Given
77%
while driving a
Ford Mondeo Mk3 1.8
(225/45 R17) on
mostly town
for 5,000
spirited miles
When I bought the car it had major handling issues, such as strongly pulling to the left, Loss of grip and squealing in corners, and nasty wheelspin when pulling away in the wet, even when being careful with the throttle.
Despite the fact the existing tires were not heavily worn (Marshal), I decided to replace them with something of known high quality, and found these Goodyears.
The main reason I bought them was to try and make pulling away in the wet safer; because sitting at junctions wheelspinning was getting me into trouble, but they did a lot more than that. I'm still amazed by the difference. Handling was vastly improved, the pull to the left went, and now I can take a corner hard without sliding or squealing.
Wet grip is especially impressive. It makes surprisingly little difference to them whether it is wet or not. They are very sure footed and you can rely on there being grip when you need it most. They are also very quiet on decent roads, but do roar a bit on the worn rubbish that makes up most of our local roads.
They are not perfect though. I reckon they need a few extra PSI than most other tires would. This is because of how soft they are, the extra pressure helps them cope with weight transfer. Fuel economy is much the same, maybe slightly worse. It's good but don't expect these tires to pay for themselves in fuel savings. They won't come close to that.
There's also a big question mark over wear. They seem to me to be the kind of tires that would wear quickly, but more time will tell. In any case they're more than worth the high cost foar the safety.
Next time I might consider something with a stiffer sidewall but I certainly won't be buying cheap rubbish!