Avon ZV-1s - Sticky When Wet

Advantages: Price, wet performance, looks(!?)
Disadvantages: Noise, high-speed performance

...It had to happen sooner or later. In 6 years of driving, I'd not experienced a single puncture. So, in accordance with Sod's Law, it had to happen at the start of a 150 mile run up to Lincoln. I could have used the spare, but didn't fancy a 300 mile round-trip on a dreaded "space-saver" wheel so I needed to find somewhere that would fit (and balance) a new pair of front tyres. I ended up in a conveniently located branch of ATS only a few hundred yards from where the screw went through my tyre (a Goodyear Eagle which was getting worryingly close to the tyre-wear-indicator anyway). To cut a long story short, the screw had gone through the tyre close enough to the tyre-wall that it was not considered a suitable candidate for repair. The only tyre they had in my fitting (195/55 R15)) was either a Michelin or an Avon. Having heard some...

LegendaryMrDude 14.09.2004 · Read review
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Review of Avon Tyres

Avon ZZ3

Advantages: Good road holding
Disadvantages: Pricey

...I've not tried any of the other Avon tyres available, but going by other reviews on here, I think I may have got the better model. I drive a MK4 Vauxhall Astra. As with one of the other reviewers of these tyres, I like to use the car for track events and meeting with different enthusiast clubs. The ZZ3's were on special offer at a local garage just as I needed a couple of new boots so I thought.... why not.. They look ok and going by the usual price i'm pretty sure they must be ok. So anywho, I had 2 fitted to the front of the car. It just happened that the day the tyres went on was very wet. Well what can I say. I've never had so much grip to play with. The grip offered by these in the wet was much better than eny tyres I had previously owned even in dry conditions. Now remove the wetness and they get even better. I could...

skuzzle 19.09.2006 · Read review
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Review of Avon Tyres

Avon ZV1 and ZV3

Advantages: Were available at the time
Disadvantages: Wet handling, wear rate, noise

...I've had two different sets of Avon tyres on my Alfa 155 V6 in a year !!! First off, the ZV1: Seemed a good buy at the time and I'd heard of Avon tyres. I was replacing my worn out Toyo Proxes T1-S which I'd only got 10000 miles out of (yes I do track days and club meets so drive the car hard). The ZV1's were about £20 a corner dearer than I paid for the Toyos, so was expecting great things. The Toyos had been ace, but doing 25K a year I couldn't really afford 3 sets of tyres a year. First thing I noticed was the lack of traction in the dry. The tyres struggled to get the power down. In the wet it was way worse !!! I could spin the wheels in 3rd gear at 80mph if I planted the foot suddenly. The old Alfa 12v V6 isn't that powerful by todays standards, but could easily break traction with these tyres. The car would understeer...

marlon155 21.02.2005 · Read review
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Review of Avon Tyres

The Do It All Tyre

Advantages: Wear rates, price, grip
Disadvantages: None

...Motorcyclists who also ride their offroad machinery on road either for commuting or leisure, face a tricky problem, which tyres to use? They need to provide grip both on and off road. Tyres designed for use offroad have wide tread gaps, great for providing the necessary grip in the loose surfaces found offroad or in heavy mud but useless and often illegal for road use. These types of tyre also wear very quickly on tarmac; buying a new one every month can get expensive. Conversely, tyres designed for road use, whilst providing good grip and wear rates on tarmac, are often useless or dangerous in the dirt. What you need is the IRC TR8 4.00? X 18?. This tyre provides for both types of use and is now a standard original fitment to Honda XR250 and 400?s. I have been using the rear TR8 for 10 months on the recommendation of friends...

Muddy250 19.08.2003 · Read review
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Review of IRC Offroad Motorcycle Tyres TR8

Odyssey's path tyre.

Advantages: durable value for money good quality
Disadvantages: dirty sidewalls on tanwall version. thread can wear down

...There are a few versions of this tyre, the dual ply, the tan wall ones and the Mike Aitken signiture tyre. All of which basically follow the same design. I'm using this verison (dual ply) on my front wheel at 2.25 (which is the width of the tyre) and the Mike aitken version that has a tan wall on my back wheel at 1.95 width. It is reccomended that the 1.85" is good for Street/Park riding and the 2.1" is perfect for your front wheel in Dirt riding and racing. I have yet to test out my front tyre on dirt due to trails being flooded and damp at this time of the year. But i will say having a 1.85+ on your rear wheel acts a bit weird when riding dirt. The thread picks up dirt/mud quite easily and forms a smooth (slush) like covering on top which tends to be unstable when going into an angle at speed and kicks it self out. Also if you ride...

Young_1 10.12.2009 · Read review
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Review of Odyssey Path Dual PlyTyre

Pirelli, the tyres from the Calendar people . .

Advantages: Very good grip when you need it.
Disadvantages: Just the cost.

...I you shop around, at local tyre fitters as well as on the internet, you will find that there are many places selling bargain tyres, but you must pay for delivery, and fitting, and balancing, Oh and the new valve, then there is the charge for disposing of your old tyres. I decided this saving just wasn't worth the hassle. I therefore went to my local tyre fitting centre. My tyre expert is worth his weight in gold, and he runs his hand across the tread before doing anything else. He then knows if the steering geometry is wrong, in some cases it can save premature wear on your tyres, and can save the customer a fortune, never mind affecting safety. If you want to visit the Pirelli website, take a look see here:- http://www.pirelli.co.uk/web/default.page New tyres need to be run in, and then checked as often as you can...

smudgeybabes 13.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Pirelli Tyres

Performance or endurance tyres

Advantages: Hard wearing and good value
Disadvantages: Not very good in wet.

...I come from a racing background, with owning and racing many performance cars such as Supra, Skyline, Gto etc, I can say from my point of view toyo tyres are good for your money, but only in the dry. Wet weather driving with these tyres was like being on ice most of the time, because they are hard wearing I found them to be slippy and not much feed back from them during wet conditions. In the dry though they are great tyres got good heat into them and they did hold again feed back was not the best, but as in most cases you pay your money. These tyres are good for the price you pay and for everyday road use again are ok. But if you happen to be a bit of a fast road user and go out when wet please be careful with these tyres. Now I know 99% of the people who read this will most likely not race there car or try and take a corner at high...

Helga530 10.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Toyo Tyres

Toyo Tyres

Advantages: great tyres
Disadvantages: Hard to find

...Toyo are a Japanese Tyre manufacturer that not many people have heard of. Yet to me they are the most sexy looking tyre around, if tyres can be sexy! I mean the tread pattern of course! I had toyos all around on my RS Turbo. The grip level was unreal and the depth of tread great. The tyres on my Tub were standard size 195/50/15's and a tyre that low in profile normally loses a lot of its tread in order to cater for the profile. Not the Toyo. It has a very wide tread pattern. Making a lot of contact with the road while giving it enough play to movce around and keep you stuck down. In the wet, the wide tread allowed the car to tip toe through the water rather than slip and slide through it. They dont just cater for quick cars. You can pick up a nice tyre for your family saloon or hatchback too. The range seems to grow...

andycharger 07.11.2001 · Read review
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Review of Toyo Tyres

Michelin Tyres

Advantages: Well known brand
Disadvantages: Go out of shape.

...Over the years, I reckon I have had most makes and brands attached to my car. From this I have been able to be more picky and choosey when buying my new tyres. I now know whats good, whats bad and what is worth avoiding. Michelin boast being one of the 2 tyre suppliers to the Formula 1 world championship. Yet it fails to pass its lessons leared from the track to the consumer. As much praise as people want to heap on the French Tyre giant, Michelin have always failed to meet my expectations. I have had these tyres twice. Once through coming with my new car and once through buying them as a replacement. When we had our new Ford Escort, it came with Michellin XT all around. 175/70/13's were the size we had. Soon we were experiencing problems with ride quality, particularly under braking or at high speeds. After several...

andycharger 07.11.2001 · Read review
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Review of Michelin Tyres

Pilot Exalto - The Duracell of performance tyres.

Advantages: Excellent wet performance, Good cornering, Not too noisy, Fantastic wear resistance
Disadvantages: Poor initial traction, take 500 - 600 miles to wear in

...When my OEM-fit Bridgeston Potenza RE040s finally made it down to the tread-wear indicator I had them replaced with a pair of the new Michelin Pilot Exaltos. In a 205-45/17 fitting these are fairly intimidating beasties. None of your swoopy curves and slashes that look all sexy. Oh no. These purposeful hunks of rubber have three MASSIVE channels running around the tyre combined with some fairly agressive lugs (sipes?) around the outside edge. The mention of an outside edge indicates that these are directional tyres but maybe not in the strictest sense. The Bridgestones had an arrow indicating the direction of rotation the tyres should be mounted in, which ultimately meant that you could only swap the tyres along the same side of the car. The Pilot Exaltos, on the other hand, have an outside and an inside edge. Obviously you will...

LegendaryMrDude 09.09.2004 (03.01.2006) · Read review
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Review of Michelin Tyres