Which R14 Tyres to Buy

[alien365]

Hi guys,

I've had my Bridgestone Ecopia 150's (175 65 R14) on for about 4 years now and due to the sidewalls cracking up, I'm gonna have to buy a new set. I don't really want to buy the same tyres due to the cracking so I'm looking at other options. Do any of you drive a smaller vehicle and have any tyre to recommend? Something that grips well in the dry and wet, and is also comfortable without much noise. 

Thanks

[DaRoadrunner]

With the heat here, tyres tend to go hard and crack before they run out of tread. Bridgestones are hard to start with.

 

Dunlop are softer and not too expensive. Pirelli,- high quality but expensive.

 

There are many cheaper local brand tyres but I have never tried them.

[alien365]

1 minute ago, DaRoadrunner said:

With the heat here, tyres tend to go hard and crack before they run out of tread. Bridgestones are hard to start with.

 

Dunlop are softer and not too expensive. Pirelli,- high quality but expensive.

 

There are many cheaper local brand tyres but I have never tried them.

Thanks, which Pirelli did you use and where did you get them from? 

[DaRoadrunner]

I use Pirelli P Zero, but these are expensive and suitable for high performance use as required by Roadrunners.

 

Judging from your tyre size, you have a normal small car that does not require such expensive rubber.

 

https://www.protyre.co.uk/car-help-advice/tyre-care/tyre-speed-rating-explained

[alien365]

23 minutes ago, DaRoadrunner said:

I use Pirelli P Zero, but these are expensive and suitable for high performance use as required by Roadrunners.

 

Judging from your tyre size, you have a normal small car that does not require such expensive rubber.

 

https://www.protyre.co.uk/car-help-advice/tyre-care/tyre-speed-rating-explained

Nice tyre! Yeah, I just have an eco car so the speed and load ratings don't really apply. There's not much beyond 145kph in my car but I still have a bit of fun in it if conditions allow. I'd still like a nice tyre though that I can rely on when conditions get tough or I need to emergency brake when the cars in front of me crash into one another.

Edited June 29, 2019 by alien365

[DavisH]

If you are prepared to change to 15" wheels, there is a lot more to choose from. 185/55R15 is the closes in size, but you could also use 195/50R15 or 195/55R15. These larger wheels may affect fuel economy but you may get a little better grip from the wider tire contact on the road. I went from standard 185/55r16 to 205/50R16 on my suzuki. I use michelin pilot sport 4 tires. They have much better grip in wet and dry than the standard bridgestones. They may be a little noisier though. 

[canthai55]

We run Deestone on our town car. Inexpensive, good traction wet or dry, quiet.

Been on over 4 years now - no issues.

[alien365]

12 hours ago, DavisH said:

If you are prepared to change to 15" wheels, there is a lot more to choose from. 185/55R15 is the closes in size, but you could also use 195/50R15 or 195/55R15. These larger wheels may affect fuel economy but you may get a little better grip from the wider tire contact on the road. I went from standard 185/55r16 to 205/50R16 on my suzuki. I use michelin pilot sport 4 tires. They have much better grip in wet and dry than the standard bridgestones. They may be a little noisier though. 

I'm a bit wary of increasing to 15s but I see there are a lot more tyres available. I don't think it would be good for my 1.2 engine and I'd also be more concerned about the accuracy of the speedometer. That being the case, the only Michelin I can see is the mx2 which I haven't used before.

[taotoo]

Goodyear Duraplus tick your boxes and are cheap.

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, alien365 said:

I'm a bit wary of increasing to 15s but I see there are a lot more tyres available. I don't think it would be good for my 1.2 engine and I'd also be more concerned about the accuracy of the speedometer. That being the case, the only Michelin I can see is the mx2 which I haven't used before.

Going to  175/55/15 would actually be the same. https://tiresize.com/calculator/

[DavisH]

1 hour ago, alien365 said:

I'm a bit wary of increasing to 15s but I see there are a lot more tyres available. I don't think it would be good for my 1.2 engine and I'd also be more concerned about the accuracy of the speedometer. That being the case, the only Michelin I can see is the mx2 which I haven't used before.

You can get the size I mentioned, as the diameter is almost the same. The effect on the speedo would be insignificant (actually, modern speedos can under-read a few km/h - e.g. when the speed says you are doing 100 km/h you could actually be doing 96 km/h. They will be a little heavier, but you could also get flow formed wheels like lenso venom zero (they are light). I've never used the mx2 wheels but understand they are fine. Yokohama advan dB is a silent tire and would work well as well. 

[alien365]

19 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Going to  175/55/15 would actually be the same. https://tiresize.com/calculator/

If I needed new alloys too I would look more at changing to 15's. The link you provided is very useful. Thanks

[alien365]

Has anybody tried Dunlops? In general I've heard they are not that good, but the sp sport lm704 looks interesting. 

[DaRoadrunner]

If you go from a 14" wheel to a 15" you are going to raise the overall gearing, which may cause your car to be too high geared when setting off from a standstill. To avoid this you would need a lower profile tyre, problem here is your ride would then get harder. There is always a trade off. Plus the wheels start at over 4000 Bats each.

 

You mention you want grip... so avoid the Yokohamas mentioned above. The Michelin is a good tyre with long life but expect road noise.

 

On a small economy car it just isn't worth spending the money. Save money, stick with the same wheels, go with the Dunlops, they'll do what you need.

 

Some say Deestone are ok but I have never tried em.

 

Take the money you saved and spend it wisely.... on beer n pussy.

[alien365]

On 7/1/2019 at 10:45 PM, DaRoadrunner said:

Michelin is a good tyre with long life but expect road noise.

 

Save money, stick with the same wheels, go with the Dunlops, they'll do what you need.

 

Take the money you saved and spend it wisely.... on beer n pussy.

I had the previous Michelin tyre which was quite good but small stones stuck in the tread all the time creating an annoying tick tick tick sound while driving. I keep searching on the internet and my initial fears seem true that there aren't any great R14 tyres. Amazing really considering the amount of eco cars around. I'm planning on getting another car in a couple of years anyway so I'll probably have 15 or 16's next.

 

I've been checking the reviews in Thai for all the tyres too and most responses are negative for all tyres. I was even considering thunderer Mach 1 as I see they are sold in America too but lots of negative reviews here. 

 

To help my tiger and gin fund, I think I'll most likely go for the Dunlop lm704. I'll give it another day or two to think then get them changed.

[Andrew Dwyer]

I had Bridgestones on my Jazz since new ( just done 50,000 km ) and although they still had tread I had to change because of the road noise.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the noise changed with the road surface I would have been worried that the noise was related to another part of the car .

Went with the cheap option ( Maxis ) as am gonna change cars in 6 months time, but after changing tyres feels like a new car now [emoji848]

[alien365]

4 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

I had Bridgestones on my Jazz since new ( just done 50,000 km ) and although they still had tread I had to change because of the road noise.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the noise changed with the road surface I would have been worried that the noise was related to another part of the car .

Went with the cheap option ( Maxis ) as am gonna change cars in 6 months time, but after changing tyres feels like a new car now

You may aswell stick with the jazz if that's the case unless you are flush with cash. Maybe reassess after another 30-50k

[transam]

On 7/1/2019 at 11:33 AM, alien365 said:

I'm a bit wary of increasing to 15s but I see there are a lot more tyres available. I don't think it would be good for my 1.2 engine and I'd also be more concerned about the accuracy of the speedometer. That being the case, the only Michelin I can see is the mx2 which I haven't used before.

My runaround has a 998cc engine, stock has 165/65x14 tyres, it now has 195/50x15's on 15x7J alloys, near same circumference and turned the car into a go-kart..Took me a while to sort out tyre pressuses over stock though...

 

 

 

[alien365]

15 hours ago, transam said:

My runaround has a 998cc engine, stock has 165/65x14 tyres, it now has 195/50x15's on 15x7J alloys, near same circumference and turned the car into a go-kart..Took me a while to sort out tyre pressuses over stock though...

 

 

 

I didn't even know you could buy 1l engines in Thailand, but for city driving a small car is great. From the responses on here I see changing rim size by 1" appears fine. At the moment though I don't want the extra cost as I spent lots in the UK last month and I'm saving for another holiday in December. Gonna pop in a garage tomorrow and check out the Dunlop lm704 and enasave EC300+, Yokohama ae50, and Toyo Proxes CF2. Will see how I feel.

[alien365]

After much deliberation I finally made my decision and bought the Yokohama AE50 in my standard 175/65r14 size. As they were changing the tyres they saw that my strut mounts had broken which would explain part of the noise and poor ride quality I was experiencing. The car now feels a lot firmer, smoother and quieter. Just need some rain now to try them out in the wet. I'm sure the wait won't be long.

[swellbelly]

Hard to beat Michelin primacy 4’s.


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[alien365]

3 hours ago, swellbelly said:

Hard to beat Michelin primacy 4’s.


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They don't sell primacy 4's in r14's, but I had read good reviews about them.