Tyres 225 50 16

[Tracy Dee]

Hi all.
In need of a couple of tyres 225 50 16 as the rears are on the wear bars fronts have about 4 mm to 4.5 mm and aim to put the new ones on the front as i still have the wander tramline what ever it is. They will be budget for financial reasons .
My question is load do I use 92 load or 96 I have read somewhere you should really use 92 load on Z3s
By the way its a 1.9
I am looking around the £50 per tyre mark and considering Nexen blue HD plus tyres. good reviews
I know some suggest falken or maxis but thats on 17s 18s and they are 96 load on my size 16s.
Any thoughts welcome and experience on 16s welcome.
I have been using the car all week for work in the bad weather and not noticed any slipping or sliding on the avons just low tread now on 2 tyres.
P's tyres on the car now are 92 load.
Thank you.
Tracy.

 

[jonco]

Hi - hope you are ready for lots of different opinions on tyres so here's mine.

I have the 1.9 standard unmodified and fitted new rear tyres last year after I asked similar questions to yours.
After much research I opted for Falken ZE 914 Ecoruns 225/50/R16 W96 which replaced previously fitted W92 rating - I still have W92's on the front. IIRC they were about £65 each - on-line purchase - fitting not included.
Well pleased with them and have handled well in the wet and on a Euro road trip but have to add my right foot is a lot lighter these days.

HTH

Edit - this is a reasonable site to search http://www.blackcircles.com/order/tyres/search

 

[Tracy Dee]

Yes I will be buying online various company's i will try prices online are a lot more competitive.
Look forward to opinions.

 

[TaffZee]

I have nearly always run the Falkens, except one time short of cash so tried a budget tyre never again, cost me in the end one of the org members put it in a good way, "your car handles like a slippery snake" had them on for a month and then binned them and went back onto the Falkens, the cheap tyres I used had good reviews as well but cant remember the make. Spend a little more money and go for a known brand.

 

[Tracy Dee]

To be honest I put Falkens on a MX5 few years back and hated them the car was hard wandered and felt nervous trembles on the steering which I never experience from the tyres I took off so little wary of using Falkens again .
But good to get info on various tyres I guess some car s are tyre sensitive to brands.
That why I am asking the question about loads ect.
Budgets start as low as circa £30 so I am looking at higher end of budgets circa £50 for Nexen blue HD plus.
As first post just looking for some experience with the loads and brands from people, yes in an ideal world I would buy the most expensive but its a 3 rd car so on a bit of a budget.
Recommendation is greatly received.

 

[TaffZee]

You get what you pay for.

Nexen Blue HD plus

Dry Grip
72%
Wet Grip
67%
Road Feedback
60%
Progressiveness
52%
Wear
50%
Comfort
52%
Buy again
48%

Falken ZE 914

Dry Grip
90%
Wet Grip
84%
Road Feedback
85%
Progressiveness
80%
Wear
84%
Comfort
86%
Buy again
88%

 

[Tracy Dee]

This is true but if you ain't got it also depends on what reviews one looks at.
As said wary of Falkens from previous experience more expensive mistake
Just looking to get the best with budget available.
Keep views coming from others who might have used a perfectly exceptable high end budget.

 

[t-tony]

I had Maxxis on my Z3 Tracy, very pleased with them, not sure how price compares tbh.

Tony.

 

[Tracy Dee]

Cheers Tony how about the loads as said read Zeds should run 92 load Maxxis are 96 load
Oh the confusion

 

[t-tony]

I wouldn't get too bogged down by the load rating to be honest. My car is a 2.000 2.0 Auto. so possibly slightly heavier car but tyres are great, wear well, quiet and very good grip wet or dry.

Tony.

 

[Rha]

Tracey go get your Nexen's if you feel they'll do the job for your style of driving, plenty of people about will tell you not to go for budget tyres, while that would have been true a few yrs ago I believe that's not the case any more, let those that can afford the hiked up prices of the big brands pay for what they believe will transform there driving, but remember it wasn't that long ago that some rally drivers were on retreads and were getting away with it,, tyre safety has come a long way since the eighties and as long as you can confirm where the tyres have come from your choice for normal cruising is enormous . I've now been running on a set of Nexen budget tyres on my 2.8 for some time and are very hard on my tyres, although they may not go the distance of some of the bigger brands they certainly drive as good, are as good in the wet, as good if not better in the dry, and miles more comfortable, my Nexen N8000 were £346 set as to Mitch pilot £600+ and if I get only two thirds of the mileage from them I'm still in pocket, don't let tyre snobbery guide you, but do ask other Z 1.9 owners for their experiences with different tyres, I don't think for one minute it'll make any differance to what your prepared to pay though. With tyres you can't please all the people all the etc.
Rha, Roy

 

[andyglym]

92 load, 96 load???? Any explanation most welcome.

 

[jonco]

92 load, 96 load???? Any explanation most welcome.

This may help - I know wiki accuracy may vary but this one is fairly clear.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_code#Speed_rating

 

[andyglym]

This may help - I know wiki accuracy may vary but this one is fairly clear.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_code#Speed_rating

Thanks

 

[Rha]

Thanks Jonko I was trying to send same info from my iPad but we lost signal, I would have thought the graph would be easier to calculate IE; if the load rating was 92 it would mean 92 kg, but alas unless you've got a photo graphic memory you'll never be able to remember.
So when we go for tyres we need to know what our axle weights are, then we hope the tyre fitter has a graph. No??? Ok so it's printed on the car somewhere, or maybe in the Reg docs. Spose if we've got it wrong the insurance will be void. Just off to find a length of rope.

 

[Dino D]

I try to stay out of tyre threads as its so subjective but I see plenty written about Falkens and I had a few sets (the 452's before they were replaced by some eco rated things) and feel I need to add some balance.

The Falkens were good in the dry but on my car they were not good in heavy rain on motorways (standing water). They also felt very snappy when losing grip in the wet.

For some reason Falken has been elevated above 'budget' status but a few years back they were very much considered budget and they are still not expensive but seem a bit inflated price wise now for what they.

For my most recent set I looked at 'premium' and 'budget' brands with an eye on wet weather performance and discovered the Nexen N8000. They rated well in the German Auto Bild test for wet performance which suprised the Germans so that was good enough for me to try.

They give away ultimate dry grip to the Falkens but seem more progressive. The plus is that have much better aqua plane resistance which is more important to me.
Good price too.
Seem to be wearing the same as Falkens (so for me 6-7k for the rear, probably double for the fronts. A non lowered car should see a lot more!)
They also come in XL rating and have some rim protection.

Just one note on these tyres for those with lowered cars who swap over the tyres for increased life - they are like the Continental sport treads meaning you can't swap them over the rims as they have an 'outside' marker on the side wall and not 'rotation' arrow. What this means is that you cannot double the life of the tyres by swapping them over on the rims (thus making the faster wearing inside edge become the outside edge when swapped over).

Coming back to the original posters question I think this is all a bit non applicable as you are probably looking for comfort and bias to quiet tyres rather than harder 'sporty tyres' so not much help, sorry!

 

[Tracy Dee]

Thanks everyone for your input .
Yes its personal choice I see that regards type and price I guess they are all round and black at the end of the day
So will have a search around for online. From
the comments here I will search for Nexen or Falkens obviously best price.
I know its only a 1.9 although I treat it with a degree of respect as she is 18 years old I don't drive like miss daisy iam used the more powerful cars which requires top end tyres.
Once again many thanks for advice everyone.

 

[stevie_a]

I have a 1.9 also an old Triumph TR7 and a Volvo S40 also a NV200 van all running the Falken 914's. ( well the TR are on 912's)

Yesterday i noticed that i needed two new tyers on the Volvo checked the usual vendors Black Circles , my tyres etc

But nobody is cheaper these guys, https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/

i got a full set for the Z3 from them, the two i got yesterday were

Falken Ziex ZE914 205/50 R17 93W XL, MFS for £122.58 inclusive of Vat and delivery from Germany

 

[oldcarman]

You should be getting a commission @stevie_a !! That's a pretty good testimonial for Falken! lol JIM

 

[stevie_a]

I just feel confident in the tyres in all weathers, even though it is a summer tyre.

Also they are a good price i mean £124 for two 17" for my Volvo, you cant go wrong