Given
90%
while driving a
Ford fiesta st
(205/40 R17 W) on
a combination of roads
for 15,000
average miles
In short...
Recommended
Excellent levels of grip
Fairly mid-range in terms of price
Confidence in driving in dry and wet conditions
Struggling to find a fault with them
Ofcourse, different cars and different set-ups will respond to different tires in different ways. Always keep that in mind. I would recommend this tire - I drive sensibly, allow myself to enjoy the 2.0L engine with the odd 'sprint' but my driving is dictated by the conditions - I can't, for instance, rate this tire on how safely it will go round a freshly snow covered incline corner at 100mph
I think I've had these fitted to my front wheels for about 18 months (or 15,000 miles) and I have just changed them. My car is a Fiesta ST..a 2.0L 16v FWD car putting out 150bhp and a lot (if not most) of my driving is done on national speed limit roads. So, when I was looking for tires I had some key factors in mind; a front wheel drive car; that I would once in a while allow the odd gear-box stretch; typical British weather; good wet grip but not at the expense of dry grip (and not winter tires).
I had these fitted for around £85-£90 each (inclu. VAT), and, quite simply, they delivered!
My Driving Style:
Like I said, most of my driving is done on national speed limit roads, so we're talking journeys of at least 60mph, but more often in the 70mph-80mph region. That said, I do a fair bit of driving around town too. I don't drive like a t**t nor do I push my car to the absolute limit; thats just stupid, but I do allow the 2.0L engine to enjoy itself every once in a while.
Grip:
Can't fault them in the wet or dry. Dry grip is very good. I've had tires in previous years that haven't been able to handle less power than I have now, I cannot think of a single time when these tires have let me down in any respect in the dry. The wet grip is very good also and gave me more confidence in the car should I ever need to perform any emergency manouvere in the wet or hit large amounts of surface water whilst travelling on the motorway - the latter of which has happened a couple of times - it takes a split second for the tires to adjust and they give you even more feedback (which is good anyway) and don't aquaplane.
In the snow we had at what must have been the start of 2012, these tires saw me through! of course, grip was a lot less than usual (one day of especially poor weather conditions sticks in my mind); driving in non-stop slush/snow/ice which had already settled on the road and continued to fall, and I drove accordingly (just like everybody was!)and these got me through dual carriageways, up hills, round bends and through town from work to home. For a large part of the dual carriage-way driving in this instance I was making the tracks in the snow and others were following - these tires were cutting through and were covered in snow but still offered a degree of grip
Wear:
Its all relative. I think the wear was reasonably good given the distances and speeds at which I generally travel. If I had spent £150 per tire then I would expect more, but I didn't - I spent almost half that per tire, and as such, I can't complain.
Comfort:
I did notice that these were slightly softer and not quite as rigid as the tires I replaced. But the grip was phenomenal; it felt like I was stuck to the road! If you feel for it, these tires will feedback everyting about the road to you. However, its subtle enough that it can go un-noticed if you want. Noise wasn't an issue, I suppose they got slightly nosier as they came within having to be changed but don't all tires?
Buy again?
Well I did, just yesterday (Jan 16th '13) at £98 per tire - slightly more expensive than last time so I'm guessing people are slowly catching on that these are good tires. I read so many reviews about so many tires leading up to changing mine and I honestly could not find one with a better review. Yes - you will find tires that display the same characteristics and last longer - but they'll cost you more also. Or will be better in one (perhaps non-essential) characteristic but at the expense of another.
VERY NOTEWORTHY POINT
A couple of days ago my nearside tire was punctured (they needed changing anyway but this sort of forced things along!). When I took the wheel off, the inside side-wall was in ruins. I don't know whether it burst or was a normal puncture made worse by the fact that I must have driven on it for about a mile and a half before I noticed the flat (I stopped twice but it was so dark and given that they're relatively low profile anyway it was very difficult to see). Now, you may jump to the conclusion of 'no thanks, not if it might burst' BUT bear these points in mind....
- these tires were probably passed their limit and needed changing anyway (thus quite thin)
- it has been incredibly cold and i've no doubt this made the tire more vulnerable (combined with the fact that it needed changing already)
- whenever and however it punctured, it didn't pull or impact the handling in any way, the car was still stuck to the road.
- Up to about 40mph there was barely any difference in handling, just a bit more noise
...and I just replaced them with exactly the same tire