What a difference new Vs old tyres

[AndyC]

Having taken the gold Excel out for a short and not very spirited run, I notice it pulled to the right when accelerating. I've checked front toe, caster, rear toe, all fine. Bushes looked OK, not new but OK.

The joy of having another Excel came into play. I decided to borrow the rear tyres from the red car and use on the gold car. Another run, and now it doesn't pull to the right when accelerating. Nothing else changed so must be the tyres, and whilst I had the off I checked the dates, the offending ones appear to be the wrong side of 10 years old. One Avon CR28, one of a brand I don't recognise. The plan is now to swap all four of the gold car's for new rubber and I'm thinking either Khumo KU31 sport or Yokahama AD08. The former are much cheaper but seem to get better ratings for wet grip etc, so I expect they'll not last anywhere near as long as the ones which are nearly double the price. I think I'll probably end up with a puncture or cut in the sidewall, way before they run out of tread, given the roads I frequent.

The odd thing is that, given both old rear tyres were of similar age, one was an Avon which is mid-upper end, and one was a brand I'd not even heard of, I thought the tyre to give better grip was the Avon, and so the car would push away from it, but no. The Avon was on the right hand side, so when accelerating it was the cheap tyre giving a bit more grip.

[Lotus-e-Clan]

ODD branded tyres across any given axle isn't right ... so surely that's not the focus of your question because it's too obvious that the car is going to track wrong unless you are lucky with the run-out characteristics cancelling each other, or the car is insensitive (unlike a Lotus)?

Even so there is more to matching tyres within a given brand than meets the eye of the unwary (like wot I wos)!

I once bought a set of top branded clearance tyres for the rear of my Clan - the reason they were cheap is because they had "runout" lines way off centre ...and on the same side of the centre line for what were directional tyres (ie I could'nt reverse the tyre to get the runout lines on opposite sides of the centreline). But I wasn't told this at the time of purchase of course (Camskills)!

Consequently the car pulled to one side and the steering wheel position had to be held off centre for it to track properly.

So what I learned from that is those coloured run out lines within the tread of the tyres are there for a GOOD reason ..runout affects tracking!

So maybe you can add this phenomenon to the fact they were also odd brands?

[Hawaiis0]

Curve ball from the right.
Age of the tyre is one factor which determines their serviceability. Most people are using thread depth as their marker for a good tyre. However, low annual usage extends the life of the tyre based on thread depth. But this can be a killer - example in the recent bus crash where an old tyre / good thread was the cause. http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/ ... -1-5287169 . Different rubbers age harden at different rates, depending on several factors.
After 5 years fitment low miles usage consider replacement. Date of manufacture can be found on the wall - 4 digits post 2000, 3 for earlier.
Good move going for 4 new emotion just for cost

[AndyC]

A few months on and I thought I'd post an update re the Khumo KU31 205/50/15.
Rather than compare them to the old tyres on that car (which were hard so were replaced), better to compare them to the 2 years old Avon ZV5s which are on the red Excel with the same wheels, same geometry, decent shocks etc..

The Avons are not a tyre I've had great confidence in ever since fitting them. They grip well in a straight line, braking well etc, but when cornering, they don't make a noise but never strike me as confidence inspiring. Having taken roundabouts in the gold car with Khumos, at the same speed on the same roundabout, I can say the Khumos stick like nothing I've experienced since the r888 (R888s on a dry road). The Khumo doesn't seem to slide sideways at all, or at least not beyond what the steering geometry dictates. In the wet, it's pretty much the same story except they also stick much better than the R888s would in the wet, and still better than the Avons.


The place I had fit them, don't normally stock Khumo. I had to ask him to get them in, which he did and the price came out £25 more then the cheapest other price (which was a mobile tyre service) but I went for the tyre supplier I've used for the last 10 years as I know their work and know that if there's an issue I can go back and discuss it rather than call a national telephone centre and get told it's not their issue.

Would I purchase the same tyre again? You bet, in fact when the silver car is done (with the Oz wheels) I expect I'll have them fitted to that. The Turbo Esprit is coming back into play soon, if the tyres on that have any issues (flat spots after 3 years off the road) I may look at using Khumos on that.

[Lotus-e-Clan]

My only experienced with Khumo is on the wife's old Mazda and I was surprised by their good performance. I've gone and bought Bridgestone Potenzas (not fitted yet) for the Excel and now hoping I don't regret it re: your good experience with the Khumos...

[Pete Boole]

Thanks for the feedback on the tyres. This is really good info.

Pete

[STELL]

When i was with a big Swedish car maker (No names) I had the opurtunity to try out new Vs old unused tires of the same brand , at the track. Not a thing i'd like to do in traffic. Do not ever use old tires. . They turn very hard and slippery, Even at a dry track.
This is not a thing you feel to much, untill you need it, and then it's way too late
i have a new set of the original Goodyear NCT's , one even with the sticker at it. I keep them just for if i'd put the car at a exebition, But i woun't put them on untill the car is in the stand.

Most new tires today are way better the when our cars were new. But do not buy no name tires either .
Some tires at the net are made in Asia or Africa, Even some Made in USA are made for HOT climate , I recomend you to stay away from thouse too.
They a cheap due to a reason.

[lambert.john]

Decided to treat the Excel to a new set of tyres over the weekend. The old tyres were not particularly worn (I do a modest mileage) but they were all either past, or approaching, their tenth birthday. I went for a set of Marshals, £240 for a set of four from "Formula 1". The improvement in ride and handling on the new rubber is truly phenomenal. It feels like a new car!

[chrisw2811]

New T1R Proxes all round for mine on Saturday

[don.hasi]

Take the Bridgestone Adrenalin RE 002. The best tire you can buy for any condition.

[MrCoolA]

New T1R Proxes all round for mine on Saturday

I love my toyo's especially since I came down a size on the back.

[chrisw2811]

Mine are from BlackCircles, to be fitted at a nearby tyre centre, 205/50/15.
Reasonably priced and very convenient.