Evening everyone.

Given context:
Ford Fiesta, 1150kg, tyre size 195/55R15

By reading the forum, I found people commenting about this tyre good, that tyre not good, this good on wet.
I would like to know, how do you guys judge the tyre performance? in what context and measuring method makes you conclude that this is good and that is bad?

Dry/Wet Grip:
Like do you test it personally in rain? Purposely run into the water in highway? jam break? sweep corner?

Noise:
Do you feel by your ears only or you have device to record the dB?
There are many factors can affect the noise, how do you judge if it is good? solely base on feel?

Comfort:
This is very subjective, absolutely hard to gather data such as vibration generated on this road

Treadwear:
This is easy, can count by mileage

I am currently using Toyo CR1, I can't tell if it is good and can't justify the money spent. I have also use XM2 previously, I feel both are same with RM100 price difference per tyre (absolutely noob that I don't have the capability to differentiate both), I feel XM2 seems to last longer than CR1.
The only reason if ppl ask me why I se CR1, i can only tell it is more budget friendly and it is not unknown brand.
Thus would like to learn how should I judge a tyre.

This post has been edited by helven: May 8 2023, 12:35 AM

On a heavy vehicle with wide tyres (215 width+) you really get what you pay for, Primacy/PS4 great in wet even when worn, midrange ones lose grip at 30% remaining and start to activate ABS even in heavy jam

On a light vehicle with narrow tyres pretty much u can get away with almost any decent tyre but eco tyre can activate ABS just stopping normally on a hot sunny day so its a no-no for me

There's many aspects, wet braking under controlled situation is important to me since Msia rain a lot.

grip, in the wet, dry and when braking.

noise is secondary as i think the vehicle should have better NVH in the first place.

how do you measure if the grip is good, by braking distance? or time it takes to stop?
i have CR1 and XM2, big price gap, they do stop when i hit the brake, my question is how do i measure to justify one is better than another?

I evaluate based on tyre mileage driving at up to 120-130 kmph on a car that topped at about 140-145 kmph and take 90 degree turn (bypass at traffic lights) at 45-55 kmph on a 4 lane urban road in Klang valley.

My vote goes to XM2, currently with a + sign which has given me a tyre life of 110-115K km consistently for a decade or more.

Edit: The latest 2-3 pairs of tyres has no single tyre rotation or tyre balancing done in between, and stays in the same corner/position for 11xK km.

This post has been edited by zeng: May 8 2023, 08:01 AM

The one that fit yr budget is good enough because no matter what brand you buy, there is also someone saying a particular brand or series is better. Whether cheaper is worse than more expensive ones are subjective. You cannot get a tyre that is good in both dry and wet and last long (and cheap at the same time).

if your car got abs, then wanna test out performance in wet braking, just find an empty road, jam brake when safe, see how far it takes to stop. Next time when you change another tyre (different brand) try again and see?
as for wet grip, sometimes you can feel it when driving through corners, on painted lines.. you'll feel the tyres not reacting to your steering input.. especially when you passed by those construction areas with the temporary yellow lines for temporary change in the lanes.. those are slick af.. I kena before, steer right, but car kept straight.. sketchy

as for noise, just use your ears lo.. surely you'll drive the same road everyday in and out when go to work or coming home.. try to observe and see how loud / noisy is it when you're using 2 different set of tyres?
of course the road surface plays a role, rough or newly paved, but then its your everyday road.. surely you'll notice the difference

comfort - tough to judge. suspension also comes into play, unless you really go bump into potholes and go through speedbumps at high speed.. but why wanna wreck your car just to test comfort right? so pass...

90' junction yes. we use same way

quite subjective becos worn tyre sure lose to new one.
wet grip feel.. not accurate & not safe to test.
noise is very easy. listen to music/ radio@ minimum volume. need to increase= noisy tyre

yeah well not telling him to go attack corners at maximum speed to test the grip ma.
im just saying can use those paints to judge when he come across those lines..
sometimes no need to speed also can feel the tyres are like floating when drive on those painted lines. no reaction.. at least that was my experience la..
as for the music.. my player is always fixed at the same volume whenever I drive alone.. so i use the same stretch of road to judge.

Dry/Wet Grip:
for beginner use shopping mall cement floor. not doing any drive action yet.
only find out optimum air pressure first

Noise:
radio

Comfort:
air pressure will tell u

Treadwear:
thickness before indicator

becos he asking these choice cr1 xm2. im sure he been daily driven to place as you mention but did not notice any diff to trigger abs
prolly not a laju guys.

so he need quantitative (numbers, values) method to tell

I think this statement alone says everything you need to know. What concerns you is the cost and not performance. Hence you are probably not driving fast enough to feel the difference between each tyre make and model.

Tyre manufacturers have categorized their tyres as well, just like cars. There are budget tyres, high performance(HP) tyres, ultra high performance(UHP) tyres, semi slick and so on. Of course when consumers are comparing, they are comparing tyres that are within the same/similar/closely related category. For example, if they want UHP, they will be comparing Michelin PS4 which is Michelin UHP against Continental MC6 (which is also Continental UHP). Sometimes they will also compare touring with UHP like PS4 vs Primacy 4 for users who are concerned about noise and willing to sacrifice a bit of performance.

Therefore when you are upgrading from XM2, they would instantly be able to tell you that you will get a much better experience with say PS4 or Primacy 4 if you are willing to spent the cash, since XM2 is a budget tyre from the same manufacturer.

This post has been edited by andrekua2: May 8 2023, 10:57 AM

Bad tires are bad from stock

Like example I remember changing my Stock 8 months Silverstone to Goodyear Triplemax can have huge different in drive quality.

Noise much reduced
ESC never get triggered anymore

How to judge? I read reviews/data & do survey first before proceed buy.

https://www.tyrereviews.com/

damn.. you guys are always triggering your cars' ESC and ABS when driving?
so easy to trigger one meh? all kaki balap?

This post has been edited by technosakai: May 8 2023, 12:02 PM

mine not. just ebd (silent) when boot is empty/ carry heavvy items

Only able to judge if you use it.

so like do I rev up to 140kmh, then brake and take corner at 45kmh?


does triggering abs do any damage to my car or just consuming brake pad and tyre?


yup yup im not a laju guy, non of my friend does, just a normal daily driver. Thus I have no experience with what is safe to do and what is risky, not able to tell the tyre performance. I do watch some driving video, and there is tire squeal noise when they take sharp corner, is it safe to perform?

Would you mind to recommend a tyre model to try? like an noticeable upgrade from my CR1? I've heard of PS3 but not sure this tyre belongs to which category

never once in my life I see ESC or ABS light up after 10 years of driving car with both features.

This post has been edited by helven: May 9 2023, 03:25 PM

No damage done to the car.. Its just there to prevent your brakes from locking up the wheels, preventing your car from skidding when brake is pressed to the max.
yes, consume your brake pads and tyres.. Hard acceleration and braking consume your tyres..
Squeal noise when taking corners means grip is close to max limit if my understanding is correct. Kinda like at the tyres' peak performance.. any faster than that speed the tyres would lose grip
ya lo.. you drive 10 years also never see ESC and ABS light up before and yet got ppl here can use tyres until those 2 were triggered. Its either they are very hard on the pedals or the tyres were shit? idk..

PS3 also belongs to UHP.

The thing is that each and every tyre behaved differently. Some had stiffer sidewall for solid cornering and hard braking whereas something like PS3 is more towards comfort with its softer sidewall and low noise. It's too general to even recommend you anything since you don't even have a starting point to compare.

Michelin is usually regarded as a safe choice because it's usually good in both dry and wet while also being comfortable and less noisy. Others like Continental may push the boundaries more with better cornering but be prepared for harsher ride and higher noise level when going through bad road.

Personally I wont recommend u anything since I dont think you need it. A good driving behaviour trump good tyres any day.

I believe ABS works in background and dont light up even when it's working. If ABS light is on, that means your wallet going to bleed again since speed sensor sudah rosak.

Only ESC light will turn on when it's triggered and working.

ah yes, correction on my statement.. ABS light won't light up unless system is faulty. But my point is i wonder how some ppl here drive, cuz can activate ESC and ABS. ABS activated in heavy jam some more..

^ that traffic jam is taya bunga finish easily skid even dry roads. also one of my bad impression to michelins

I drive like hell Zero patience to miss a green light. Tyres always noisy no matter what brand if they are squealing in a corner

Understood. I will go google/youtube more about tyres. Thanks and cheers

For grip and performance in the dry/wet, I do drive a bit faster/more spirited than avg. For example I often drive up/down Genting so I can feel more on how the handling behaviour of the tires, do they slide earlier, do they give more responsive steering or the car becomes more darty, do they give stable feeling on the fast highway sections, or do they feel a bit wobbly, do they aquaplane easily etc. I am nowhere near a professional driver and tire reviewer like Jonathan in tirereviews UK so I can only evaluate up to my limited experience and driving skill though, and comparing between similar class tires is very difficult like PS4 vs F1A5 for example, but if compare PS4 vs lower category like XM2 then much easier to tell the difference.

For noise, I don't pay much attention to it but should be just easily judged by ears.

Comfort, just feel when going thru rough surfaces, do they give more cushions or feel dampening/softer.

well, some people, like myself are really bad drivers and needing to rely on nanny to keep our cars from total lost.

or maybe it has something to do with a wee bit over protective nanny and really aggressive RWD drive train, with 3 pedal manual that you can clutch dump. guaranteed to light up that ESP (or plain TC, since no need individual wheel correction. but it's an all encompassing system anyways)

We not supposed to use until no more thread. Once it hit the wear marker time to change.

Also depends on which Michelins. XM2, then yes, not much grip (relative to touring/UHP) even when brand new. Same for any Eco, low rolling resistance tyres (car guys joke sponge tyres) from other brands.

XM2 side wall is super soft, can feel the sidewall crumple if turn to hard.

First I like the word "similar" here. F1A5/F1A6 is kinda sandwich between UHP PS4/PS5 and UUHP PS4S. Without owning the F1A5/F1A6 before, it seems closer to UUHP in terms of performance from the tyres review.

I used to think like you "how different can they be?", until I replaced my CPC6 with CSC7 recently (https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/Continenta...rtContact-7.htm).

Although it is a class jump from UHP to UUHP aka max performance tyre, but judging from online review performance data both are very close.
Actually drive this thing is mind blowing, I could tell right away at least between CPC6 vs CSC7. Totally justify the additional U.

Handling - feels like shade 300kg off the fat 2 tonnes car. The car is a lot more agile in changing lanes. The delay after initial turn-in is gone, at least it feels gone until I drive it off the bat after get down from the other 200hp 1.3 tonnes car. Steering is also weighted more on high speed long swipe corner, despite I'm using same size replacement.

Braking - online review shows very near dry/wet 100km/h - 0 braking distance. Actual driven both tyres tell a lot more story, I couldn't imagine this before. The CSC7 is much much much more linear. Of all the tyres I driven before including new PS5, they need weight transfer to load the tyres for max grip. When started to brake, feel a certain level of braking force, with deeper brake pedal until the obvious front car nod, in the moment the grip surge. The CSC7 seems like don't need to load the tyres, just firm and linear from initial touch of brake pedal. It is so linear and so easy to control, feels like all I have to worry is modulate the brake caliper force, and less worry about the weight transfer. This make trail braking more precise, also less demanding on driver skills. On daily driving, it is also easier to avoid passenger head nod, more comfortable.

Noise - is an area not to take online review number literally. Well, I'm sure the decibels measured are accurate, but that doesn't take into account of the noise frequency, and variety of road surface. Actually this applies for both PS5 and CSC7 new tread pattern that shift the frequency to different range vs last generation tyres. Measured with machine still 72-73 dB, but they are less annoying and less intrusive for human ears. Specific to CSC7, on highway and on smoother pavement, it feels like almost no noise, until I pay very detail attention found that the tyres roar resemble the wind noise, sneaky smooth criminal to blend in. On bad pavement, it is quieter than CPC6 at low speed, but louder than CPC6 at mid 50-60km/h onwards.

Vibration - handle small vibration and big undulation better, and more comfortable than CPC6. But on the old pavement, where the tar is dried up, this when the CPC7 pass in hell lot of road feedback vs CPC6. The landing is still nice and sprung well, just super busy due to shear amount of them. Every single motion of the wheel can be felt through the steering clearly, guess this is due to stiffer side wall even-though I drop 2psi vs CPC6.

Break-in - CPC6 was super noisy initially, and took about 2000km to break-in and quiet down. CSC7 is quiet and comfy from the beginning. However CSC7 stick crazy amount of 1-2mm size tiny gravel, and if remove the gravel by hand, can see a layer of rubber coated on the gravel. There is also a corresponded mark on the tyre. Fortunately this is significantly reduced after 100-200km, only a couple gravels total from all 4 corners. Still quite stick though, good luck to anyone tailgate me.

Other thing like aquaplaning, I haven't have chance to test, but on day to day driving I'm not going to bothered by 4-5km/h slower than the top fastest aquaplaning of the group. Mid pack aquaplaning of the premium UHP/UUHP group is still fantastic, we should drive safely in such heavy rain anyway.

Overall completely satisfied with the performance and surprised by how little it sacrifice daily comfort (sure it hates the old dried tar pavement more than touring tyres). Would be interested to test the upcoming PSS5.

This post has been edited by constant_weight: Jun 10 2023, 11:39 PM