Buying Tyres

[stimulator]

If you live in the East Grinstead area try Tyre Pros on the Birthill Industrial estate. They will match any web price. Nice outfit, free drinks, TV, mags and paper.

[raveydavey]

Always good to get local recommendation.

 

I've found that no-one though can beat Costco, if you have one near you.

They have a Michelin tyre centre attached to their warehouses and I've not been able to beat their prices.

 

The mileage I do makes it worth keeping to Michelin, plus they were OE fitment on my C3 anyway.

 

You probably could get cheaper tyres, made from recycled goodness knows what, but the saying "buy cheap buy twice" applies.

[Hook]

I'd agree with raveydavey-it's Costco for me every time. Official Michelin centres nationwide at a price no-one else can beat. They'll advise on tyre rotation front/rear too and inflate with nitrogen.

Most of my family and friends go there now.

[stimulator]

I am getting the Michellin E3A fitted tomorrow. Note that as the supply of E3As drys up they are being replaced by Michelin's new SAVER tyre, the new super low friction tyres.

 

I know that they are £77 for 185/65 R15H but that's not the right size for the C3. I believe and will confirm tomorrow that the E3A are going to be £61 fitted.

 

the nearest Costco to me is 50 miles away over the dartford crossing (another fee) and the distance doesn't warrant the saving. I even had a Costco card as a benefit in kind but resented paying 40% tax on the £29 to Gordon Brown/Darling for the priviledge.

[marktime]

I dont want to split hairs but I am a bit worried about how safe 'the new super low friction tyres.' would be! :)

 

The whole stopping, starting and going round corners thing relies heavily on friction, I would rather have 'low rolling resitance' tyres myself. :D

 

 

 

MarkTime

[raveydavey]

I am getting the Michellin E3A fitted tomorrow. Note that as the supply of E3As drys up they are being replaced by Michelin's new SAVER tyre, the new super low friction tyres.

 

I know that they are £77 for 185/65 R15H but that's not the right size for the C3. I believe and will confirm tomorrow that the E3A are going to be £61 fitted.

 

the nearest Costco to me is 50 miles away over the dartford crossing (another fee) and the distance doesn't warrant the saving. I even had a Costco card as a benefit in kind but resented paying 40% tax on the £29 to Gordon Brown/Darling for the priviledge.

 

£61? That seems expensive, my last new Michelin cost me £44 about 3 months ago. Still, it depends what others are quoting locally. Have you tried ATS?

[biggestalever]

I like Michelin , I've been getting up to 50k with them.

Had a bad experience with Costco this week.

Phoned for a quote giving tyre size and reg.

Quote sounded good so went there.

Turns out they quoted for a T rated tyre , not H as is recommended. Price for H rated still better than elsewhere but not brilliant.

My current tyres are 185/60/r15. I asked for 185/65/R15 as I want a slightly softer ride. Only want 2 on the front , rears good for another few months. According to any current internet searches the 65 profile is actually recommended,although the 60 was standard fit on mine.

The fitter said I had to have 4 tyres if I wanted the different profile. I told them to forget it as I was getting fed up having had a tiresome discussion on the rotation of tyres.( Them insisting new ones had to go on rear, which I wont really go into, despite having always put new tyres on front of front wheel drive in 35 years of accident free driving.)

While shopping there I managed to wind myself up at this and on way out asked for contact details of someone with authority I could discuss this with. The tyre bay manager saw me and said according to mot regs Bigger tyres must go on rear. This was contradictory to what fitter said, and still wrong , I can't find any mot regs concerning this.

I phoned Watford head office to discuss with head honcho but so far he has failed to respond to either of the messages I left on answer machine..

Is it just me, or what?????

[paul.h]

The MOT testers manual is available on-line to read on the direct gov website (from memory) so should tell you about tyre sizes and position on the car.

 

As for putting new tyres on the rear, this has been around for some time and is based on something like it helps prevent a rear wheel skid which would be harder to control than a front one.

 

The correct tyre size will be on a door pillar sticker. If you went for the slightly larger diameter ones, you may find your speedo is a bit out and your abs may come up with a problem. Would it also have an effect on your insurance not having the recommended tyre size ?

[biggestalever]

I had checked the mot manual online and it only mentions different tyres on the same axle.

I have never let the rear tyres get so bad that they are going to get me into an uncontrollable skid.

The difference in size between a 65 and a 60 on a 185 is 9mm which is a smidgeon more than the difference between a new tyre and a worn out tyre. It may make a tiny difference to speedo, but all speedos have a certain tolerance.

Main point was, Costco employees giving me different stories and failure of H.O. manager to clarify..

[Praktoras]

Hello to all once again! I have a question for fitting new tyres to my A51 C3 1.6 e-hdi.

 

Standard fitted tyres are 195/55/16 and I thought that 205/55/16 would probably fit fine as well. Below are the differences between these two tyres;

 

 

Tire Size Comparison

Specification  Sidewall  Radius  Diameter  Circumference  Revs/Mile  Difference195/55-16         4.2in  12.2in    24.4in         76.8in        825        0.0%205/55-16         4.4in  12.4in    24.9in         78.2in        811        1.8%

Pricewise, 205/55/16 will cost 150€ (120GBP) less per set, seems a bargain to me! Not to mention the more options to choose from.

 

On the other hand, tyre fitter told me that this change won't work as the 205/55/16 may easily hit the wheel wells at any given point. This is common not to new C3s but the same story goes for Corsa, Yaris, Polo etc, using the same tyres. At least here in Greece.

 

If anyone has any experience with such tyre change, please share it.

 

Thanks a million!

Edited March 24, 2014 by Praktoras

[paul.h]

A quick look at the parts diagrams for the 16 inch wheels it does not list a 205 width tyre (only 195/55 R16) but there is a 205/45 R17 tyre but this wheel is 7 inches wide (7 J17) and the 16 inch wheel is 6 inches wide (6 J16). This could possibly indicate the wider tyre may not catch the wheel arches but the 16 inch wheel may not be wide enough for a 205 tyre. However, I am not an expert on wheels and tyres so I could be completely wrong.

[Praktoras]

Thank you Paul, I will be looking further to it.