[Surferdude]

Whilst I originally thought about this for the Hyundai i30's we all (except Dazz ) own, there's probably no reason why you can't give us feedback on any tyre experiences you've had.
Although, with technology forever changing (and companies forever merging), more recent stuff would probably be more relevant.
I envisage people telling us what tyres they have (Brand, Size, Tread Pattern (ie Dunlop "Monza", Dunlop "SP300e" and so on. Then a brief summary of how you found them.
Dry handling
Wet Handling
Stopping effectiveness (as different to handling)
Accelerating effectiveness (as different to handling or braking).
Road Noise (or quietness).
Ride Quality.
Tread Life.
And any other little thing which you feel is worth reporting.
I hope we can develop a database of tyres here for reference in the future if someone is looking to replace theirs.

I'm off around the world in a few days but I'll be checking in from time to time.
Before I go I'll try to add comments about the tyres on the three cars in our household.

[Dazzler]

Have a gr8 trip Trev.. Hope it's all smooth sailing...

This sould be a handy thread to follow..

[Surferdude]

Thanks Dazz.
When i get to the UK and have a clearer picture of when we'll be where, I'll be pm'ing a couple of members re coffe.

[Dazzler]

Thanks Dazz.
When i get to the UK and have a clearer picture of when we'll be where, I'll be pm'ing a couple of members re coffe.

Can you take a photo of some of our UK members, they have been a bit camera shy -except Bumpkin - (Brian)

[agentr31]

falken ziex ZE329, makes good smoke... enough said!

on a serious note, i used these on my old skyline, awesome tyres... low noise, deacent grip (for the price) were good on the wet skid pan, always pulled up well! i used to love them!

[Lorian]

I have stock Hanook Optimo K415 in 205/55 SR16. Its a budget tyre with silca compound, and reputed to have a fairly low rolling resistance. I run them at 34psi all round.

Dry handling
Adequate. Nothing much to report about dry handling. I travel quite fast and they stick me to the road.

Wet Handling
Easy to induce understeer in the wet when driving quickly.  

Stopping effectiveness (as different to handling)
I don't think I've ever fired up the emergency brake assist yet (thankfully) that would be the real test. So far the tyres have always given a surefooted feel whilst braking.

Accelerating effectiveness (as different to handling or braking).
Its easy to beat the traction control and spin up the fronts in 1st and 2nd gear if you want to.

Road Noise (or quietness).
Seemed really noisy to start with. Maybe I have got used to them, or maybe they have got better since the edges have worn a little, but they don't seem so bad now.

Ride Quality.
Pretty perfect. Definitely on the comfort rather than sport side, probably a function of the large walls on the 16" tyres.

Tread Life.
Only really objective thing here. Based on my mix of 80% motorway driving (usually on quiet roads at high speed) and 20% town driving, the front tyres will last around 20,000 miles and the rears around 40,000 miles. if you are a more conservative driver than me you'd get more from the front.

Overall they are probably better than I was expecting. I won't rush to replace them, but they wouldn't be my first choice when I do.

[Surferdude]

Thanks Lorian.
Excellent report and exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to see.
And you're right. Without a lot of sophisticated testing gear,it'll nearly all be subjective. Which is fine.

[Dazzler]

Very interesting Lorian.. I'd have to agree with your feedback 100% .. didn't know they had Silica in them 

[AlanHo]

My i30 premium 6 speed CRDi came with Hanook Optimo K415 225/45 R17 91V tyres. I have had the car for just one month so these are preliminary perceptions

Dry handling
Seems OK

Wet Handling
Not as good as the Dunlop Sports on my previous Audi A3. Maybe not a fair comparison because it is with a different car

Stopping effectiveness
Seems OK in the dry - but I felt a little unsure in recent heavy rains.

Accelerating effectiveness.
I have yet to do a really fast standing start - this is my first manual gearbox car for 25 years and I am still getting used to it.

Road Noise (or quietness).
This is my main disappointment. On the new smooth porous motorway tarmac noise is acceptable – but noisier that my previous Dunlop Sports. On rough surfaces it is dreadful. I suffer from hearing loss and use hearing aids – hence holding a sensible conversation with passengers – especially those in the rear seats – is very difficult

Ride Quality.
Although the tyre size is identical to my previous Audi – the ride feels much harsher and I feel bumps more. However – the car does not “tramline” like the previous one.

Tread Life.
Only done 1200 miles – cannot comment yet.

I am giving serious consideration to changing all the tyres – but am not sure what will be better. It would be nice to find an i30 with 17” rims on other tyres to make a direct noise comparison. Being a pensioner I am no longer a “sporty” driver who pushes the car to its limits. What I seek are quiet tyres with a reasonable tread life. I accept that 17” rims will tend to give a firm ride – but I had no real option when choosing the Premium model. 
 



 

[bcfcrule]

My i30 premium 6 speed CRDi came with Hanook Optimo K415 225/45 R17 91V tyres. I have had the car for just one month so these are preliminary perceptions

Dry handling
Seems OK

Wet Handling
Not as good as the Dunlop Sports on my previous Audi A3. Maybe not a fair comparison because it is with a different car

Stopping effectiveness
Seems OK in the dry - but I felt a little unsure in recent heavy rains.

Accelerating effectiveness.
I have yet to do a really fast standing start - this is my first manual gearbox car for 25 years and I am still getting used to it.

Road Noise (or quietness).
This is my main disappointment. On the new smooth porous motorway tarmac noise is acceptable – but noisier that my previous Dunlop Sports. On rough surfaces it is dreadful. I suffer from hearing loss and use hearing aids – hence holding a sensible conversation with passengers – especially those in the rear seats – is very difficult

Ride Quality.
Although the tyre size is identical to my previous Audi – the ride feels much harsher and I feel bumps more. However – the car does not “tramline” like the previous one.

Tread Life.
Only done 1200 miles – cannot comment yet.

I am giving serious consideration to changing all the tyres – but am not sure what will be better. It would be nice to find an i30 with 17” rims on other tyres to make a direct noise comparison. Being a pensioner I am no longer a “sporty” driver who pushes the car to its limits. What I seek are quiet tyres with a reasonable tread life. I accept that 17” rims will tend to give a firm ride – but I had no real option when choosing the Premium model.  
 

Ive tried a couple of tyres, firstly Firestones which made an improvement but not enough to satisfy.
Eventually I replaced all my 17" tyres with Yokohama db v550 (http://www.yokohama.com.au/aboutyokohama/display_pressrelease.aspx?pressreleaseid=27) and now the car is much quieter. Well worth it for just over £80 per tyre

[Dazzler]

Hi bcfcrule and welcome to the club 

Great timing with your first post (very handy)

[Goldfish_8]

Car i30 20CRDI Premium, factory lowering kit, 18 inch MS Design alloys tyres 225/40 18.

Set 1;

Kumho Ecsta Sport KU31 XL rated. (Extra Load)

Dry handling; good, predictable handling, never felt it would break away when cornering

Wet Handlling; sure footed when wet, not so good if road was just damp

Snow Ice; forget it

Stopping Effectivness; good, car kept straight, no tugging from road cambers.

Accelerating Effectiveness; good traction, mimimal hint of grip giving way to wheelspin

Road noise; poor on rough or concrete road surfaces, ok on smooth tarmac

Ride quality, so so, due to stiff narrow side walls and XL rating.

Tread life; Would have been around 18000 miles. Fronts changed at approximately 12000 miles when getting swapped front to rear as one failed to balance and on inspection inner layer of rubber had delaminated.

Fronts Only

Toyo T1-r XL rated.

Dry handling; good, predictable handling, never felt it would break away when cornering

Wet Handlling; sure footed when wet, not so good if road was just damp

Snow Ice; forget it

Stopping Effectivness; good, car kept straight, though slight tugging from road cambers.

Accelerating Effectiveness; good traction, though wheelspin could be provoked and the traction control cutting in

Road noise; poor on rough or concrete road surfaces, ok on smooth tarmac

Ride quality, so so, due to stiff narrow side walls and XL rating.

Tread Life; approx 12000 miles then shot.

Set 2

Falken FK-912's XL rated.

Dry handling; good, predictable handling, never felt it would break away when cornering

Wet Handlling; sure footed when wet, not so good if road was just damp

Snow Ice; dangerous

Stopping Effectivness; good, car ket straight, some tugging from road cambers as they have worn.

Accelerating Effectiveness; good traction, hint of grip giving way to wheelspin

Road noise; poor on rough or concrete road surfaces, ok on smooth tarmac

Ride quality, so so, due to stiff narrow side walls and XL rating.

Tread Life should last to approx 16000 miles. (Covered 12500 miles on them so far, but inner and outer edges worn, as apear soft compound).

With all the tyres, the suspension set up I have is adding to the road noise, plus running Extra Load tyres which have stiffer side walls doesn't help the cause! Also as tyres are general purpose/ summer, traction and handling in snow and icey conditions will be suspect, but taking enough care and consideration it is still possible to get about on them.

AlanHo, if you avoid the XL rated tyres, then you should be able to find a slightly more comfortable option given the 45 profile you use.

Mark

[Dazzler]

And the moral to this story is... Don't drive on Snow/ice 

[stkman]

Hi All,

Replaced the Hankook K415 tyres (225/45 x 17) around 5000km ago and would like to give you all some feedback on how the new tyres compare with the old. Please note the ratings I have given are my opinions only based on the type of driving I do on the roads that I drive on.

The new tyres I bought are TOYO TEO Plus in the same size as the Hankooks that they replaced. I chose these after a lot of internet reasearch ... I read a lot of good reports on them, a few neutral reports and no bad reports. My ratings are my score out of ten with 10 being the best.



PRICE: The Toyos were between 15-20% more expensive than the Hankooks depending where I went. Tyres are really quite expensive in NZ, probably due to a smaller market and import costs. Sub $130 tyres in the above size unfortunately sell reasonably well ... I am fortunate enough to be able to pay a bit more for reasonable tyres. Hankook 8, TOYO 7.5

TYRE NOISE: I learnt something interesting here. Tyre noise on NZs wonderful chip seal roads is much reduced with the TOYO however, I have a friend with Hankooks on a Skoda Octavia and it is really quiet on chip seal. These went on his car after he couldn't stand the noisy Continentals any more! Seems like tyre noise is not only the tyre but maybe the car design as well ... some tyres will suit some cars and some won't. Anyway, I felt the Hankooks were really very good on smooth seal and reasonable on chip seal. Then I put the TOYOs on and it was absolutely silent on smooth seal and a lot quieter on chip seal. Can still hear them but very impressive. My rating Hankook 7.5, TOYO 9

RIDE QUALITY: Fairly impressed with the Hankook. I thought they may have been harsh in the size I have but really no worse than my friends Hankooks in 16 inch size on her i30. I did initially increase the tyre pressre to 36psi in the front and did find that unacceptable (I am older now and like comfort although do not like a wallowing, oversoft feeling). After installing a 20mm rear antiroll bar, there was no need for higher front tyre pressures to reduce the understeer and I went back to 32psi all round. On fitting the TOYOs, I noticed a harse ride with jarring and thumping whenever crossing a road join or hitting a pothole. This has reduced completely after some mileage and now they ride very well, soft over road joins but a direct, firm ride. Slightly softer than the Hankook over road joins and similar but slightly firmer ride. Hankook 8, TOYO 8.5

DRY HANDLING: What can I say, the Hankooks were fairly impressive but these TOYOs are really good. I was considering getting the new TOYO C1S for an extra 20% in cost over the TEO Plus(TOYO rates the C1S as an ultra high performance tyre and the TEO Plus as a high performance tyre although dealers rate the TEO Plus as a 'family car' tyre) for the extra peformance but am very impressed with this tyre. Driven at sensible speeds, these tyres turn in very nicely, have great steering feel (due the the large center strip of rubber according to TOYO) and when they do slide, it is gradual and controllable. They hang on longer than the Hankook although even the speed at which the Hankook slides is well in excess of the speeds we should ever drive on the road! There will be much higher performance tyres than the TOYO out there but I certainly don't need that level of handling. Haven't found the limit of the dry braking. I didn't with the Hankooks either but the TOYOs somehow feel more secure under brakes. Have turned the ESP off to try out the grip when accelerating and the TOYO hangs on really well ... the little i30 rockets away with a slight sqeal. Definitely more grip there than the Hankook. Overall Hankook 7, TOYO 8.5

WET HANDLING: I drive fairly steadily in the wet ... no sudden braking, acceleration or steering input. The few times I have had to manoeuvre quickly, the TOYOs hung on. Saying that, the Hankooks were fine in the wet at the speeds I drive. TOYOs just feel a little more secure. The water channels in the tread are really very impressive, I'm sure they do move quite a bit of water! Hankook 7.5, TOYO 8

TREAD LIFE: Depends entirely on how you drive and how you look after the tyres. I replaced the Hankooks at 60,000 km with probably 2-3000 legal km left. Rotated the tyres every 10,000 km ... higher wear on the left front until I installed the larger rear antiroll bar, then more even wear. Happy with that result. TOYO have a very good wear rating of 300 which makes it one of the best wearing tyres of that brand. Will see how it goes but I am guessing similar mileage. Hankook 8.5, TOYO 8.5

Overall, the TOYO to me feels like a higher performing version of the Hankook (slightly firmer ride, better handling) with improvements in road noise for a small to moderate increase in price. For me, I'm very pleased I paid the extra for these tyres over the Hankooks. Saying that, I really was very impressed with the Hankook as the standard tyre on the car. They are better than older performance tyres I have had, such is the constant advance in tyre design.

Andrew

[Dazzler]

Fantastic review Andrew (thanks heaps)

Now all we need is a similar review on all the other brands 

That review would not be out of place in a quality Auto Mag .. in fact they seldom go into that much detail these days, unfortunately 

[2i30s]

great review.     

[Surferdude]

Well done.
Great read.
And you're right. The solid centre rib would make them very stable at highway speeds.

[eye30]

great review

[Surferdude]

Yesterday at the store I was working we had an i30CW come in for a puncture repair but the two front tyres were worn out on the shoulders and the operators (a gov't department) agreed to replace them.
The car had 195/65R15 Kumhos fitted OE and had done only about 25,000 klms. Probably still half tread depth in the middle of the tyre but both shoulders down to the belt edges, a good case for occasional wheel alignments I guess.

Anyway, we fitted one of the newer Goodyear products I haven't had much experience with, the Duraplus. I made sure I test drove the car before the wheel alignment and after so I could get a handle on the tyres.

Pretty impressive actually. They use a new technology in the carcass to get more width into the tread footprint. The tread is noticeably wider than that on my Hankooks parked beside it.
I can report they are quiet, smooth and responsive.
No wet roads and no highway stuff to try so the feedback is a bit restricted but I guess I might give them a try next up. The guys in the store tell me they have several sets fitted to a fleet of commercially run Mazda 2's (the boxy ones) and are recording up to 80,000 klms which is, quite frankly staggering.

[Dazzler]

Interesting feedback Trev .. I toyed with getting Trish better tyres but a bit extravagant.. hopefully the OEM will be ok for now...I had the 16" on my hatch..

Anyway, we fitted one of the newer Goodyear products I haven't had much experience with, the Duraplus.

What's a ballpark figure?

[Surferdude]

Sorry Pip. I'll have to check next week. We were so busy yesterday I didn't have a chance to look.
Are you 195/65R15? or 16"?

Yeah, I guess the price was not important to you, you weren't paying.

I'm not up for tyres for a while yet but was curious to get a price/performance value as my interest was piqued when you said they seemed good.

16" btw.

[Dazzler]

You've been running the OEM 15" Kumhos or Hankooks haven't you Trev.?... What's good enough for you is good enough for us ! 

[Shambles]

What's a ballpark figure?

A ballpark figure is a rough or approximate number (guesstimate) to give a general idea of something, like a rough estimate for a cost, etc.



Kind regards,  Leslie Nielsen

[TrishCW]

You've been running the OEM 15" Kumhos or Hankooks haven't you Trev.?... What's good enough for you is good enough for us ! 

what's this good enough for us Daz, last time i looked,your car did'nt have 15" wheels.

[Ozbrum]

I have to replace the tyres fairly soon on my 2007 Sonata which has done 58500km on the factory fitted 17" Dunlop SP sports and was told by an experienced Hyundai person that the best replacement tyre would be the 'ku31 ecsta Kuma' ? for price ? ride and long life ... So if anyone can offer any advice I would be very grateful ..... Thank you   

[rustynutz]

I suspect you mean 'ku31 ecsta Kumho' 

http://www.tyretest.com/pkw_sommerreifen/kumho/ecsta_spt_ku31/index.html

[Surferdude]

I have to replace the tyres fairly soon on my 2007 Sonata which has done 58500km on the factory fitted 17" Dunlop SP sports and was told by an experienced Hyundai person that the best replacement tyre would be the 'ku31 ecsta Kuma' ? for price ? ride and long life ... So if anyone can offer any advice I would be very grateful ..... Thank you   

I was going to suggest these tyres weren't OE but possibly fitted at the dealer, however checked my Goodyear - Dunlop catalogue first and found they WERE OE fitment.
225/50R17 Dunlop Sp Sport 270. 94V.
IMO, 60,000 klms is a good run to get out of any tyres but especially HP ones. So you've done well. Was the spare rotated into the sequence or is it a space saver or some such?
Anyway, any Japanese made Dunlops or Bridgestones which are OE fitment are almost always expensive to replace so an alternative is probably called for.  There will be some on here who have Kumhos as OE on their cars and can better advise you as to their performance.
They'll be cheaper but I'm not sure about ride or life.
Feedback anyone?????

[Surferdude]

You've been running the OEM 15" Kumhos or Hankooks haven't you Trev.?... What's good enough for you is good enough for us ! 

Yeah Dazz. Hankooks. Not again though.
When the CW was parked next to mine on Friday I looked at the tread width on mine compared to the Duraplus and, as I said the Duraplus is much wider.
But I also noticed my tyres are already down into the last third of their life (at 19,000 klms).  No uneven wear and I rotated them at about 9,000. So decision time is coming soon as i won't wear them right out before replacement.