Scottish Elises

I know there has been many a topic on here with regards to tyres and it's well covered for the Elise/exige etc but I'm looking for a full set for my skoda Octavia. They are 205/55/16 and I want to fit something that is mid range I.e. Not cheap nasty budget nor paying mega bucks for a high end tyre when it's only used for running about to work etc and is never driven hard.

I was speaking with the garage who supply barum tyres, any used these or got any views or suggestions of what I should be looking at?

My Skoda Fabia came with continental sports conatact 2 tyres from new so have always used them. They are not massively expensive (strangely the cheapest I can get them is from the main Skoda dealer).

I put 4 shiny new Kumhu Ecsta KU31 on our Cupra runabout, though I suppose I was considering that it would be used for some spirited driving so didn't want to run on grip less crap tyres.

The KU31 is the one that people use as an alternative to Toyo T1R Proxies so that's the sort of thing I was aiming for.

I did the usual camskill + local fitment thing.

Chris

Corranga wrote:I put 4 shiny new Kumhu Ecsta KU31 on our Cupra runabout, though I suppose I was considering that it would be used for some spirited driving so didn't want to run on grip less crap tyres.

The KU31 is the one that people use as an alternative to Toyo T1R Proxies so that's the sort of thing I was aiming for.

I did the usual camskill + local fitment thing.

Chris

Exactly as me too

Our Tame Racing Driver (Retired) has talked me into Kumho Ecsta Sport KU39s, allegedly a replacement for KU31s which seem to be getting a little more expensive?

I will be trialling a pair on Joe le Taxi* shortly, moving to a full set when the missus has shredded the remaining Michelins

£62 a corner from Camskill, plus £5 ea for deliv I think. Willie at CLCM will be fitting them.

Campbell

* this is our code name for our Sk*da, since we are not allowed to speak its name on this forum any more

Thanks guys, got a quote for supply and full fitment balancing etc for £245 for the barums. The kumhos ku31's I have on the Elise and they are great, I've never met the limit of them and suit me brilliantly for my driving style. I looked into these for the skoda and they are £287 delivered and then need fitment on top of this at probably circa £10 a corner so your looking at £330 and I'm not sure it's worth paying the extra £80 odd quid for what the cars going to be used for. Read up some reviews on the barums and they all seem good, basically continentals budget brand and apparently just as good so I am swaying a bit towards these at this price. What you think? I hate making decisions as I'm scared they will be ditch finders and will be kicking myself.

Scott,

I have Barum Bavarus (or something like that) on the Legacy following a recommendation from a friendly tyre man. Barum are owned by Continental so are by no means a crap tyre, and they were recommended to me as Scoobies 'chew through' cheap rubber. We've had them on virtually a year, covering 13k miles and they've been excellent. I looked at them the other day and there's no sign of them giving up the ghost yet, which is impressive as they only cost £240-ish fitted (the same as one tyre for the RS6!). They are really good in the crap weather too, we never got stuck in the snow once during winter. All in all, a thumbs up from me as a budget tyre.

Cheers,

G

That gives me some confidence now thanks. I just have never heard of them so wanted to check it out before forking out. I don't want to be stingy on tyres as they are the 4 things keeping you on the road but if I don't need to pay more and the barums will do the job nicely then why pay more? I just didn't want to pay that money and regret them if they performed poorly, I would rather pay a bit more and get a decent tyre. The Elise does the fun stuff so really the skodas for work and jumping about so just something decent suitable for all weather and with your comments I think barum might be the commercially advantageous solution.

Tyres for a skoda you say?

Sounds like a reasonable swap.

My wife's recently departed Megane Tourer had Falken 912s in the 205/55/16 size and they were superb (the only thing about the car that was though..). Very quiet, good ride quality, and excellent wet weather grip. Very reasonable price from Camskill too. When the Octavia which has replaced the Megane needs new tyres I will have no hesitation in going for Falkens again.

Mark

Falkens are just what's gone on the Audi (as I couldn't stomach the £200 a corner for the Contis) and they are just as good as the Contis were for the use it gets - longevity, we'll wait to see.

I have Falken 452s on my Beemer. They have a reputation for wearing a bit quickly, but the rears lasted about 18k which given the price I think isn't too bad. I think 912s are supposed to last a bit longer.

ryallm wrote:They have a reputation for wearing a bit quickly,

Perfect for a high output, heavy 4wd then

GregR wrote:

ryallm wrote:They have a reputation for wearing a bit quickly,

Perfect for a high output, heavy 4wd then

We'll see - I tend to drive like Miss Daisy in the Audi anyway. TBH, I could stick two sets on for the cost of a set of Contis, so as long as they are at least half as long lasting, I'll be happy