Given
93%
while driving a
Skoda Octavia
(215/45 R17 W) on
a combination of roads
for 15,000
spirited miles
Pros:
- quiet
- superb anti-aquaplaning tire
- great wet handling
- good mpg
- tire wears very well
Cons: practically none.
Comments:
Great tire, sub brand of Continental from what I know/have been told. It is superb in the wet - I have done some tests and I have never felt out of control. This was fortuitous, as in the dark I hit a deep road-wide puddle at 60-65mph and besides the shock of hitting this, I quickly had control of the car. I cannot comment on whether I aquaplaned in that instance, but when I hit the brakes the car responded and didn't feel like any other time I know I aquaplaned.
The first 10k miles on the front and the tires had a lot of tread - then I replaced the tie rod ends, scrubbed the tires taking it to get re-aligned and ended up losing a bunch of mms so the last 5k I have been driving like a lunatic - pushing the limits as the replacements are ordered. I generally drive fast, but the last 5k has been an attempt to wear tires. I know they would have hit 20-25k on the front, as currently they are still legal and I have been trying to ruin them.
I'd like a little more feedback from the tire, but to be fair these are as good as any I have driven. I know when they are about to let up and they behave well in understeer on a corner etc... I think in 15k + miles I have experienced 1 instance of ABS when braking very hard, which is amazing as on the previous yoke (Focus w/k415 hankooks) I had slid a few times over their duration. Furthermore, the previous set of cheap Perillis on the Focus were ditch finders... Real skid pan stuff...
I am changing my tire at the front to a Hankook Ventus Prime 2 as camskill don't have the Matador in stock, I want to try another highly rated tire and I like change. If they suck the pristine Matadors on the rear will be going on the front.
Hope this ramble helps. Mike