Wrong Tyres

[Nodzed]

I recently had to put four new shoes on the ///M (some of you may have seen the excursion on the back of a break down truck post ) Anyway I put Michelin Pilots Super Sports on my 2.8 and they were fantastic, but I got a good deal on extra high speed rated Continentals with rim protectors to replace the damaged and worn rear Dunlops and front Pirelli P6000s so I thought why not, and today took it for the first proper run, Well now I have a Z3M with vague steering and undesirable handling Not a happy bunny, I think its a soft side wall issue and I'm hoping I get used to them, BUT I DO NOT recommend these tyres for the Z3. Stick with what you works.

 

[andyglym]

I recently had to put four new shoes on the ///M (some of you may have seen the excursion on the back of a break down truck post ) Anyway I put Michelin Pilots Super Sports on my 2.8 and they were fantastic, but I got a good deal on extra high speed rated Continentals with rim protectors to replace the damaged and worn rear Dunlops and front Pirelli P6000s so I thought why not, and today took it for the first proper run, Well now I have a Z3M with vague steering and undesirable handling Not a happy bunny, I think its a soft side wall issue and I'm hoping I get used to them, BUT I DO NOT recommend these tyres for the Z3. Stick with what you works.

This tyre milarky appears to be the mother of all black arts to get right!

 

[Mint]

I recently had to put four new shoes on the ///M (some of you may have seen the excursion on the back of a break down truck post ) Anyway I put Michelin Pilots Super Sports on my 2.8 and they were fantastic, but I got a good deal on extra high speed rated Continentals with rim protectors to replace the damaged and worn rear Dunlops and front Pirelli P6000s so I thought why not, and today took it for the first proper run, Well now I have a Z3M with vague steering and undesirable handling Not a happy bunny, I think its a soft side wall issue and I'm hoping I get used to them, BUT I DO NOT recommend these tyres for the Z3. Stick with what you works.

Oh no Niall, that sounds like an expensive mistake. Commiserations my friend

 

[Redline]

Most frustrating.

The tyre companies are missing a trick here. Would be great if you could hire wheels and tyres for a short while (maybe £10 for an hour or so) to try them out before you buy. A refundable deposit if you buy one of their tyres. Put them on crap rims and keep yours for the duration - Am sure you'd be able to buy with more confidence after trying out one or two different tyres.

 

[Nodzed]

Oh no Niall, that sounds like an expensive mistake. Commiserations my friend

My fault really mate I knew Pilots were a good choice because I had tried them before under advice, and the dunlop / pirelli mix worked to so I could have chosen either of them, but I have had contis so many times over the years on the daily drivers and they have been great, but that's on Passats and Mazdas etc, not Zeds. If they wont work they will have to go, no point having 300 odd BHP and being scare to use it on occasions. We will see I may get used to them

 

[Mint]

My fault really mate I knew Pilots were a good choice because I had tried them before under advice, and the dunlop / pirelli mix worked to so I could have chosen either of them, but I have had contis so many times over the years on the daily drivers and they have been great, but that's on Passats and Mazdas etc, not Zeds. If they wont work they will have to go, no point having 300 odd BHP and being scare to use it on occasions. We will see I may get used to them

I had contis on a daily driver many years ago, they were fine. I've got MAXXIS on the front and Falkens on the rear ATM but I've only got 170bhp. No problems with tramlining though so

 

[Redline]

My fault really mate I knew Pilots were a good choice because I had tried them before under advice, and the dunlop / pirelli mix worked to so I could have chosen either of them, but I have had contis so many times over the years on the daily drivers and they have been great, but that's on Passats and Mazdas etc, not Zeds. If they wont work they will have to go, no point having 300 odd BHP and being scare to use it on occasions. We will see I may get used to them

Agree on contis on your average saloon. I used them on my Audi A4 because they were both a good drive and hard wearing. But you see Contis on lots of powerful cars also. I've heard that contis made in South Africa are not as good as the European ones.

 

[Low Rider]

This tyre milarky appears to be the mother of all black arts to get right!

This is my biggest worry after getting my 108s back from power coating

 

[Antm72]

Not the best result Ive been lucky i think had three different sets of tyres on the zed it arrived on some cheap make but no tramlining but poor handling, second set of wheels had Landsail tyres it drove again great and handling much improved but again cheap all four would have cost 160 fitted never really had an issue with them but wet weather reviews where just horror stories.
When i moved to the current tyres Uniroyal Rainsport 3's totally different again alot more grip and the feeling of control worked out 350 for the 4 but worth it .
It appears tyres are a mystery but its best to use what you know works but hope its a new tyre syndrome and all works out for you

 

[Dino D]

Have you checked they are not 'inside out' or the wrong way directionally?

I just put some Nexen N8000 on my 17inch wheels which have a similair pattern to most Contis (i.e. It has an inside and outside marking). One of the rears was fitted inside out and it was immediately noticeable above 40mph, car wanted to oversteer on that side. Couldn't believe it was that noticeable.


If it's not that it could just need a bit of scrubbing in. I've had these Nexens on my 18's too and on there they are wider and lower profile than on the 17s. They feel great on the 18's but did want scrubbing in at first.

On the 17's they seem to flex more (perhaps more sidewall and tyre not stretched) so I get that weird moment when the rear loads up and briefly feels like it will oversteer but then settles down. Almost as if the tread blocks re too high and flexes. Don't like that feeling and hope it will go away as the treads wears down.
Need to play with pressures and damper settings and see if that helps.