General 175/50 R13 tyre reccomendations please

[richie.guy]

Story goes I bought 4 bridgestones in 175/50 but 1 turned out to be illegal which renders another tyre useless to me and I won't run different tyres on different axles.

Now I need to buy 2 new tyres in the above size but the bridgestones are discontinued and options seem very limited (not used to buying tyres so small!). A539's have a mixed review from what I've been told but know nothing about the Continental SportContacta or Fulda Carat Assuros so I'm looking for advice on what to get.

I've been told the conti's and fuldas are both quite decent and there's not too much between them, although I'm not sure how true that rings in this size tyre on a cinq.

The car is not pushed very hard as it's my second car, I have another car to do track duty and what not but decent tyres are paramount in my eyes.

 

[GoBe]

Fulda Carat Assuro - Heard they're not as good as the P5000s never used them my self
Pirelli P5000 Drago - Reasonable dry grip, okay wet grip.
Dunlop SP2000 - very nice dry grip, in the wet they're appalling
Yok' A539 - Good in the dry & all out wet but on slightly wet roads they're unpredictable
Yok' A048R - They're slicks just road legal is a good way to describe them, they don't 'do' wet.
Conti' Sports contact - Very good in the dry, good in the wet and very predictable.

 

[jamie86]

From my experience on various Cento's

Dunlop SP2000 - very nice dry grip, in the wet they're appalling

I would class them as crap full stop

Yok' A539 - Good in the dry & all out wet but on slightly wet roads they're unpredictable

Agree with that totally although they do seem to wear quite quickly

Conti' Sports contact - Very good in the dry, good in the wet and very predictable.

Best all round tyre that lasts a decent amount of time as well

 

[richie.guy]

Cheers for the replies, I'll try the conti's

 

[jamie86]

Cheers for the replies, I'll try the conti's

Couldn't recommend them enough tbh I was running them in 185 on 14's on a 1242 Cinq.. that funny enough GoBe now owns

Also a friend just got some for his Corsa in 16's and suprisingly Kwik Fit offered the best deal (obviously not including online places)

 

[richie.guy]

How do you rate them compared to the bridgestones (if you've run them)?

 

[Brooky]

well the A539's are out of production now arnt they?? im running 175/60/13's atm and grip is better than the other tyres ive tried (not many tho)

i went through a pair of fulda's prity damm quick

have a full set of the conti's but not had them on the road, still sat in the kitchen with the wheels

 

[fingers99]

I too think the SPs are crap -- not too bad in the dry, lethal in the wet.

Pirellis are OK, but expensive, lots of grip but let go rather suddenly.

Never tried the Contis.

Uniroyal Rainsports are my favourite at the moment -- but you won't get them smaller than 195/14 -- they're Conti's other premium tyre -- but much cheaper than Conti

I've got some marangonis to try, but they don't come smaller than 15"

Kleber's are grippy and cheap, but the sidewalls are very rigid and don't seem to suit Centos.

 

[GoBe]

At the Haynes track day I found the SP2000s very good once some heat was in them, up until I completely shredded the left hand edges of the tread blocks with all the right handers. The main problem is getting heat into the SP2000s, on the road it can be hard.

 

[ycming]

well the A539's are out of production now arnt they?? im running 175/60/13's atm and grip is better than the other tyres ive tried (not many tho)

i went through a pair of fulda's prity damm quick

have a full set of the conti's but not had them on the road, still sat in the kitchen with the wheels

I think isad it before, they are not out of production, get them here:

http://www.minisport.com/acatalog/info_YOKYO175-50-R13.html

Lots of mini driver like them

Ming

 

[randomizered]

I don'y know either way, but out of production does not mean out of sale. They may hold stock, or their website may be out of date.

If the OP likes to run pairs, I'd double check on the YOko's if he did get them from there. He could be in the same situation, when one of them wears or blows.

I run the Conti Sport Contact, albeit in 185/55/14, and they seem fantastic on a stock, or slightly powerful engine (up to about 80 bhp). After that they seem to struggle a little in the wet, but i'm sure most tyres would.

Conti's are the one's I'd get instantly in the size you want. I used to run the Pirelli 165's P700's? or whatever they were and they were horrible.

Simler121 runs the Pirelli P5000 in 13" and rates them much higher than the P700's.

My vote is for Conti though

Cheers,

Kristian

 

[StoneNewt]

I run the Conti Sport Contact, albeit in 185/55/14, and they seem fantastic on a stock, or slightly powerful engine (up to about 80 bhp). After that they seem to struggle a little in the wet, but i'm sure most tyres would.

Interesting point is as the load index & speed rating rises so does the hardness of the tyre compound. So comparing 185/50R14 77V to 175/50R13 72V isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison.

 

[SuicideUK]

...Conti's are the one's I'd get instantly in the size you want. I used to run the Pirelli 165's P700's? or whatever they were and they were horrible...

What like what were on my car when I bought it, they're still there, and that would explain all the sliding when I yanked it round a corner hard in the rain haha.

Not complaining that they're a fun set though haha. Do need changing though.

Luke.

 

[ycming]

Does there exist a set of 'Road' tyres, that does not slide if u drive round a coner hard when is raining ??

Ming

 

[SuicideUK]

I don't know, but those p700's are nuts. It happened pretty often when it was dry too =/ the sei is pretty unpredictable right now, I'd love a set of contis on there though.

Luke.

 

[GhostWKD]

i swore by my potenza's in that size, wasnt as impressed by the yoko's

 

[Smiler121]

I don'y know either way, but out of production does not mean out of sale. They may hold stock, or their website may be out of date.

If the OP likes to run pairs, I'd double check on the YOko's if he did get them from there. He could be in the same situation, when one of them wears or blows.

I run the Conti Sport Contact, albeit in 185/55/14, and they seem fantastic on a stock, or slightly powerful engine (up to about 80 bhp). After that they seem to struggle a little in the wet, but i'm sure most tyres would.

Conti's are the one's I'd get instantly in the size you want. I used to run the Pirelli 165's P700's? or whatever they were and they were horrible.

Simler121 runs the Pirelli P5000 in 13" and rates them much higher than the P700's.

My vote is for Conti though

Cheers,

Kristian

Kristian is right - I do rate the P5000 as a truly impressive tyre in the wet, though obviously as the tread fades so does the wet weather performance.

I think they are pretty predictable on the limit in the dry as well - don't know about other people's experience but one thing to watch out for is tyre pressure, I run 33 at the front, 31 @ the back & now I get really even wear.

I find the construction of the tyre with a big gap down the middle 2 distinct contact patches seems to mean that I don't get the rapid outer rim tyre wear anywhere near as bad nowadays even when I push the car hard round corners.