Tyre choice feedback, lower noise, better handling and ride
 

Hi,
Just thought I would feedback experience of a tyre brand change on 4.2TDI Sport D3 running 275 35 20's. Purchased the car back in January and wheels were crying out to be refurbished and tyre were 3.5mm ish. It's was running Yokohama Advan sports all round and had a good alignment history and wear pattern ,the experience on these tyres were that they were noisey, not at all great for stability and at being pushed off line on bumpy roads (nearly as bad as my Boxster S when the tyres have gone hard and are near end of service life. Ride quality was not as I would have expected but I accept that's more subjective. After mush research I went for a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2, and had to wait a while for delivery while wheels were refurbed.

The wait was well worth it, noise levels are way down, stability dramatically improved an rough or poor roads.
Compared its old tyres and ride quality has improved as well , I had thought about Dunlop's as Jag seams to love then and are quiet in the XF's I have ridden in but had heard quite a few reports of side walls splits as my Yokohama's had started to.
Well happy with the change to Goodyear and the refurbed silver and diamond cut wheels look great.
The Goodyear's come with a good rim protector too.

I have Goddyear Eagle F1 on D2 S8 in 255/45R19 and don't like them all that much. They are quite I give you that but so are most the the modern tyres that have a lot of radial grooves and little cross cuts. Being extra load (102 I think) they have thicker, harder sidewall so fairly hard compared to others I have had.

The thing I don't like about most ids that they don't grip unless it's warm say 20C+ and on clean, dry tarmac. If it's below 15C, wet or offroad the grip is pretty poor but again so are a lot of other modern tyres that are made with fuel consumption as a priority.

I have to say that from all the tyres I have used over years Michelins are my favourite but have not used any of recent models. Good performance at any conditions, little wear making them last long and performance does not drop off with age as much as other tyres I have used.

I don't like Dunlops either, they are pretty good when new but become hard and loose performance very quickly with age. My second favourites after Michelin are probably Continentals.

Can we have some refurbed wheel pics, where did you get them done and how much did it cost if you don't mind sharing.

Wouldn't use Dunlops again and I doubt I'd bother with Contis. I have not tried Michelins or Goodyear yet, but my current tyre of choice is the noise cancelling Pirelli Zero. Excellent tyre and I have never experienced a loss of grip in any weather so far, let alone below 20 degrees.

I have pirelli p zero all round. Fantastic grip levels in all conditions and very quiet. Well worth the money.
I had a miss match of funlop, conti and a goodyear when i bought the car so swapped them all out for the zero's.
Never had them before but will happily have them again.

My Volvo runs Michelin Cross Climates, which I've posted about in another thread and I think they're great.

The Audi runs on my tyre of choice, the Goodyear Eagle F1, which I second as being a great tyre. I do miss the beautiful design of the GSD2 and the GSD3 but I have to admit the assymetrics have worked really well on my car. They're grippy and quiet. I've not had them long enough to comment about their longevity.

I only wish they did them in the proper 265/35/20 size for my car. Mine has the slightly larger 275/35/20 size fitted, which sets off my OCD something rotten!