keddzs

Does anyone have a suggestion for tyres for my Superb?
It is a 130 Comfort, with 17" Solids.
At the moment it has Pirelli P6000 on the back - down to just above the legal on both sides, and Continental SportContact2's on the front - plenty of tread on those.
My problem is that I don't like the feel of the Continentals!
They seem to grab at the road and pull the steering around in my hands on anything other than smooth tarmac, and if I am pressing on a bit I am am always having to correct the steering a lot. The car seems to diverge easily. The garage says that there is nothing wrong with the steering/tracking, so maybe it's the tryes.
I want to change the backs and then swap front to back.
Any suggestions? I can't afford to spend too much so I was thinking of Falken FK451, or if I want to be cheap the falken ZE512.

Or has anyone esle had problems with the feel of the handling?

Thanks for any help.

Cheers

Kentish

What was the car like with the original tyres on before they were changed?

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Andy

Owner of a sense of humour.

keddzs

To be perfectly honest I can't remember for certain.
The car had Pirellis all round when I bought it second hand just over a year ago. The fronts were less worn so I put them on the back, and got the contis for the now front wheels.
I think the car was not as bad at wandering before the Contis were put on the front, but it is definitely not good now. It is like the Contis are too sticky and the steering/suspension set up allows the tyres to push the car around and not the other way round.
If I go on a cross country blast I feel worn out afterwards having to constantly correct the car. I've done well over 500,000 miles in various other cars before this one and never felt quite the need to continually correct any of them like this before.
All I'm hoping is that it is a tyre mismatch, and a better one has been found by other Briskodans

Thanks again for any help.

Cheers

mackin135

I took delivery of a 03 Superb 130 Comfort with P6000's on it just 3 weeks ago. To me the car feels fine in the corners. I have no problem with them other than that I can get wheelspin in 2nd (and 3rd if I really try).

MichaelD

There might be a problem with your tyres, but what you've described here is exactly what most people would want from their tyres, i.e. they stick to the road and and push the car around. If they slipped over the road and couldn't push the car where you want it to go, then you have a problem.

The Superb is a big, heavy car, with front wheel drive, and none of those things are good for handling. Maybe you just got faster as you have come to know the car better, and are now driving closer to the car's natural limits.

That said, the car shouldn't be wandering off line and requiring corrections, so it would be worth trying different tyres. Let us know how you get on

CupraR-Rog

It may be the imbalance of the grippy conti's on the front, and the not-grippy pirelli's on the back that's the issue... I'd advise at this stage to get 2 more contis to match the rears, then rotate your tyres so all 4 wear out together next time and try something else...

As for the Falken Ziex ZE512 tyres... I've had them on a previous car. Long lasting, quiet and comfortable, but the wet grip wasn't too good!

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keddzs

Ok, I think that I will try Falken 451s on the front and stick the Contis on the back. The Falken tread pattern looks really good a water dispersal - much better than the 512's.

I hope it does get better, as the handling does spoil an otherwise excellent car.

thanks for everyones help

Cheers

keddzs

Just to let everyone know. I got Avon ZZ3 for the front of the car and stuck the Contis on the back.
What a revelation!
The car actually handles beautifully now. The steering has become a ltlle heavier, but this is a good thing. It no longer wanders around as a result of every little imperfection on the road and I actually look forward to driving my car down a country road now.

I would most defintely NOT recommend Continentals, and an emphatic YES to the Avons.
And the tread pattern looks the biz too!!!

steve

I found the Superb to have a very odd steering feel, dont think it had anything to do with tyres just the suspension , or vaugeness of it.
I have Conti's on my Octavia and have no prob's with 'em.

Steve

p1tud

my dad has had the contisport contact 2's which lasted just 14500 miles and changed to falken ze 512 and he says theres a better grip from them and they were only £70 each so ill let you know how they wear compared to the contis, its a taxi so i will post all the different makes of tyres and mileages stc so you can all get an idea, believe me there wil be quite a few sets being used lol.

Tiptronic

Hi p1tud

Don't suppose you managed to get your dads tyre list together by any chance?

I'm getting to the point where I need to replace the fronts on my Superb, so would be interested to see what tyres other Superb drivers are using.

Thanks

Kentish

My original fit Bridgestones are getting very low now (15k) so I will be replaceing them very soome, probably with something like the Eco-Conti's, or something from Continental at the very least.

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Andy

Owner of a sense of humour.

Tiptronic

Andy, that sounds interesting, let us know how you get on.

I also have the original Bridgestone Turanza's all round. I'm on 22000, and the edges on the front pair are going 'cos I haven't been rigorusly checking the pressures!

All the Best
Chris

BAAHEED

I had Michelin Premacys when new and got good mileage from them about 18000 miles. I'm on 36,000 miles now and just bought a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 2's which are a bit like a F1 tyre with four wide grooves the inner bands with little tread and the outer two bands with more tread pattern. They feel good in both the dry and wet and not too pricey costing me £92 each.

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Skoda Superb Comfort 1.9TDi 130, Superb Elegance 2.0TDi 140 )

ajh12345

Hi Keddzs,

I think the problem you are experiencing is more to do with the fact you opted for the 17" solid alloys. The wider the tyre, the more likely it is to encounter a mixture of surfaces at once. This will mean that different sections of the tyre will have different grip available. This can cause a twisting effect both on acceleration and braking, especially noticable in the wet on on white lines. You may have heard of this effect referred to as "tramlining".The fact that the tyre sidewall is quite short amplifies the effect which should become more noticeable as the tyre wears. The reason for this is that the treadblocks move more with 7mm tread on them, with less tread, less movement available and more kick into the steering.

I have often wondered if opting for the 17" solids was a good move, but generally I think that the slightly more stable stance in corners was worth the tradeoff.

Kentish

Update:

I now have Conti Sport Contact2's on the front now. Initial impressions are they are much quieter than the Bridgestones, and grip really well.

Once totally scrubbed in and all weather tested, I will comment again.

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Andy

Owner of a sense of humour.