Board logo

Tyre Choice for 14" Rims
skov - 10/3/14 at 03:13 PM

Hello All,

I'm currently still running on my donor tyres (4 different budget brands!) and with summer fast approaching I really ought to think about replacing them.

What tyres would people suggest/recommend that are available in 14 inch?

The car's a Haynes Roadster.
Rims are 14x6"
I won't be doing any trackdays
I will be driving in damp/cold conditions
I'd like them to last at least 5000 miles, but ideally double that
I don't want to spend much more than £300 if I can help it!

Any ideas?

(I know I'd have far more choice if I swapped for 15" rims, but I quite like the wheels I've got, and can't really justify buying a new set of rims.)

Thanks,

theduck - 10/3/14 at 03:40 PM

What tyre size do you run? Camskill have good selection.

pmc_3 - 10/3/14 at 04:02 PM

If you can still get hold of them Yoko A539's would be a good bet

matt_gsxr - 10/3/14 at 05:20 PM

Yokohama A021R. Should get 5k and good in the wet. Not sure you will get under £300, talk to George Polley as they seem to be cheapest.

snapper - 10/3/14 at 06:42 PM

I got a set of Yoko's CF1's work well but do need a very hard drive to get warm
You can't realy get them warm enough on the road
Well you can but you shouldn't and people notice and not in a good way

skov - 10/3/14 at 07:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by snapper
I got a set of Yoko's CF1's work well but do need a very hard drive to get warm
You can't realy get them warm enough on the road
Well you can but you shouldn't and people notice and not in a good way


That's what worries me about 'road legal' track tyres.
I've never had any on a car, but I used to use Dragon Supercorsa's on my trackbike, and there's no way I would have used them on the road.
The grip was phenomenal when warm, but they were leathal when cold and took some warming up.

snapper - 10/3/14 at 07:23 PM

Don't get me wrong there good in normal driving, better than your average road tyre but better when warm
In wet and cold the light 7 type is always challenging when compared with a front wheel drive euro box with traction and anti fun

skov - 10/3/14 at 08:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by theduck
What tyre size do you run? Camskill have good selection.


I'm currently running 185/60-14, but there's no reason I couldn't switch to a different width/profile.

Would I be better off sticking with 185's or going for 195 or 205?

jeffw - 10/3/14 at 09:01 PM

Yokohama CF1 are normal budget tintop tyres. Get a set of A021s

skov - 10/3/14 at 09:15 PM

That's 2 votes for A021R
The George Polley price was looking good until VAT was added
Might have to up my budget...
Am I really going to get 5k out of them though? They seem to be sold as a wet track tyre which gives me the impression they'd be knackered much quicker than that!

TimC - 10/3/14 at 09:50 PM

They aren't exactly top of the trackdayers' Christmas lists but I've had a couple of sets of Continental Premium Contact 5s on our MX-5 and they are bloody brilliant all-round tyres. They might be worth a look at £256 fitted according to Black Circles.

skov - 11/3/14 at 05:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by pmc_3
If you can still get hold of them Yoko A539's would be a good bet


These are looking like my current favourite

After much umming and arring I've decided against the A021R (and any other track orientated tyres).

My reasons being:
I don't plan to do any track days, and I doubt I drive hard enough on public roads to warrant that level of grip.
I'm tight and don't really want to spend £400 on a set of tyres (and especially on a set of tyres that won't last very long).
I'm hoping to do some autosolos and 1b tyres aren't allowed.

So after much research I've narrowed it down to the following options that are available in 14":

Toyo T1R (195/55-14 or 195/45-14)
Kumho KH31 (185/55-14)
Yoko A539 (185/50-14 or 195/45-14)

TimC - 11/3/14 at 09:48 PM

I've run T1Rs and A539s in the past. Contis are better.

skov - 11/3/14 at 10:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by TimC
I've run T1Rs and A539s in the past. Contis are better.


Hmm, I might have to reconsider them now.
Just had a quick look at some reviews, and a lot are complaining about them wearing out quickly, so they must be fairly sticky
They're significantly cheaper than the T1Rs and A539s too!

skov - 13/3/14 at 10:44 PM

Arrgggghhh, think I'm going mad, all I can see is tyres... Spent faaaaaar too long looking into this and just going round in circles.
My conclusion is 14" wheels suck

After lots of reading up I'm going to stick with 185/60's. I don't really want to go any lower profile than that, and I don't have the power to justify anything wider and certainly don't want wider on the front.

So the choices now are (with prices from blackcircles, include fitting):

Toyo Proxes CF1 - £205
Falcon ZE-914 - £206
Dunlop Sport BluResponse - £218
Dunlop SP Sport FastResponse - £226
Uniroyal RainExpert - £231
Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance - £234
Bridgeston Turanza ER300 - £238
Continental Premium Contact 5 - £256

None of them particularly sporty!

Best price I can find the Yoko A021's is £384 from George Polley, but I'd still have to pay for fitting on top of that (local place quoted £15 per tyre ), and they're on the 1b list anyway.

Long term I think I'm going to have to invest in a set of 13 or 15" rims, but for now I'll just pick something off the list above to get me through the summer. Any of them is going to be an improvement over the mismatch I have now!

I think I'll probably go with either the Conti's or the Dunlops. Has anyone used any of the above tyres on a 7?

Grimsdale - 21/3/14 at 12:38 PM

Vredestein Sportrac 5 seem to be well reviewed and are available in 185/60/14, but i don't know how good they are in reality. My local garage had them at £54 a tyre.

[Edited on 21/3/14 by Grimsdale]

skov - 21/3/14 at 01:03 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Grimsdale
Vredestein Sportrac 5 seem to be well reviewed and are available in 185/60/14, but i don't know how good they are in reality. My local garage had them at £54 a tyre.

[Edited on 21/3/14 by Grimsdale]


Thanks Grimsdale,
I had considered those and thought they looked like a good option. However they dropped off my shortlist as I couldn't seem to find anywhere local that supplied/fitted them

owelly - 21/3/14 at 01:07 PM

I can get the following:
Toyo CF1:£160
Uniroyal Rain Expert: £160
Toyo Proxe NE: £170
Avon ZT5: £200

These are just a few that I've supplied recently but if there are any tyre you want me to get a price for, let me know. I only use one supplier and sometimes the prices are no better than Black Circle/Mytyre/Ebay but worth checking!!
I can get them delivered direct to you so we don't pay any carriage. These are trade prices to me so I'll expect a couple of quid beer money too!!
You'll still have to pay to get them fitted, unless you want a trip to the seaside...

Grimsdale - 21/3/14 at 01:13 PM

somewhere like camskill an option and get them fitted locally?

I have the contis on the missus' fiesta - they have a very open tread pattern which strikes me as good for the wet but not as much rubber in contact with the road for dry grip.

owelly - 21/3/14 at 01:21 PM

I can get the Conti Premium Contact 5 for £50 each.

skov - 21/3/14 at 01:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Grimsdale
somewhere like camskill an option and get them fitted locally?


I had been trying to avoid that as my local place wanted £60 to fit a set if I supplied them myself
Saying that though, a set of 4 Vredestein Sportrac 5's are £172.76 delivered from Camskill. If I add £60 for fitting they're in the same ball park as the others I was looking at.

Only problem is trying to squeeze a set of 4 tyres into the passenger foot well


quote:
Originally posted by owelly
I can get the following:
Toyo CF1:£160
Uniroyal Rain Expert: £160
Toyo Proxe NE: £170
Avon ZT5: £200

These are just a few that I've supplied recently but if there are any tyre you want me to get a price for, let me know. I only use one supplier and sometimes the prices are no better than Black Circle/Mytyre/Ebay but worth checking!!
I can get them delivered direct to you so we don't pay any carriage. These are trade prices to me so I'll expect a couple of quid beer money too!!
You'll still have to pay to get them fitted, unless you want a trip to the seaside...


That's probably a bit further than I'm prepared to travel to get a set of tyres fitted

I'd be interested to know how much you could get a set of Vredestein Sportrac 5's for

ashg - 21/3/14 at 01:28 PM

personally i wouldnt run any of those other than the A021's

my current favourite are the Toyo R1R but you will have to swap to 15's to run them. there was a chap in my local club that was in the same position as you. In the end he swapped from 14's to a nice set of second hand 15's with toyo R1R's for less than the cost of the A021's in 14".

14" tyres are just to expensive, if you don't do it now, it will just be the same problem next time you need tyres.

edit. go find a part worn tyre place they will normally charge between £5-7 a corner to fit an balance.

[Edited on 21/3/2014 by ashg]

owelly - 21/3/14 at 01:28 PM

Vredestein
Sportrac 5

185/60 R14 82H BSW
Summer tyres
Label: E B 70 dB
DEX: (3.53)

Our price £35.60+vat

DW100 - 21/3/14 at 01:37 PM

I think the New Caterham 160 is running 14" Avon ZV5s

owelly - 21/3/14 at 01:46 PM

Imho, I would avoid tyres that list wet weather performance as a primary attribute as although they will get warm quick, they'll overheat and wear out quick too. I'm guessing you won't be spending too much time driving in the rain?!
I fitted a set of Avon ZT5s to my mates MX5 and he thinks they're great.

[Edited on 21/3/14 by owelly]

skov - 21/3/14 at 02:10 PM

quote:
Originally posted by owelly
Imho, I would avoid tyres that list wet weather performance as a primary attribute as although they will get warm quick, they'll overheat and wear out quick too. I'm guessing you won't be spending too much time driving in the rain?!
[Edited on 21/3/14 by owelly]


I'm hoping to avoid drifting in the rain if I can help it!

It's a fair point, but I really can't see me overheating the tyres any time soon.
I only really get to drive the Haynes when I'm going to work and back, and my commute consists mainly of sitting in traffic, interspersed with quick blasts through relatively short sets of bends when I'm lucky enough to get a clear run.
Something that warms up quickly would be ideal!

skov - 21/3/14 at 02:15 PM

quote:
Originally posted by DW100
I think the New Caterham 160 is running 14" Avon ZV5s


Just checked the spec sheet, it uses 155/65R14 Avon ZT5 tyres on steel wheels.

And the Roadsport comes with Avon ZV3 tyres on 14” alloy wheels as standard.

Have to wonder why they went for 14" wheels given the crap choice of tyres available!

[Edited on 21/3/14 by skov]

theduck - 21/3/14 at 02:25 PM

Because caterham supply the correct Avon tyres in te correct size and is a good way of making your customers buy their tyres from you.

skov - 21/3/14 at 02:37 PM

Just looked at the Caterham options list - it's an extra £850 to upgrade to a set of sensible sized wheels (13 or 15" )!

[Edited on 21/3/14 by skov]

DW100 - 21/3/14 at 03:29 PM

The Avon's are a standard road tyre available everywhere. ZV3 is an out of date pattern now replaced by ZV5 and the difference between ZV5 and ZT5 is one is V rated and the other Is T rated, simple as that.

185/60 r 14 is a nice common tyre size that is not too expensive

skov - 8/4/14 at 06:33 PM

Settled on the Vredestein Sportrac 5s in the end and got them fitted yesterday.
They might not be the stickiest tyres in the world, but they're a vast improvement on the random selection of ancient donor tyres I did have!
Early days, but they seem to have plenty of grip for my needs, yet still let go when required