[craig2859]

I too will be biting the bullet and getting rid of the Bridgestone RFT's, and getting a full set of VReds fitted in the next few months.


Unless you are really going to be hammering your car - almost like semi track days, I don't see why you should pay out the big bucks for "Ultra High Performance Tyres" .... I can not justify the cost tbh ?

PS2's at £240 per tyre on average ........ thats a grand for a full set . I can afford it yes - but I can not justify it (Maybe its my Northeren Background ..... lol)

I have got far better things to spend my hard earned cash on too.

I would rather stick with VReds or Falkens, and not have to worry when I need a nice new set of rubber all round ?


Each to their own of course

[Captain Chaos]

^

Spot on. It's not Northern Background, it's Common Sense.

There's two differences that set the top-end makes apart - the cost of extreme edge performance, and reputation/label. You pay big numbers for each of them and can only use one of them.

Most of the makes on here will serve adequately well for most of the members on here. Vreds, Falks, GY - they're all established manufacturers - guess the only reason they're cheaper is mostly because they don't have many (if any) manufacturer deals so need to be competitive for aftermarket and also they don't use tri-band tyre composition like Mich and Conti which must make manufacturing costs lower.

Originally Posted by doughboy

Now I've got a set of winter wheels and tyres I'll be looking to sell the all-rounder CS3's I bought and get some more focused summer rubber.

Just need to decide what to buy, then I'll seel the Conti 3's

barely used

225/40/18 Y
255/35/18 Y

I'd be properly interested in those if we weren't 200 miles apart, and shipping would kill a deal I'd have thought. Should be easy enough to move those on though.

[doughboy]

I recently sold my old RFTs on Ebay (got £150 for the fronts with 6mm on!)

And the guy sent DHL to pick them up - £35.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by craig2859

I too will be biting the bullet and getting rid of the Bridgestone RFT's, and getting a full set of VReds fitted in the next few months.


Unless you are really going to be hammering your car - almost like semi track days, I don't see why you should pay out the big bucks for "Ultra High Performance Tyres" .... I can not justify the cost tbh ?

PS2's at £240 per tyre on average ........ thats a grand for a full set . I can afford it yes - but I can not justify it (Maybe its my Northeren Background ..... lol)

I have got far better things to spend my hard earned cash on too.

I would rather stick with VReds or Falkens, and not have to worry when I need a nice new set of rubber all round ?


Each to their own of course

You must be on 19s with those prices....it is a real issue at those costs..

But at only £400/£600 falken/conti3 per set with 18s, much less of a dilemna

In fact having tried both falkens and conti3s now I can say its well well worth the extra £200 for those on 18s, the falkens feel like poor soft cousins to the conti 3, and they a pretty poor in the wet even compared to the PS2, but the conti3 is quite briliiant in the wet.

The contis will well outlast the falkens etc and the conti 3 is designed specially for more powerful RWD cars which non of ther others are.

[jke11y]

I ordered four FK452s to replace the 3 year old RFTs that I have on the car just now, thanks Camskill.

What pressures are folks running non-RFT at on 19s?

[dzenno]

FedEx is delivering my set of Vreds today...did a lot of research before buying this set, used to have Goodyear Eagle F1 and Generals before this, GY too expensive to be ripped up as I rip them, Generals are awesome for the price they come in at...still to see how Vreds perform but from everything I've read so far they're awesome tires...haven't found a single negative review

[dxb335d]

Neither interest me.

Hot hatch tyre. Not a Sports BMW.

Stick with Michelin, Continental or Goodyear.

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by jke11y

I ordered four FK452s to replace the 3 year old RFTs that I have on the car just now, thanks Camskill.

What pressures are folks running non-RFT at on 19s?

40 rear, 37-28 front. Start there.

[dzenno]

38 rear, 36 front..

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Hot hatch tyre. Not a Sports BMW.

They're designed to be best on fwd's too.

[TMP]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Now I've got a set of winter wheels and tyres I'll be looking to sell the all-rounder CS3's I bought and get some more focused summer rubber.

Just need to decide what to buy, then I'll seel the Conti 3's

barely used

225/40/18 Y
255/35/18 Y

CS3's are a good match for the 3er though, due the the reinforced sidewall?
What would you be looking to replace them with, i thought they were a high end summer tyre

[milesr3]

What is it about the CS3 that makes it 'designed' for a powerful, heavy RWD car then? IIRC they are OEM fitment on the Focus RS too, which is quite the opposite.

Putting manufacturing tie-ups aside, why is it that the current pinnacle of powerful RWD saloon (the Jag XFR) comes on Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres then? AIUI Mike Cross, who developed their drivetrain and chassis knows his stuff...

I don't doubt that the premium tyres perform better in extreme situations, but I do question how many of us really need the extra 5% performance they give. Particularly when it comes with a 100% increase in cost.

I didn't consider the Vreds when I put Falkens on my 535d, but I had a look yesterday out of curiosity at their site. It recommended Ultracs and pressures of 2.9 bar front, 3.3 bar rear. That's 48psi in the rears - an extra 6psi over the std pressures! Is this one of the thing that makes them work well on BMWs?

[toxicnerve]

Hi Guys,

Not meaning to thread-jack but seeing as this is a tyre thread already I see little point in starting a new one.

I too am considering getting some Falkens but wondered the following:

My stock tyres are the Bridgestone RFT that BMW fit as standard, the sizes are:

Rear: 255/30/19
Front: 225/35/19

My question is would it be ok to fit slightly wider rubber on my rims (19" M-Sport)? I was thinking:

Rear: 265/30/19
Front: 235/35/19

My main reason for doing this would be to give a little more protection to my wheels!!

[TMP]

Originally Posted by milesr3

I didn't consider the Vreds when I put Falkens on my 535d, but I had a look yesterday out of curiosity at their site. It recommended Ultracs and pressures of 2.9 bar front, 3.3 bar rear. That's 48psi in the rears - an extra 6psi over the std pressures! Is this one of the thing that makes them work well on BMWs?

I imagine this is to compensate for the softer sidewalls i.e. as they are not Run flats.

Just looked for the 330d and they recommend 3.1 and 3.4 (compared to std 2.7 and 2.9)

[milesr3]

Originally Posted by TMP

I imagine this is to compensate for the softer sidewalls i.e. as they are not Run flats.

Absolutely. But the advice from Falken Technical (actually handled by Micheldever) is to run them at the factory recommended pressures and not increase them for non-RFTs.

AIUI tyre pressure is a primarily determined by axle weight rather than tyre construction.

...and 6psi is a very big increase. I'd be worried about uneven tyre wear.

[MEGA]

Originally Posted by toxicnerve

Hi Guys,

Not meaning to thread-jack but seeing as this is a tyre thread already I see little point in starting a new one.

I too am considering getting some Falkens but wondered the following:

My stock tyres are the Bridgestone RFT that BMW fit as standard, the sizes are:

Rear: 255/30/19
Front: 225/35/19

My question is would it be ok to fit slightly wider rubber on my rims (19" M-Sport)? I was thinking:

Rear: 265/30/19
Front: 235/35/19

My main reason for doing this would be to give a little more protection to my wheels!!

Thats about 1% out on each set of wheels so your speedo will read 63 when your only doing 60. But its close enough I think?

So it shouldn't be a problem. But go look at the wheel. If it already looks bigger than the alloy, it might not be smart. But if it looks fine, 10mm won't make a difference,

[willhollin]

Originally Posted by toxicnerve

Hi Guys,

Not meaning to thread-jack but seeing as this is a tyre thread already I see little point in starting a new one.

I too am considering getting some Falkens but wondered the following:

My stock tyres are the Bridgestone RFT that BMW fit as standard, the sizes are:

Rear: 255/30/19
Front: 225/35/19

My question is would it be ok to fit slightly wider rubber on my rims (19" M-Sport)? I was thinking:

Rear: 265/30/19
Front: 235/35/19

My main reason for doing this would be to give a little more protection to my wheels!!

I have those sizes on my 230 alloys, running SE Sports Suspension, no issues with rubbing.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by MEGA

Thats about 1% out on each set of wheels so your speedo will read 63 when your only doing 60. But its close enough I think?

So it shouldn't be a problem. But go look at the wheel. If it already looks bigger than the alloy, it might not be smart. But if it looks fine, 10mm won't make a difference,

Changing the width of the wheel shouldnt make a difference to the speedo reading surely? I understand that changing the profile would as the diameter/circumference of the wheel would be altered but as long as I keep the profile the same and change the width it shouldnt affect the speedo right?

[MEGA]

Yes - it will. Thats why your front tyres are 225/40 and your rears are 255/35, for instance.

I forget the exact (read: never knew it) formula but the tyre calculator in the wheels section will give you the numbers.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by MEGA

Yes - it will. Thats why your front tyres are 225/40 and your rears are 255/35, for instance.

I forget the exact (read: never knew it) formula but the tyre calculator in the wheels section will give you the numbers.

If that were the case then I would take your point but they're currently as I stated, namely 255/30 rear and 225/35 on the front!

[MEGA]

Thats not relevant and your not getting me. I'll let Tony come and explain properly...

But use the wheel size calculator on the main forum

[Yahoo]

The second number (the profile / height of the tyre) is not an absolute measurement - it is relative to the first number ie the width of the tyre.

So, a 265/30 tyre will actually have a larger profile than a 255/30 - this is what will effect the circumference of the wheel and hence influence the speedo reading.