Tyres

[capturedcreation]

Hi all

Forgive me if there is a thread already somewhere covering this, I had a quick search but couldn't see one. I need to get some new tyres for my 1999 C34 RS4S which is sitting on the stock rims at present. I went to get some KU31s only to be told they are discontinued. I went to another store and was recommended Dunlop LM703s which seem to get mixed reviews. Any recommendations as to tyres worth looking at?

Thanks

Tim

[nickcorr]

Looks like Tyresales have plenty of them...

http://www.tyresales.com.au/search?search=brand&brand=KUMHO&model=ECSTA%20SPT%20KU31&width=&aspect=&rim=&load=&speed=

What size were you looking for?

[capturedcreation]

Cool, I'll have a look. I'm after 215/50/17

Edited April 3, 2014 by capturedcreation

[GH05T]

how much you wanna spend?

[capturedcreation]

how much you wanna spend?

In all honesty as little as possible. I had $700 in mind as that was what I was quoted for the KU31s a while ago. I can get the Dunlops for about $440 as they are on sale at the moment. But I'm open to suggestion.

[GH05T]

440 for a set sounds reasonable

[capturedcreation]

Thanks, got it booked in

[Stooge007]

i got KU31's in 225/45/17 on stock RS4S rims in Sydney for $540 fitted and balanced

you guys get ripped in Tassie!

[capturedcreation]

i got KU31's in 225/45/17 on stock RS4S rims in Sydney for $540 fitted and balanced

you guys get ripped in Tassie!

No argument there!

[Zedhead70]

On my 2000 C34 S2 I have Michelin pilot sport 3 from bob jane, they did a deal I think I paid about $185.00 ea. I was looking at the Kumhos as well, did a bit of research and I'm glad I went for these, we have had some pretty serious rain in the mountains in the last week and not once did I feel I was getting close to their limit even with some spirited driving. I probably have about 10 000k's on these now, I did fit adjustable upper control arms to reduce my neg camber on the rear as I kept scrubbing out the inside edges of the tyres, nice even wear now. Hope that helps, Regards Craig

[Darkmeat]

Is anyone familiar with Pirelli Dragon Sport tyres?

I recently had my car serviced and Chris (mechanic recommended by Jez at DVS) noticed that the inner walls of my tyres were cracked.

I went into the Bob Jane tyre place next door to see what 235/40 R18's they had in stock for immediate fitting (Friday arvo before the long weekend).

They had 3 choices: a cheap no-name or a cheap Yokohama (not Advan), both about $120ish, or Pirelli Dragon Sport @ $169 ea.

I couldn't find any online technical info or tyre tests for the Dragon Sport, but they were fresh (2016), W rated, had a square profile, and big wide grooves that look like they'll drain well.

Mostly in preference to the other two choices, I bought the Pirellis.

I've only driven on them a couple of days; mostly sealed, winding country roads:) Now they're scrubbed in, they have enormous dry grip. I've only pushed them a bit in the wet and haven't found their limits. So top points for lateral dry grip, and wet grip looks promising.

The downside is, while they put a full 235mm of tread down, and provide good road feedback, they don't deliver quite enough steering precision as I'd like. I think sidewall flex is an issue. On the rims at 38psi the side-walls bulge out and look a bit donutty.

I've combed the interwebs and can't find much info except irrelevant 2010/12 reviews of an old Pirelli Dragon (not Dragon Sport) tyre with a completely different tread pattern, and a press release saying the Dragon Sport (like what I've got) is a new tyre developed and manufactured in Pirelli's new plant in China. Which explains the relatively low price.

The Pirelli Tyres Australia site comparo charts show them as outperforming the P Zero NeroGT and up there with the P Zero Rosso. I know it's only manufacturer's info, but relative to their flagship performance tyres, Pirelli seems to rate these tyres highly.

I'm enjoying them in the dry and the wet. The car tracks straight (the wheel alignment probably helped) doesn't wander or tramline, and feels more planted as speed increases. They're also fairly quiet as far as I can tell over the Fujitsubo exhaust.

They're predictable in dry cornering, feel secure and fast in the wet, and provide a nice amount of higher frequency road feedback. The only downside is slightly imprecise turn-in - like a bit of tyre roll is absorbing some of the steering feel.

On the whole, I think I might have stumbled on something pretty good. Slightly stiffer walls and I'd say they were magic.

I'll try them at higher pressure for a week or so. Meanwhile, has anyone else tried the Dragon Sports? Any feedback? Comparison with Pirelli flagship tyres? Opinions?

[Darkmeat]

OK, I've done a few hundreds of kms on these Pirelli Dragon Sports tyres and they're a bit nice.

THE GOOD

They like 45-48psi which improves their turn-in feel.

In the dry they're grippy and predictable.

I don't push hard in the wet since an 'off' on my narrow winding country roads would be a disaster. But these tires give me a lot of confidence in pushing through corners 40-50% quicker than on the tyres on my car when I bought it - Nexen 5000s.

And they feel vastly more reassuring in the wet than the Falken FK-452 tyres I had (along with Bilstein shocks and Whiteline swaybars) on the F6 Typhoon.

They can be a bit resonant on certain road surfaces, but nothing compared to the Fujitsubo cat-back.

Overall these aren't just good, they're 'great' sticky tyres and cheap as.

THE BAD

Apparently, Pirelli doesn't want you to know ANYTHING about these tyres. So the only info online is some hurried reviews from a single PR event in China that got rained on, and some meaningless marketing slobber written by retards with zero knowledge of English, who don't know the difference between a tyre and a condom, and should be fired for abuse of language and customers ...

"The pleasure to be sporty. The indulgence in Pirelli safety." And "Enhancing handling performance for sport driving on wet and improve safety."

Shit like that prevents thinking people from buying their products.

Edited June 20, 2016 by Darkmeat