Comments on: Brembo joint-venture to bring ceramic brakes to masses

By: DesignEngr

DesignEngr — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:52:38 +0000

Realcars, yeah the same as the OE XR6 fit Dunlops. SP3000 I think, Asymetric, but not Directional tread. Rotate them to avoid excessive feathering of the shoulders if you travel through lots of rounabouts or med-high speed corners (as I do).

By: JEKYL & HYDE

JEKYL & HYDE — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:04:43 +0000

here’s something of interest richo,

holden has made the 245/45 x 18 bridgestone the next big tyre size(60th,international,sv6,ss)at $350 ea,one would hope they last a while(and now they wear flat for a change,remember vt,vx etc).i understand there has been a few warrenty claims out there(rear toe changes).holden claim that they should be worn out at 30,000kms,so that would be the benchmark.it also should be mentioned that heat build up is a big wearer of tyres.big speeds,big corners,big wear…

By: Richo

Richo — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:21:19 +0000

DesignEngr – experience with a Lancer, magna’s, expresss vans, hiaces vans, nissan patrols, and an astra. Never owned a commodore, surprised?

By: Realcars

Realcars — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:56:13 +0000

The insightful first owner optioned sports suspension and 17 inch alloys from the factory on my Egas BF.

Sort of like an XR6 for tightarses.LOL.

By: Realcars

Realcars — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:49:41 +0000

Hope u are right about the Dunlops as I have them on my BF.

By: Bavarian Missile (.)(.)

Bavarian Missile (.)(.) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:42:03 +0000

You guys clearly arent driving anything Sporty are you ?

By: DesignEngr

DesignEngr — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:20:48 +0000

Realcars,
1992 Subaru Liberty once did 110,000 km on one pair of Firestones, about 45,000 on front the moved to rear, and rotated L/R.
My Falcon usually does better than 65,000 km on 235/45/17 Dunlops.

By: Bavarian Missile (.)(.)

Bavarian Missile (.)(.) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:12:13 +0000

Agree with you Realcars………..do they drive on dead straight roads ?

Wheel alignments or balances are we talking about ? If your tyres are wearing evenly then what are you freaking out about.

By: Realcars

Realcars — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:58:14 +0000

People here quoting 80-90klm tyre life really need to learn how to read their odometers.LOL

In my experience across many makes of tyres and cars if u get 50-60klms out of a set of car tyres u are doing well.

Alignment every 10klms is overkill and waste of money.A bit like changing engine oil every 5000klms.Might get a bit more life but end up paying for a replacement before time anyway.

If your last set wore evenly the alignment will be fine.

By: DesignEngr

DesignEngr — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:32:21 +0000

Richo Says:
June 5th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
“.. you need to have the tyres aligned every 10,000k’s..”

Richo, maybe that’s just a reflection on certain makes.
I have never had to do interim WHEEL alignments on Falcons or Libertys with 60,000 – 90,000 km tyre life.

You are quoting from you experience with Lancers and Commodores – yes.

By: Richo

Richo — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:15:54 +0000

SamR – you need to have the tyres aligned every 10,000k’s, not just rotated. The biggest thing which will wear tyres is incorrect alignment, if you only align your wheels when you change tyres, then no wonder your only getting 30,000k’s out of them! Depending on the kind of driving your doing your wheels will barely hold their alignment for 10,000k’s, if you hit one big pothole or hig one gutter then thats your alignment basically gone right there.

If you get your already rotating your tyres every 10,000k’s then thats good, but have them aligned at the same time and you’ll definetly get better wear out of them

By: SamR

SamR — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:56:01 +0000

To those people asking I had Yokohama C drive tyres in 195/55/15 size and before that other Yokahama. Not 17inch which are FAR more expensive. They were about $180 each. Yes I rotate at 10,000km and align at first purchase.

Tyres these days don’t last. Maybe for highway use but in the city with roundabouts and lots of reverse parks they wear. Wear evenly but wear.

I am currently trying out Falken tyres with better wear index, seem to be going OK.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:45:56 +0000

Richo, I know, thats why I have $1200 worth of tyres on my car and why I said those Chinese tyres are typically rubbish. Personally, for that very reason, tyres are the last place I’d try and save money. People just don’t realise how much difference good tyres can make when it comes to braking performance and crash avoidance.

By: Richo

Richo — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:33:38 +0000

Tom – tyres are the only thing holding you on the road! Good tyres pay for themselfs the very first time you have to swerve to avoid something!

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:33:31 +0000

There is a reason F1 cars can pull 4G turns, the tyres are extremely soft (even the ‘hard’ compound ones) which gives fantastic grip, but they are finished after 50km of racing.

By: Richo

Richo — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:32:16 +0000

also what tyre pressures are you running? Never under estimate the effects of incorrect tyre pressures on tyre wear rates! particularly on low profile tyres

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:31:07 +0000

Mark, tyre longevity and grip are inversely related. The harder the tyre the less the tyre beds into the road surface, giving you longer lasting tyres but a lot less grip. Chinese tyres usually do last a long time because they are made of really hard rubber compound, the downside is they are usually rubbish as a result.

By: Richo

Richo — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:29:43 +0000

SamR also with regard to your tyres, 30,000 does seem mighty quick to be going through them, how frequently do you have your tyres balanced, rotated and aligned? You need to do this at least every 10,000k’s if not every 5,000k’s. Yes it costs a few bucks to get it done but given how expensive you say your tyres are then surely the alignment balance and rotation would pay for itself fairly quickly…

by doing this i’ve seen the 18″ original equipment yokohama’s on my wifes lancer currently do 20,000k’s since new and the tyres are only just starting to look like they are not brand new anymore, still heaps and heaps and heaps and heaps of life left in them.

What brand of tyre are you using out of interest? $300 a tyre for 17″ wheels seems bloody expensive!

By: Richo

Richo — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:26:14 +0000

SamR – you complain about the costs of these brakes but mate this is the entire point of the article, ofcourse they are currently too expensive for “normal” cars but this article is about brembo working to make these products affordable. This is called technological advancement. There was a time when disc brakes where only for high end sports cars and everyone else had to deal with drum brakes, now discs are standard everywhere… advancement!

By: SamR

SamR — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:21:26 +0000

Mark, I drive normally very normally and NEVER get more then 35,000km out of my tyres and they are smaller then 17inch.

Never. The soft OEM Dunlops on my car lasted me 25,000km.

You must do lots of highway miles.