# Decent mid-range tyres!?



## eibbor (Sep 8, 2015)

Was planning on buying rainsport 3s for the front of my A4 avant and saving up to complete the set but when washing the car tonight I heard a hissing from OSR tyre and found inner sidewall cracked and leaking! Raging but glad I noticed before it blew out on me. 
Going to buy 4 tyres now but can't afford the RS3's unfortunately.
Has anyone used nexen N8000's? Or any other mid-range tyre that anyone rates highly? Can get 4 delivered for around £200. 

MOT is up in 2 weeks too arrghh! 


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Sorry tyres are one thing I never cheap out on...Cheap will either fail when you need them, degrade quickly or bit so infuriatingly loud that they ruin any drive. 

My local council are doing everything they can to make driving a headache by digging up all the roads and refusing to lay smooth tarmac afterwards, so not going to make it worse with cheap tyres....

Goodyear Eagle F1's for me. About £120 a corner for 18" on my old A5. Have Dunlop SP Sport Maxx on my S5 and really like these two. Didn't get on with Pirellli P-zeros as they were too noisy (although I've heard the new rated A wet ones are better).


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## Ecce (Mar 29, 2011)

If you were thinking of Rainsport 3's then beg, steal or borrow to get the set. These are the cheapest tyres I've ever purchased and easily out perform anything else I've owned in the wet and pretty good in the dry too.

**ok, maybe not steal.


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## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

As above

Rainsports are the cheapest I've ever bought her the best I've ever bought

Wouldn't go any lower tbh


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## Tyrefitter (Feb 13, 2010)

Nexen's are not a mid-range tyre,they are a budget tyre.I should know as I have my own tyre bay.As DrE says,go for the Eagle F1's these are a brilliant tyre & will last.


Andy.


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## eibbor (Sep 8, 2015)

Thanks for the replies. I would love the rainsports but at this moment in time they might be simply unaffordable. 
A day of begging, stealing and borrowing coming up, as I agree completely with DrE about not going cheap. Looked at the N8000's and at 50 a corner from camskill with good reviews I thought they were better than a budget.

Can't believe there are tyres out there called 'goodride' lol I will 100% avoid buying ditch finders that's for sure 


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## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

I have Nexen N8000`s on the front of mine and theres nothing wrong with them. Stick to the road pretty good and decent in the wet.


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

what size tyre you after


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## s70rjw (Apr 18, 2006)

Avon ZZ5 are well respected and reasonably priced.
Barum, a subbrand of Continental likewise.
I've used both and saw no reduction in grip, driving experience etc over the Continental Sport contact 5 / Michelin Pilots port 3 which the cars came with from the factory.


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## Sam6er (Apr 3, 2016)

Kumho ecsta ku39's are cheap. Running them on my bmw 325i on 19" rims and have been fine. Done about 7k on them so far. A friend also running them on his 528i on 17" rims no problems. For a cheap tyre they are pretty good.


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## neilb62 (Jul 30, 2007)

I had Vredestiens (both summer and winter) in the E60 for years and found them most impressive, they seem to score higher than 'Conti's in many reviews.


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## millns84 (Jul 5, 2009)

shy-talk said:


> Nexen's are not a mid-range tyre,they are a budget tyre.I should know as I have my own tyre bay.As DrE says,go for the Eagle F1's these are a brilliant tyre & will last.
> 
> Andy.


Nope, they're mid-range and fitted as OEM by several manufacturers these days. Their latest offerings (N'fera SU1 and SU4) are getting very good feedback and N8000's aren't half bad either.

People said similar about Uniroyal 15 years ago before realising that they're genuinely good.


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

I've had a few sets of nexens and been more than happy with the performance / life / price balance. Far better than most of the real cheap tyres ( Nankang, landsail, accelera etc ) but still very keenly priced.

I'd happily use them again even on fairly high performance vehicles ( used nexen all season tyres through winter on my 300bhp rwd m3 )


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## eibbor (Sep 8, 2015)

jonesyFX said:


> what size tyre you after


235/40/18 
Think I can get 4 rainsport 3's fitted for £290 after speaking to a few friends in the trade but I'm still looking for cheaper. Could I put 225/40/18's on the wheel? As thats the size my mate got fitted.

The wheel is the audi rotor alloys with the diamond cut face


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

eibbor said:


> 235/40/18
> Think I can get 4 rainsport 3's fitted for £290 after speaking to a few friends in the trade but I'm still looking for cheaper. Could I put 225/40/18's on the wheel? As thats the size my mate got fitted.
> 
> The wheel is the audi rotor alloys with the diamond cut face


Same as my old megane r26. I went with vredestein ultrac vorti. Even camskill is 75 a corner though. 290 is a bargain fitted to be honest for the RS3's.

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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

Rain sports Camskill cheapest I've found


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

RainSport 3, cheapest is Ears Motorsport, usually cheaper than camskill.

Yes and 224 40 18's will be far cheaper. Some tires are actually wider than they say anyway. My old 225 Uniroyals were wider than the Goodyears they replaced.

Uniroyal RS3 are £236 a set delivered, so another £40 to have fitted.


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

eibbor said:


> 235/40/18
> Think I can get 4 rainsport 3's fitted for £290 after speaking to a few friends in the trade but I'm still looking for cheaper. Could I put 225/40/18's on the wheel? As thats the size my mate got fitted.
> 
> The wheel is the audi rotor alloys with the diamond cut face


Going for that tyre size will reduce the overall wheel diameter by about 1.2%. Not massive and unlikely to have any adverse effects on the speedo, etc.

What I would look out for is the load rating though. Typically, big german cars, especially the Avants, have high load ratings and therefore going for a smaller tyre can mean getting a tyre below the recommended tyre load. This could have implications on insurance etc, as its outside the OEM guidance.

Having said that, I think that reducing the profile would have a bigger impact, rather than the width. Just need to check :thumb:

As said above, Audi tend to fit very wide tyres for the width of the alloys, so you can play about a bit. Personally, I like a nice straight tyre wall, and don't like any bulging or stretched tyre looks by going for thick/thinner width tyres.


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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

robertdon777 said:


> RainSport 3, cheapest is Ears Motorsport, usually cheaper than camskill.
> 
> Yes and 224 40 18's will be far cheaper. Some tires are actually wider than they say anyway. My old 225 Uniroyals were wider than the Goodyears they replaced.
> 
> Uniroyal RS3 are £236 a set delivered, so another £40 to have fitted.


Just thought I'd try them for my car £15 more for 4 tyres then Camskill but what the Op wants ears are cheaper shows to shop around


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## Andyg_TSi (Sep 6, 2013)

Do you have a Costco near you?

If so, join & they do Michelins for far less than elsewhere supplied & fitted.

I get Michelin Pilot Sport 3's from Costco on 225/45/17 size.
Buy 4 at same time & you get a further discount.

I paid £177 for 2 tyres last time Inc VAT & fitting which is £88.50 per tyre


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## donfresh (Feb 23, 2016)

cant go wrong with goodyear eagle f1's or toyo t1r proxys


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## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

donfresh said:


> cant go wrong with goodyear eagle f1's or toyo t1r proxys


Lol

Proxes are terrible!!!!!!

Scary in the wet and wear ridiculously quickly


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

I know very one on here likes buying tyres online but have you been around all your local tyre places 

I get a better deal in store than online


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## Ashtray (Jan 14, 2014)

Just put a set of Avon ZZ5 in 225/40/18 on my mk6 I am well happy how they have performed so far in the wet and dry nice and quiet as well and at 62 quid each on camskill I don't think you can go wrong 
I couldn't find any thing to bad said about them when doing research 
Steer clear of the proxes you don't see anything good about them


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## possul (Nov 14, 2008)

T1R were mint on my mk1 golf


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## mjhadley888 (Mar 20, 2015)

Have a look at Avon zv5 

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## Tyrefitter (Feb 13, 2010)

millns84 said:


> Nope, they're mid-range and fitted as OEM by several manufacturers these days. Their latest offerings (N'fera SU1 and SU4) are getting very good feedback and N8000's aren't half bad either.
> 
> People said similar about Uniroyal 15 years ago before realising that they're genuinely good.


One of my tyre suppliers who are one of the biggest in the uk & own quik fit supply me with Nexens & on their site they are budgets,,unless they are wrong,which I don't think they are.

Andy


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## Erskine7 (May 9, 2016)

shy-talk said:


> One of my tyre suppliers who are one of the biggest in the uk & own quik fit supply me with Nexens & on their site they are budgets,,unless they are wrong,which I don't think they are.
> 
> Andy


In fairness..... Tyrereviews.co.uk have Nexen listed as Mid Range with Avon, Uniroyal, Hankook and Vredestein

The Nexen SU1 gets rave reviews too..


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

I have been using Michelin Energy savers for several years now. I don't know where they fit in the price range but for me they have been fine especially as I manage to get around 25000 miles out of them.


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## SimTaylor (May 28, 2015)

I got a full set of Rainsport 3's for my Mini, whilst being a budget tyre as such they are actually fantastic. Cost me £220 for 4 from camskill in 215, 45, 17. Really have transformed the car.


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## James Bagguley (Jul 13, 2013)

Quite like my Hankook Ventus V12 EVO2's. 
Pretty unshakable in wet or dry, maybe spin up a bit if setting off like a clown in a downpour, but my car is relatively light for its size.


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## Cuffy (Oct 7, 2015)

Goodyear efficient grip all round are performing well for me, pretty quiet too. £70 a corner. 

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## eibbor (Sep 8, 2015)

Wee update..

A few homers came up over the weekend, giving me some extra cash, so ordered 4 235/40/18 95Y rainsport 3's yesterday and they came today! 
Will get them on this week along with my abs sensor and MOT is good to go.

Will update once they are fitted thanks everyone.


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## SimTaylor (May 28, 2015)

Good choice.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

I have the Nexens N'fera SU1 on my taxi, great so far, feel very planted in all conditions, had N8000's on before, think the N'fera SU1's just shades them


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## eibbor (Sep 8, 2015)

What pressure do you guys run at with RS3s? I have 18'' wheels


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## insanejim69 (Nov 13, 2011)

bidderman1969 said:


> I have the Nexens N'fera SU1 on my taxi, great so far, feel very planted in all conditions, had N8000's on before, think the N'fera SU1's just shades them


I have these on the front of My Corsa Nurburgring and my first thoughts were "oh god no", as I have had Nexens in the past that were terrible. But surprisingly they are super grippy, and very grippy in the wet with grip and traction. Going by their online reviews on the Nfera SU1 some BMW M owners and Merc AMG owners run them, their average review rating is really good at 88%. And at around £70 a tyre for 225/35/R18's also really good value.

I had Hancook V12's on my Corsa VXR Blue Edition a few years back and they were good in the dry but really not too good in the wet, grip was ok, but traction was terrible around town trying to pull away from roundabouts (even trying gently and sensibly)

James


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## millns84 (Jul 5, 2009)

insanejim69 said:


> I have these on the front of My Corsa Nurburgring and my first thoughts were "oh god no", as I have had Nexens in the past that were terrible. But surprisingly they are super grippy, and very grippy in the wet with grip and traction. Going by their online reviews on the Nfera SU1 some BMW M owners and Merc AMG owners run them, their average review rating is really good at 88%. And at around £70 a tyre for 225/35/R18's also really good value.
> 
> I had Hancook V12's on my Corsa VXR Blue Edition a few years back and they were good in the dry but really not too good in the wet, grip was ok, but traction was terrible around town trying to pull away from roundabouts (even trying gently and sensibly)
> 
> James


Same with Kumho KU31's years ago - A brand most wouldn't go near then a few on the M3 forum tried them and they got quite popular.

I'm getting SU1's for the rear of my STR but it'll be a while a the PS3's have about 5mm left.


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