195/65 R14 Tires

The following tires have been reviewed in 195/65 R14.

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Tire Reviewed Dry Grip Wet Grip Feedback Handling Wear Comfort
Vredestein Sportrac 5 (98) 88% 85% 84% 83% 86% 84%
Uniroyal RainExpert 3 (36) 83% 93% 78% 75% 66% 81%
Hankook OPTIMO K415 (54) 82% 75% 75% 73% 85% 75%
Matador MP 58 Silika MS (3) 73% 70% 73% 63% 83% 80%
Sumitomo BC100 (15) 76% 73% 69% 66% 72% 73%
Evergreen EU72 (48) 75% 61% 60% 60% 73% 67%
Pirelli P6000 (175) 66% 46% 55% 48% 67% 60%
Federal Formoza FD1 (15) 71% 56% 49% 51% 57% 58%
Hero HR668 (2) 55% 20% 35% 35% 90% 65%
Runway ENDURO 656 (12) 55% 31% 47% 35% 32% 34%

195/65 14 Tire Review Highlights

Sumitomo BC100 rated 40% while driving a BMW 318is
Driving on a combination of roads for 2500 average miles
First of all I'd like to clarify that I bought the car in late february 2023 with these tires (DOT 0119) fitted on by the previous owner sometime during 2019. Between the tires being fitted and me buying the car, it was not used very much. In fact it was sitting for most of that time with occasional use to keep the battery "healthy". I've driven about 4000km on them and I think it's fair to say I am not very impressed.

The first problem I encountered was the fact that while they aren't dry rotted, microcracks have started forming inside the grooves in the tread and on the sidewall to a lesser extent, but since they had still plenty of tread left I thought to give them a go for a while before changing.

On average-high quality dry pavement the grip is not phenomenal but I wouldn't consider them dangerous to drive on. They can spin for a few meters when launching in first gear and momentarily when changing to second quickly near the redline. Totally expected for an old rwd car with about 140 horsepower more or less. When starting uphill on poorer quality pavement the wheelspin is unavoidable no matter how smoothly I try to take off. In the wet on the other hand it takes almost zero effort to spin at low speeds and it's not hard at all to induce oversteer when cornering at a slow pace.

I haven't found the limit of grip to be progressive, as when inducing oversteer on purpose and the "drifting angle" becomes a bit higher there is a tendency to fishtail.

When driving on a twisty road, the front tires are slow responding, meaning there's lag between turning the wheel and the car changing direction. I know the 65 series profile is big but I'm not too keen on that behaviour.

The worst part is braking, as I've had to "panic" brake on two seperate occasions (average pavement, dry weather, tires were not cold) from moderate speed in order to avoid obstacles and the tires didn't brake efficiently enough. The front wheels locked up much more quickly than anticipated (car has no ABS), meaning the brakes outpowered the tires by a lot. I'd expect better performance and having to pump the brake pedal less to keep control of the situation. Thankfully none of the afformentioned situations resulted in an accident.

To summarize I wouln't buy these tires again and I wouldn't reccomend buying them to anyone since they somewhat disappointed me. Sure, I didn't buy them new and they weren't stored in the best conditions when I got my car and started driving it but I surely expected better braking and handling to some extent.
tire reviewed on 2023-07-13 09:44:29
Uniroyal RainExpert 3 rated 83% while driving a Renault KANGOO 1.9
Driving on a combination of roads for 10000 spirited miles
Haven' t used too many other brands and models but Uniroyal Rainexpert is the best everyday tire I've used.
What I like the most of it is - grip. Grip on wet and flooded surface is exceptionally great! Where other tires are "floating" Rainexpert make you feel that no conditions have changed. On dry it has so much grip that it almost feels I'm driving on semi slicks. Keeps my kind of wobbling suspension Kangoo on corners like sports car.
Using on this car a second set of these tires. And will be using again.
Wear of tire is quite rapid comparing to other tires but for me the main thing is how car hold the road. It's a safety question for me. BTW I'm using these with EBC Bluestuf compound pads. Perfect combination on Kangoo MK1.
tire reviewed on 2019-10-30 09:51:22
Hankook OPTIMO K415 rated 91% while driving a Ford Corsair (australia)
Driving on a combination of roads for 48700 average miles
An excellent all round summer touring tire for a four cylinder FWD sedan.
The car has been driven all roads from Express ways to hard rock and muddy goat tracks in four southern Australian states.
Limited used in snow but performed quite well.
Removed with 2-3 mm tread remaining as the winter wet has arrived.
The best steel belted radial touring car tires I have ever purchased.
(Retired Auto Mechanic)

tire reviewed on 2016-06-05 07:18:00
Hero HR668 rated 49% while driving a Honda Accord Inspire
Driving on a combination of roads for 30 average miles
Got these on a car that I bought second hand...hard tire - will probably last another 40,000 kms...terrible in the wet...hard ride as well...a bit noisy. Probably a tire meant for the middle east market with their hot overall temperatures. Would not recommend any other use.
tire reviewed on 2016-03-23 02:05:58
Evergreen EU72 rated 83% while driving a Ford Sierra Sapphire
Driving on a combination of roads for 19000 spirited miles
Ive had a set on my RWD car for the past 19,000 miles, having replaced 4 mismatched tires and can say for the money they are superb. The rears are now worn out (a issue with rear traction appears when the lead boots come out) and the fronts are halfway through there lifespan. Im happy as the michelin energy I had in the past on a similar car were dead after 10,000 miles and the grip is much better.

Having also had a set of budget Die Young Goodride Tires on a similar car with the same power, I can safely say grip wise they are between the Michelin and the GoodRides but they feel a lot more progressive than Goodrides or Nankangs
tire reviewed on 2015-05-28 20:51:47
Vredestein Sportrac 5 rated 84% while driving a Opel corsa d 1.3 cdti
Driving on a combination of roads for 13000 spirited miles
very good in dry and wet road. i have them for 20k km and i heve no complaint. i am going to buy it again
tire reviewed on 2015-01-07 06:17:17
Pirelli P6000 rated 86% while driving a Volkswagen Golf Mk5 1.9 TDI
Driving on mostly motorways for 15000 average miles
Average tire does what it says on the tin.
tire reviewed on 2010-11-06 08:54:46
Federal Formoza FD1 rated 66% while driving a Honda CRX Si
Driving on mostly country roads for 30000 spirited miles
So I have these on a crx si with a zc swap, exhaust, lightweight flywheel, racing clutch, and an intake, the cars def. Not slow, with that said these tires handle everything I throw at them with this car, I drive tons of miles per day for work in very mountainous conditions, they handle well in dry and wet, not too Much noise that I can tell, I havnt even rotated them yet so the wear is a bit uneven, the fronts still have about 60% tread and the rears have 80%, with 30k hard miles on them. I wouldn't reccomend for someone looking for a higher performance tire, but I'd deffinately reccomend for someone looking for a decent reliable tire.
tire reviewed on 2010-08-06 02:37:54
Matador MP 58 Silika MS rated 89% while driving a Vauxhall Vectra
Driving on a combination of roads for 7000 spirited miles
I was very skeptical before getting this tires but went for them after recommendations from a few friends that have run them for a season. I got 2 for the front wheels of a FWD car. First impression was great. The ride was much quieter and road surface imperfections were not longer shaking the whole car. The grip in the wet was simply phenomenal. They were very grippy in the wet, mud and snow. There was more then one instances where I was able to get through snowed over hills and up climes that few other non AWD cars were able to cover. Braking in the same conditions inspire confidence. These were also probably the first set of tires that I could not easily get to wheel spin in first gear. I had the set for 10 000 km now over the winter season in Bulgaria and they show no sign of wear. I was told by the dealer that Matador is a daughter company of Continental and use similar Silicon based compounds. I am very happy and will buy again.
tire reviewed on 2010-04-19 04:49:51
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