tyre ratings

Hi,

I never got around to changing my tyres before the snow. Hopefully there will not be any more snow this year, so I was going to get some Uniroyal Rain Experts, as frequently recommended here.

I went to the black circle web site and found that all tyres now have ratings. In theory, this is a good thing. I used to read reviews of tyres on various web sites and not know whom to trust because you do not know who is reviewing the tyre, what car they drove, where they drove it, how they drove it, and whether they are impartial, etc. If this new system rates all tyres under the same conditions, at least it gives like for like comparisons.

I notice that the Uniroyal Rain Expert's rating is a B rating for wet driving, which is good but I notice they get an E rating for fuel efficiency, which seems bad. . I haven't got as far as looking at other makes yet. Does anyone make a tyre with an A rating for the wet and is E fairly typical for fuel economy or are their tyres with much better ratings for this? Is there a compromise that to improve efficiency, you sacrifice grip in the wet?

TIA

Reply to
Fred
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It does.

Any retailer should have the details available, but one of the best back- to-back comparisons of what's available that I've seen is Camskill's site

- just select the size you want, and look at what's available.

Reply to
Adrian

*waves*

When did you get back?

Reply to
SteveH

Just get the RainExperts, or RainSports - I doubt you'll notice any fuel efficiency difference, but you'll definitely notice the wet weather performance - and how well they work if we get a little scattering of snow again.

Reply to
SteveH

the michelins I priced for someone the other day were A, C and 2 (noise)

Reply to
Mrcheerful

October, but I couldn't be arsed to set Usenet up again until I was bored the other day...

Reply to
Adrian

As I am looking to buy new tyres myself I have been doing some research, including reading the EU directives!

Anyway, having digested all that:

The D rating isn't used, so in practice, for fuel efficiency it tends to be a choice of C or E. I assume any manufacturer whose product was borderline would make the effort to get it into C rather than E but that may mean that C is not much better than E. The economy is a lab test and formula for rolling resistance so it probably isn't significant for stop start urban driving. The difference between E and C might amount to 3-4% fuel saving in favourable circumstances.

Wet Grip, again D isn't used, Some are rated A in one sizes and B in another. I haven't noticed anything less than C, but maybe because I have ignored the cheaper brands. Difference between one grade and the next may be about one car length in stopping distance in the wet. But again, based on lab tests etc, so difficult to tell how much real difference.

For me the choice seems to be 175/65T Michelin Energy Saver+ C B 68dB £57 Uniroyal RainExpert E B 70dB £49

If the fuel efficiency rating means anything (I distrust all eco-bollox) then the extra cost of Michelin could be justified by the fuel saving. If not then I am still incline to Michelin on the basis that they will probably last longer and I haven't found anything to suggest that the Uniroyal has a better grip. But if anyone has better information I would be glad to know.

Reply to
djc

I found no difference MPG wise in going from a mixed load of makes to a set of michelin, however the grip was vastly improved and they last really well (Lexus GS300)

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Good trip, then?

Reply to
SteveH

I have probably posted this before.

I have RainExperts on my MX5.

They went on in January 2012 and since then have done half a dozen track days, a lot of running about around South Wales / Gloucestershire, a few trips to Cornwall and a trip to Berlin and back, via the Nurburgring.

That's something like 6k miles since fitting them - with some really hard use in there - Llandow circuit is ultra-abrasive and wears tyres very quickly - and the Nurburgring was done during rain so heavy my wipers couldn't keep up.

They still have a lot of life left in them - wear patterns under track use are a bit odd, in the way the blocks wear on a diagonal, but this wouldn't be an issue on roads.

Most impressively, they coped in quite heavy snow on the way back from Oulton Park last year - better than a lot of the SUV drivers who got stuck on the hill near Nant Ddu in the Brecon Beacons.

I'm definitely going to replace them with another set when they eventially wear out.

Reply to
SteveH

Hell, yes.

Reply to
Adrian

Just remembered, I'd bookmarked your blog.

You're not a million miles away from us now... we will have to catch up at some point.

Reply to
SteveH

Uniroyal will have a better grip, but if you haven't approached the limits of the existing Michelin Energy, it might not bother you.

Reply to
Nick Finnigan

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