Given
79%
while driving a
Skoda Yeti 4 x 4
(225/45 R17 W) on
mostly country roads
for 20,000
average miles
Thought it might be useful to review the standard fit Dunlop summer tires on my Yeti 4x4 SE model as it appears not all Yetis come with these, and they are Skodas own recommended replacement tire (I think the 225/50/17 94W size/loading is manufactured solely for Yeti and Octavia applications). My Yeti is my first non-sports car, and as Ive done years in the motor trade inc. development work for VW, am well qualified to give an "amateur expert" view. It's worth noting that the Yeti suspension set-up is firm and agressive (akin to VW's GTi or Audi's Sport trim models), for "fast-road" high speed driving (totally out of synch with Skoda's very "mature" buyer/driver profile)and that a 50-profile sports tire is inappropriate for a crossover 4x4 or family-transport type of car, but that's another debate!
Grip from the Dunlops in wet and dry is truly outstanding, in terms of both braking and cornering turn-in, amongst the best I've ever experienced and not far off that of a ultra-sport tire such as Bridgestone's Potenzas.
In colder conditions the tires go rock-hard though, so grip and ride comfort fall off a cliff, and in snow/ice they're unsurprisingly hopeless, even on my 4x4 model.
Ride comfort overall is moderate (the tire has a very stiff sidewall for high speed cornering and a result has little "give" for uneven roads or potholes/speedbumps). Although intially quiet, after 10k miles they've begun to drone increasingly badly. Contrarily to that, wear rate has been fine - my fronts are just becoming marginal at 20k, the rears will easily make another 5k or so. I'm looking to switch to a more comfort/all rounder tire at changeover, but no-one makes anything in this size, so choices appear to be to stay with a fast-road summer ones, in which case I'd stick with the current Dunlop Sports, or switch to an off-road type 4x4 tire like Bridgestone Duellers and suffer a big drop in dry road grip and refinement.