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I've finally had to remove the Winter Tyres and tuck them up safe and the decision as to which Summer's to buy was not an easy one

Much research was done online and I narrowed it down to a few suspects. Continental Contact 5's were high on the list as were the new Goodyear Eagle F1's (but they weren't in my size) but then came news of a 'new' Pirelli P7 'Cinturato' - a complete redesign now I've had P7's on this car before and hated them so the thought of getting more was not appealing.......however the reviews were coming up very encouraging so decided to take the plunge

£528.00 later and YET ANOTHER alignment at a further £35.00 and Saturday last I had them fitted. All I can say so far is that the car feels fantastic (best ever) the whole thing is hankered down and dead straight. The drive is quiet and relaxed, speed is taken effortlessly with no twitching around, no tram-lining and the steering has a nice weight to it (all of which budget-type tyres can't do).

I had Kumho's before and although good for the money they don't even come close to the Pirelli's.

Anyhoo after *much* clicking on the 'improved' Photofucket here they are:



Excuse the Alloys, that's another job on the list


And just for steve_earwig some sidewall symbols I have a Leaf, a Petrol Pump, a Road and a crossed out Music note:



They're supposed to be long-lasting and save fuel so we'll see.......

I guess the proof of the pudding will be when it rains Was this reviews off the Ovlov forums or just in general?

Welly wrote:I have a Leaf, a Petrol Pump, a Road and a crossed out Music note:

I guess the petrol pump is for the economy but I've no idea what the others are. I know - "you won't beleaf how often you'll see a fuel pump now; straight roads only; you won't be able to hear your stereo any more

No I didn't check the Ovlov Forum, I think they were having a little nap, I used all sorts of tyre review sites, mytyres is good as they have tables you can use to compare but in general I just got a 'feel' that the Pirelli's were well worth a try.

I think the leaf symbol means they've been made 'greenly' and they crossed-out note is low-noise (which they are to be fair) jury's still out on the 'straight road' thing

The symbols mean (in this order) You'll find petrol stations on leaf laden straight roads that maketh no noise.

Welly you need to use Mike Brewers method and give those wheels a good coat of silver... You'll know what i mean if you saw last weeks Swedfen episode of wheeler dealers.

scotty73 wrote:
Welly you need to use Mike Brewers method and give those wheels a good coat of silver... You'll know what i mean if you saw last weeks Swedfen episode of wheeler dealers.

Yeah, I saw his 'dusting' of paint and I even said to my lad "there's no way he did that bowl of soapy water and a rattle can"

Last nights in Japan was weird - how much do you want for the car? ok I'll pay that then and those auction houses

Not seen it yet but the auctions looked a bit mental on the preview i saw, it's on my stick ready to watch tonight.

Welly wrote:then and those auction houses

I don't have a clue what he was doing.

And that shacken (sp) reminded me of one of Steves yearly wallet emptying excersises... Not sure if it's the same thing?

I got to change my fronts now in the next few months. I currently have goodyear efficientgrips on the front. They are okay but a little soft and spongey, they don't inspire any confidence like the old Dunlop SP SportMaxx RT's I had before hand.
I have Eagle F1's on the back.
I'm struggling to decide between the P7's, the NEW Dunlop SP Sportmaxx RT (Supposed to be better than the F1?) and the F1

Welly wrote:£528.00 later and YET ANOTHER alignment at a further £35.00

I've bought many a car for less than that.
I was impressed with the Dunlop SP Fast Response's I re-shod the dogmobile with two month's before I sold it.

So I got another set for 'Nitric', £ 300, (same as last time). Been on 2 weeks, feels fine, but I 'owe' it a 4-wheel alignment, which hopefully will happen when I'm off next week.

My tyre size is a bit unusual 205/50R17 and as such they are expensive. I wanted to go for 225/45's but got twitchy about it when my insurer started making strange noises and then Volvo UK got involved I kinda backed down in the end but the 225/45's are *much* more common (and an OE fitment to VW's etc) and would have saved me about £90.00

Scotty - I know a bit about the Shaken Test as I once had an imported Honda Integra. Basically in Japan when a car gets to 3 years old it has a *massive* inspection [think: major strip-down] everything get poked and prodded about and basically it costs a f*cking fortune. Consequently just about everyone gets shot of their cars at this time and most get exported away. The Japanese government also offer attractive incentives (or at least used to) to buy brand new cars (clean environment etc) so pretty much everyone has a less-than 3 year old motor.

Other boring facts: the Japs don't use salt on the roads and therefore the under-sides of the imported motors are spotless like this 1994 car:


It is also virtually impossible to park in Japan so everyone commutes on public transport, the car stays at home and becomes a hobby thing for the weekend mainly; as such they all have low miles and are in top condition.

Well you did kinda ask.........

I saw a program years ago and they showed a scrapyard in Japan and there was all these 3 year old cars on the scrapheap,the engines/gearboxes etc had been removed and were going for export,looked very strange with all these nice looking cars piled up.

I bought my Honda as a write-off and set about having the front end rebuilt (crazy thinking back now) and I ended up quite friendly with 2 or 3 importers of parts. They get a container full of complete front ends (cut off behind the windscreen) and rammed into a container - they get them all out when it arrives and start stripping the parts down.

The good thing is they are all right-hand drive so all the headlights are correct and stuff like that.

Interesting stuff, i picked up on Mikes comment while under the car he got shakened "look at it under here it's rust free i might have got a bargain"..... Well i often talk to the tv and rightly told him Mike they use no salt and judging by those tight roads hardly get driven...I think he heard me.

That nissan he bought though looked so big i grabbed a tape measure and measured my car and guess what the 406 is smaller.

I liked that Nissan Estate, it was a copy of a Volvo Estate but quite quirky/cool

Welly wrote:I liked that Nissan Estate, it was a copy of a Volvo Estate but quite quirky/cool

V70? i thought it was a bit Volvoish.