Tyre time . . .

[early_911]

Longstone will do me 4 Pirelli CN36's for £569.
Avon CR6ZZ's are tempting, but we're looking at £656.
Ideal would be Michelin XWX - but £1020 is a joke.

I call Vintage tyres up and they tell me to steer clear of the CN36's as it will be old sock! They tell me Vredestein classics are just as good if not better (yea right - probably because they know that Longstone are pushing CN36's).

Ignoring the comments from Vintage tyres . . . . I have actually been running the Vredestein Sprints for a good few years now and I've had no complaints. They've given good levels of grip and only need replacing due to uneven wear (tracking out). They are the correct size and have a period tread pattern (which is the look I want). I don't do track days so don't need mega sticky tyres.

HOWEVER ....I think I've only come across one other 911 running these Vredesteins. Could it be tyre snobbery or am I just a cheap skate?

I can get 4 Vredestein's from mytyre for £315.

Has anyone got a good reason why I shouldn't buy the Vredesteins or perhaps some other suggestions/sources (I'll need convincing about Fulda's Y2000's - I've heard good and bad). I realise they are 'only' H rated (up to 130 mph), but does that really matter on a 2.2 T?

http://www.vredestein.com/file_banden/2 ... D=66426814
Phil

[left4dead]

Hi Phil,

Coincidentally I bought a set of tyres from Longstone yesterday (this time for the e-type). Went for Pirelli CA67's which are the Jag equivalent to the CN36's.

We were talking generally though and he said that the Vredesteins were popular because they have 'classic' printed on them (?!) but he dismissed them and mentioned they weren't anywhere near as good as the Pirelli option. He also said they sell 'bucket loads' of the Pirellis so I can't see how they can be 'old stock'...

I bought 4 x CN36's for the last 911 (on Mr. Moss' advice) and they looked & worked very well indeed - no complaints on any level. The current 911 has 4 x XWX which, again, are great but I dread them needing replacing as the price is pretty prohibitive.

Not much help really other than praising the Pirelli's. Oh, Longstone gave me a 5% discount and free delivery (but that's probably standard practice).

Hopefully someone will come along with Vredestein experience

Good luck.

[pmjt]

Avon CR622's are tempting, but we're looking at £656.

Phil - I've been running on Avon CR6ZZ's for about six years and I think they're fab - they're a pig (lumpy and noisy) until warm, but with a little heat in them the grip is outstanding.

An old friend once pointed out, when I questioned the merit of paying large amounts of cash for tyres, that the four small four inch square contact patches of rubber are all there is between your pride and joy and the road - quality tyres make the experience much more 'joyful'

HTH

P

[pmjt]

Avon CR622's are tempting, but we're looking at £656.

Phil - I've been running on these for about six years and I think they're fab - they're a pig (lumpy and noisy) until warm, but with a little heat in them the grip is outstanding.

An old friend once pointed out, when I questioned the merit of paying large amounts of cash for tyres, that the four small four inch square contact patches of rubber are all there is between your pride and joy and the road - quality tyres make the experience much more 'joyful'

HTH

P

[Gary71]

Regarding old stock you can check the age of the tyre by looking at the date code on the side. '0710' for example would mean it was made in the seventh week of 2010. I would buy anything more than about 6 months old as you are eating into your tyre lifetime before you have even bought it!

[early_911]

Lots of good things said about the Avon's CR6ZZ on the web. In imagine they're pretty terrible in the wet?
Phil

[domtoni]

Phil, you may want to stay with the original size, but when I bought the 15 inch wheels for my car, I put Pirelli P7s on in 195/65x15 and was very pleased with them. The Pirelli now sit on my Merc. The 911 has a set of Bridgestone Turanzas.

You can buy the P7s from ETB installed, balanced with valve etc for Sterling 220. The Turanzas are 210, and Avon ZV5s 195.

My Merc needs new tires later this year, so I will put P7s back on the 911 and the Bridgestones on the Merc.

I doubt you can see the difference between the 195/65 and the 185/70s.

Best
Dom

[PhilGarner]

I went even cheaper and got Barum Bravuris 195/65x15, fitted for about £200. They are owned by Continental and made in Czech. Look at http://www.tyre-shopper.co.uk and then the fitting is usually at National Tyres.

I've run them on a few cars and have zero complaint, certainly struggle to find the limit of grip in the 911. Had them on my Uncle's 944 S2 on the track too and seemed to have loads of grip there too.

[Histrally]

Phil,
I have been using Vredstein Classic 185/70 x 15 for regularity rallying. The reason for the choice was a combination of I have to use 70 profile for MSA events/cost/availability of a tyre that must cope with mud, wet and dry and tarmac and graval surfaces. I now have experience of running on all surfaces!!
They do their job well considering the range of conditions. Only issue is that they are not rated as high as some tyres but then I rarely get them anywhere near their max speed rating even on airfield tests. They did cut on sharp broken gravel but on the road you should never experience that sort of abuse.
Hope my experience helps
Jerry

[pmjt]

Lots of good things said about the Avon's CR6ZZ on the web. In imagine they're pretty terrible in the wet?
Phil

To be honest Phil, you'd think so but they haven't been! I must confess I don't take the RS out in really bad weather often (although we did do the local 'Frostbite Run' in the snow this year ) but when I have been caught in bad rain (I mean BAD rain - in France and the mega floods we had at the end of the Summer '09) they were excellent Honestly, they were excellent.

I think the combination of the very sticky rubber (when warm ) and the water displacement makes for a really good tyre.

HTH

P

[210bhp]

I have been running the Avon's for years as well like Phil on an RS. Absolutely agree they are great.

I had a great piece of advice from Andy (as usual the man with a fountain of knowledge on all things) when fitting the Avons. He reminded me they are UNIDIRECTIONAL and must be fitted the correct way round if you get them. When I checked sure enough mine did have them the wrong way on two wheels which is now corrected. They will blown prematurely or delaminate if they are on the wrong way.

Thanks Andy!
Regards
Mike

[mycar]

And running them round the wrong way is a MOT failure and the arsey Mot man will make you jack up your car and swop them over before he passes you.

Ask me how I know.

Mike.

[MikeB]

As I've posted before, a historic rally preparation expert ( I'll out him - Kevin Savage) has told me they way torun unidirectional tyres on a RWD car is arrows pointing the right way on the rear ( to maximise traction) and the wrong way round on the front (to maximise braking).

Also if you are using the car on the road and rallies as opposed to speed events or track days, you should really look at winter tyres. They have softer rubber and unless you are really going to be heating them to high temps, they will cope with dry tarmac and will excel in wet weather.

And finally there are loads available in 70 series, and they are very reasonably priced.

[early_911]

Here's Avon's fitment guide:
http://www.avonracing.com/fitment_page.html

Good to hear something positive about the Vredesteins . . . thanks Jerry.

Phil

[jb]

James (hot66) fitted Vredesteins I think - do a search