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[CrazyG]

Replaced all 4 of my 205/40R17 Hankook Ventus V12 EVO K110's (that's a mouthful !)
as the front insides were on the limit, and the outsides were not far behind.
Centre tread was ok still ! Not down to under-inflation....more down to my driving
style (I don't hang about), lots a town driving/bends/corners...PLUS....and here's
the important bit...it was down to the tyre load factor !
Standard tyres for the ForFour are 84, these were 87 so can take a higher load/weight,
so they have stiffer sidewalls and the outer edges don't flex as much, so they wear first.
They are 'directional' rotation tyres, and rated as Efficiency C, Wet Grip C, 70dB.

My new ones are Khumo Ecsta Le Sport KU39      Efficiency E, Wet Grip A, 74dB.
Oh, and they're not 'directional', are load factor 84, and they cost less !

(my 'reading/understanding on the Fuel Efficiency thing is that if you want the
 maximum grip go for a tyres towards the G 'letter', or for maximum mpg and
 therefore less grip, go for tyres towards the A 'letter group)
But I'm no expert....and other factors may well come into the whole thing, ok.

Anyway...I've had the Khumo's fitted for about 2 weeks now. Steering is lighter
as these are non-directional tyres, and the noise factor is a little higher on certain
road surfaces, but overall the grip is as good as; if not better; and the wet weather
grip is quite amazing compared to the Hankook's (when I had them new).
The car stops quicker now too !

Anyone else go any 'experiences' with tyres they'd like to post a comment about ?

[Scoobysook]

Good stuff. It's a good tread to have about tyre experiences on your forfour. I've had vredestein sessantas on my cdi and they have been good but abit noisy. On the brabus I have toyo proxes tr-1 on the front and hankook v12 on the rear and had no issues too.

Reading the reviews of the kumho it's a well rated tyre

[basilbrush]

We all have different needs on tyres and your choice of Kumhos is sound. They really are a good tyre now. I drive in a more sedate way and recently fitted some tyres to replace V rated tyres put on by Network Q. According to the specs I only needed H rated so I went for them. I'm glad I did because there is a difference and the road noise/ harshness is now much reduced.
Tyre fuel efficiency is I think more about rolling resistance than grip. It's the way the tyre wall flexes as it moves and the effort required. This explains it a bit more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_resistance but it's a bit longwinded.

[wokilumo]

Good choice. After a lot of research I came to the same conclusion to replace my current tyres with the 205/45 R16 option of the Kumho Ecsta Le sport KU39 which have an Efficiency rating C, Wet grip B and 74dB.

[Unknown]

The grading system has been introduced so that tyres can be easily compared as people tend to blindly go with the advice of the garage. Which has to led to issues with incorrect tyres being fitted, mostly loading and speed, which have led to faster wear and/or blow outs.

I think its good now that you examine a tyre quickly to see if its right for your car, rather than relying on a fitter or trawling the internet for advice.

My Corsa is due new fronts, I will miss the Goodyear Excellence as they have rim protection (basically an overhanging lip of rubber) but they are costly per corner. With the grading system I can compare the Excellence with other brands and find a similar or better performing tyre for less cash.

I currently have a Sunny branded tyre due to a blowout and having no spare! So another point to the forfour.

[FireFlower]

I need to get new tires next summer so around April I probably will start looking for new tires.

Probably I will buy Nokian Hakka Green eventhough some users have reported that 20 tkm driving has took away 5mm of the grip.

[Alex]

When i bought my Falken 452 i was not impressed by the grip. They are 205/40R17 and 225/35R17, 86Y XL, E for Economy and C for wet grip, 73db noise level, and aren't any good until they are up to temp, which takes quite a while in my 1.3. After they warm up they are ok, although understeering has worsened since using a staggered set. A rear sway bar would be great now, but they keep eluding me.

I will try a different brand when these wear out or even sooner if handling degrades further as they wear out a bit more.

[Fox]

Dunlop Sport blu eco tyres, C economy, C wet.
Nitro filled.

Loving them so far!

[Problemchild]

nitro filled = pointless

air (stuff we breathe) is 80% nitrogen 

JJ

[CrazyG]

Alex, with the Grandline wheels you have they are the same size
front n rear (unlike the Brabus with bigger width rears), so I am a
bit surprised that you fitted 225's rather than 205's.  I feel sure that
if you had fitted 205's that you would not be having understeer.

[Alex]

Yep, it's my fault for upsetting the balance, but the car looks much better from the rear with the wider tires.

[mozilla]

Yep, it's my fault for upsetting the balance, but the car looks much better from the rear with the wider tires.

definitely does

[Ben99w]

Dropping the load rating will probably make a noticeable improvement to the ride quality too. I recall remedying this on a previous car - much better.

Ben

[Alex]

Yes, but 17" tires with such low profile are always EXTRA LOAD rated, reinforced, runflat or some other satanic solid wall solution.

For the 15" winter wheels I chose the tallest wheels that would fit and had a tire load rating as close to 82 as possible.

[Puski]

I went for Pirelli Cinturato P1 Verde. Rated Efficiency C, Wet grip B, Noise 69dB. These are mainly city/comfort tires, very silent, but the grip level seems to be great in dry and wet. The car seems to corner like on rails since these where fitted. The 1.1 isn't really nose-heavy, so I don't know how would it be on other 44-s with bigger engines, but on the lighter ones like mine it's a very good experience to drive them.