Roo
did you get the firestone F590's. If so what do you think of them
Jim
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Jim,
I don't know if Andrew (Roo) fitted the Firestone 590s but I did.
Just put a set of four 165/65x13 onto our Polo. Bear in mind they replaced the usual old car cheap mix....two Chinese, one Turkish and one old perished F580 with a lump that gave vibration over 50mph.....oh yes plus a Korean spare for good measure. All these old tyres were of fair to good legal tread but the car didn't feel as it should, the steering pulled to the right and the wheel was off-centre, that vibration was annoying and it was skittish in greasy wet conditions.
After a few miles running in the Firestones are absolutely fine. The car is smooth, it goes dead straight and the steering has returned to the middle. Most important the wet road grip and stability has improved loads. I don't tend to explore the limits of dry road handling with such cars but I'm sure that is fine. I haven't noticed any noise increase as reported by others.
I know this is no like for like comparison but their behaviour is what I had expected from a mid-quality range tyre, better actually. As I paid not much over £100 for the set all in I'm well pleased.
I also noticed their pattern is very similar to current Michelins so they could make a good match if you have to fit just two on a car already fitted with all Michelin. I would be very interested to try them on the Xantia.
Hope this helps.
David
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David
I wish this had been posted last week. I've just replaced the fronts on the Xantia - 205/60 x 15 Michelin Energy at a cost of £168 the pair.
Ian
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That was still a reasonable price Ian and you never know, the Firestones might have failed to impress in a substantially larger size.
David
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Isnt it amazing the effect of badly worn and odd tyres have on the position of the steering wheel when attempting to drive in a straight line.
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Keith,
Exactly.
If I'd been happy to stick with the old tyres, as they were quite legal, and had the tracking checked OK then the pulling would have you thinking of all sorts of problems.
I am very wary of looking too hard for suspension faults in these circumstances, pressure needs to be exerted to sort out the tryes first.
David
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Must admit though, 6 Months ago if I had a pulling to the left or wanky steering wheel problem and someone told me to replace good tyres I would have thought they were trying to rip me off!
You live and learn
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