New Front Tyres
I've had the car since 5th August 2016 and whilst the rear tyres were absolutely brand new, the fronts have scrub on the outside from where the camber/alignment needs setting up. I've been monitoring it over the last 4 months and to be fair, I have managed to squeeze nearly 5000 miles out of them.
As I have family far and wide it means 500 miles was on the horizon for Christmas traveling, so on Christmas Eve I took a trip to Kwikfit who fitted a new pair of Dunlop SP SportMaxx RT2s, in 225/40/18 flavour. They tried to argue with me on several occasions that my choice was, a) too wide, and b)Not a Run Flat. Thanks, now fit my tyres.
I've chosen to step up from 215 section to 225 section on the basis of copying Dino with his 135i. I almost followed him with Michelin PS4s but the Dunlops have recently done well in a test conducted by EVO Magazine, plus they're quite a bit cheaper.
A tad dirty, but hey it's winter...
Off with the old noisy Bridgestones, still not sure if they're actually illegal in this state as the rest of the tyre had good depth...
New Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2s fitted..
I'm a little miffed at how PHAT the profile of the tyre looks on the rim, the Bridgestones' definitely look better IMO but I can live with it...
Since having them fitted on the 24th Dec I've covered over 500 miles so I can easily say they're bedded in now.
Thoughts and opinions so far? The ride quality is noticeably better, it seems to soak up the road more. I put this down to the fatter profile, after all it's now 40% of a 225 tyre, as opposed to 40% of a 215 width tyre. On a negative note, turn-in is not as sweet as before, with the steering being noticeably stiffer the front end seems less eager to follow my steering inputs. I guess that's the trade-off from a better ride quality.
There is still a ROAR, but I've got to remember I am still running noisy Bridgestone RFTs on the rear at the moment - they're still almost like new tread wise, which frankly is amazing seeing how much I wheel spin out of junctions on a daily basis due to the weather conditions the last few months!
I am planning to replace the rears ready for summer. I'm looking for more grip as it does tend to slide about quite a bit - I put this down to it being hard rubber. So will I be fitting Dunlops on the rear? Most probably not.
I think I'll be going for a Fedral RS-R in 255/35 flavour, being Track-Focused (yet road legal) tyre it should harness the grip I'm after for powering out of bends early when boost comes on song.
I know some people blab on about running mixed tyres front and rear, but I'm after the chassis balance that suits
me.
Just got to take it for alignment now so the fronts don't scrub on the outside again. Should notice an advantage in handling and grip too.
And that about wraps it up for 2016!