Tyres

[chrish27]

Guys,

General thoughts on tyres.

I noticed the other day my rear tyres are seriously cracked, I think they look like the orginal PE2.
They still have plenty of tread on them, but doubt very much they will pass the MOT in June ?

I know there is a sticky on tyre choice on here.

Getting hold of the PE2 tyres seems impossible now, and being a Trophy most owners want to keep it original.
Seems to be a good selling point too.

So reading on here good reports of the PS3, probably have to go for those?.
The trouble is I seem to be caught in this 'must keep it original' thing.

Chris

 

[ravydavygravy]

The trouble is I seem to be caught in this 'must keep it original' thing.

Impossible if you can't get the tyres.

Most see PS3's as the best alternative.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Most see PS3's as the best alternative.

I was under the impression that they had pretty soft sidewalls?

Personally, i always thought the PE2's were overpriced.

Conti Sport contacts, or Hankook V12 Evo's are very good - i have the latter as they are bagaintastic!!

 

[ravydavygravy]

They do but the wet weather performance makes up for it in my eyes.

 

[chrish27]

Thanks for the replies....

Looks like the PS3 are £117 fitted from Black circle, so not too bad......

 

[is1]

So four would be almost £468. That is crazy to be honest.
I have PS3s and will not be getting them again. Not because they are bad, they are very good but they are missing a little something when you first move the steering wheel.
If I had kept to 16" wheels, I would have gone for Hankook V12s as they seem to be highy regarded at half the price (with a higher "W" speed rating = stiffer sidewall?).
I have decided to downsize to 15s and will use PE2s at just over £60 each fitted in that size.

 

[ravydavygravy]

My fronts have only lasted 7000 miles. Oops.

 

[Jon.G]

I've got 4 news PS3's on now. Much better than the hankooks/avon's that were on before hand.

 

[Gordon]

I have decided to downsize to 15s and will use PE2s at just over £60 each fitted in that size.

Hi is1, what wheels have you decided to buy in 15"? And do you lose any width of wheel with a 15"?

Also, as you are running 15"s is the sidewall of the PE2 not a 'higher profile' in order to maintain rolling radius, accurate speedo and mileage?

If the sidewalls of the PE2 are a higher profile could that not be equal to using a PS3? In theory you'd have more sidewall to flex with the PE2, verses the 'flabbier', but lower profile, sidewall many report with the PS3.

 

[is1]

Gordon

It is going to be a bit of a try it and see but I am confident it will work for the better.
The plan is to use Clio 16v turbines (6.5 x 15, ET 36). I chose these because they are a "historic" Renault wheel and have a base motorsport look which should complement the Trophy. Ironically, despite being slightly narrower, they will stick out a further 3mm per side due to the lower offset.
There should also be a slight weight reduction (of about 1.5 kg per corner wheel and tyre combined) over the standard set up.
I intend to use 195/50/15 V rated PE2s. The sidewall is ever so slightly greater but in absolute terms, we are talking a sidewall of 97.5mm (15s) v 92.25mm (16s), so 5mm more.
There will be a very slight effect on the speedo (but then they are not perfect when read against a GPS device) but not sufficient for it to be in any way a concern.
The PE2s seem to have a squarer shoulder which may be why they just felt better and they are half the price in 15s!
I have the wheels refurbed and ready, just need to wear down the PS3s so it will be a few months before I can report back.
The feedback on 15s v 16s is almost unanimously that Clios run better on 15s.

 

[Gordon]

is1

Interesting. Thanks for the detail. Nice choice on the wheels, I presume you're going to keep them silver/chrome or go with the colour of the original Speedline's. Even lower un sprung weight is a great benefit. As are cheaper tyre's, that are a 'better' option.

I wonder how the 3mm wider track will effect the handling, if at all. Even more stability, but perhaps more pressure on the side walls. Just as well they'll be the more square shouldered PE2's.

I agree, speedo's are never that accurate, but I wonder how may 'less' miles you might accumulate over a few years of driving, as the wheel and tyre are going round that tiny little bit less often with a greater rolling radius. I'm not clever enough to work out the maths on that one, but perhaps someone is. My guess would be that it would be marginally less miles per 1000. It could be a smaller rolling radius of course, meaning slightly more miles. 5mm on the side wall and a 15" wheel could still be very close to the standard rolling radius, with only the altered height of the sidewall having an impact. In that case it would be a handling alteration and subjective to you.

I had problems with slower acceleration using a higher profile tyre on my rally car. The wheel weight was the same, but with a higher profile tyre the total wheel/tyre weight increased. The greater rolling radius, and weight seemed to make it bog down compared to standard. The effect on the gearing was quite noticeable. The change in radius was greater than 5mm though, more like 25mm. Some people with the same type of car chose to use 13" wheels and got far greater acceleration and lower weight, but the 13"s were so narrow a lot of stability was lost. Not always a bad thing on a rally car in forests. On tarmac is was poor though.

Hopefully the change will be a positive benefit for you. Do keep us all updated. I'd been keen to hear your views when the PE2's are fitted. I could possibly look to do the same if it's positive. Keeping the great (in my view) PE2, less un sprung weight, minimal impact on mileage, perhaps added stability due to wider track, cheap tyres; there are a lot of positives.

The questions I'd have would be any possible negative effect on mileage, gearing and acceleration.

 

[marrow]

On EVOs website there is an article about the new Mini Cooper JCW GT - I spotted it wears Kumho Ecsta V300 tyres.

Are Kumho tyres any good?

 

[Cue]

I was under the impression that they had pretty soft sidewalls?

Personally, i always thought the PE2's were overpriced.

Conti Sport contacts, or Hankook V12 Evo's are very good - i have the latter as they are bagaintastic!!

another vote for the hankooks here - my allegiance with michelins is now broke. haha