What tyres are you using on your CC?

[Vexed]

Hi guys, I would like to know what tyres are you using on your CC and how do you find them so far?

I will start with my car:

Toyo Proxes 4 Plus
235/35 R19
USA Made
KM Done: 6000KM

These tyres are UHP All -Season, I found them to be grippy and comfortable on dry, but to my surprise, wet grip is really awful... I'm not sure if there is something wrong with the tyres (they were fresh 2013 production).

[dunners]

I have to apologise as I meant to check the exact ones on mine this morning but forgot.
I use Continentals, they have superb grip expecially in the wet and next to no road noise. Catch you have to spend money as the cheap Conti's are no good.

[Vexed]

No worries mate... I had oem Conti's before and they were great, but as you said expensive... I read awesome reviews about the Proxes 4+ especially their wet grip... Very strange... They weren't cheap either...
Sent from my Windows Phone

[dunners]

Exactly, fortunately I know a guy that owns a tyre place and he takes care of me. But there was one set I had and I went the cheaper option, Never again.

Its funny you should mention the poor wet grip in the Toyo's, on a previous car i put toyo's on (slimmer profile tyre and it was all i could get) and it the dry it went like it was on rails but in the wet if felt like it was on slicks.

[Eaglen00b]

Original factory fitted Continental Contisportcontact 5 with ContiSeal 235/40 R18 95W Extra Load. Fronts have about 50% tread remaining and the rears have about 75%. Approximately 20,000kms travelled to date. With the 130Tdi being front wheel drive, the additional wear on the fronts is to be expected.

The wear has been very even i.e. no scalloping and even wearing across the tread surface.

I'll shortly be organising for the fronts to be rotated with the rears. I should, at this rate, be able to get at least 40,000kms useable life out of them.

In the dry on bitumen, they are brilliant! Excellent turn in (they don't squirm around too much) and keeps a straight track without needing much steering correction.

I've noticed is that on warmer days, the ride definitely seems softer and on colder days it's harsher and there's more road noise. This is because the Contis are a summer tyre and the compound softens up more when it's warm and is more stiff when cold.........

They tend to get slippy if there's a bit of sand or gravel on the road though, which is expected as these are low profile tyres.

In the wet, grip is remarkable. They hold grip extremely well in the wet. Hit a huge deep puddle at 100kph on the freeway in a recent downpour and the vehicle tracked straight right through without pulling to one side or the other which would be what typically happens if you hit a deep puddle at speed.

I'll probably get the same once the current set get down to minimum legal tread.

One thing though, get off the bitumen onto a graded dirt track the story changes completely. In the dry, it's easy to get wheel slip and under steer. In the wet, your traction control, stability control, ABS and whatever traction and stability aids and doohickeys you have will be going off their nut trying to keep you in a straight line.

These tyres are DEFINITELY designed for sealed, bitumen roads only. Be extremely careful when travelling on non sealed roads.

This time next year I'll be driving on the Alpine road in NSW. I think if it snows, things will get VERY interesting.

Hope this helps!


Cheers,
Eaglen00b

[Vexed]

Thanks a lot Eaglen00b... The funny thing about the proxes 4+ is that it clears water very well, i hit a couple of puddles on the highway as well, the car felt very good... But when I hit a turn on the highway at 70kph, I can feel the car is about to slip and lose traction. The other day I was doing 40 on a slope and I wanted to turn left, I think the car slipped around 3 meters, I had to remove my foot of the break paddle... I'm seriously thinking about replacing them with the Potenza RE050A. They are running on my other car like a dream...
Sent from my Windows Phone

[Eaglen00b]

Hey Vexed, I presume you'd be replacing the spare with the same too?

You'd be up for the cost of purchasing a 5 tires because in the event you get a flat, it's terribly unsafe to put on the spare with completely different tread. That's worse than having a space saver tire instead of the factory supplied alloy with the same tires as what's on the vehicle....

Cars with space saver tires have always been a deal breaker for me as I like to do a lot of long distance cruising...

[Jath]

Fitted Bridgestone Protenzas (RE050A) in Feb, just on 10Km so far and for the performance these are very quiet and for 670 odd dollars the best value/performance yet. Had a few rounds with cheaper Bridgestones and some Goodyears that cost a fortune with little joy.

[Vexed]

I was quoted $1700 for 5 Potenza RE050A... I think I will just bite the bullet and replace them today...
Sent from my Windows Phone

[Eaglen00b]

I was quoted $1700 for 5 Potenza RE050A... I think I will just bite the bullet and replace them today...
Sent from my Windows Phone

yowtch...

Was quoted 4 x Continental Contisportcontact 5 (Original factory rubber on the Lakeville 18" rims) including alignment & balancing for $1,000 at my local VW Dealer Service Center about a month or so ago at my 30,000km service. Tyres are getting close to 60% worn now. Hoping to stretch them as close as possible to 45,000km and change all four for newies just before my road trip to SA, NSW, ACT & VIC and back to WA.

The dealer was cheaper than BJTMs!!