Tyre advice

[mdm83]

hi, sorry to bring up another tyre thread buy my question is specific to my situation.
For the last 12 years or so I have been using my local independent tyre place- 1, he was always cheap. 2 I like to support local business. So I've gone back religiously over the years. Anyway it turns out he isn't as cheap as he once was- I paid £102.50 a tyre for 225/40/18 falkensZiex 914 for my s3 last year so £410 for the complete set. At the time I didn't think anything of it but on advice from a friend I had a quick look online and found out that £410 for falkensZiex seems quite steep and I can book my car into the local ats/kwickfit/ national tyres etc and can get Dunlop/ Pirelli/ continental sport 5's for an extra £5-10 a tyre.

So I sold the s3 last year and I now have a a3 2.0 tfsi fwd with crappy tyres on it
The problem I have is even though I know the falkens were over priced I really like the tyre and more importantly I know and thrust the tyre.

So do I stick with what I know or go for the better brand which potentially is a better tyre?

Any advice will be great thanks

 

[mdm83]

Should've mentioned a few things-
The tyre place I've been using is the only supplier of falken in my area.
The local tyre fitter where I live have a real crappy attitude if you supply your own tyres so I've ruled that out.

 

[rum4mo]

I like the idea of supporting local independent tyre places when possible, my plan tends to be to get the best price (Europe wide) to get the tyres delivered and on the car, then try to get them to agree to that - or close to that. The independent tyre retailers are free to charge what they like, unlike the nation chains.

I'd think that if you fail there, then press them for a sensible cost to get the tyres on your car, selling you a fitting service and maybe future work for puncture repairs etc must be better than nothing for them.

 

[Jake 61]

I always use my local independent fitter. He usually betters any price for any tyre I ask him for and they do it to suit when I can get there.
If the price is too dear, you shouldn't shy away from telling you local guy that he has a better price to beat.
It keeps them on their toes and helps them keep loyal customers, everybody wins.

 

[mdm83]

I will give that a try- hopefully I can barter with him.

What do you think about falken tyres? I'm a big fan but for an extra £20-£50 a set, to get premium brand tyres is tempting - although I can't get continental tyres in my size aparrantly- 225/40/18y?????

 

[Jake 61]

I've not used Falken since I had my RS Turbo and that wasn't yesterday...! They were pretty good though.
I would be surprised to hear that Conti don't do 225/40 x 18, that's a pretty standard size and a factory fit if I'm not mistaken.
I have Goodyear F1 on my 3.2 and I can't fault them in the dry, wet or ice.

 

[david7m]

Try www.blackcircles.co.uk , you might find the local fitter is the chap who has been pulling your pants down
I like the Bridgestone Potenza S01's.
Dave

 

[mdm83]

You do get continentals in that size but not the 'y' speed rating according the website.
Can get them in 'w' though, would it matter if it's the wrong speed rating as I'm not planning on sitting at 150 mph everywhere I go?

 

[mdm83]

Apparently toyo's are good

 

[AdamB8]

I had Falkens on my old car (it was only a Mondeo I think 235/40/18 off the top of my head) but the trip was immense in both wet & dry. Once I'd removed them I really noticed the car slid a lot more when wet. They didn't last very long though, not much more than 10k!

I also had Vredesteins Sessanta XL which were very good as well. They are reasonable also. Try jungle tyres, they seem to be the cheapest on the net, you can buy them fitted and choose a local fitter nearby.

 

[Randomage]

I've got w rated tyres on mine, cause no issues whatsoever!! If the Y rating is their only issue, give them the go ahead and they'll do it - theyre covering their own backs with the y rating only, because if they went ahead with a lower rating without your say so and something went wrong, you could feasibly put it on their heads..

 

[mdm83]

So I've been paying £102 for the falkens, after another quick search I can get Goodyear eagle f1 for £104 fitted etc at another local(ish) garage

 

[desertstorm]

You do get continentals in that size but not the 'y' speed rating according the website.
Can get them in 'w' though, would it matter if it's the wrong speed rating as I'm not planning on sitting at 150 mph everywhere I go?

W is 168mph and Y rated is 185mph . V is good for 150 mph.

There wont be an issue putting W rated tyres on almost any car, The larger wider tyres usually come in W or Y ratings as they are designed for larger faster cars.

Karl.