Recommended Tyres for VF SSV Redline

[JJW501]

How do I edit?

NT05 - ran them on the front to assist in curing some inherent UNDER steer!

JJJW

[team illucid]

All Nitto on the Sen at the moment. INVOs on the front and NT-05 on the rear. Grip everywhere. The NT-05 may not be the best value for money for the daily driver though. Tread life ain't the best in the business, but dayum, they're sticky!

Mick

The INVO are only a W rated tyre and will affect your insurance as they are lower than what the Senator runs from factory.

[QIKMIK]

Thanks Kurt. I had sort of considered that. Nothing in my PDS about speed ratings from what I could see today.

Other sides of that argument would be:
1) When am I going to exceed the 270kph limit of a W-rated tyre, let alone the 300kph limit of a Y-rated tyre, in a car that is electronically limited to 255kph?
2) Is a 2015 model W-spec tyre better constructed than the Y-rated RE050A from 2008?

Mick

[IJ.]

My understanding of insurance is the part must have caused/contributed to the failure before it becomes a factor, if it's proven you exceeded the 270 Kmh of a W tyre and it failed I don't think you'd have insurance full stop...

[Plenty]

I have tried several tyres on my VE SS ute which has extractors, exhaust, brembos, sway bars, bushes, pedders sports rider, strut brace and some different suspension arms here and there. Vehicle is daily driver with the odd track day once or twice a year. 155K on the clock. I like to corner.

Stock Bridgestones - a good tyre. Quiet. Deadly in wet once worn about 60%. I had a very scary drive through blue mountains one wet morning on a familiar road, was not a problem previously. Tyres were not worn excessively but could not handle shiny patches on the road. Scary.

KU19 - quite a good tyre. Performance OK, nearly on par with stock Bridgies but half the cost. Wear was good and able to use them all the way to the end safely. Tough, no chunking or wear issues with spirited driving.

KU31 - more grip, more noise, less life. Quite good overall for price.

KU39 - more grip than KU31, less noise, more life. Great tyre around the $200 mark. Actually, these are great overall! Not a track tyre by any means, non of the Kumhos I have tested are, poor heat tolerance in spirited driving but a great tyre for a road tyre for price. I like these!!!!

Falken 452 - horrible tyre. No grip. Floppy carcass. Chunking on track. Poor mileage. Relatively high cost. Who recommended these?!

NT05 - ran them on front to assist in curing some over steer inherent in VE. Fantastic grip! Surprisingly good in wet. Excellent carcass with minimal tyre roll (for a street tyre). Very noisy after they are 50% worn but stick like poo to a blanket. Did I mention fantastic construction and great carcass?!!!! Great grip over variety of surface. My ute is currently light brown up to door handles all round, gets driven on dirt roads too. They just work!

Invo - Put on rear in conjunction with NT05 up front. OK grip in dry. Vague feeling on turn in. Poor grip on take off. Poor wear. Cheap. Poor grip in wet.

Dunlop Sportmaxx - just had them fitted on rear on conjunction with NT05 up front again. Initial impression is significant improvement in performance in all departments over Invo. Expensive. Quiet. Fingers crossed on wear due to $$ invested. Clearly not a match for NT05 in terms of grip. Waiting to see if they out perform KU39........

JJW

The Dunlop Sportmaxx got spanked by the stock RE050A during one of the car magazine tyre tests a few years ago, not sue if the pattern is the same or not though.

[JJW501]

Thanks Plenty, it has been some years now since I ran the bridgies so getting hard for me to draw a direct comparison.

I might try some again soon to refresh my memory.

JJW

[Plenty]

One other tyre that has been overlooked and are a fantastic wet tyre is the Goodyear F1. Ive not used them in a while but they always score well in testing.

[CLUBRED]

I had F1's on my other car, albeit it was front wheel drive 4cyl Honda Accord and found them very noisy to the point I replaced them early.

[team illucid]

My understanding of insurance is the part must have caused/contributed to the failure before it becomes a factor, if it's proven you exceeded the 270 Kmh of a W tyre and it failed I don't think you'd have insurance full stop...

You would need to deem the car was roadworthy, not the insurer. They assume it is roadworthy to the manufacturer's specs, and that includes the tyres are the same or better.

[team illucid]

Thanks Kurt. I had sort of considered that. Nothing in my PDS about speed ratings from what I could see today.

Other sides of that argument would be:
1) When am I going to exceed the 270kph limit of a W-rated tyre, let alone the 300kph limit of a Y-rated tyre, in a car that is electronically limited to 255kph?
2) Is a 2015 model W-spec tyre better constructed than the Y-rated RE050A from 2008?

Mick

Come on, the Senator hits 273 before the digital speedo stops going up

As for the 2015 vs 2008 - it is a good question, but I think the question is better put as build quality per tyre, not so much the year.

I suppose for my peace of mind, I would rather stick to the manufacturer specs or higher, than give the insurer an easy out is where I am thinking. Additionally, the KU39s I put on instead are $100 a tyre cheaper, and perform similalry in the dry and much, much better in the wet.

At the end of the day Mick, your car, your budget, your choice.

[team illucid]

I had F1's on my other car, albeit it was front wheel drive 4cyl Honda Accord and found them very noisy to the point I replaced them early.

Used to have these on the VT SS - they were a good tyre, but agreed, very noisy buggers.

[IJ.]

You would need to deem the car was roadworthy, not the insurer. They assume it is roadworthy to the manufacturer's specs, and that includes the tyres are the same or better.

Might be different in whatever State you're in but here there's no such stipulation re tyre type on any insurance policy I've ever seen..

Where you might run into trouble is if you get pulled over and the Cop checks the placard..

But that would be very rare and probably due to a failure of the attitude test

[team illucid]

Might be different in whatever State you're in but here there's no such stipulation on any insurance policy I've ever seen..

Where you might run into trouble is if you get pulled over and the Cop checks the placard..

But that would be very rare and probably due to a failure of the attitude test

Agreed mate - we could argue semantics and words all day, it might all come down to, as you say, the attitude test. However, I wont take the risk

[IJ.]

Agreed mate - we could argue semantics and words all day, it might all come down to, as you say, the attitude test. However, I wont take the risk

Yeah I get that Kurt!

Truth be told 95% of the cars here "could" be failed in some way, it all turned into a big game after ADR 27a came in back in the mid to late 70's...

[QIKMIK]

Come on, the Senator hits 273 before the digital speedo stops going up

As for the 2015 vs 2008 - it is a good question, but I think the question is better put as build quality per tyre, not so much the year.

I suppose for my peace of mind, I would rather stick to the manufacturer specs or higher, than give the insurer an easy out is where I am thinking. Additionally, the KU39s I put on instead are $100 a tyre cheaper, and perform similalry in the dry and much, much better in the wet.

At the end of the day Mick, your car, your budget, your choice.

I didn't think the KU39s were Y-rated.

I'll have to find a private road to test that speedo thing

Mick