No experience of those brands but any car but three different brands of tyres is not going to have the best handling. If the tyre classifications are to be believed they are likely to have three different grip performances too. In some countries such mixing would be illegal but that’s not the case in the U.K.

As you will be aware the Vitara tyre size is relatively expensive. Looking at tyres for my Golf versus our Vitara the latter is up to 50% more expensive for the same brand tyres. This extra expense probably means that Vitaras are generally more likely to be fitted with budget tyres by hard up motorists.

If it was my Vitara, and it was a keeper, as a minimum I’d change the rears asap for something well regarded. If feeling flush I’d do all four but if you feel they grip OK you can probably live with the existing fronts.

Even 4 budget tyres will be about £400 fitted. Premium £500/£600. Ouch.

PS sorry just re-read you intend to go all seasons. In that case of course you’d need to change all four at the same time. Just do them now. As I sit here it’s bucketing down. Good grip can be needed at any time of year.

Edited by catsdad on 06/07/2024 at 06:36

Adam, when my 2005 Build Mazda3 (good handler) was new, it had Bridgestone ER30 OEM tyres fitted. They were fine for the first couple of years or so (I wasn't doing a lot of mileage and I normally replace by age and condition), but started to deteriorate in terms of noise and wet weather abilities as time went on, despite them having plenty of tread left.

On two occasions within a relatively short space of time, the back end of the car stepped out going round roundabouts in damp (not terrible) conditions and at reasonable (previously safe) speeds.

I then began to look into changing tyres, and found out that this particular tyre (I'd had Bridgestones before on my old Micra [nowhere near as good at handling] and they were excellent, including when older and in the wet) were rated very poor by users on review sites and by fellow Mazda3 owners on owners' club websites.

Once I'd changed to a new set of tyres (2012 - 2018), Dunlop SP Sport FastResponse, the car was back to its former great handling self. When they were changed at ~6 years old, the latest set (Michelin CC+), they too were very good and still are today.

What it shows is that a poor set of tyres can make even good handling cars seem a handful at times, especially in wet weather. Having a set of budget tyres and especially the really cheapo 'ditchfinder' type, combined with them being not matched, probably makes that worse, especially for a higher-sided crossover SUV with a higher centre of gravity.

Note that using a 'premium' make set of tyres (as shown above) doesn't always result in good/safe handling - sometimes even the best of makes gets it wrong, in my view. The first (OEM) set on my old Micra was a Dunlop set and had similar issues to the Mazda OEMs when they aged (admittedly with less tread left, but still easily legal). One good and one bad on each car from each manufacturer of tyre.

Also, some cars just appear to not be suited to certain makes/models of tyre - whatever their 'brand quality' or expense.

I'd suggest you check user reviews for owners of the same version (generally) of your Vitara on TyreReviews.co.uk and perhaps tyres of the type and matching size that yours takes. As your car is a crossover-ish SUV, it may be a toss-up as to whether it would 'prefer' standard car tyres over ones specifically designed for SUVs.

Hopefully the user and test reviews can be of some help - occasionally SUV-specific tests are done / linked to there that may be of assistance.