Which tyres for every day use?

[harrietelvidge]

I am looking to buy 4 new tyres for my FTO GR tip.
I don't use it for race or track- just normal everyday road cruising- actually I would like some good tyres that improve the ride quality and take *some* of the sporty hardness off. They need to be good in wet and dry as my FTO is my new every day car.
Please recommend the best tyres for what I am after, I don't mind paying extra to get good quality.
Thank you.

[jinglis]

You will want ballon spec tyres to take away that horrible sporty ride.

Might help if you tell us what wheels you have? If you have the standard alloys then the standard tyre size is 205/50/16 the 50 is the effectively the size of the side wall and should give you more cushion.

[jimbo_GR]

Avon ZV3's are good all round general use tyres. iirc i managed to get a pair for £100. But its all down to personal preference i guess, some go for Toyo Proxies and others just dont give a monkey and go for whichevers cheapest...
BTW WTTC :)

[High Horse]

Welcome to the club! As above, tyres won't affect the 'sporty hardness' of the FTO's ride (you are stuck with that - it's a sports car!), but they do keep you in contact with the tarmac; so I would always recommend buying the best ones that you can afford. I am not wealthy, so I chose Toyo Proxes TR1's, and I am very happy with them. They replaced a mix of cheap, hard tyres, and the difference in handling was noticable.

[dreid]

kumho ecsta
cooper

i wouldnt go less than them. then of course you have yokohama, toyo, pirelli p-zeros, eagle f1, etc

[NickW]

Toyo Proxes TR1's

I 2nd that. I use 225/45/17 on my Zafira now for 18months and love them. Onto a 2nd set for the fronts now :)

I got mine delivered for £165 and £20 fitted and balenced

[harrietelvidge]

@jinglis I have the standard 16s. When i bought the car it came with 18" custom alloys with low profile tyres so you can imagine how different it was to drive before. like a board.
I managed to get a straight swap for the 16"s with a GPX owner within 3 days of buying the car. the ride quality is obviously much easier going with the 16"s.
@High Horse- i know what you mean- its still a sports car at the end of the day and i obviously cant have the cushioning of a lux saloon. However I know for sure that some Jaguar owners are very particular about choosing their tyres for ride quality. For this reason, Just thought i'd seek some FTO insiders advice to see if there is a tyre particularly suited to FTO everyday road use to optimise the ride and handling.

Thanks everyone for their thoughts! as I am still a newb, it might indeed take a couple more changes to figure out personal preference (@jimbo_GR) :eek:

[cybatrix]

TBH most members of this club use low profile tyres on 17" wheels.

Most people prefer Toyo's for the FTO.

I think we've all got used to having a sporty ride and to be honest it's not that hard really.

AFAIK this is the first time anyone has actually asked to make the ride softer.

[Merga]

I've had Toyo's, Yokahama road/track tyres and Goodyear's on mine and the Toyo Proxes are by far the best for all round use... best for wet/dry grip and comfort. At my next change I won't have anything else ;-)

P.S. Welcome to the club!

[jamestil6569]

I'm a big fan of Goodyear Eagle F1's. Noticably less tyre roar (compared to Yoko's) and really progressive grip/handling (compared to Mich Pilot sports). Great all rounder but quite a soft compound though.

Think its just personal choice really. :-)

[n6ray]

I had proxes on mine, they were really good, but my fto felt like a limo ridewise compared to my S15, stupidracing coilovers LOL,

But yeah, Toyo Proxes T1Rs were my choice, they're good in the wet and dry :)

[Waap]

Sorry for my ignorance, are the Toyo Proxes T1Rs low profile?

[High Horse]

That depends upon what you want. They make them in all sizes!

Here is a handy explanation of what the tyre size cide means...

http://www.driverstechnology.co.uk/Tyre-size-coding.htm

[cybatrix]

Sorry for my ignorance, are the Toyo Proxes T1Rs low profile?

I imagine almost everyone on this club who has them more than likely has them as low profile. That's because most of us have 17" or larger wheels.

But just like any tyre you should be able to buy them in a higher profile for smaller wheels.

What I can't comment on is whether they are just as good as a higher profile tyre. But I suppose they can't be any worse than any other high profile tyre.

If you are really worried about the harsh ride you might want to consider 15" wheels instead.

[Brian B]

For an everyday tyre you can’t go wrong with a set of Falken tyres. The FK452 is the one to go for they are a good tyre in all conditions and. Give the ZE-512 a wide birth though as I found them good in the dry but hopeless in the wet.

[nevell]

i agree with the falkens are good i have them on the rear never let me down i have toyo,s r1s on the front

all the budget racers use falkens as well