Uniroyal, Maxxis and Falken Tyres

[liner33]

Dunno I didnt time it there was a timed 30-130 section and then you could hold for top speed if you wanted , personally I wasnt that interested in the 30-130 so didnt push that hard and recorded a best of 19.5 seconds

[Rich]

Uniroyals are ordered and being fitted tomorrow...decided to go with these this time as I've wanted to try them for a long time.

[NickT]

I'd like to know your feedback with the rainexpert tyres.

 

I will need a set of tyres for my car in a couple of months time for my daily.

 

Hurry up and get WIM-Blackboots here in Yorkshire!

[ChannelZ]

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.

[Rich]

I'll be keeping an eye on the wear rate of these tyres, hopefully it won't be too bad on a Civic, it's not the heaviest of cars.

 

So far I'm really impressed with them although haven't driven far. One thing I have realised is just how noisey winter tyres are compared to these....they're very quiet.

[chrisgixer]

The ZE912 is a great tyre, we sell tons and never hear a bad thing said about them. Excellent value for money!

I am intrigued. 3.2 omega Elite owner btw, from omegaowners.com

 

Falken tyres have been the Bain of my life. Absolutely appalling tram lining on the omega.

 

Swap wheels with absolutely buggered Dunlop sport maxtt fitted. Tram lining disappeared. Re fit 912 shod wheels again, tram lining returned.

 

I use sc3 as a preferred tyre. Pricey, but excellent grip in all but snow(where they are lethal) fantastic straight line stabillity(although any tyre has better stability to an omega than Falken) but a bit noisy and firm.

 

I think what owners like about the Falken is the very comfy ride they give, and almost zero road noise. Exceptionally quiet tyre, comfy, but appalling stability. ...I guess these traights relate to sidewall stiffness....?

 

 

 

I actually came on here today to start my own thread to ask advice on my next tyre choice. Which I will do.

It's a long story but I currently have the 452 fitted, because they came on a used set of wheels I wanted to to test on the car for vibration and roundness before refurbing. Needless to say the car is now wobbling around all over the place with numerous corrections of the steering wheel to keep the car mid lane. This reminded me though of the qualitys I do like. Compliant ride and quiet.

 

So question is, what tyre gives compliant ride, little road noise, good grip (no Falken fits that bill) with excellent straight line stability...?

 

Or am I asking too much?

[ChannelZ]

So question is, what tyre gives compliant ride, little road noise, good grip (no Falken fits that bill) with excellent straight line stability...?

 

Or am I asking too much?

 

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.

[Rich]

I've read alot of reviews about the P6000 and alot say they're bad but they came on the Civic and we still have 2 with the Uniroyals and they're fine, even in the wet.

[adam_r]

P6000's are all out ditch finders. horrible tyres that provide no feedback and at the slightest hint of speed they find the nearest tree / ditch / hedge to hide in

[ChannelZ]

P6000's are all out ditch finders. horrible tyres that provide no feedback and at the slightest hint of speed they find the nearest tree / ditch / hedge to hide in

 

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.

[chrisgixer]

P6000's are all out ditch finders. horrible tyres that provide no feedback and at the slightest hint of speed they find the nearest tree / ditch / hedge to hide in

 

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.

 

It's an easy trap to fall into that one. I thought the Falkens where great when first fitted, but then the handling started to suffer, found the grip limit started to deminish, abs started kicking in, more wandering, then binned them early with little less than half the tread left.

 

Not dissing the p7 in any way, I've no experience with that tyre, just that issues may well arise within the tyres life that shouldn't. Thanks for the recommendation though, although I won't fit them due to comments on omegaowners.

Strange, they seem to work on Holdens ok going by the hsv forum. Monaro's and vxr8's etc.

[Rich]

I really can't fault the P6000....strange how opinions differ. The Uniroyals were excellent on our drive to Norfolk, especially when it started raining, no sign of them losing grip.

[ChannelZ]

I really can't fault the P6000....strange how opinions differ.

 

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.

[Rich]

I didn't realise they were that old. The ones on the Civic were only put on 2 years ago I think, the last owner did alot of mileage in the car so went through tyres quick. When the other 2 need replacing I'll be getting the Uniroyals again though.

[liner33]

P6000's were factory fit on the Ford Orion 1.6i (xr3i w/boot)

[ChannelZ]

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.

[SteveOC]

I had P6000s fitted to my '97 S40 when I bought it in '99 and stuck with them, replacing them with P6000 Powergy when available (tyre fitters who didn't have them all claimed they were exactly the same so they didn't bother stocking them). I had no problems with stopping (as Bambi from the A4 will testify if he/she is still with us) but found them very noisy. I originally attirbuted the road noise to the car but after trying different tyre brands I concluded it was the tyres. I did get through a bunch of them over 75K miles and they had a hard life judging by the discs and pads I went though. Every puncture I had with these over the years was repairable and the tyres lasted until replacement until worn.

I won't be buying Pirelli in future as I don't like the noise.

 

I have 2 vehicles with Bridgestone tyres and no puncture on any of these tyres has ever been deemed repairable even when it is literally dead centre of the tread. I also got far fewer than 6K miles from a tyre on a Volvo V70 although they last better on an MX5 (I think the V70 runs Potenzas and the MX5 Turanzas). I also have an ongoing issue with what is an ER300(IIRC) wearing on the outer edge yet a full geomettry check at WIM said my car is fine.

I won't be buying Bridgestone in future.

 

I only ever had one Falken tyre fitted (a 452 IIRC) and it is the only tyre that blew out on me in 32+ years driving - in the overtaking lane of the M4 at 70mph.

Whether I was just unlucky or not - that is my one experience of the Brand and I won't be giving it a second chance.

 

I now run Neuton NT5000s (when I can get them). Note that the NT8000s may be an advance in dry weather driving, but apparently offer far reduced grip in the wet compared to the NT5000s.

 

Incidentally, I went for the Bridgestones as they offer some protection for the alloy by virtue of a 'lip' and the Neutons look similar and offer similar protection for the wheel.

 

I know a guy that used to work as a tyre tech / QC for a large tyre manufacturer and apparently they test other brands of tyres for comparability to their own and he claims that the 'best' brand out there in his day, ignoring issues of cost, was Michelin (he didn't work for Michelin). Also, I am informed, sometimes the only difference between budget and premium range tyres from the same manufacturer is.........the lettering on the side.

 

That is my experience - your mileage may vary - such is life.

 

Steve O.

[Rich]

I still think the P6000 are fine and can't really say I've noticed much road noise on them. They do last a long time as well, I doubt we'll have to replace them on the Civic until next year.

 

I'm still going for the NT5000 when I get some new tyres, I'm reading good things about them.

[bojcistv]

I have Uniroyal Rainexpert tires fitted on my Mondeo Mk3 2.0 TDCi. So far so good. It is not tyre for the heavy weighted cars like Mondeo is. Especially with the diesel engine. It is obviously since they are pretty soft and they have lots of grip in the rain. I had tried everything with them on the wet road and i couldn't get the car drifting. Bite as mad dog. I have never had tires like this ones. I mean on the wet surface.

But in the dry and on this damn high temps they are nothing special. Just average. Car is feeling like it is floating. It is nothing for worrying but you can sense that cause Mondeo has great and very precise suspension with lots of feedback.

In the end they are confirming the rule that good tire is not cheap....

[Rich]

I really like the Rainexpert on the Civic, grip very well in the wet. Ok in the dry, they grip well but nothing special but then it doesn't need to be on the Civic as the missus drives it. I will probably replace the P6000 with them when the time comes.