Dunlop tyres

[kevinod]

Guys,

anyone ever tried Dunlops on their FTO? Guys in Bantry don't have Eagle F1s at the moment but recommended Dunlops, so think I'll try them out.

Booked in for Saturday, just 2 fronts for now, back tyres have loads of miles (or kilometers even!) left in them yet.

Getting wheel alignment done too at the same time.

Kev.

[CJ]

anyone ever tried Dunlops on their FTO?

I had a set of Dunlop P7000's on my GS, I wouldn't rate them that highly in terms of grip wet or dry, can't comment on other models though.

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

I have had a few tyre places suggest SP9000's but to be honest they don't come out great against competitors in Tyre Tests - If they don't have F1's or Toyo's then try for Pirelli P7000's or P Zero's or Bridgestone SO3's - depending on whats better value.

Having said that the SP9000 is still a high performance tyre and it certainly won't disappoint you.

What I don't like about the vast majority of tyre fitters is that they all seem to think the brand they favour (usually the brand they get the best deal on) is the best brand on the road. I have had tyre dealers trying to push Nankangs and Champiro's on me - and try to convince me that they are as good as an Goodyear F1 or P Zero tyre. I recently had one tyre seller tell me that a Champiro was a rebranded Bridgestone. Then I noticed he was driving his Scooby on SO3's rather than his much lauded Champiros.

In my opinion there are 3 tyre grades in the FTO size

1: Goodyear F1/Pirelli P Zero & Pirelli P7000/Bridgestone SO3/Toyo Proxes
(all W,Y & ZR ratings)

2: Continental Sport Contact/ Michelin Pilot Sport / Bridgestone RE720 / Dunlop SP 9000/ Avon ZZ1 (all W,Y & ZR ratings)

3: Hankook / Falken / Federal / Uniroyal (all v & above ratings)

Not Rec: Kumho / Nankang / Champiro.

Some tyres suit particular cars e.g. Toyo's or F1's on the FTO - Bridgestone RE 720's or SO3's on a Scooby. A scooby driver would not like the feel of Toyo's or Pirelli P7000's but an FTO driver would be well impressed with these tyres. Really depends on how the car is set up - weight distribution / suspension / performance or whether it is FWD/RWD or 4WD.

BTW - the right tyre choice will be the best modification you can make on your FTO.

[CJ]

1: Goodyear F1/Pirelli P Zero & Pirelli P7000/Bridgestone SO3/Toyo Proxes (all W,Y & ZR ratings)

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on the P7000's MFFTO, my handling experience with them wasn't great, I know of an ex-owners who lost his GPX on a corner and did a fair bit of damage (mind you he probably wasn't sparing the horses at the time...), you can guess what tyres he had on I've heard good reports about the PZeros by the way but you'll pay that bit extra. IMO, T1 Proxes are the best value tyre you can buy for the FTO when you compare price\performance. At the end of the day, don't skimp on tyres if you've put a lot into your car or have a heavy right foot!

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

CJ -
Re the P7000's - I've gone through 10 P7000's in the past 2 years ( used to do 40K miles a year), a set of PZeros - 2 sets of Bridgestone RE720's - 2 sets of F1 Eagles - and misc others including Continental Sport Contacts/Michelin Pilot Sports/Federal SS etc and I have found that the P7000's (on a Racing Puma) were a very good balance between a dry and wet tyre - and better than anything short of P Zeros or F1 Eagles.

I haven't tried the P7000's on an FTO yet - but it should have very similar characteristics to the Racing Puma (FWD performance car - similar weight - slightly better handling).

Nope - I don't work for Pirelli - I might just make my next tyres a set of P7000's out of spite now - and give you a spin - I'd still prefer the Goodyear F1's though!

[CJ]

I might just make my next tyres a set of P7000's out of spite now - and give you a spin

I might have to take you up on that (out of spite )

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

I'm gonna chicken out now - its too high a price to pay for missing out on F1's - and I've just remembered that the ride and vibrations from the P7000 were certainly a lot harsher than the F1 Eagles - not really ideal for a car that isn't exactly fresh out of the box.

[kevinod]

Thanks for the feedback guys, anyone have any more thoughts get them on here too!

Think I'll give them a buzz and see what if they have any

Goodyear F1/Pirelli P Zero & Pirelli P7000/Bridgestone SO3/Toyo Proxes

.

There's Bridgestone on it at the moment back and front, although the backs are 225 and front 205 I think...

Kev.

[Myfeckin FTO]

There's Bridgestone on it at the moment back and front, although the backs are 225 and front 205 I think...

Kev.

That could be a bigger problem Kev - don't think its doing the car any favours having larger tyres on the rear - fine if the car is RWD and has been designed with that in mind -

Are the rims different widths? Could you put a set of 215's on there?

Out of interest what Bridgestones are on there at the moment?

[kevinod]

There's Bridgestone on it at the moment back and front, although the backs are 225 and front 205 I think...

Kev.

That could be a bigger problem Kev - don't think its doing the car any favours having larger tyres on the rear - fine if the car is RWD and has been designed with that in mind -

Are the rims different widths? Could you put a set of 215's on there?

Out of interest what Bridgestones are on there at the moment?

Rims I think are different widths alright, if you saw my pics the front and back wheels are different, think this is the reason, to put larger tyres on the back. Front wheels are actually Nissan wheels, can't remember the make of the back ones.

Not sure offhand what type Bridgestones are on there, I'll have a look and let you know though.

Kev.

[CJ]

Kevin, I if were you, I'd hold off and get a decent set of rims before you start spending 4 or 500 quid on tyres. If you wanted to do it on the cheap, pick up a set of FTO 16's second hand and stick a set of rubber on them. Two different sets of alloys on a car look a bit out of place IMO.

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

Kevin, I if were you, I'd hold off and get a decent set of rims before you start spending 4 or 500 quid on tyres. If you wanted to do it on the cheap, pick up a set of FTO 16's second hand and stick a set of rubber on them. Two different sets of alloys on a car look a bit out of place IMO.

CJ

I'm with CJ on this one Kev. No point buying new tyres and then finding you need rims as well.

It reminds me of the time the Dentist told me my teeth were fine but my gums would have to come out

Getin some Deja vue now - we've been through this with Diddler earlier this week - second hand alloys are hard to find in the FTO size - What did you do with your old alloys Diddler?

[kevinod]

Kevin, I if were you, I'd hold off and get a decent set of rims before you start spending 4 or 500 quid on tyres. If you wanted to do it on the cheap, pick up a set of FTO 16's second hand and stick a set of rubber on them. Two different sets of alloys on a car look a bit out of place IMO.

CJ

Know what you guys mean, would be what I would do usually myself, but its been a pretty expensive month - paid second 50% of car + freight, the 10% customs and 21 VAT on top of that, VRT tomorrow of 1600ish, road tax has yet to come... Not to mention insurance came due for renewal on 14th of this month - bank accounts and credit cards have never got so much abuse!! Good job I've been busy saving for quite a while now!!

So for now I'm just going to get tyres on the front 2 wheels, the ones on them aren't legal I reckon, or very borderline if they are. Back tyres are pretty good yet.

Current aim is to just to get basics sorted out, and get through the NCT and next month I should have one car less and can look into doing more things like getting half decent wheels, etc. etc.

Kev.