Hi all,

supposing I get my alloys I was wondering what performance "level" of tyres people would recommend for 195/55R15?

I'll be running standard 15" alloys (although not the exact BA ones...yet ) and am looking at standard roadgoing tyres with a balanced profile of capabilities, i.e. not too biased towards grip/sport or comfort or handling in particular. I don't intend doing any particular hard driving with the vehicle, but more 'touring'. Besides, the more 'sporty' tyres don't tend to be made in the 195/55R15 size anyway, anymore. However I do want good ones that actually grip in the wet, not cheap-n-nasties (cheap, however, is fine! )- I've learnt that lesson!

In any case I tend to believe the advances in tyre technology mean today's 'touring' tyres often have as good a performance as older 'sporty' types, at least in terms of grip, if not maybe steering precision.

Currently on my 14" steelies I have cheap Firestones or K-Mart brand (I think): Dr Jeckyll (dry) and Mr Hyde (wet), they are...

To that end I've been considering "softer" touring tyres such as the Continental ContiComfortContact 5 and Michelin Energy XM2 in particular. I'm also considering Falkens, and other known name brands (Yokohama, Dunlop, Pirelli, etc)

However in particular I was wondering if I should be looking at more "premium" touring type tyres, such as the Continental ContiPremiumContact and Michelin Premacy or similar?

Or should I look at "sport" touring- Michelin Pilot Sport, Continental ContiSportContact (although you can tend to start running out of choices for the size)

More than happy to hear others' opinions and experiences!

Note I used to be sport/performance touring biased but the Mazda 3's issue with road noise, especially on Australia's coarse-chip road surfaces (it can drown out the radio and/or your conversation-literally and make you want to stop and get out) has driven (sorry) me to make noise the top priority when buying tyres for those vehicles (I have 2). To that end, people may be interested in the following Wheels Australia Magazine 2015 tyre testabout 9 205/55R16 tyre choices. And I thought the Michelin Premacy ST3's were quiet and good (and they are...just mainly in the dry). It seems I also have good choices for quietness too.

For SUVs see the 2016 Wheels tyre test (although strangely they don't list the tyres tested... major editing oversight)

Cheers,
Patrick

My next tyres will be Uniroyal Rainsport 3,(crossed fingers) not on the 15''s thou but still...
They may be a good ones for you too..

For the kind of driving you describe, i'd recommend Conti PremiumContact.

I always have Pirelli Cinturatos on mine. I'm no tyre geek, they were first recommended by the business that fitted my Team Dynamics alloys, so I went along with it and they've done very well, so now I always ask for them.

I use them for all-round use. They last well and I've found the grip excellent (even on soggy fields like the mire we had to camp on at Japfest ) Good name, good tyre, but not wallet-crushingly expensive. A nice compromise for me, anyway.

S

Hi guys,

thanks for the tips. It seems I'm looking roughly around the correct level. Just got to wait for some specials to appear.

In the meantime I've got the wheels , will get some info up in the other thread.

Cheers,

Patrick

P.S. Welcome back Serena! Been missing your cheery presence lately. Had Cinturatos on an E30 BMW back in the 90's, the BMW's tail-happiness and the Cinturatos (of the time) snappy-breakaway was (shall we say) entertaining when pushed to the limit! I dare say the current ones will be rather different.

Thanks Patrick - I moved house recently, not much time for anything else!

Yeh, I imagine the tyre compounds are far superior these days!

S

Thanks for all the contributions, guys. Specials have been a bit hard to find recently and good things come to those who wait... and wait I have!

Using a "4 for price of 3" special I've scored 195/55R15 Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE003 for the rather ridiculous price of $AUD380 fitted and balanced. That's effectively $95 per tyre for quite high performance road tyres (usually about $150 each). For Michelin Pilot Sport 3 or Good Year Directional 5 I was looking at $600.

I've done some googling and you may be unfamiliar with RE003s. In fact in North America they're marketed as "Firestone Firehawk Indy 500" (Firestone have a downmarket reputation here in Oz...the poorer brand to Bridgestone's own name). It could be they are specific to the Asia-Pacific region. I can't find independent comparisons/tests/reviews of these unfortunately. However user reviews on sites such as productreview.com.au are almost universally good, from cars ranging across Civics to MPSes to AWD STIs to thumping V8 Holdens, even a Ferrari. And the tyres only came out in the past year or two so the stock must be new.

One issue I can see is a low treadwear rating (220) but seeing as they are going to get few klms per year this won't worry me for several years. ALso generally in my experience Bridgestones are noisy tyres..although the reviews say they are quite quiet.

They are due to come in and be fitted for Thursday so I'll get back to you on the performance when I get a chance to fit them to the car in the next few weeks.

Patrick

Firstly: the rims
Alloy size and rim offset stamp...


And now the main show: The tyres!
Tyre model: Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE003


Size and load rating: No surprises here, bog standard 195/55R15.


Date of Manufacture ("2316" means week 23 of 2016): At least they're relatively fresh.


Treadwear, Traction and Temperature rating: 220, A and A. Rather low on the treadwear, but with the low klms I'll drive they'll still last many years.


Tread pattern close up:


The 4 tyres & rims:



Now just have to get them up, fitted and driven.

Patrick.

Nice one! I was thinking myself for those tyres but with time they fall from my rating..
Well, what are you waiting for? Put them on and make some pics so we see how they fits and sits on the car..

Thanks!
Distance from my home (wheels) to the car = return to my parents' home = ~ 584km (6hrs w/o stops).

So it will have to wait until I next visit my parents. And even then I need to transport the wheels around my family- I can just see my 5 y.o. sitting with one on her lap. Many 1000's of family demerit points to be earned yet!

Patrick

Here they are, don't look half bad I think.

Patrick

Quick followup about the Adrenalin RE003s...

Not a real tyre pattern freak but they do look quite nice with their aggressive pattern.

They're also quite grippy and still reasonably quiet- certainly I've got no complaints so far.

Excellent value for what I paid!

Patrick

Sounds like you made the right decision. I run Goodyear Eagle GT's on my car. They offer reliable traction in dry and wet. These Goodyear tires have radial construction for better handling.