Time for some r53 tyres.. At last!

[Gecoop]

Time to put the Avons to sleep. Full slicks now, they served me well. Over 25k - some of which in extreme heat and dirt

Back in the constant battle for improving the mcs ride, I m looking for a quiet, comfortable tyre with a good grip in wet & dry. Did I mention that it has to be cheap too? I did a lot of reading and I m shortlisting for my 205/45/17:

1. Pirelli P zero nero
2. Conti S Contact 3
3. Dunlop sp9000
4. Michelin premacy

The car has 60k miles and the roads here are full of bumps so I m doing a bit of a retouche -getting new tyres and koni FSDs which I hope is going to revamp the drive.

For some strange reason I wanna try the Pirellis (cheaper too), even if they dont last long. People are voting for the conti and the Eagle, while the guy at the shop is trying to push the sp9000. Confusing...

Also:

- Does it have to be an XL tyre? Can i skip this if its going to lessen the bumps?
- what are the 84,88 marks that are followed by the speed letter (e.g 88V)?
- I hear that you can squeeze in the 215/45 and improve the feeling with only some speedo fault, but this sounds just wrong is this a good idea?

I m pretty sure any option is great compared to now, but its gonna be there for the next 15-20k miles (hope more for the shocks ) so it's worth some thought!

[Caveman]

OEM 205/45-17 tires are 84V, the number being the load index and the letter the speed rating. They are not XL (Extra Load) tires.

Running 215/45-17 tires depends on wheel offset and suspension set up.

[Gecoop]

Thanks Caveman

Do all tires come in an XL and a non-XL version? Since the XL have stronger "cheeks", you should go for the standard version if you want to fit the wider ones.. Or the opposite

Also, what about oem offset? Assuming that the FSDs will take care of the suspension part, is the 215 going to fit? Seems that 205 has very limited and expensive options!

Any feedback on the selection? Are the contis quieter?

[Caveman]

Regarding the load index ...

"XL" vs. Standard load tires ... what should I do?

With OEM wheels and FSDs plus stock springs you should have no rubbing issues with 215/45-17 tires.

[Gecoop]

I finally went for a fresh set of 205/45 contis 84V. I had forgotten how it feels to grip properly... Soooooooo nice

thanks