Tyre advice, falling out with the Z!

Z

Zed

Member
 Scotland, Renfreshire
Guys (and Girls), OK I'm not but honestly, can no longer put up with the Brigestone RF's on me Z4R on the roads where I live in Scotland. My pride and joy is slowly but surely getting wrecked and is starting to rattle something rotten. I have in fact fallen out with the Council on many occasion but who am I trying to kid! The last effort to sort something locally resulted in one guy, one van, some black stuff and shovel....I know, drove past the guy spanking the road with his trusty shovel trying to level and compact the black stuff :cry: . Roads are harsh, bumpy, come with free grooves for tramlining (nice and not always required), pot holed and generally a right friggin mess.

I know, I know, lack of funds, weather etc etc, but staring at Road Tax and another rear spring repair bill means I'm having to do something before the Z turns into Chitty Chitty, rattle rattle!

So, I have bought myself a mobility kit in preperation for the swap to non run flats and looking for some advice as to which brand would be best?

Is there any point me looking at another branded RF?

Car lacks grip in the wet, have owned older BMW's with narrower tyres, no nanny aids and they were planted or at minimum grippy even during a scruff of the neck drive with the back sliding....I knew what the limits were. With the Z, I'm not so sure so something with better traction in the wet conditions (thinking back to when it was last dry......:zzzz:).

Heard so much about the Falkens but are they as sure footed in the wet as F1 GS-3D's or Pilot SP2's, they need to be a bit more supple than the stock RF's, oh and less road noise would be spiffing! The old saying "you get what you pay for", does that ring true with the Falkens compared to the price, say, for the Goodyears and Blimps or, are the just a bargain?

Sizes are thus - 108's 18" 225/40, 255/35 front and back respectively, any thoughts except ditch the Z and what to do with the RF's once they're off? :D

Hold that thought..... they all have good tread, the rears were changed recently by previous owner (5 months or so/1500 miles) so I might be papping them on here :thumbsup:
 
Only had my Flakens 452's for a week or so, but the ride quality is much better, less tramling and ride quality is transformed. Cant comment on how they are in the wet yet, but they do seem more grippy than the Brigestone RFT's
 
Just lose the RF's.Most anything would be better in terms of ride, wet weather performance and replacement costs. As an aside, I had a summer job during undergraduate studies on a "Patching Crew". We referred to it as the "Hump or a Hole Crew" and worked very hard to produce repairs that we knew would definitely stir your latte when you rolled over our work. We did try hard to do good work but patching potholes was only a stopgap measure to avoid spending the enormous monies necessary to properly repave a piece of roadway.
 
Zed, I'm often on the same roads as you (Renfrewshire - Paisley, Johnstone, Elderslie area) and I can't believe the f**king state of the roads - certainly seem to be slightly worse overall that through my way (but it's a close run thing...). I replaced the Bridgestone RFTs with Falken 452s about 4 weeks ago and was through in Paisley at the weekend. To be honest I don't think the Falkens help much with the ride comfort over potholes, drainage channels, etc, but they are better for the tramlining in the grooves in the roads.
 
Roads in Surrey don't sound much better to be honest...

As everyone probably already knows - I switched to Michelin PS2 ZP (still runflats...) around June last year and havent looked back. Holiday in Scotland was enjoyable and ride comfort much improved with no more harshness. Granted the suspension is still firm but you dont get the feeling that you are riding around on rocks!

just my 2p worth...
 
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