Tyre choices 225/45/17

[CH1]

I've had my MK1 Leon from new it came with Continental tyres, the front tyres have have now worn and need replacing. I'll be putting the rears on front and buying 2 new tyres (for rear).

My journeys are generally short not long motorway miles, lots of braking, so require good grip and handling (cornering ability)

I am considering these below, any thoughts or experience of use in terms of handling, and wet handling -as I love driving in the wet (and its mostly wet in Uk anyway!) grip, comfort and ride quality, wear and road noise would be useful. Don't want something too hard a ride or way down the comfort stakes as I have a youngster on board, so looking for smooth grippy ride.

GOOD YEAR F1 Assym. (82.99 fitted)
GOOD YEAR Eagle F1 GS-D3
GOOD YEAR Excellence
GOOD YEAR Eagle Vector+
MICHELIN pilot sport

CONTINENTAL Conti Sport 3

BRIDGESTONE RE050 Potenza

I've run Goodyears NCT's before on my alfa and they were awesome in the wet, so I am more swayed towards Good Years, Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[dirtysac]

F1's are pretty good, for road use.

You might want to think about Avon's they cost about £85 a pop and have a ton of grip.

DO not ever get dunlope's, my buddy did I regrets it big time.

 

[AdamRoutley]

Eagle F1 GSD3s al the way matey! there quite soft and warm up quite quick, so you have a lot of grip..also their design means there the best in the wet too..

 

[CH1]

Would you say Eagle F1 GSD3 are better than F1 Assymm.? in terms of grip and wet handling
Just noticed you're in walsall, are you located within/

Avons -hadn't considered these, are they good in the wet too?

I note a lot of manufacturers call most of these summer tyres -now i dont change tyres in winter, but note GYs have an NCT Plus range that I suppose are good in wet/cold/ice but most compromise on performance all round perhaps...?

 

[Leigh15]

Just about any tyre you fit will be a summer tyre technically - I'd say you don't need to worry too much unless you're living up north where snow is a regular occurrence.

 

[CH1]

I went for Good Year Eagle F1 Assymetrics in the end-just needed 2 front tyres.
I've put the Asym. on the rear and moved the original Continentals on the front so maybe I'm not yet seeing their full potential. Perhaps I should have had them on the Front?
I'm waiting for it to RAIN, as I want to test these, but since I 've had them it's been hot and dry!

I was undecided between the GSD3's and Assymetrics.
Both seem a good high performance tyre thats good in the wet as the dry.

The only visible difference I could see on the Assym. apart from the thread pattern isn't as agressive looking with V shaped thread as on GSD3's. The Assymetrics are meant to be a quieter tyre with more comfort using the "revolutionary Active Cornergrip Technology and Racing Compound". According to manufacturer site the Assym. score 5 stars on all aspects comfort, wed, dry, handling just on mileage they are rated 4 stars.

F1 Assym.
http://eu.goodyear.com/uk_en/tires/repository/Eagle_F1AS/index.jsp
GSD3's
http://eu.goodyear.com/uk_en/tires/repository/EagleF1GSD3_2/index.jsp

PLEASE RAIN, RAIN PLEASE...I want to check these tyres out in the wet!

 

[fr 150 boy]

i got toyo proxes on my fr,soft compound which means excellent grip,average wear life & the best thing about them is the grip in the wet,£100 each wheel but what is that when they are the only contact on the road

 

[Cupra TDI 150]

Had a couple of sets of the GSD3's and would def have them again excellent in both wet and dry, wondering whether to get the F1 Assymm myself, hate Michelin Pilots crap in wet no confidence at all, Avon ZZ3's ok in wet great in dry but don't last at all !!! had about 8,000 miles from 1 set on my focus

 

[Slickstick]

Eagle F1 GS-D3 are what i have on mine. Had 2 sets on front in just under 3 years but i drive it pretty hard.

 

[AdamRoutley]

Would you say Eagle F1 GSD3 are better than F1 Assymm.? in terms of grip and wet handling
Just noticed you're in walsall, are you located within/

Avons -hadn't considered these, are they good in the wet too?

I note a lot of manufacturers call most of these summer tyres -now i dont change tyres in winter, but note GYs have an NCT Plus range that I suppose are good in wet/cold/ice but most compromise on performance all round perhaps...?

yep located IN walsall dude..lil place called new invention..i get mine from a tyre place in willenhall..£84 fitted and balanced for the gsd3s

 

[TSL 333]

Toyo Proxies all the way - I use them on my Scooby.

 

[Rips]

I've been using Eagle gs-d3 for the last few years and wouldn't have swapped them for anything (apart from winter conditions, don't think they perform too well then), even when they break away it's all calm and progressive. However my last set have not worn very well, nowhere near as even as my others did, the grip is still there they just don't seem to be wearing as well, not impressed.
Was going to try the Eagle Assymetrics next they are getting some very good write ups.

 

[Tyler Owen]

I'd had GSD3's on mine and wasn't that impressed i found despite keeping them at 2.3bar they wore out the centre of the tread !

I've switched to Falken FK452's which were cheaper, seem to give the same grip if not more to be honest and are wearing evenly

I think with eagles your paying over the odds for the that tread pattern

 

[CH1]

The thread pattern on new Eagle F1 Assymmetrics is totally different to the GSD3's

I had 2 F1 Assymmetrics fitted swopped them to rears, so far cannot comment on the wet handling as it's not rained here, I'm waiting for the rains............

 

[Dragonseat]

New to forum but thought I'd hitch onto this one.
Only have a 110 Tdi Leon but moved from Conti to Toyo Proxes Tr1 (Zr's)
So far - 1,000 miles - quiter, grip really nicely and look great on the 16" alloys on the car....
If you want Contis, Kwik Fit are doing a 4 for 3 offer at the moment.

 

[lard44]

Good to see the Pirelli P-Zeros aren't even mentioned.

Just dumped a set of them - they wore really unevenly - so much so that I thought the tracking and and balancing was well out because the steering wheel was vibrating badly over 80mph (on private roads officer).

Stuck FK 452 on all 4 corners (couldn't afford F1s x 4 atm tbh) and it's now smooth as the proverbial baby's bottom.

 

[Andy3004]

I note a lot of manufacturers call most of these summer tyres -now i dont change tyres in winter, but note GYs have an NCT Plus range that I suppose are good in wet/cold/ice but most compromise on performance all round perhaps...?

true they are summer tyres, but i took my GSD3 shod remapped LC to the swiss alps this winter and they were fine (i was being sensible though!)

 

[markoos]

Toyo proxes all round on mine after trawling thru tyre threads here.Never had any probs wet or dry with them...

 

[gib20vt]

I was going to ask this question about tire choice! what do people rate then??

For my clio cup (which is for sale lol) i used toyo's....they were amazing

 

[Cupra_UK]

I think I have to agree with the general consensus here. When I bought my LCR it was running GSD3 all round. Felt great.

Fronts had worn on the edges so I decided to get a new set for the fronts. Went for Dunlop SP Sports and regret it. The car feels considerably slower and doesn’t inspire confidence cornering. They constantly feel like they're low on pressures despite being correct every time I've checked. They also seem to have more type wall flex and a slightly higher profile.

I haven't tried these particular Falkens but have generally had very good experience with them. Toyos and Yokohama PARADA SPEC 2 would be others to consider.