Tyres - yes here's that question again.

[AlanD]

Has anyone tried the Firestone Firehawk tyre on a MA/MB Mondeo?

I see Bob Jane are advertising them at $185 a copy which is much lower (I think) than the Potenzas the Car had as OE fitment.

We are not close to needing them at the moment but we have gotten good wear out of firestones on other cars.

Appreciative of comment based on firsthand experience.

Thanks

Cheers

[apstar]

My MA [May 08 build]had Excellence installed on it as originals never heard Potenzas then again!

apstar

[Dusty1]

My Goodyear's (OEM) started to come apart at 52K, so I got 4 Zetum from Bob Jane for $560 including a wheel alignment. I just needed tyres, so they were what I got (week of Christmas too!).

Like you, have had Firestone's on other cars, and thought they were good. If I was going to replace them with something different, they would have been the Michelin's as recommended by the guys at Costco, but they don't do wheel alignments there, set of 4, just under $1K. Or I'd replace like with like, and get the Goodyear's again for the same sort of price.

In my next Mondeo, at 45 - 48K, the tyres will be replaced.

[Superoo]

Mine had the OEM Potenza's. Great type but wore quickly. Was quoted...wait for it......$400 a corner in 235/45/17 for the Potenza's. Ended up with Michelin PS3's @ $270 each. Still not cheap but very happy with their performance in the wet. Hard to separate them from the OEM's. Only complaint is that they're looking like giving me no more mileage than the Potenza's but that's the trade off.

Just be careful of the required load rating on the mondeo's (97 I think) - I tried to fit bridgestone RE001's and found out they don't make them in the 235/45/17 size with a high enough load rating. Insurance companies don't need much of an excuse to deny a claim.

[AlanD]

Originally Posted by Superoo

Mine had the OEM Potenza's. Great type but wore quickly. Was quoted...wait for it......$400 a corner in 235/45/17 for the Potenza's. Ended up with Michelin PS3's @ $270 each. Still not cheap but very happy with their performance in the wet. Hard to separate them from the OEM's. Only complaint is that they're looking like giving me no more mileage than the Potenza's but that's the trade off.

Just be careful of the required load rating on the mondeo's (97 I think) - I tried to fit bridgestone RE001's and found out they don't make them in the 235/45/17 size with a high enough load rating. Insurance companies don't need much of an excuse to deny a claim.

Well the OE equipment on our MA are RE050As so I'm guessing they are OK for load rating.
$1600 for replacement tyres? Do the car manufacturers have shares in tyre companies/

Cheers

[Martyvan]

not shares, but, if they putting RE050's on, they are making sure you have the one of thebetter tyres on the market toi begin with!!!

[DRU842]

Mine came with the Bridgestones and changed at 43,000km to the BF Goodrich (Michie copy). Just had everything realigned at 75,000km and advised probably a further 20,000km left.

[allanv6gt]

MB XR5 OEM Continental ContiSport Contact2 thingys 235/40x18
@....$380-$420...each !!!

[Papug]

Two new Pirelli's P Zero Nero, $200 per tyre from Bob Jane in Perth, I thought is the good value for the quality tyre. They have replaced original Good Year Excellence after 95000 km (mostly country driving).

Cheers Greg

[mighty-mon]

Originally Posted by Papug

Two new Pirelli's P Zero Nero, $200 per tyre from Bob Jane in Perth, I thought is the good value for the quality tyre. They have replaced original Good Year Excellence after 95000 km (mostly country driving).

Cheers Greg

Thats a great price for that tyre. Can you pm me the details of which Bob Jane in Perth.

Thanks

Mark

[stuart]

My May 08 MA TDCi sedan also has Portenza tyres. I have a Leaseplan car and need to renew the tyres next week for a road trip to Adelaide from Melbourne during the Australia day week. Just ticking over 47000 kms and right down to the wear indicators on the front - a bit more tread on the back as you would expect.

[Diesel]

Hi, i have just put the Firestone Firehawks on my 08 TDCI, they are a great tyre, quiet and good in the wet. My originals were the Excellence which only got 29K out of them. These can only be better.

[borntoshop666]

Hi all,
just letting you know that I have just changed Tyres on mine.
I got 39000k's out of my Conti's, which I think is not bad.

I put on Dunlop 3000 A Silica at $200/a corner in 235/40/18

They are 95 load rated and are great in the wet and handle superbly in the dry aswell, I run them on 41 kp pressure.

I found them on Ebay at St George Tyres in Arncliffe/Sydney, they dont make them anymore but the guys still have stock of them.

[allanv6gt]

hey borntoshop + (devil number)....thanks for the info.

We need people to quote tyre sizes more often given mix of 16, 17 and 18" rims. Obviously a huge difference in suitability and prices depending on target vehicle.

I'm afarid I'm not i pressed with my ContiSport2 235/40/18 in the wet...even in a straight line.

[NZ XR6]

I'm not sure that the top Euro tyres always work that well in our part of the world. I had ContiSport 3 on a rental Passat in the UK and was very impressed, but they are a stupid price in NZ.

I fitted a set of Toyo T1R tyres to my wife's Accord last year and am very impressed with the grip wet and dry. Good value also. The Potenza RE001 is a good tyre but lacks traction in the wet on front wheel drive cars.

I would stay well clear of the following:

• Dunlop SP3000A. OEM tyres on a XR6 and were rubbish.
• Goodyear Excellence. Very poor wet grip and nearly had an accident when making an emergency stop on a wet road.
• Falken ZE-912. Were on a rental FG XR6. Despite traction and stability control I could easily get the tail out in the wet. The F K -512 is a far better tyre and is recommended.
• GT directional tyres. Sorry, don't know the tread pattern but so noisy that I thought a rental Falcon had a stuffed wheel bearing!
• Anything that says "Kumho"

[allanv6gt]

Any comment on Yokohamas , Toyo, or Michelin?

Previous good experiences on other vehicles.

[NZ XR6]

Originally Posted by allanv6gt

Any comment on Yokohamas , Toyo, or Michelin?

Previous good experiences on other vehicles.

My wife's Accord has a set of Toyo T1Rs, very grippy tyre. It's directional but is quiet and rides well.

[borntoshop666]

Hi all,
time for new Tyres again, the Dunlops lasted almost 50k, not bad for $200 ea.
I saw Kuhmo KU31 at Tempe Tyres for $150 ea. [thats 235/40/18/95Y]
any thoughts
Feedback much appreciated

[piquetcon]

I purchased Michelin Pilot Sports 3 in Sept last year for $265 a tyre (XR5). Only done 7k on them so far but prefer them for overall quietness, comfort and seem to be at least as good for grip as the Conti's and probably better in the wet.

[FreddyDUZ747]

ku31 are a great all round tire but can be noisy due to being a directional.I have these allround atm on my BA.Got my tyres from the same place,best prices around.

Checkout the HTRZ111 Sumitomo reviews.

[mondo_broady]

i am about to fit my fourth set of tyres in only 53k to my MB XR5... i do not drive particularly hard and have tried three different brands so far. Conti OEM lasted barely 20k. Pirelli PZero (brilliant) lasted only 15k and bridgestone RE001's have also not made it to 20k.

have decided to try yokohama advan sport v103's this time. according to the guys i buy my tyres through they should perform better than the bridgestones (which i did not like) and last longer than the pirelli's... hope they are right.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by mondo_broady

i am about to fit my fourth set of tyres in only 53k to my MB XR5... i do not drive particularly hard and have tried three different brands so far. Conti OEM lasted barely 20k. I have decided to try yokohama advan sport v103's this time.

I had Conti CS2's on my GT TDI Golf as OEM and I thought getting 30K out of them was average as I don't drive hard either, I haven't tried the Yokohama Advan sport but I did research them when looking for replacements for my BA XR6 and I ended up with TOYO TEO's which I found surprisingly good. I still think KUMHO tyres are one of the best bang for buck tyres available, I have had very good results from both KU31 and KU37 and both were still going strong after 30,000 + kms and going off the tread wear they looked as though they could easily go another 30,000 km before needing to be replaced, both were fitted to VW Golfs, KU31's to a MK V diesel and the KU37's to a MK V GTI. I found them very good in wet and dry, ride quite well and I wouldn't say they were all that noisy, the Good Years fitted as OEM on my LV Focus I find quite noisy and when the time comes to replace them KUMHO will be on the top of my list.

[arrowskartax9]

Give the Falken ZE-912 a try, They are getting great mileage and being a silica compound assymetrical tyre they are very quiet.

[DRU842]

Just put our second set of BF Goodrich (Michie copies) XR5 at 90,000km got about 47,000km out of that set.

[allanv6gt]

My MB XR5 has OEM Conti SportContact2 - 23K kms and about half down on the front, but not impressed with wet weather perfomance (aquaplane easily).
Previous experiences with silica-content Yokohama A539 (NLA) and that models replacement S-Drive(?) were very very positive, even with the spirited driving in that Prelude. I'll probably go Yokohama neat time around.
And at around $400 for each Conti 235/40/18/95Y, there must be better value options.

And Mondo_Broady, 53K kms and 3 sets of tyres worn out, gosh!! ....... must be all those roundabouts in town !!

[Fenno70]

Just replaced GoodYear Excellence on my Mondeo MB 2010 - with 60,000kms on them. Starting getting noisy towards the end, didn't feel good in corners and aquaplaned a bit. Very impressed with life of the tyre though.

Was considering PS3's from Michelin however bit out of price range so went for Kumho KU31's filled with Nitro (gimmick??). First impressions are good - super quiet, cornering feels better balanced and the car just feels like it rolls more smoothly (had wheel alignment too). All up $791 from Bob Jane in Taylors Hill (who are great by the way).

[NZ XR6]

I replaced the Excellence (LOL) tyres on my previous Mondeo when they were about half worn due to aquaplaning and poor wet grip. They were OK in the dry though and reasonably quiet.

Am now running the Falken F K 452, which I can highly recommend and are the correct load rating. Brilliant on wet roads but a little tread pattern noise on smooth roads due to being directional.

[hotdiesel]

After 40,000 kms my original tyres need replacing.
Have been quoted $1070 for a set (4) of Goodyear 235/40/R18 95Y F1 Asymetric 2's, including balancing plus a wheel alignment.
Is this good value?
Feedback much appreciated.

[NZ XR6]

Originally Posted by hotdiesel

After 40,000 kms my original tyres need replacing.
Have been quoted $1070 for a set (4) of Goodyear 235/40/R18 95Y F1 Asymetric 2's, including balancing plus a wheel alignment.
Is this good value?
Feedback much appreciated.

No personal experience, but they are cleaning up all of the tyre tests in Europe. So it's probably good value if you want the best.

[Fishman]

Ok, don't hate but...

I had to replace all 4 tyres the other week. I got blue streak stilettos. $630 incl an alignment.

I thought they would be crap like the bob Jane branded tyres I had on my XR, but to my surprise, they aren't too bad. We've had torrential rain the last month and I feel very confident in the wet with them.