Tyres in the Wet

I've used, recently, Goodyear NCT5s, Pirelli P6000s and Marangoni Vantos in that size.

Of them all, I'm most impressed by the Vanto - even after a quite severe hammering on a track day, they're still looking good. Work well in the wet, too - nice deep treads.

Cheap as chips, too - you're looking for exactly the same size as I bought, which cost me £40 each, incl. fitting.

What Goodyear, specifically? Have you checked the tyre pressures?

If they're still new (inside 500 miles) then the new tyre coating _may_ still be on.

It's hard to get good tyres in 14" now. I gave up and got bigger alloys mainly to get more choice of tyres. Continentals are great in the wet (and dry). Another top wet tyre is Vredestein. Both may be hard to get in 14" going by my experiences last year over a 6 week period of ringing tyre fitters who were full of promises but couldn't deliver. The best cheap tyre I've seen tested in the annual Auto Express tyre test (mainly wet tests) was for a Barum Bravura if I remember correctly.

No it's not.

I tell a lie. They were actually Dunlop Sport SP 490's.

Whoops.

Defo over 500 miles though

Right.

Heh.

Right. In the wet the new tyre coating takes seemingly forever to come off.

My Ka's standard tyre size was just like yours (I'm guessing, either a Ka, or a PSA model of some sort, like the Citroen AX?). He came with Contis, these were okay. I swapped them for Firestone Firehawk F700 "Fuel Savers," winner of the longest tyre model name. They were comparable (better in the wet, inferior in the dry) except in very cold conditions, when they were "messy." But - when brand new, they were *nasty*. Naturally enough I discussed the Firestones on my website,

is the link to the tyre article, but they're also mentioned in the Ka Diary.

Hmm. Here is where I brush over a nasty oversteery moment with the new tyre coating on those Firestones:

Damn, I miss that Ka. :-/

It is round here. Promises, promises and no delivery time and again. They can all get one tyre but fat chance of 4 unless it's some Firestone crap. What is it about Firestone? Every blasted tyre fitter seems to want to sell you these.

Firestone tyres are without doubt some of the worst I've ever known. If they grip well they wear out in hours, but normally they don't grip well and still don't last long. Although having said that, the Focus Zetec Mk1's were fitted with Firestone something or others from the factory and they worked well and seemed to last forever....

My personal favourite tyres tend to be Avon, then Continental, then Pirelli, then Goodyear. The Goodyear NCT F1 summat or others were good but didn't last long. Yokohama tyres are brilliant in the dry, lose tread while you look at them and don't grip in the wet. Falkens are crap.

I've had 5 cars in the last 4 years which used 185/60/14 or 195/60/14 tyres, never had an issue getting them.

Just had a set of 195/60/14s fitted to my Alfa 75.

Try eTyres:

I'll definitely recommend the Marangoni tyres I've just had fitted to my

75, too.

In what respect?

I've just stopped using Falkens on my Escort, cos they are no longer competitive againt Pirelli P6000, which was the original fitment for the car.

But I've never had a problem with the falkens at all. Much better than Pirelli 5000 Drago s**te.

"Pete M" wrote in message news:f3kbgg$ijt$ snipped-for-privacy@registered.motzarella.org...

On the other hand my experience of Avon is that they're crap, whereas Falkens last for ages and grip as well as the next tyre in the wet.

SteveH likes Goodyears so I'm bound to dislike these... :)