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Tyres are one of the things that I will never skimp on, and I usually end up replacing them (in pairs too, when not the whole lot) due to age or punctures rather than wear. My Sprite had some delightful rubber on it when I bought it - plenty of tread, but so rock hard that even with a tired 948 it could step the back out!!! Those were immediately replaced.... My godmother used to have a '59 Beetle that she bought new in Geneva, and when she donated it to a museum a few years back, it still had all the original tyres! Fortunately, they weren't on the car as she had aquired another set of wheels & tyres to drive it on. The originals still had loads of tread though, and I believe that they have been refitted for display purposes when in the museum. I have some piccies of the car somewhere that I'll try to dig out
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Last Edit: Apr 2, 2008 18:52:51 GMT by Paul H
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Tyres are one of the things that I will never skimp on I thought that... BUT My old daily hack was a Rover 216si which was wearing Mitchellin rubber all round when I got it - these eventually needed replacing as a full set. I had driven virtually nothing but RWD cars for the preceding decade, I always aimed to change tyres in axle pairs, but always stuck to cheapo tyres. This time, I figured I shouldn't skimp on the fronts as they do 90% of the work on a FWD, and I could live with cheapos on the back as I prefer cars tail happy anyway. So, on went a pair of Goodyears and a pair of "Corsa" branded cheapos - To my surprise, it started understeering horribly and locking front brakes with far less provocation than previously in the wet... After about 1000 miles and several experiments changing pressures without getting the car to "work" properly, I swapped the fronts & rears around, which gave an instant improvement in braking performance & handling. Lesson learned: spending money on "premium" tyres can be a waste - The Goodyears didn't really even wear better, and they were really poor for grip even compared with the Mitchellins that were probably 5 years old and worn almost down to the blocks - hence, I will never buy Goodyear tyres again...
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Funnily enough, I've had issues with Goodyears too. My car was a Pug 306 Dturbo which came with them fitted. In the wet, it would wheelspin very merrily in second. Final straw came when an old lady ran out in front of me at a set of traffic lights. I hit the brakes (it was damp) and the car skidded - I actually nudged the car next to me but somehow missed the stupid STUPID old woman thankfully.
That was one of those park up and calm down moments! Went and fitted some new tyres almost immediately - Avons I think. Grip levels were superb after that and I actually had confidence in the wet again - and that it would stop if needed.
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1986 Citroen 2CV Dolly Other things. Check out my Blog for the latest! www.hubnut.org
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bbq
Part of things
(. )( .)
Posts: 485
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The difference between a worn set of premium tyres and some new Ditchfinders can be remarkable to say the least. I've just replaced the tyres on my old shed of an N14 Sunny and really noticed the difference. On new 175/70x13 Strada's (£22 delivered) the car then drove, steered and stopped at least 100% better. Tyre technology has moved on so far since I was fitting them in my dad's tyre garage 20+ years ago that it's quite an eye opener to an old fart like me. You genuinely don't need to spend big money to be safe on an normal car.
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2003 Suzuki Wagon R+. Feel the POWAAARRRR!!! 1968 Volvo 142. My street/strip car. Currently fubarred, it will run one day. 1971 Volvo 142. Parts car. Stripped and gone. 1993 Nissan Sunny diesel. Runs on cooking oil! [/UR
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Tyres are one of the things that I will never skimp on I thought that... <snip> Lesson learned: spending money on "premium" tyres can be a waste - The Goodyears didn't really even wear better, and they were really poor for grip even compared with the Mitchellins that were probably 5 years old and worn almost down to the blocks - hence, I will never buy Goodyear tyres again... Wasn't necessarily thinking the most expensive, but only using good quality ones, rather than strange / unknown brands
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