Tyre advice

Another question!
And sorry for the thread hijack :o

What is the benefits of, and which are better:
filling tyres with normal(compressed) air
filling the tyres with nitrogen

?
 
Nitrogen is the biggest con out there (if they charge for it).
Air is 80% nitrogen anyway.
 
Fazda said:
LOL, I always use it! :p

In my own experience, the tyres hold pressure much longer and they run cooler.

Surely they wouldn't BS us in adverts..:confused: ;)
Click to expand...
LOL!

Why would they run cooler? What's the science?
 
Sinbad said:
Nitrogen is the biggest con out there (if they charge for it).
Air is 80% nitrogen anyway.
Click to expand...

Fazda said:
LOL, I always use it! :p

In my own experience, the tyres hold pressure much longer and they run cooler.

Surely they wouldn't BS us in adverts..:confused: ;)
Click to expand...

Pure nitrogen will hold pressure longer just after fitting new tyres, however inflating with normal air will over time result in a higher ratio of nitrogen to oxygen as oxygen permeates through the rubber faster than nitrogen.

If you regularly check your tyre pressure, air filled vs nitrogen won't make much of a difference to the wear of the tyre, if you don't the nitrogen tyres will last longer as they keep their pressure for longer.

As for running cooler, it might run a little cooler but road tyres aren't as sensitive to temperature changes than racing tyres would be.
 
FuLL_MeT4L said:
Awesome. Much better range than all the dealers I've visited. Paired with ratings on tyrereviews.co.uk I feel like I can make a good judgement here.

From what I can see, about ordering from Errol's, you have your tyres delivered to a fitment partner who puts em on for you. Standard R300 odd for fitment/alignment I assume?
Click to expand...

Can't remember how much I was charged but it was probably in that range.
 
Laughing at all the fanboy posters.

Honestly, if you are a normal day to day driver, and you dont drive in any extreme way (rapid acceleration, braking, cornering) or extreme conditions (snow, gravel etc) you wont be able to tell the difference between mainstream brands.

Just stay with Goodyear, Conti, Firestone etc and you should be fine.

Also, dont forget to do balancing and alignment.
 
Tman* said:
Laughing at all the fanboy posters.

Honestly, if you are a normal day to day driver, and you dont drive in any extreme way (rapid acceleration, braking, cornering) or extreme conditions (snow, gravel etc) you wont be able to tell the difference between mainstream brands.

Just stay with Goodyear, Conti, Firestone etc and you should be fine.

Also, dont forget to do balancing and alignment.
Click to expand...

Sure, but every now and then you HAVE to take extreme measures through no fault of your own. And then, you don't want to be on subpar rubber. You don't buy tyres for everyday driving, you buy them for the extremes.
 
Sinbad said:
Sure, but every now and then you HAVE to take extreme measures through no fault of your own. And then, you don't want to be on subpar rubber. You don't buy tyres for everyday driving, you buy them for the extremes.
Click to expand...

This. All of a sudden that 5% better breaking in wet conditions means the difference between slight whiplash and being cut out of your car and stuffed into a little box.

The other consideration is noise. Noisy tyres are one of my pet hates, and are immediately noticeable.
 
Sinbad said:
Sure, but every now and then you HAVE to take extreme measures through no fault of your own. And then, you don't want to be on subpar rubber. You don't buy tyres for everyday driving, you buy them for the extremes.
Click to expand...

This.

Same goes for brakes, sure you can get the cheap pads and they will work but what happens when you need to perform an emergency stop?

The difference between slamming into the back of that truck that just pulled out in front of you on the highway vs slowing down enough to avoid it isn't much and decent brakes and tyres will make that difference

I'd rather spend a couple hundred bucks more on tyres and brakes and know that I can rely on them in an emergency for the safety of others that drive with me and my own.
 
So I've done some looking around and my options include the following, I'm buying a full set of 4 btw:
Continental Premium Contact 2 @ R720 a piece
Dunlop SP 7000 @ R550 a piece
Fireforce FF70 @ R590 a piece

None of these are anything to write home about, which is why I'm tempted to go for the Dunlops at the lower price point. There are some reservations about Dunlops in the previous comments though, and they aren't typically included in the "stick with these brands" lists. So maybe the Fireforce (made by Firestone SA)? The Continentals seem like the better tyres, but I believe they are quite 'soft' and therefore faster wearing than the other 2 tyres, which isn't desirable.

There are too many factors and options here!
 
Continentals are OEM on several SA makes - I know that they are more expensive, but you are now in an area where you shouldn't compromise on safety.

Rather spend an extra couple of hundred bucks on quality, than going the other way.

BTW, whoever said that Conti's are soft is talking BS.
 
I would go for the Continentals. I have an '09 Fiesta, same size tyre as yours. The Contis I have on the back have over 70,000 on them ATM.
From previous experience, you'll be luck to get more than 30K on the Dunlops.
 
Easy choice. Continental.

Dunlop are known for poor mileage, so will actually end up costing more.

Fireforce is Bridgestone's low quality tyres brand.
 
Went with the Continental Premium Contact 2 195/50 R15. All inclusive this came to a R3,318 from Tonnesen ContiPartner, Diep River.

Initial review is that they're noticeably better in the wet than my previous set even in their days of healthy tread, and manage corners as well as my little 1.4 can throw them. All in all I'm fairly satisfied thus far.

Will report back on mileage next year if I remember. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X