Front tyre advice for HSV Senator

[Senator2015]

I own a 2015 Senator that just clocked 27K and the Continentals P5 on the front are just about 'howling'. I still have about 4mm of tread remaining, but, the noise is becoming unbearable. So, I'll need to reluctantly replace them. I was thinking of replacing them either with Continentals P5 (to match the rears) or Pirelli P zeros. Can someone who has changed their tyres give me some first hand advice whether I should stick with the Continentals or go with Pirellis?

[motomk]

Moved this thread to another section as the Holden Q&A section is a moderated section that is currently in a long sleep!
I have heard some people liking the Bridgestone S001. No this is not a cash for comment deal!

[sjhugh]

I've been running on P Zeros for years (I'm a big fan) and I'm also currently using Continentals P5's as well and it's six of one and half a dozen of the other as far as I'm concerned.

Both do a good job at sticking to the road and both can be a bit noisy in low profile.

My advice is go with the one that is the best price on the day.



.

[GPT]

Michelin Pilot Sport would be one to consider

[QIKMIK]

Depends on if she's a daily as to what compound you want to go for. Mine does many kms so I went for a cheaper, but still decent brand in Goodyear F1 Direction 5. Some popular retail outlets like Kmart will match online pricing for stocked tyres as well.

Remember that the fronts are probably going to be on the car twice as long as the rears.

Mick

[SASLS1]

This is the reason having different size tyres front to rear from OEM Sucks... as it is impossible to rotate them from (front to rear / rear to front) to even the tyre wear out.

My rear tyres always wear out at twice the rate of the fronts, and I rotate them myself to even the wear out, and prolong tyre life.


I have just removed Goodyear Eagle F1 Direction 5's from my car after wearing them out, I bought them after having Kumho KU36's which were sensational for grip, but worn out fast being a softer compound.(treadwear 180)

I went with the harder compound F1 D5's (treadwear 300), cheaper tyre longer wearing, but even the day I had them fitted, straight away I knew they were cheap rubbish, as they had to put a ridiculously amount of wheel weights on the rims to balance them up. Sure they where long wearing, but any semi pace street driving, they would squeal going round corners, when not even going that quick, drawing unnecessary attention. Grip was just OK, but completely no comparison to the KU36's, and as the F1 D5 worn out, grip was crapolla...

Also the compound was too hard for spirited driving, and chunks of the rubber where getting torn off around the edges of the groves, further unbalancing the tyres...

Never again, complete rubbish...

So this time went back to the Kumho's KU36 next generation the V720, slightly harder compound (treadwear 200) so should last a little longer.

Guess what, when they fitted the tyres, they required stuff all weights to balance up, compared to the F1 D5 cheap rubbish...

Night and day grip levels, but are a bit nosier than previously. All spirited street driving, there is zero squeal from the tyres going round corners at full tilt, drawing zero attention to myself...Win Win

Grip is sensational again... F1 D5 $209 each 235/40/18 compared to $300 each for V720 well worth paying the extra for IMO...


Researching tyre noise on reviews of different brands before buying them, is the only way to know what they'll be like...

Why would you put new Continentals P5 back on the car, if you hate the noise they make so much...

I'd try something else...

[Smitty]

.................

Why would you put new Continentals P5 back on the car, if you hate the noise they make so much...

I'd try something else...

the Contis are crap.. end of story! poor grip noisy short life tramlining hard/difficult to balance AND EXPENSIVE!
we HSV owners know that so the deal HSV did has to be good

I did a review... went P Zero (RUNFLAT Version not standard not the NERO version) result? better grip better life no balancing or alignment issues
and better steering feel/feedback

[Red CV8 R]

I a surprised the Contis get such a bad wrap, I've used that brand before and they were great. I don't have a GTS but I'm currently running Bridgestone S001 and I do not rate them at all. I was waiting for the Michelin Pilot 4S which is the replacement for Super Sport but found out its only being released initially in 19s and 20s but I would certainly be looking at these if I had a GTS. If not able to wait then SuperSport would be my choice. Even the regular (and now Superceded by Pilot 4) Michelin Pilot 3 on my Lexus are superior to the junk Bridgestone on my Monaro so I personally couldn't bring myself to buy Bridgestone again.

[Red CV8 R]

Clearly past my bed time when I typed that, when I say GTS I actually meant HSV since the talk was of the Gen F Senator and GTS models with the Continental tyres, sorry!

[Smitty]

I a surprised the Contis get such a bad wrap, I've used that brand before and they were great. I don't have a GTS but I'm currently running Bridgestone S001 and I do not rate them at all. I was waiting for the Michelin Pilot 4S which is the replacement for Super Sport but found out its only being released initially in 19s and 20s but I would certainly be looking at these if I had a GTS. If not able to wait then SuperSport would be my choice. Even the regular (and now Superceded by Pilot 4) Michelin Pilot 3 on my Lexus are superior to the junk Bridgestone on my Monaro so I personally couldn't bring myself to buy Bridgestone again.

jump onto some of the HSV forums.. NO-ONE is buying replacement Contis
maybe KumHo, Nitto, Pirelli (as in my case) but def not Contis

[Red CV8 R]

jump onto some of the HSV forums.. NO-ONE is buying replacement Contis
maybe KumHo, Nitto, Pirelli (as in my case) but def not Contis

It is interesting, I had noticed this on those forums but I always take it with a grain of salt as people have different reasons for changing tyres and so often with Holden/ HSV cars it revolves around low cost and longevity where as I look at performance and grip as my number one requirement with longevity and cost dead last (when buying for a performance car of course). Noise however is important too. As I said I haven't used the ContiSport 5p that the Gen F run so I couldn't comment directly on them, I just had good experiences with previous Continental tyres as I said so it surprised me that they are apparently duds. It blows me away that Nitto are considered a better choice!

I will add that I have done heaps of reading on tyres recently and spoken to quite a few people about their experiences with performance tyres and the one tyre that kept coming up was the Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Ferrari, Porsche and BMW M use these too so that's not bad either but they are being superseded by the Pilot 4S.

Some good reading on max performance tyres here too:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=218

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/monsters-of-grip-nine-summer-performance-tires-tested-comparison-test

[Senator2015]

Hi motomk,

Thank you for you advice, yes I heard the same about the Bridgestones

[Senator2015]

Hi sjhugh,
Thanks for your advice. Yes, I can get the P zeros about $30 a tyre cheaper

[Senator2015]

Hi GPT,
Thanks for that. Checked the prices on these and they are quite exy, nearly $100 a tyre more than the Conti P5's

[Senator2015]

Hi SASLS1,

I am having a Conti., technician having a look at them, then pending his findings, I might get a pair of PZero's as the seen well priced to the others.

[Senator2015]

Hi Smitty,

Thanks for that. My feelings are mutual.

[Senator2015]

Hi Red CV8 R,

It appears that perhaps the Contis are not as great as they might have been before.

[Senator2015]

Hi QIKMIK,

Yes its daily driver, and most of its life has been on the M5, thus, the reason that at 27K they have 4mm of tread left. Also the backs are about the same if not more. All are original tyres.

[Brett240]

in my opinion the contis are junk for the reasons already listed.

loud and hard once they are worn. happened to my Gen f tourer, and two other Gen Fs in the family.

we all run michelin pilot supersports now. about the same price, but far quieter and dont lose their grip after 20 thousand kays like the contis do. id never go back to them.

[Brett240]

edit, wrong info

[Dickie Knee]

Moved this thread to another section as the Holden Q&A section is a moderated section that is currently in a long sleep!
I have heard some people liking the Bridgestone S001. No this is not a cash for comment deal!

I am up for front tyres on the Grange. I have had wheel alignment issues at the front and they are scrubbing out.

So I called the local Bridgestone near work to price the replacement Bridgestone S001 in 245/40/19 and was told these are no longer available and I need to go to Potenza RE050A.

I used to sell Kumho's in a previous life so I think I will have to look at the Kumho's KU36 and a good wheel alignment

[Senator2015]

Just to give you an update:

- Conti technician inspected the tyres and was quite surprised how well they have worn. there was plenty of trad left on majority of the tyre except on the inside whee they were quite shallow. He stated that it appears that they have never been rotated. This was quite surprising to me as I had the car in for service no less than three times in as may Holden service centres. Looks as though if you want to have the cared looked after, you need to do it yourself.

- Conti customer service were quite good in offering me a discount on the replacements, but, I thought to try some of the advice given here and opted for Michelin Super Sports. yes, a bit exy, but, wow what a difference. very quiet, and very grippy in both wet and dry.

- Also was informed tat the camber needs to be somewhat reduced as HSV sets it to be quite aggressive.

Will see how I get on and definitely am going to rotate them every 5000km.

Thanks for all the advice, sincerely appreciate it.

[BLACK 346]

He stated that it appears that they have never been rotated.

Does the Senator not have staggered rims? ie 275 on rear and 245 on front?

[Micks]

I am up for front tyres on the Grange. I have had wheel alignment issues at the front and they are scrubbing out.

So I called the local Bridgestone near work to price the replacement Bridgestone S001 in 245/40/19 and was told these are no longer available and I need to go to Potenza RE050A.

I used to sell Kumho's in a previous life so I think I will have to look at the Kumho's KU36 and a good wheel alignment

Dick highly recommend the Kumhos use them on two of my rides & experience good grip & better life than the Bridgestones :yup:

[Smashfist]

Conti technician obviously has no idea what's going on. As mentioned you can't rotate tyres on a HSV.

You can reduce camber to get more out of the tyres but beware it will feel a lot more doughy in any spirited type driving as it will wallow when turning in instead of leaning over and hooking up.

I didn't rate the Kumho's last time I bought some. Really enjoying the RE003's at the moment on my ute but they are pricy and fairly soft. I don't expect more than 30,000kms out of them.

[Senator2015]

Thanks for your advice.

Interesting point re reduction in camber

[Senator2015]

Hi,

I did not go for Kumhos as I was told that they wear quite quickly, but, its interesting to learn what mileage people here are achieving out of them.

[Senator2015]

Hi,

To clarify; when they say to rotate the tyres, they mean to swap from side to side, thus they will rotate backwards to their previous position.

Yes, you obviously cannot rotate front to back and vice versa as they are staggered.

[Senator2015]

Does the Senator not have staggered rims? ie 275 on rear and 245 on front?
Hi,

Yes, they are staggered, now on the VF's, there are 255 on front and 275 on the rears.

[Smashfist]

Hi,

To clarify; when they say to rotate the tyres, they mean to swap from side to side, thus they will rotate backwards to their previous position.

Yes, you obviously cannot rotate front to back and vice versa as they are staggered.

Won't make much difference, either way on the front it's going to chew the inners with stock camber settings.

[Dickie Knee]

Well I have done about 300ks on the Kumhos (this included a Mt Nebo run). I asked if there was a different wheel alignment setting for Holden Statesman to use that instead of Grange. I am not sure what they did, but the car is a lot more predictable and a lot of less "flighty" in the steering. The old front tyres were worn on the outer edge and I had had 2 wheel alignments in the 2 years I have had the car. Thumbs up for the Kumhos at under $1000.00 for a set of 4.

[Surfnturf]

I got the KUMHO ECSTA PS91s 255 fronts and 275 rears for my VF GTS for $1095 US delivered here,they seem to hang on very well and the side wall is very strong as they just grip even when you are giving it to her.They are very quiet and overall happy with the Brand.

[Micks]

I got the KUMHO ECSTA PS91s 255 fronts and 275 rears for my VF GTS for $1095 US delivered here,they seem to hang on very well and the side wall is very strong as they just grip even when you are giving it to her.They are very quiet and overall happy with the Brand.

Had Kumhos on three of my rides now & rate them equally as good as the Bridgestones fitted as oem. Though much keener in price, which is nice on the pocket, :yup: