, what tyres would be best for my little Roadster - allowing me enough grip but enough lee-way to play on the twisties but reasonably safe & grippy in the wet Or am I asking too much from some poor little rubber tree that never hurt anyone but have their juice farmed for our needs Balance the needs..... We know the 5 is graceful in weight, owns a small wheel diameter so must be dependant on every possible advantage concerning tyre grip.. The Directional footprint is the only option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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